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Contraction or shortening

A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters (actually, sounds).[1] In traditional grammar, contraction can denote the formation of a new word from one word or a group of words, for example, by elision. This often occurs in rendering a common sequence of words or, as in French, in maintaining a flowing sound.

In linguistic analysis, contractions should not be confused with abbreviations nor acronyms (including initialisms), with which they share some semantic and phonetic functions, though all three are connoted by the term "abbreviation" in loose parlance.[1] Contraction is also distinguished from clipping, where beginnings and endings are omitted.

English has a number of contractions, mostly involving the elision of a vowel (which is replaced by an apostrophe in writing), as in I'm for "I am", and sometimes other changes as well, as in won't for "will not". These contractions are commonly used in speech and in informal writing, though tend to be avoided in more formal writing.

Some other simplified pronunciations of common word groups, which can equally be described as cases of elision, may also be considered (non-standard) contractions (not enshrined into the written standard language, but frequently expressed in written form anyway), such as wanna for want to, gonna for going to, y'all for you all, and others common in colloquial speech.

In subject–auxiliary inversion, the contracted negative forms behave as if they were auxiliaries themselves, changing place with the subject. For example, the interrogative form of He won't go is Won't he go, whereas the uncontracted equivalent is Will he not go?, with not following the subject.

There are TWO types of contractions: grammatical contractions and single word contractions. 1. Grammatical contractions join together two words to make a single word. Examples: it’s (it is, it has); don’t (do not); can’t (cannot); you’ll (you will); should’ve (should have); would’ve (would have); we’re (we are); aren’t (are not); isn’t (is not), shan’t (shall not); let’s (let us); who’s (who is, who has); they’re; (they are); doesn’t (does not) 2. Single word contractions are the shortened form of words that begin and end with the same letters as the original word, and do NOT have a full-stop. Generally speaking, you should avoid using these in your writing unless they are commonly used in a particular field of study (discipline) or used in a reference list or in-text citation. Examples: govt (government); dept (department), Cwth (Commonwealth), Qld (Queensland)

Abbreviations An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word that does NOT end in the same letter as the original word. Generally, full-stops are used. Unless the word is used in your reference list or is an accepted form for in-text references, it is important to follow the rules for formal writing and write the term in full. 1. Days and months: Write in full in your text, but use the correct standard abbreviation for longer months when it is used in your reference list



Examples: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. 2. Compass points: Write in full in your text and hyphenate compound forms—do not capitalise unless you use the abbreviated form in diagrams or illustrations. Examples: north, south, east, west, south-western, south-easterly winds 3. Geographical features: Always write the full name of geographical features in your written text—do not use abbreviations as you would do on a map or diagram. Examples: Sydney Harbour, North Island, Snowy Mountains, Brisbane River, Cape York Shortened phrases

There are TWO main types of shortened phrases: acronyms and initialisms. Most shortened phrases are acceptable in your formal writing if you follow the rules. Some shortened phrases can be used as acronyms and initialisms without writing in the full term—this will depend on the discipline requirements and common usage.

● Acronyms are strings of initial letters of a group of words/phrase that are PRONOUNCED as a word. They are usually written in capitals, but some more familiar acronyms use lower case. Examples: TAFE, NATO, WHO, AIDS, ROM, ATSIC, CD, Telstra, Anzac, Qantas, scuba, radar ● Initialisms are strings of initial letters that are PRONOUNCED letter by letter. The initials are written in capital letters and no full stops are used. 1. Geographical terms: Always write the names of countries and geographical places in full in your formal academic texts Examples: United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), New Zealand (NZ) 2. Australian states and territories: Write in full the first time, then use the correct standard abbreviation—In New South Wales (NSW), the law states that …Commonly known terms: If a term is mostly known by its initials then you can use it that way; otherwise, you must follow the rule.

The classification of English consonants.

In the English consonant system there are 24 consonants. The quality of the consonants depends on several aspects: 1. the work of the vocal cords; 2. what cavity is used as a resonator; 3. the force of the articulation and some other factors. There are four principles of consonant classification: 1. the type of obstruction and the manner of production of noise. We distinguish 2 classes of consonants: a) occlusive c., in the production of which a complete obstruction is formed [t, b,g]; b) constrictive c., in the production of which an incomplete obstruction is formed.[s,z,Ʒ] Each of the two classes is subdivided into noise consonants and sonorants. Noise consonants are divided into plosives (or stops) and affricates and constrictive sounds. Sonorants are divided into occlusive and constrictive sounds. Constrictive sonorants may be medial [n] and lateral [l]. 2.Another principle is the place of articulation. Consonants are classed into 1) labial, 2) lingual, 3) glottal. The first class is subdivided into a) bilabial [p]; b) labio- dental [v]; the second class is subdivided into: a) fore lingual or apical, articulated with the tip of the tongue [l, t, n, d], b) mediolingual [j], c)back lingual [k, g,], d) pharingal [h]. 3.The next principle is the presence or absence of voice which depends on the work of the vocal cords. All voiced consonants are weak (lenis) and all voiceless c. are strong (fortis). 4. The next principle is the position of the soft palate. According to this, E. consonants can be oral and nasal.(m,n,n).

The classification of English vowels. In the E. vowel system there are 12 vowel monophthongs and 8 or 9 diphthongs. The quality of a vowel depends, first of all, on its stability, on the tongue position, lip position, character of the vowel end, length, tenseness. 1. According to this principle E. vowels are subdivided into monophthongs, b) diphthongs, c) diphthongoids.[ i: ], [ u: ]. According to the position of the tongue vowels are classed from vertical and horizontal planes. From the horizontal plane vowels are divided into : 1. front; 2. front-retracted ; 3.central ; 4. back ; 5. back-advanced. From the vertical plane E. vowels are divided into: 1. close; 2. mid; 3. open. Each class has wide and narrow variations. According to the lip rounding vowels have 3 positions: spread, neutral, rounded. The next point is checkness. All E. short vowels are checked when stressed. The degree of checkness depends on the following consonant. All long vowels are free. According to the length E. vowels are traditionally divided into short and long vowels, it is a historical phenomenon. Besides, there exists the positional length of vowels, depending on the position of a vowel in a word. From the point of view of tenseness all historically long vowels are tense, while short vowels are lax.

The diphthong theory. The phonemic status of English diphthongs is still a question of discussion. Diphthongs are complex units of the two elements which are closely blended together. They are syllabically indivisible,the length of diphthongs is the same as that of English long vowels. In Russian there are no diphthongs, only combinations of sounds where both elements are equally energetic and distinct. English diphthongs consist of two elements, the first of which is a nucleus, strong and distinct; the second is a glide, which is very weak and indistinct. There exist languages where the second element of a diphthong is a nucleus, being strong and distinct, while the first element is weak and indistinct.(Italian, Latvian- piano, ruoka). Such diphthongs are considered to be false and rising, while English diphthongs are considered to be true and falling. There are 8 English diphthongs: close |ie|, |ue|; mid |ou|, |ei|; open |ea|, |oi|, |ai|, |au|. They are characterized according to the tongue position and the position of the lips.

 


Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1246


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