This paper focuses on the shortening process of clipping since the shortening of words in the English language already existed four centuries ago. The process is still gaining in importance as clipping is a frequently realized process in current English.
Some clippings like phone and flu seem to be even more popular than their original lexemes telephone and influenza. The question comes up if the usage of clippings regarding overall frequency and its limitation to formal and informal contexts has changed through time. Is it possible that some clippings nearly replaced their original form and are more frequent in common language? If that is the case, does a restriction of these clippings towards formal registers still exist?
At first, the term clipping is defined and the academic perspective towards clipping is presented. Besides, the development and function of clipping and its different types are stated. Then the corpora used for this study are shortly introduced. After that the frequency and the usage in different registers of two clippings and their original lexemes are analyzed with the help of COCA and COHA. As a conclusion, the results of the corpus-based study will be used to answer the question of how the frequency of clippings develops through time and if popular clippings are still excluded from formal registers.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Clipping
2.1. Definition and scientific approach
2.2. Development and function
2.3. Types of clipping
3. Corpus-based study
3.1. Example 1: Phone and telephone
3.2. Example 2: Flu and influenza
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography
Objectives and Topics
This paper explores the evolution of clipping in the English language, specifically examining how these shortened word forms distribute across formal and informal linguistic registers over time. By utilizing corpus-based analysis, the study investigates whether popular clippings maintain their colloquial status or eventually displace their full-form lexemes in standard language use.
- Theoretical definitions and morphological categorization of clippings
- Functional motivations for word shortening (e.g., economy, familiarity)
- Comparative analysis of frequency trends using COHA and COCA
- Register-based distribution patterns of specific word pairs
- The intersection of linguistic tendency toward brevity and Zipf's Law
Excerpt from the Book
2.2. Development and function
Most clippings originate as words from the slang of a specific social or occupational group. Many of the existing clippings rather belong to the slang of students, soldiers, doctors and teenagers (Mattiello 2013: 64 – 65) than to the standard vocabulary of English. Thus, most clippings are extremely colloquial and their usage is often limited to informal contexts and their specific group (Kortmann 2005: 106). The group of people who are placed in the environment of schools, for example, presumably prefers the usage of exam, lab and math instead of examination, laboratory and mathematics. The usage of clippings can be explained by their functions. On the one hand, “the use of clipped forms […] signals familiarity and closeness in a conceptual as well as a social way” (Schmid 2011: 215). By using the clipped form of a word, the speaker indicates his familiarity with the referred concept as well as his membership of a social group. Due to the mutual membership of a group, the use of the longer form is not necessary anymore since both interlocutors are familiar with the concept referred to. But some clippings like gas for gasoline pass into common usage and lose their in-group character (Plag 2003: 121). This often happens to words describing a concept that is embedded in almost every speaker's daily life.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the scope of the study regarding word-formation processes and identifies the core research questions concerning the frequency and register distribution of clippings.
2. Clipping: Examines the theoretical background, defining clipping as a morphological process and discussing its functions and the various types of truncation used in English.
3. Corpus-based study: Details the methodology using COHA and COCA datasets to analyze the usage patterns of "phone/telephone" and "flu/influenza" over time and across different text types.
4. Conclusion: Summarizes the findings, confirming the increasing popularity of certain clippings and discussing their potential to cross over from informal to formal registers.
5. Bibliography: Provides a comprehensive list of linguistic literature and sources cited throughout the paper.
Keywords
Clipping, Morphology, Word-formation, Corpus Linguistics, COCA, COHA, Register, Informal Language, Lexemes, Language Change, Zipf's Law, Shortening, Linguistics, Usage frequency, Stylistic level.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper examines the linguistic process of "clipping" (word shortening) and analyzes how the usage of such terms has developed over time and how they are distributed across formal versus informal language registers.
What are the central themes discussed?
Central themes include the morphological classification of clippings, the functional motivations behind their usage—such as the "desire for shortness"—and their sociolinguistic tendency to be initially restricted to specific social groups.
What is the main research objective?
The goal is to determine if popular clippings remain restricted to informal contexts or if they gain enough frequency to replace their full-form counterparts even within formal registers.
Which scientific method is employed?
The author performs a corpus-based study using the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) to track the frequency of word pairs over decades and across diverse text types.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers the theoretical definition of clippings, their types (such as back-clipping or fore-clipping), and a practical case study comparing "phone" with "telephone" and "flu" with "influenza."
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Clipping, Morphology, Word-formation, Corpus Linguistics, Register, and Language Change.
How does the usage of "phone" differ from "flu" in formal contexts?
The research shows that "phone" has successfully transcended informal usage to become common in formal academic registers, whereas "flu" largely remains restricted to more informal or common usage, struggling to replace "influenza" in highly formal texts.
What conclusion does the author draw regarding Zipf's Law?
The author observes that the preference for shorter word forms like "phone" is consistent with Zipf's Law, which suggests a correlation between the complexity of a word and its frequency of use in a language.
- Quote paper
- Lisa Graap (Author), 2019, Clippings. The development of usage and its distribution regarding formal and informal registers, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/538546
