Shortening

is the process and the result of forming a word out of the initial elements of a word combination

Types of Shortening – 1. Clipping 2. Blending 3. Abbreviation 4. Acronyms

1. Clipping - is a type of word-building shortening of spoken words
 i n i t i a l clipping - e.g., cap (captain), phone (telephone), story (history), chute (parachute);
 f i n a l clipping - e.g., cap (captain), gym (gymnasium, gymnastics), lab (laboratory);
 m e d i a l clipping - e.g., fancy (fantasy), ma'am (madam).
2. Blending - is a type of compounding by means of merging parts of words into new one word.
 coining a new word from the initial elements of one word and the final elements of another,
e.g., drunch (drink + lunch), skort (skirt + short);
 coining a new word by combining one notional word arid the final element of another word,
e.g., manglish (man + English), radiotrician (radio + electrician);
 combining the initial elements of one word with a notional word, e.g., mobus (motors +
bus), legislady (legislative lady).
3. Abbreviation - is a type of shortening when words are formed from the initial letters of each
part of a phrasal term. Abbreviations are pronounced as a series of letters, i.e. the alphabetical
reading of the letters is retained. E.g., B.B.C. (The British Broadcasting Corporation), M.P.
(Member of Parliament), P.M. (Prime Minister), T.V. (Television), Y.C.L. (The Young
Communist League).
4. Acronyms - are abbreviated words formed from the initial letters of word-combination; the
abbreviated written form lends itself to be read as though, it were an ordinary English word
and sounds like an English word. E.g., NATO - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, UNO  -
United Nations Organization, SALT - Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, radar – radio detecting
and ranging; laser – light amplification stimulated emission radio; maser – microwave
amplification stimulated emission radio.