AComparisonbetweenEnglishandChineseAbbreviations

许佳

In Websters New Collegiate Dictionary， abbreviation is defined as a shortening of a word or a phrase. As a matter of fact， since the old times， abbreviation has been a common linguistic phenomenon in English and Chinese languages.

I Abbreviations in English

Initialism is defined as an abbreviation that uses the first letter of each word in the phrase. In our everyday life， there are ATM （Auto Teller Machine）， and TOFEL （Test of English as a Foreign Language）. In computer science， there are also lots of abbreviations generated， for example PC （Personal Computer）... （Yu， 2002）

Acronym refers to an abbreviation of several words in such a way that the abbreviation itself forms a word. Maybe SARS （Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome） is an English acronym of most familiarity to our Chinese.

Clipping words refer to abbreviations of long or sophisticated words with most letters clipped. It can be subdivided into four categories： front clipping， back clipping， front and back clipping， and middle clipping. There are burger （hamburger）， zoo （zoological park），flu （influenza）， and maths （mathematics）.

Blending refers to abbreviation which blends two or more words into one word. Nowadays， more and more blending words are taken as independent words but not abbreviation. In blending words， there are DYNAMO （dynamic models）， smog （smoke+fog ）， fortnight （fourteen nights）， REFORGER （Return for Germany）， twas （it was）.

II Classification of the Forming Patterns of Chinese Abbreviations

Chinese is a language laying much stresses on meaning； therefore abbreviations in Chinese take meaning but not form as its main point to consider， for example， if we abbreviate “上海吊車厂”into “上吊”or “自贡纺纱厂” into “自杀”， it will lead into ambiguity or even become a standing joke. Chinese abbreviation could be classified into： condensation， reversal initialism， clipping， numeral abbreviation， and abbreviation with substitution.

Condensation refers to the way to condense two or more words into one word. This type of abbreviation formation is equal to blending of English abbreviation formation， e.g. 阿联酋 （阿拉伯联合酋长共和国.）

Reversal initialism is to extract the initial character of every word， e.g. 西欧 （欧洲西部）. As in English， clipping in Chinese refers the way to clip characters from the original word， e.g. 清华 （清华大学）；解放军（中国人民解放军）.

The numeral abbreviation could be found in phrases like. 三教 （儒教、道教、佛教） ，四书 （《大学》 《中庸》 《论语》 《孟子》）.

III Differences between English and Chinese Abbreviations

One of the differences between English and Chinese abbreviations lies in their components. English abbreviations take letters as the basic components. Every letter could stand for more than one meaning. In contrary， Chinese abbreviations take Chinese characters as basic components. Almost every Chinese character could stand for a stable meaning.

Additionally are differences of their forming features. The arbitrary combination of sound， form， and meaning makes the formation of English abbreviations very flexible， which causes the trend to give many old abbreviations new meanings， for example， we could explain PhD as permanent head Damage. On the contrary， meanings of Chinese abbreviations are not so flexible as面授 （面對面地讲授）.

Then comes the differences of formations. As many English words are multi-syllables， English abbreviations could be abbreviations of words， phrases or sentences. On the contrary， as Chinese characters are monosyllables， Chinese abbreviations are mainly of phrases more than four characters. The meaning of every Chinese character is comparatively stable， so Chinese abbreviations could maintain the information and meaning of the original phrases very well.

【参考文献】

[1] 陈瑜，韦莉萍. 英汉缩略语对比[J]. 广西广播电视大学学报，2005（2）： 33-35.

[2]余富林.英汉缩略语的比较与应用[M]. 北京：清华大学出版社， 2002.

[3]张韵斐.现代英语词汇学概论[M]. 北京：北京师范大学出版社， 1987.