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Abbreviation A shortened form of a word or phrase. Phrases can be abbreviated in two main ways. 1) The first letter(s) of each word in the phrase stands in for the whole word:
MBA, CSI, USAF and so on. This is sometimes known as an
initialism. In some cases, the abbreviation is pronounced as a sequence of letters (/em b
I e
I/); in others, the word that each initial letter stands for is usually spoken (
‘United States Airforce
’). 2) The first letter(s) of each word in a phrase stands in for the whole word, but the abbreviation is spoken as a word:
FIFA, aids, SETI. These are known as
acronyms. Individual words can also be abbreviated by retaining parts of the word (usually, but not always, the start) and discarding others:
Mon., geog., Staffs. Initialisms and shortenings can also be combined:
DPhil, MSc. Other forms of abbreviation involve the use of special symbols:
&, %, $. Abbreviations are also used in text messaging and internet chat room interaction:
LOL (
‘laugh out loud
’),
BFN (
‘bye for now
’)
OMG (
‘oh my God
’),
GR8 (
‘great
’). The last of these employs the
rebus principle.
Initialisms and acronyms usually start life by being written in upper case (e.g. FIFA). When an acronym becomes fully lexicalized it is usually written in lower case (e.g. aids). Sometimes stops separate the letters, but there is a growing tendency not to use these. Where shortening takes place, lower case is generally used. However, there is considerable variation in the orthography of abbreviations. See ALPHABET, BLENDING, CLIPPING, ELLIPSIS.
Aboriginal English English spoken by Aboriginal people in Australia. Dialects of Aboriginal English exist on a continuum, with basilectal varieties close to Kriol at one end (usually spoken in remote areas), and varieties close to Standard Australian English at the other. Some of the features of Aboriginal English are shared with other non-standard varieties of English around the world, while others show the influence of Aboriginal languages. The following example features of Aboriginal English can be found across the continuum.
A characteristic lexical feature is the use of words derived from Aboriginal languages. These words either maintain their original meanings (e.g. kulunga, yarga), or undergo a meaning shift (e.g. manach originally meant ‘black cockatoo ’, but is now used to refer to police officers). The meanings of some English words have also changed to reflect Aboriginal cultural practices (e.g. mother means biological female parent and her sisters, and father means biological male parent and his brothers).
Some of the most well-known grammatical features of Aboriginal English are listed below (examples are from Malcolm (2004) and Honeybone (1996)). 1) Use of the base form of the verb with third person subjects, where Standard English has the -s ending: This go on top. 2) Past tense marking is often optional (particularly with regular verbs): You went right through, we all pull out; and perfect aspect is rare. 3) The progressive aspect is normally marked with the use of the participle only: They jumping around everywhere. 4) The copula be is often absent, and in existential clauses, got is used instead of be: They all over the place; E got some sand there (‘There is some sand’). 5) Aboriginal English uses articles differently from Standard English, sometimes omitting them (We was playing game), or inserting them (Bloke with the long hair). 6) Nouns are not consistently marked for the plural (That’s probably one of the cane toad), nor is the -’s suffix used to mark possession (Look at John boat). 7) Questions are often formed by adding rising intonation to a statement, as in You like banana? The question tag eh? is also common.
Some of the most characteristic pronunciation features of Aboriginal English concern consonant
‘substitutions
’ (see Malcolm 2004): /f/ and /v/
→ /p/ (as in /p
l/
‘fall
’; /fa
Ip/
‘five
’); /
θ/ and /
ð/
→ /t/ and
/d/ (see
TH/-STOPPING)./s/, /z/, /
∫/ and /
З/ are not always clearly distinguished and are sometimes substituted for one another; /h/ is sometimes dropped initially, but it is also added initially where it does not occur generally in Australian English (see
H-DROPPING).Abstract noun A noun whose referent is not a person or thing. Abstract nouns typically refer to qualities, states, events, occasions, and so on: ugliness, madness, fight, birthday. See CONCRETE NOUN, NOMINALIZATION, NOUN.
Academy A body set up to monitor language and prescribe certain usages (see PRESCRIPTIVISM). The first European academy was established in Florence in 1582 by a group of intellectuals wishing to ‘purify’ the Italian language. The French soon followed with the establishment of the Académie Française in 1634. This institution still functions as a source of linguistic authority for French speakers around the world, by publishing dictionaries and commenting on what it often sees as regrettable foreign influences, particularly that of English (although it is arguable whether the academy has altered the rate or direction of language change to a significant extent). There is no equivalent body for English, but from time to time people have called for one. One of the earliest and most well-known advocates was Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver’s Travels), who famously complained about the ‘imperfections’ of English, claiming that its ‘daily Improvements are by no means in proportion to its daily Corruptions’, and that in many instances, ‘it offends against every Part of Grammar’ (‘Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue’, 1712). See AUTHORITY.
Accent No two people sound exactly alike. All speakers have accents – a set of pronunciation features which can reveal information about their regional and social identity. Linguists generally distinguish between accent (which is concerned with how speakers sound) and dialect (which includes accent, together with a speaker’s regionally and socially distinctive vocabulary and grammar).
People are capable of making very fine distinctions when it comes to accent. When we meet someone for the first time we might note their ‘American’ accent. If we are a little more familiar with the varieties of English in the USA, we might say they have an ‘East Coast’ accent; perhaps we could narrow it down to a particular city, identifying it as a ‘Boston’ accent. Finally, on the basis of the sounds a person makes when they speak, we might even hazard a guess at the social background of a speaker (‘a middle-class Boston accent’).
Accents can have a profound effect on people’s lives, because they carry particular connotations. In the UK, for example, some accents attract extraordinary levels of hostility. It is quite common to hear, even from people who regard themselves as socially liberal and tolerant, utterances such as ‘I hate the Birmingham accent’ (see BRUMMIE, WEST M...
