• Graphical abbreviations are the result of shortening of words and word-

groups only in written speech while orally the corresponding full forms are used. They
are used for the economy of space and effort in writing.

• The oldest group of graphical abbreviations in English is represented by

Latin abbreviations which sometimes are not read as Latin words but substituted by their
English equivalents.

• A few of the most important cases are listed below: a.m. (Lat. Ante
meridiem) – “in the morning”; cf. (Lat. Conferre) – “ compare”; e.g. (Lat. Exempli
gratia) – “ for example”; ibid. (Lat. Ibidem) – “ in the same place”; i.e. (Lat. Id est) –
“that is”; loc.cit. (Lat. Locus citato) – “in the passage cited”; p.m. (Lat. Post meridiem) –
“in the afternoon”; q.v. (Lat. Quod vide) – “which see “; viz. (Lat. Videlicet) –
“namely”. Actual letters are also read in the following cases: a.m. [‘ei’em], e.g.,q.v.,p.m.

• There are also graphical abbreviations of native origin, where in the spelling
we have abbreviations of words and word-groups of the corresponding English
equivalents in the full form.

• We have several semantic groups of them:

• a)days of the week, e.g. Mon. – Monday, Sun. –Sunday;

• b) names of months, e.g. Apr. – April, Nov. – November;

• c) names of counties in the Uk, e.g. Yorks. – Yorkshire, Berks. – Berkshire;

• d) names of states in the USA, e.g. Ala. – Alabama, Minn. – Minnesota;

• e) names of address, e.g. Mr., Mrs., Dr.;

• f) military ranks, e.g. Capt. – captain, Sgt. – sergeant;

• g)scientific degrees, e.g. B.A. – Bachelor of Arts, D.Sc. – Doctor of Science;

• h) units of time, length, weight, e.g. sec. – second, kg – kilogram

The reading of some graphical abbreviations depends on the context, for example the
abbreviation m. can be read as: male, married, masculine, minute; av. Can be read as
avenue or average.
 2. Ways of Forming Phraseological Units. Semantic Structure of Phraseological Units

• A.V.Koonin classified phraseological units according to the way

they are formed.
• He pointed out primary and secondary ways of forming
phraseological units.
• Primary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a
unit is formed on the basis of a free word-group by:
• a) Transferring the meaning of terminological word-groups, for
example, in cosmic technique we can point out the phrase 'launching pad'
which in its terminological meaning is 'platform from which a spacecraft is
launched', but in its transferred meaning – 'an effective starting point for a
career, enterprise or campaign'. The verb 'to link up' ('to join/connect two
spacecrafts') in its transferred meaning means 'to get/become acquainted with
somebody'.
• The semantic structure of phraseological units is formed by
semantic ultimate constituents called macrocomponents of meaning. There are
the following principal macrocomponents in the semantic structure of
phraseological units:
a) Denotational (descriptive) macrocomponent that contains the information
about the objective reality,
b) From free word groups by transforming their meaning, e.g. granny farm
(“bording house for aged people”), Trojan horse (“a kind of computer virus”).
c) By means of alliteration, e.g. a sad sack (“a clumsy person who makes
mistakes despite good intentions), culture vulture (“a person considered to be
excessively interested in the arts”).
d) By means of expressiveness; it is most characteristic for forming
interjections, e.g. My aunt! (an exclamation of surprise or amazement); Hear,
hear! (an exclamation used to show approval of something said).
 e) By means of distorting a word group, e.g. odds and ends (“small items that
are not valuable”) was formed from “odd ends”.
f) By using archaisms , e.g. in brown study means “in gloomy meditation”
where both components preserve their archaic meanings.
• g) By using a sentence in a different sphere of life. For example,
“that cock won't fight” can be a free word-group when used in sports (cock
fighting), but it becomes a phraseological unit when used metaphorically in
everyday life (an expression of refusal or rejection).
• h) By using some unreal image, e.g. 'to have butterflies in the
stomach' (“to have a nervous feeling”), to have green fingers (“considerable
talent or ability to grow plants”).
• i) By using expression of writers or politicians in everyday life,
e.g. corridors of power (Snow), the winds of change (Mc Millan).
Secondary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a
phraseological unit is formed on the basis of another phraseological unit. They
are:
• a) Conversion, e .g. to vote with one's feet was converted into vote
with one's feet;
• b) Changing the grammar form , e.g. Make hay while the sun
shines is transferred into a verbal phrase – 'to make hay while the sun shines';
• c) Analogy, e.g. Curiosity killed the cats transferred into Care
killed the cat;