Abbreviation

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or a phrase.

This process can happen through several different methods. One method is a contraction, which replaces letters with an apostrophe, such as "I'm" for "I am." Another method is an initialism, which uses the first letter of a sequence of words without punctuation, like "FBI" or "USA." When an initialism is pronounced as a single word rather than separate letters, it is specifically called an acronym, such as "NASA" or "SWAT." These methods allow writers to communicate ideas more efficiently.

There are several distinct ways to form these short forms. A contraction specifically uses an apostrophe to signify missing letters. An initialism uses the starting letters of a group of words. A crasis is another method of shortening that shares functions with contractions and initialisms. Some abbreviations are simply truncated words, which are shortened versions of a word that usually end with a trailing full stop or period. For example, the term "etc." is a common abbreviation for the Latin phrase "et cetera."

Abbreviations have a long and varied history. In ancient times, they were often used because writing was physically difficult. Many inscriptions were carved directly into stone, so saving space was vital. In both Greek and Roman writing, reducing a word to a single letter was common. Roman inscriptions often used the initial letter or letters of words. However, a single letter could have many different meanings depending on the context. For example, the letter "a" could stand for many different words in Roman writing.

During the 15th through 17th centuries, the standardization of English led to more abbreviations. In early English manuscripts, such as copies of the poem "Beowulf," writers used many abbreviations to ensure "not much space is wasted." Some used the Tironian "et" to represent the word "and." During the Early Modern English period, people also used the "thorn" character to represent the "th" sound. This era saw a growth in using various suspension signs to reduce the time needed to manually copy academic texts.

In the modern era, technology has driven a massive rise in colloquial abbreviation. During the 1990s, the popularity of instant messaging and text messaging changed how people wrote. The original SMS system supported a maximum length of only 160 characters. This brevity led to an informal scheme known as "Textese." In a typical SMS message, 10% or more of the words may be abbreviated. Later, the social networking service Twitter also drove this trend with its 140-character message limits.

Writing style conventions for abbreviations can be quite complex and controversial. One major debate involves the use of full stops, also known as periods. According to "Hart's Rules," a period should be used if letters are dropped from the end of a word, but not if they are dropped from the middle. However, "Fowler's Modern English Usage" suggests using periods for both, though it recommends against it for certain types. Different regions also have different rules. In American English, periods are often included in abbreviations like "Dr." or "Mrs."

In contrast, many British publications, such as "The Guardian," avoid periods entirely.

There are also specific rules for capitalization and plurals. If the original word was capitalized, the abbreviation should retain that capital, such as "Lev." for "Leviticus." If an abbreviation is used for a phrase where only the first letter of each word is taken, all letters are capitalized, like "FYI" for "for your information." When making abbreviations plural, rules vary. Some people use an apostrophe, like "PC's," but many academic guides, such as the "MLA" and "APA," advise against this. Instead, they prefer simply adding an "s," such as "DVDs" or "URLs."

Finally, some abbreviations eventually transition into the broader vocabulary of a language. When an acronym becomes a common, generic word, it is no longer written with capital letters or periods. Familiar examples of this include "sonar," "radar," "laser," and "scuba." These words have become so integrated into daily speech that they are treated as standard vocabulary. This shows how the functional need for brevity can permanently change the way a language is structured and written.