AComparisonbetweenEnglishandChineseAbbreviations
In Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary， abbreviation is defined as a shortening of a word or a phrase. As a matter of fact， since the old times， abbreviation has been a common linguistic phenomenon in English and Chinese languages. I Abbreviations in English
Initialism is defined as an abbreviation that uses the first letter of each word in the phrase. In our everyday life， there are ATM （Auto Teller Machine）， and TOFEL （Test of English as a Foreign Language）. In computer science， there are also lots of abbreviations generated， for example PC （Personal Computer）... （Yu， 2002）
Acronym refers to an abbreviation of several words in such a way that the abbreviation itself forms a word. Maybe SARS （Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome） is an English acronym of most familiarity to our Chinese.
Clipping words refer to abbreviations of long or sophisticated words with most letters clipped. It can be subdivided into four categories： front clipping， back clipping， front and back clipping， and middle clipping. There are burger （hamburger）， zoo （zoological park），flu （influenza）， and maths （mathematics）. Blending refers to abbreviation which blends two or more words
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into one word. Nowadays， more and more blending words are taken as independent words but not abbreviation. In blending words， there are DYNAMO （dynamic models）， smog （smoke+fog ）， fortnight （fourteen nights）， REFORGER （Return for Germany）， ’ twas （it was）.
II Classification of the Forming Patterns of Chinese Abbreviations
Chinese is a language laying much stresses on meaning； therefore abbreviations in Chinese take meaning but not form as its main point to consider， for example， if we abbreviate “上海吊车厂”into “上吊”or “自贡纺纱厂” into “自杀”， it will lead into ambiguity or even become a standing joke. Chinese abbreviation could be classified into： condensation， reversal initialism， clipping， numeral abbreviation， and abbreviation with substitution.
Condensation refers to the way to condense two or more words into one word. This type of abbreviation formation is equal to blending of English abbreviation formation， e.g. 阿联酋 （阿拉伯联合酋长共和国.）
Reversal initialism is to extract the initial character of every word， e.g. 西欧 （欧洲西部）. As in English， clipping in Chinese refers the way to clip characters from the original word， e.g. 清
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