LoginClipping and Hypocorism
In this lesson you will learn how clipping simplifies words and how hypocorism creates affectionate or informal versions. Practice with examples and exercises to deepen your understanding.
What Is Clipping?
Clipping or shortening, is another word formation process in which we can shorten a long word and make a synonym. Clipping will not change the meaning of a word and it is mainly used in informal speech.
Clipping: Types
There are four types of clipping, depending on which part of the word is reduced. Take a look at the following:
Final clipping (the most common form): When the final part of a word or phrase is reduced. In this type, the first part remains unchanged.
vegetarian: veg
cabriolet: cab
photograph: photo
biology: bio
discotheque: disco
Initial clipping (fore-clipping): It involves reduction of the initial part of the word. In this type, the final part remains unchanged.
motorbike: bike
hamburger: burger
caravan: van
telephone: phone
omnibus: bus
Medial clipping: this type involves clipping both the first and the final part of a word or phrase. In this type, the middle part of the word is kept.
refrigerator: fridge
Here, 'refrigerator' is a loan word from Latin and ' fridge' was then derived from it by English speakers. At first it was spelt 'frig' but over time, regular spelling rules were applied to it and it became 'fridge'.
influenza: flu
prescription: script
Complex clipping: It occurs when a compound word is shortened by keeping and merging its initial parts. Most of the time one part of the original compound remains intact and sometimes both parts of a compound are clipped.
permanent wave: perm
As you can see, only the first part of the compound word remains and the rest is clipped.
public house: pub
Here, only the initial of the first part remains.
navigation certificate: navicert
Here, final parts of both words were clipped and then blended together.
grandmother: granma
As you can see, It is both clipping and blending.
Tip!
English speakers tend to clip each other's names. For example, instead of saying 'Alexander', they would say 'Alex' or just 'Al'. There are many more examples such as 'Jen' for 'Jennifer' or 'Dan' for 'Daniel'.
Clippings as Slangs or Jargons
Some linguists believe that clippings originated as slang or jargon among students and teachers in schools, officers and soldiers in the army, or doctors and nurses in the medical profession. Let's take a look at some examples of clippings in these contexts:
professor: prof
chemistry: chem
physical education: phys-ed
political science: poly-sci
Gymnasium: gym
Warning!
Do not forget that clipping is different from abbreviation. Clipping involves shortening a word by removing syllables, while abbreviation involves shortening a word or phrase by using its initial letters or syllables. In addition, abbreviations can end in a full stop such 'Jan.' for 'January'. However, in clipping, we are not allowed to end words with a full stop.
What is Hypocorism?
Hypocorism is a way of shortening a long word to just one syllable by adding –ie- or –y to its ending. This word formation process is mainly used in British and Australian English.
Why We Use Hypocorism?
The term 'hypocorism' comes from the Greek word meaning 'to use child-talk'. So, it is a way of showing affection and closeness to someone or something. In brief, hypocorisms could be used as pet name or nickname. Hypocorism is also commonly used in informal speech, especially among British and Australian speakers in everyday life.
Common Examples of Hypocorism
Here are some good examples of hypocorism:
William: Billy or Willy
In this example, it is used as a nickname.
chocolate: chockie
As you can see, 'chokie' is used by Australians in informal speech.
dog: doggie
Here, 'doggie' shows affection to 'dog'.
toasted sandwich: toastie
Here, 'toastie' is being used in informal speech.
grandmother: granny
Here, it shows someone's love for their 'grandmother'.
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