Morphology is an extensive field of linguistics which deals among other things with different ways of forming neologisms and the shortening of words. The following paper concentrates on the specific word-formation process „clipping“. To be able to give an adequate insight into this field of morphology, certain important aspects will be examined, such as the rules of this word-formation process, the usage of clippings in today’s language and the development of this linguistic phenomenon over the past few decades.
During the preparation for this paper, I became curious about how we use clippings in everyday language and which form, the original or the clipped word, is used more often. Do we say more often “mathematics” or “math”? Is the more common term “advertisement” or “ad”?
Even more interesting is to find out in which context which form is used more often. Are clippings still assumed as more colloquial or could some words already are taken over into Standard English and therefore into the academic world? Are clippings restricted to either spoken or written language?
To answer those questions, I will mainly work with two different corpora of American English, namely the “Time Magazine Corpus” and the “Corpus of Contemporary American English”. These corpora give much information about usage and development of certain words in different contexts. However, it has to be said, that this paper can only give a short introductory overview of the word-formation process ‘clipping’.
In the first part of this paper the word-formation process ‘clipping’ and the different types of ‘clipping’ will be explained. Then a short overview about the two corpora used in this paper will be given. After that, I will first compare six words and their clippings since the 1920s, based on the “Time Magazine Corpus”. The next chapter will be about the comparison of the same words in different contexts from 1990 until today, based on the “Corpus of Contemporary American English”. In the end, a conclusion of the results will be presented.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The word-formation process ‘clipping’
3. Development and usage of clippings
3.1 The “Time Magazine Corpus”
3.2 The “Corpus of Contemporary American English” (COCA)
4. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Thematic Focus
The primary research objective of this paper is to analyze the linguistic phenomenon of word-clipping and its prevalence in different registers and media over time. By utilizing empirical data from the "Time Magazine Corpus" and the "Corpus of Contemporary American English" (COCA), the study investigates whether clipped forms are merely colloquial markers or if they have successfully integrated into Standard English, while examining how the usage of these forms differs across various journalistic, academic, and fictional contexts.
- Theoretical definition and classification of the word-formation process 'clipping'.
- Longitudinal development of clipping usage in media since the 1920s.
- Comparative analysis of clipped versus original forms in formal versus informal language.
- Influence of specific subject fields and technological advancements on word shortening.
- Distinction between colloquial usage and the adoption of clippings as standardized lexemes.
Excerpt from the Book
The word-formation process ‘clipping’
As already mentioned in the introduction, ‘clipping’ is a word-formation process, but also the result of the process itself is called ‘clipping’. In general it can be said, that “word formation is concerned with the process that expands the vocabulary of a language, i.e. create new lexemes” (Kortmann 2005: p. 94).
Still, there are differences to be made when talking about word-formation processes. According to Kortmann, there are productive and less productive word formation processes, which are also called high productive and less productive. The most productive processes are responsible for the majority of neologisms, for example by prefixation like in “ex-minister”. Less productive word-formation processes basically are the various types of shortenings, such as back-formation, blend, acronym and clipping. Nevertheless, also within the group of less productive word-formation processes distinctions can be made. When on one hand, more than one word is affected by the process, the word-formation shall be either blend, initialism, acronyms or alphabetism. When on the other hand only one word is affected, the word-formation process must either be back-formation or clipping (Kortmann 2005: p. 109).
However, these less productive word-formation processes, especially clipping, continuously get more and more important in daily life (Kortmann 2005: p. 95). This is due to the laziness of people on one hand and the increasing familiarity with the particular subject on the other hand (Harley 2006: p. 95). This last aspect is also the main reason why words are clipped and come into more common usage: most speakers do not think it is necessary to use the whole word to identify the topic and to understand the meaning of it. As a result “a more easily and quickly pronounced version of the word is preferred” (Harley 2006: p. 95). This is also a general feature of lower productive word-formation processes: their outcome “is much shorter than their input” (Kortmann 2005: p. 106). This becomes very obvious in the word-formation process “clipping”, for example the clipped form of “advertisement” is “ad” and “demonstration” is often called “demo” nowadays.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter outlines the linguistic field of morphology and defines the scope of the study, which focuses on the clipping process using empirical corpus data.
2. The word-formation process ‘clipping’: This section provides a theoretical foundation, distinguishing between productive and less productive word-formation processes and categorizing clipping types such as back-clipping and fore-clipping.
3. Development and usage of clippings: This main section analyzes empirical data to compare the frequency and usage patterns of selected clipped forms against their original versions across different decades and media.
3.1 The “Time Magazine Corpus”: This subsection investigates the longitudinal evolution of word usage from the 1920s to the present within the context of journalistic writing.
3.2 The “Corpus of Contemporary American English” (COCA): This subsection examines how various media genres, ranging from academic journals to fiction, influence the usage of clippings in the contemporary era.
4. Conclusion: The final chapter summarizes the findings, confirming the increasing popularity of clippings while noting their sustained colloquial nature and the need for further research.
Keywords
Morphology, Clipping, Word-formation, Neologisms, Corpus Linguistics, Time Magazine Corpus, COCA, American English, Back-clipping, Fore-clipping, Lexemes, Language change, Standard English, Sociolinguistics, Linguistic registers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper examines the linguistic process of 'clipping', which involves the reduction of words (such as changing 'advertisement' to 'ad') to create new, shorter lexemes.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Key themes include the classification of clipping types, the role of human convenience in language evolution, and the comparative usage of original versus clipped forms in different media.
What is the central research question?
The research explores whether clipped words are merely informal, colloquial variants or if they are becoming standardized enough to be used in formal, academic, or journalistic contexts.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The author uses a corpus-based approach, analyzing frequency data and 'tokens per million words' from the "Time Magazine Corpus" and the "Corpus of Contemporary American English" (COCA).
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main section details the theory behind word formation, provides specific examples of different clipping types, and presents data-driven comparisons of words like 'telephone'/'phone' and 'examination'/'exam' across time and media.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key concepts include morphology, clipping, corpus linguistics, language change, neologisms, and word-formation processes.
Why are clippings more popular in spoken language compared to academic writing?
The paper suggests that clippings are preferred for their brevity and quick pronunciation, which suits casual communication, whereas academic writing often maintains the traditional, formal full-word versions.
How does the usage of 'facsimile' versus 'fax' illustrate the author's findings?
The case of 'fax' serves as a primary example of a clipping that successfully transitioned into a widely accepted, standard lexeme, eventually overshadowing its original, more formal counterpart.
What role does new technology play in the creation of clippings?
Technological advancements often introduce new terms that require quick, frequent reference; as people become familiar with these topics, shorter clipped forms emerge as the more practical and common labels.
- Quote paper
- Katrin Blatt (Author), 2008, The word-formation process "clipping", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/150807
