Salahaddin University-Hawler

College of Basic Education

(Master of Education/ Linguistics)

A Term Paper about

Word-formation by clipping, blending, and acronym

In Kurdish and English languages

Supervised by:

Asst. Prof. Hussein Ali wali

Prepared by:

Asmaa Kh. A
(M. A Student in Linguistics First course)

2015
Table of content

Abstract
Introduction
1. What is morphology?
2. What is word-formation process?
3. Words, lexemes and the elements of word-formation
4. Non-morphematic word-formation
5. An introduction to Kurdish language
6. Clipping
6.1. Types of clipping
6.1.1. Back clipping
6.1.2. Fore clipping
6.1.3. Middle clipping
6.1.4. Complex clipping
7. Acronym
7.1. Types of Acronyms
7.2. Categories of acronyms as examples
8. Blending
8.1. Formation of blending
8.2. Different types of blend

Summary and Conclusion

References

1
Abstract
As the title indicates the study deals with the Word-formation by clipping, blending,
and acronym in Kurdish and English languages. Mainstream word-formation is concerned
with the formation of new words from morphemes. In this paper I am just taking the
clipping, acronyming and blending processes of word formation and I will explain how they
have roles in forming new words. I will do it by using a list of blends, clipping, and
acronyms that I have taken them from internet, books, journals, and from many people who
knows Kurdish and English including my parents, friends, and my classmates. The words
were looked up in formal dictionaries and counseled with some doctors and college teachers
who masters in Kurdish and English languages. Clipping: is the process when a word of
more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form like (prof). Acronym: formed from the
initial letters of a set other word like (ATO). Blending: is another word formation process by
blending the first part of one word with the last part of the other. I.e. usually two different
parts of two different words are blended to form a new one like (motel).
The objective of this paper is to shows how these word formation processes (clipping,
blending, and acronym) are form new words. How many types of clipping do we have? How
many types of acronym do we have? What are the categories of acronym (as examples)?
And it is also dealing with different types of blending, in both, English and Kurdish,
languages.
The hypothesis of the study is to find out that Kurdish language have relationship with
the English one in the process of word formation, i.e. they are related to each other, and as
well as have their own differences. The English and Kurdish languages are constantly
changing. New words are created in many different ways. Acronymy, clipping and blending
are three highly productive ways in which abbreviation (i.e., the shortening of words) is
involved in English and Kurdish word-formation and those processes are “expressive
symbolism.

2
Introduction
Words are considered as one of the most important components of language. One of
the features of a living language is that it constantly changes with new words finding their
way into the vocabulary of the language. Languages’ vocabularies grow from time to time as
a result of new innovations that continuously spring up in different sectors of life and human
endeavour; we can understand new words and form new ones, because we know the rules of
word formation in the language that we use. These are the so-called morphological rules that
we have in our heads – they determine the grammaticality of the words we produce. In its
wider sense word formation denotes the processes of creation of new lexical units

We live in the age of information and we are therefore in constant need of new words.
English and Kurdish have acquired new words by borrowing words from every language it
has been in contact with. Another and a more common way is to create completely new
words. This is done by regular and predictable processes such as compounding, clipping,
back-formation, derivation, acronyming and blending, etc. Although it seems that the
difference between morphological change of a word and creation of a new term is quite easy
to perceive, there is sometimes a dispute as to whether blending is still a morphological
change or making a new word. There are, of course, numerous word formation processes
that do not arouse any controversies and are very similar in the majority of languages.

3
 1. What is morphology?
It is the systematic study of covariation in the form and meaning of words,
(haspelmath, 2010:335).
"It is the study of word formation, including the ways new words are coined in the
languages of the world, and the way new words are varied depending on how they're used
in sentences. As a native speaker of your language you have intuitive knowledge of how
to form new words, and everyday you recognize and understand new words that you've
never heard before." (Lieber, 2010:2).
2. What is word-formation process?
Is the process where new words are formed (created) and deals with how new words are
being formed in the language and the process consists of a combination of morphemes that
are rule-governed. Word-formation is that branch of the science of language which studies
the patterns on which a language forms new lexical units, i.e. words. Word-formation can
only be concerned with composites which are analysable both formally and semantically …

3. Words, lexemes and the elements of word-formation

According to Marchand (1969: 1), the word is “the smallest independent, indivisible, and
meaningful unit of speech, susceptible of transposition in sentences.” A more precise term is
the lexeme. Lexemes are “the items listed in the lexicon, or ‘ideal dictionary’, of a language”
(Cruse 1986: 49)
The lexeme is a ‘word’ in the sense of “abstract vocabulary item” (Katamba 1993: 17f),
the inflected realization of which is used in sentences. Similarly, Crystal (1995: 118) defines
the lexeme as “a unit of lexical meaning, which exists regardless of any inflectional endings
it may have or the number of words it may contain”, and Haspelmath (2002: 13) defines the
lexeme as an abstract “dictionary word” consisting of a “set of word forms”, while a word
form is a concrete “text word” which “belongs to one lexeme”. McArthur’s (1992: 599)
definition of the lexeme is remarkable for its inclusion of non-morphematic processes;
according to him, a lexeme is “a unit in the lexicon or vocabulary of a language. Its form is
governed by sound and writing or print, its content by meaning and use”; lexemes can be
single words, parts of words (auto-, -logy), “groups of words” (blackbird, kick the bucket),
and “shortened forms” (flu, UK).

Marchand’s (1969: 2) admits that there are formations which are not morpheme-based:
“This book … will deal with two major groups: 1) words formed as grammatical syntagmas,
i.e. combinations of full linguistic signs, and 2) words which are not grammatical syntagmas,
i.e. which are not made up of full linguistic signs.” His “non-grammatical” word-formation
processes (his category 2) comprise “expressive symbolism”, blending, clipping, rime and
ablaut gemination, and “word-manufacturing” (Marchand, 1969: 2f). Thus, Marchand (1969:
451) maintains that blends, for example, are monemes, as they are not analyzable in terms of
constituent morphemes. Numerous more recent studies agree with Marchand, for example
Bauer (1983: 232) who calls non-morphematic word-formation processes “unpredictable”,
and Aronoff (1981: 20) who labels them as “oddities ”.
4
 This has even led to a certain debate about whether non-morphematic word-formation
processes should be part of word-formation. Štekauer (1998: 1) for instance, observes that
linguists differ in their opinions as to whether word-formation is to be restricted to
affixation, with compounding being shifted to syntax, whether such processes as back-
formation, conversion m (zero-derivation), blending, clipping etc., are to be included within
the theory of word-formation, and if so – what their status is with regard to the ‘main’ word-
formation processes, etc." And he decides to “exclude collocations and non-morpheme-
based formations from the Word-Formation Component” (Štekauer 1998: 164).

Haspelmath (2002: 2f) also excludes non-morphematic word-formation processes, such

as acronyms, blends and clippings, from the central focus of word-formation, as morphology
is “the study of systematic covariation in the form and meaning of words” or “the study of
the combination of morphemes to yield words” with morphemes as “[t]he smallest
meaningful constituents of words that can be identified” (Haspelmath 2002: 3).

According to Ayto (1999: ix), acronyms and blends are symbols of the second half of the
th
20 century. Acronyms, in particular, have become increasingly productive, due to the use of
computers and electronic communication. In their book about word-formation intended for
the wider public, Steinmetz & Kipfer (2006: 38-65; 159-165) even discuss acronymy,
blending and clipping before compounding and derivation (Steinmetz & Kipfer 2006: 188-
203). This makes sense in a book intended for the wider, “lay” public, due to the catchiness
of non-morphematic word-formation processes. They emphasize the use-relatedness of non-
morphematic word-formation processes, their economy (Steinmetz & Kipfer 2006: 40),
humour (Steinmetz & Kipfer 2006: 47) and their increasing popularity in the 20th century.

Traditionally, the morpheme has been defined as a unit of form and meaning, a full
linguistic sign. These are the four essential properties of all morphemes: (1) they are
packaged with meaning; (2) they can be recycled; (3) they may be represented by any
number of syllables; and (4) morphemes ‘morph’, i.e., they may have phonetically different
shapes. However, as there are word-formation processes which do not make use of
morphemes, the contributions of smaller units than the morpheme to these word-formation
processes will be discussed: initials in the case of acronyms, splinters in the case of blends,
and free splinters in the case of clippings.

5
 4. Non-morphematic word-formation

According to Fandrych (2004), non-morphematic word-formation is defined as any word-

formation process that is not morpheme-based …, that is, which uses at least one element
which is not a morpheme; this element can be a splinter, a phonestheme, part of a syllable,
an initial letter, a number or a letter used as a symbol. (Fandrych 2004: 18; emphasis in
original) In English, the major non-morphematic word-formation processes are acronymy,
blending, clipping and onomatopoeia. Fandrych (2004: 18) considers back-formation, or
back-derivation, as morphematic, because “usually, a suffix (that is a morpheme) is deleted”
(emphasis in original).
In some of the literature, acronyms and blends are categorised as subtypes of each other,
for example in Stockwell & Minkova (2001: 7): Acronyms … are a special type of blend. A
typical acronym takes the first sound form each of several words and makes a new word
from those initial sounds. If the resulting word is pronounced like any other word it is a true
acronym … Often, however, to make an acronym pronounceable, we take not just the initial
sounds but, for example, the first consonant and the first vowel together. … These are half-
way between blends and acronyms.
Similarly, Plag (2003: 13) states that blends are amalgamations of parts of different
words, such as smog (_ smoke/fog) or modem (modulator/demodulator). Blends based on
orthography are called acronyms, which are coined by combining the initial letters of
compounds or phrases into a pronounceable new word (_ATO, U_ESCO, etc.). Simple
abbreviations like UK or USA are also quite common. The classification of blending either
as a special case of compounding or as a case of non-affixational derivation is not so clear
… we will argue that it is best described as derivation. (Emphases in original)
Some researchers try to explain acronyms, blends and clippings in terms of their
orthographical and/or phonological structures, using, for example, syllable boundaries to
explain blend structure. One such attempt is by Plag (2003: 116-129) who attempts to
explain acronyms, blends and clippings as “Prosodic Morphology”. McCully & Holmes
(1988) claim that acronyms are formed on the basis of phonological rules. This is hardly
convincing, as it is one of their special features that most acronyms are formed consciously
and with pen and paper in hand – especially reverse acronyms, such as PI_, PLA_ and top.
However, as the analysis below will show, the attempts to analyse acronyms, blends
and clippings as sub-categories of each other or in terms of their orthographical and/or
phonological make-up is not convincing. In each of the three non-morphematic word
formation processes under discussion, we can identify specific submorphemic elements
which are involved in their formation and contribute in various ways to their subtypes:
initials, splinters and free splinters. Therefore, the next sections will discuss the
contributions made by

5. An introduction to Kurdish language

6
 Kurdish is a new western Iranian language spoken in Kurdistan; it ranks as the
third largest Iranian language group, after Persian and Pashto, and has numerous
dialects. There are two main dialect groups. The northern group—spoken from Mosul,
Iraq, into the Caucasus—is called Kurmānji; in Turkey, Hawar (Turkized Latin)
characters are used in the written form. It is spoken within a broad region that
stretches roughly from Orūmīyeh, Iran, to the lower reaches of traditional Kurdistan in
Iraq. In Iraq, Kurdī is the official form of Kurdish. Subdialects of Kurdish include
Kermanshahī, Lekī, Guranī, and Zaza.

6. Clipping

Clipping means cutting of the beginning or the end of a word, or both, leaving a part
to stand for the whole. (Stageberg, 1981:122)

It is a means of creating new word by shortening already existing words. (Lieber,

2010:53). It is the process of shortening a polysyllabic word by deleting one or more
syllables. It is the word formation process which consists in the reduction of a word to
one of its parts (Marchand: 1969). Usually, both the original word and the new clipped
word can coexist. Clipping is also known as "truncation" or "shortening

According to Marchand (1969), clippings are not coined as words belonging to the
standard vocabulary of a language. They originate as terms of a special group like
schools, army, police, the medical profession, etc., in the intimacy of a milieu where a
hint is sufficient to indicate the whole. For example, exam (ination), math(ematics), and
lab(oratory) originated in school slang; spec(ulation) and tick(et = credit) in stock-
exchange slang; and vet(eran) and cap(tain) in army slang. While clipping terms of some
influential groups can pass into common usage, becoming part of Standard English,
clippings of a socially unimportant class or group will remain group slang as Kurdish
language. In Kurdish most clippings are of proper nouns, for example, proper names as
‫ روذان= رؤذة‬,‫… نازةنين= نازة‬etc. Clipping differs from back-formation (: Creative reduction
due to incorrect morphological analysis. E.g.: editor  edit, television  televise) in that
the new word retains the meaning of the original word.

Notice that the short form or clipping represents the word in its entirety; however, that
fragment does not have to be the salient part of the original word, neither prosodically nor
semantically. Also, the clipping may not be used in the same contexts as the longer word.
For example, the word exam is mostly used to refer to academic examinations or tests, not to
medical examinations or check-ups. Clipped forms generally show a certain tone of
informality, which is often reflected in their spellings; e.g., showbiz for show business,
'cause ('cuz or cos) for because, praps for perhaps. Due to semantic disassociation, clipping
is sometimes used for euphemistic or obfuscator purposes, as in Mia, an in-group term used
by young women afflicted with bulimia in their chartrooms.
7
 Kreidler (1979: 26) notes that clipping means the “subtraction of material which is not
obviously morphemic”, while Plag (2003: 22) hypothesizes that clipping (or ‘truncation’) is
“the process of deleting material itself which is the morph”, thus possibly even necessitating
a new morpheme definition: “Truncation is a process in which the relationship between a
derived word and its base is expressed by the lack of phonetic material in the derived word”
(Plag 2003: 116). ".

6.1. Clipping mainly consists of the following types:

a) Back clipping
b) Fore clipping
c) Middle clipping
d) Complex clipping

6.1.1. Back clipping

Back clipping or apocopation is the most common type, in which the beginning is
retained. The unclipped original may be either a simple or a composite. Examples are:

ad (advertisement) cable (cablegram)

doc (doctor) exam (examination)

gas (gasoline) math (mathematics)

memo (memorandum) gym (gymnastics, gymnasium)

mutt (muttonhead) pub (public house)

pop (popular concert) trad (traditional jazz)

fax (facsimile)

Kurdish language also as English language most of the clipping words are in
:.the type of back clipping, e.g
,‫وردة‬ss‫تان=ك‬ss‫كوردس‬, ‫خودا= خوا‬, ‫ بلة‬OR ‫ابراهيم برايم‬, ‫بةختيار= بةخة‬, ‫خدية=خةجة‬, ‫محمد=حمة‬, ‫بةغداد= بةغا‬
‫ةزة‬s‫ز=ع‬ss‫عزي‬, ‫ جةمال=جة مة‬,‫ عةبو‬,‫ عةوال‬,‫عباللة= عبدول‬, ‫ نيشتمان= نيشتة‬, ‫ طوليخان= طولى‬OR ‫طوليشان‬
,
, ‫ة‬ss‫ان= دل‬ss‫ دلةخش‬, ‫ارو‬ss‫اروان = ك‬ss‫ ك‬, ‫مكؤ‬ss‫ س‬,‫مايل‬ss‫ س‬,‫مة‬ss‫ماعيل = س‬ss‫ اس‬, ‫ة‬ss‫ يوس‬OR ‫ يوسف= ويسة‬,‫على= عال‬
=‫ روذان‬, ‫ازة‬ss‫ازةنين= ن‬ss‫ ن‬, ‫ةرى‬ss‫ةريخان= ث‬ss‫ ث‬, ‫ايش‬s‫ ع‬,‫ عايشة= عةيشى‬, ‫دلير=دلة‬, ‫ثةروين= ثةرة‬
, ‫ خدر= خلة‬, ‫ نزار= نزة‬, ‫رؤذة‬
‫ة‬ss‫ فاتيم‬, ‫ة‬ss‫ ئامين= ئام‬, ‫ ريبوار= ريبة‬, ‫ نةسرين= نةسة‬, ‫ وةسمان‬,‫ عسمان= عسة‬, ‫ جمعة= جعة‬, ‫نةجات= نة جة‬
‫ قادر = قالة‬,‫ ئة حمةد =ئة حة‬, ‫ فاتئ‬or ‫= فاتة‬
8
English has also clipping within the proper name in their language, such as:
Alfred = Alf or Al, Abraham = Abe, Barbara = Barb, Bartholomew = Bart, Catherine = cat,
Andrew = Andy, Patricia = Patty…
(Plag, 2002:146-54)

6.1.2. Fore clipping

Fore-clipping or aphaeresis retains the final part. Examples are: phone (telephone),
varsity (university), chute (parachute),gator (alligator), pike (turnpike), bot (robot), roach
(cockroach), coon (raccoon), pike (turnpike), net (Internet), alli(gator), Adelbert = Bert,
Abigail= Gail. According to Kurdish language there isn't any fore clipping word, of course
due to my research from too many kind of searching (books, journals, asking from people…
etc.) and still there is no work about this, clipping in general.

6.1.3. Middle clipping

In middle clipping, the middle of the word is retained. Examples are: flu (influenza),
fridge (refrigerator), jams or jammies (pajamas/pyjamas), polly (apollinaris), shrink
(head-shrinker), tec (detective), Alonzo= Lon, Alexandra= Xan, Arabella=Belle. In
Kurdish language we also don't have such a kind.

6.1.4. Complex clipping

Clipped forms are also used in compounds. One part of the original compound most
often remains intact. Examples are: cablegram (cable telegram), op art (optical art), org-
man (organization man), linocut (linoleum cut). Sometimes both halves of a compound
are clipped as in navicert (navigation certificate). In these cases it is difficult to know
whether the resultant formation should be treated as a clipping or as a blend, for the
border between the two types is not always clear. According to Bauer (1993), the easiest
way to draw the distinction is to say that those forms which retain compound stress are
clipped compounds, whereas those that take simple word stress are not. By this criterion
bodbiz, Chicom, Comsymp, Intelsat, midcult, pro-am, sci-fi, and sitcom are all
compounds made of clippings.

According to Marchand (1969), clippings are not coined as words belonging to the
standard vocabulary of a language. They originate as terms of a special group like
schools, army, police, the medical profession, etc., in the intimacy of a milieu where a
hint is sufficient to indicate the whole. For example, in school slang originated exam,
math, lab, and spec(ulation), tick(et = credit) originated in stock-exchange slang, whereas
vet(eran), cap(tain), are army slang. While clipping terms of some influential groups can

9
 pass into common usage, becoming part of Standard English, clippings of a socially
unimportant class or group will remain group slang.

7. Acronym
"Is the process whereby a word is formed from the initial or beginning segments of a
succession of words. In some cases the initials are pronounced, as in MP (military police,
or Member of Parliament). In others the initials and\ or beginning segments are
pronounced as the spelled word would be. For example, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) is pronounced as \neto\ and radar (radio detecting and ranging) as \redar\."
(Stageberg, 1981:123).

Acronymy is the process whereby a new word is formed from the initial letters of the
constituent words of a phrase or sentence. Some well-known examples are WYSIWYG
(What You See Is What You Get), OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), or RAM
(Random Access Memory). Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, such as laser, and
IBM, that are formed using the initial letters of words or word parts in a phrase or name.
Occasionally, not just letters but a whole or part syllable can be used in the formation of an
acronym. These can be thought of as a special case of acronyms.

7.1. Types of Acronyms

there are two main types of acronyms, namely:

1. Acronyms which are pronounced as a word; e.g., NASA \ "noes´\ (= National
Aeronautics and Space Administration), radar \ "reIÆdA…r\ radar \ "reIÆdA…r\ (radio
detecting and ranging), laser (= light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation),
UNESCO \ju…"nesk´U\ (= United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization), BASIC \ "beIsIk\ (= Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code),
COBOL \ "k´UbÅl\ (Common Business Oriented Language), etc.
As can be seen, acronyms of this type often derive from phrasal names. Many of them
belong to the jargon (i.e., specialized language) of particular occupations, organizations or
fields of study (esp. scientific, administrative, and political) and might be completely
meaningless to the persons who are not familiarized with them. Notice also that some of
these acronyms are of so frequent an occurrence that people often use them without the
slightest idea of what the words stand for; e.g., laser, radar.

2. Acronyms which are pronounced as sequences of letters (also called ' alphabetism ');
which is sometimes used to describe abbreviations pronounced as the names of letters, e.g.,
C.O.D. \ si…´U"di…\ ( = cash on delivery), MIT \ emaI"ti…\ (= Massachusetts Institute of
Technology), VIP \ vi…aI"pi…\ (= very important person). In writing, the more
institutionalized formations have no periods between their component letters. This tendency
is especially more common in British English than in American English; e.g., DIY \ di…
aI"waI\ (= do-it-yourself), FBI \ efbi…"aI\ (= Federal Bureau of Investigations).

10
 Note that each constituent letter of these acronyms usually represents a full word or
constituent in the compound, or just a part of a word, as in the following examples: TB \
ti…"bi…\ (= tuberculosis), TV \ti…"vi…\ (= television), c/o (= (in) care of). Likewise,
notice that some of these acronyms are given a quasi-phonetic written form; e.g., Emcee for
M.C. (= Master of Ceremonies), Deejay for DJ (= disc jockey), etc.

For Central Kurdish, acronyms can be spelled out in parentheses for the first time they
occur in the text, and the English acronym can be used for all the rest. Example: OLE
(Object Linking and Embedding)) + (OLE) ‫)لکاندن و بنەجێکردنی شت‬.

Localized Acronyms
Acronyms are not much common in the Central Kurdish, although some of the western
acronyms have been - again - transliterated in Central Kurdish. For example: “OPEC” is
spelled and pronounced and written in Central 30 Kurdish as “‫”ئۆپێک‬. As far as Microsoft’s
style in this regards is concerned, the acronym should be as is in English and followed by the
translation in the full form. For example, “RAM” should be spelled as is and followed by, “
‫ ”بیرگەی تەنیا خوێندەنی‬between parentheses. This is our practice to introduce a term or to give
the user the chance and the time to get familiar with a new term which was not long ago
absent from any Central Kurdish dictionary. And this is what we recommend you do with
acronyms - and sometimes abbreviations. For some well-known acronyms like SIM and
PIN, they can be transliterated to have a more fluent text. Also for terms like SMS that have
a translation if Central Kurdish, it is recommended to use translation. Example:
SIM card = + ‫کارت سیم‬
Pin code = + ‫ثين كؤد‬
SMS = + ‫پەیامۆک‬

Unlocalized Acronyms
However, some acronyms remain in English and are not translated nor transliterated for
some or all of the following reasons:
1. The acronym is so well established as an English word that it has been standardized as
such.
2. Transliterating an acronym would result in an unacceptable word in Central Kurdish.
Example: CD-ROM drive) + (‫ درایڤی‬CD-ROM)

Note
It is acceptable in some cases to present acronyms fully in English in the documentation,
followed by its full spelling in English. For example: ANSI (American National Standards
Institute). When dealing with acronyms that appear in Software UI, like dialogs and menus,
spacing constraints should be considered. If the space doesn't permit using the above
practice, the English acronym should be used. For example: ANSI

Acronyms Examples for Kurdish language:

FEI : Fezalar Educational Institutions, INC : Iraqi National Congress, ITF : Iraqi Turkmen
Front, KDP : Kurdistan Democratic Party, KRG : Kurdistan Regional Government, PUK :
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PKK : Kurdistan Workers Party, TAL : Transitional
Administrational Law, KBA - Kurdistan Bar Association, KJC - Kurdish Judicial Council,
11
The Democratic Union Party more commonly known by its Kurdish-language acronym
(P.Y.D.), a Syrian offshoot of the PKK, the Popular Protection Units (YPG), Kurdish
National Council (KNC),(HPG). (KBA) - Kurdistan Bar Association, (KJC) - Kurdish
Judicial Council

7.2. Categories of acronyms as examples:

a) Pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters:

FNMA: (Fannie Mae) Federal National Mortgage Association

Laser: light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

scuba: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

b) Pronounced as a word, containing non-initial letters:

Amphetamine: Alpha-methyl-phenethylamine

Gestapo: Geheime Staatspolizei ("secret state police")

Interpol: International Criminal Police Organization

radar: radio detection and ranging

c) Pronounced only as the names of letters

BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation

DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid

LED: light-emitting diode

OB-GYN: obstetrics and gyn(a)ecology or obstetrician and gyn(a)ecologist

d) Shortcut incorporated into name

3M: (three em) originally Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

E³: (e three) Electronic Entertainment Exposition

W3C: (double-u three cee) World Wide Web Consortium

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e) Recursive acronyms, in which the abbreviation itself is the expansion of one
initial (particularly enjoyed by the open-source community)

GNU: GNU's Not Unix!

HURD: HIRD of Unix-Replacing Daemons, where "HIRD" stands for "HURD of

Interfaces Representing Depth"

VISA: VISA International Service Association

XNA: XNA's Not Acronymed - Microsoft's new game development framework

f) Pseudo-acronyms are used because, when pronounced as intended, they

resemble the sounds of other words:

ICQ: "I seek you"

IOU: "I owe you"

OU: "Oh, you ate one, too?", a Van Halen album

CQR: "secure", a brand of boat anchor

g) Multi-layered acronyms:

GTK+: GIMP Tool Kit, i.e. GNU Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit, i.e. GNU's
Not Unix Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit

GAIM: GTK+ AOL Instant Messenger, i.e. GIMP Tool Kit America OnLine Instant
Messenger, i.e. GNU Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit America OnLine Instant
Messenger, i.e. GNU's Not Unix Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit America
OnLine Instant Messenger

VHDL: VHSIC Hardware Description Language, i.e. Very High Speed Integrated
Circuits Hardware Description Language.

8. Blending
"Blending is the fusion of two words into one, usually the first part of one word with
the last part of the other" (Stageberg, 1981:124).
13
 "A word composed of the parts of more than one word" (Fromkin, 2009:558).
"Blending is a process of word formation in which parts of lexemes that are not
themselves morphemes are combined to form a new lexeme." (Lieber, 2010:52). So,
blending is a process which takes place when two Elements that do not normally co-
occur are combined into a Single linguistic unit (a blend). Examples:
Motor + hotel = Motel, Breakfast + lunch = Brunch
Wireless + Fidelity = Wi-Fi , breathalyzer (breath + analyzer),
Electrocute (electro + execute), Eurovision (European + television),
Multiple + university= Multiversity, news + broadcast= newscast
Parachute + troops = Paratroops , television + broadcast= telecast
Travel + catalogue= travelogue, teleprinter + exchange= telex

These are all examples for English language. In Kurdish language we have blending
in forming new words if we look at the Kurdish words and try to analyse them, for example
the word (mastaaw) we could get the some truth that:
First: this word seems to be consisted of two simple words, which are (mast + aaw)
Second: the sound (\e\) was missed or excluded in the word (aaw)
Third: the word (mast) with the last part of the word (aaw) was blended and became
as one word, which is mastaaw \ mastaw\.
So we can found that Kurdish language have blending process which is called
datashin. It's definition is the same , i.e. it has the same way in producing a blend word, I
mean the first part of one with the last past of the other in both languages. For example,

Sht+ mak =shmak ( it was blended after deleting the phoneme \t\ in the word (sht)
Ga+ aasn = gasn (it was blended after deleting the first part which is (a) in the word ( aasn)
(d.kaml, 1979:69-70)
Nok+ aaw = nokaw
Gosht+ aaw = goshtaw
awrwpa +Asya = awrasya
shakr+aaw= shakraw
trsh+ aaw= trshaw
jwan+ mer = jwamer
mam+ wasta = mamosta
xwrma + mewzh =xwrmzh
hawt + da=hava
rozhnama + govar = rwfar
do + agha+ aaw = doghawa
band + aaw= bandaw

7.1. Formation of blending

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Most blends are formed by one of the following methods:

1. The beginning of one word is added to the end of the other. For example, brunch is a
blend of breakfast and lunch , xwrmzh is a blend of xwrma and mewzh

2. The beginnings of two words are combined. For example, cyborg is a blend of
cybernetic and organism., smak is a blend of sht and mak

3. One complete word is combined with part of another word. For example, guesstimate is
a blend of guess and estimate.,mastaw is a blend of mast and aaw. This is the most common
method of blending

4. Two words are blended around a common sequence of sounds. For example, the word
Californication, from a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is a blend of California and
fornication.

5. Multiple sounds from two component words are blended, while mostly preserving the
sounds' order. Poet Lewis Carroll was well known for these kinds of blends. An example of
this is the word slithy, a blend of lithe and slimy. This method is difficult to achieve and is
considered a sign of Carroll's verbal wit.

When two words are combined in their entirety, the result is considered a compound word
rather than a blend. For example, bagpipe is a compound, not a blend,

List of English Blend Words

 advertainment, from advertising and entertainment

 advertorial, from advertising and editorial
 affluenza, from affluence and influenza
 alphanumeric, from alphabetic and numeric
 anacronym, from anachronism and acronym
 apronym, from appropriate and acronym
 automagic(al), from automatic and magic(al)
 backronym, from back and acronym
 bit, from binary and digit
 blaxploitation, from black and exploitation
 Bollywood, from Bombay and Hollywood
 Bootylicious, from booty and delicious
 boxercise, from boxing and exercise
 britcom, from British and comedy
 brunch, from breakfast and lunch
 cellophane, from cellulose and diaphane
 chortle, from chuckle and snort
 cineplex, from cinema and complex (building)
 cocacolonization, from Coca-Cola and colonization
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 codec, from coder and decoder
 cryptex, from cryptology and codex
cyborg, from cybernetic and organism
 dancercise, from dance and exercise
 datacasting, from data and broadcasting
 Diamat, from Dialectical Materialism
 digerati, from digital and literati
 digipeater, from digital and repeater
 docudrama, from documentary and drama
 docusoap, from documentary and soap opera
 dramality, from dramatic and reality
 dramedy, from drama and comedy
 dumbfound, from dumb and confound
 ebonics, from ebony and phonics
 ecoteur, from ecological and saboteur
 edutainment, from education and entertainment
 emoticon, from emotion and icon
 faction, from fact and fiction
 fantabulous, from fantastic and fabulous
 frankenfood, from Frankenstein and food
 frankenword, from Frankenstein and word
 fraudience, from fraud and audience
 freeware, from free and software
 ginormous, from gigantic and enormous
 greenwash, from green and whitewash
 guesstimate, from guess and estimate
 infomercial, from information and commercial
 infotainment, from information and entertainment
 intercom, from internal and communication
 Internet, from inter and network
 jazzercise, from jazz and exercise
 knowledgebase, from knowledge and database
 malware, from malicious and software
 mantastic, from man and fantastic
 melodrama, from melody and drama
 mobisode, from mobile (phone) and episode
 mockney, from mock and Cockney
 mockumentary, from mock and documentary
 modem, from modulator and demodulator
8.3. moped, from motor and pedal
8.4. Different types of blends

16
The following section will describe different types of blends and their structure. It will also
discuss the different systematic categories of blends.
8.4.1. Blends with overlapping
Overlapping in these blends might take place with overlapping as the only type of
shortening of the words. The most common pattern is the one where the final part of the
first word overlaps the first part of the second word. The overlap can be one phoneme or
several. One example of this is language from slang and language. Blends with overlapping
may also include all of one form and the first or last part of the other word. In those cases it
is the spelling of the word that tells us it is a blend:
Sinema “adult film” = sin + cinema
Cellebrity ”famous criminal” = cell + celebrity
Cartune “musical cartoon” = cartoon + tune
There is one type of overlapping blend that is not very common. In such blends one form is
inserted into another; the overlapping might be complete or partial. In-sin-uation for
example, meaning insinuation of sin, is created by a fusion of the two words insinuation and
sin (Algeo, 1977:49). In those words it is the inserted element that is stressed.
8.4.2. Blends with clipping
Blends with clipping have no overlapping. Instead one part or more is omitted. There are
different patterns that are used when creating these kinds of blends. One is to keep the whole
part of the first word and the last part of the second word.
Foodoholic = food + alcoholic
Fanzine = fan + magazine
Another alternative is to keep the whole second word and only use the first part of the first
word.
Eurasia = Europe + Asia
When both words are clipped it is common to use the first part of the first word and the last
part of the second part. Two widely used blends are examples of this combination:
Brunch = breakfast + lunch
Smog = smoke + fog
A fourth alternative is to combine the first parts of both or all elements.
Agitprop = agitation + propaganda
Aldehyde = alcohol + dehydrogenatum
Algeo believes that acronyms belong to this class of blends rather than being a separate type
of word-formation (Algeo 1977:50). However I do not agree with Algeo on this. I treat
acronyms as a separate type of word-formation.
8.4.3. Clipping at morpheme boundaries
Blends that have been created by simple clipping are often shortened at morpheme
boundaries. Oxbridge, which is a blend of the words Oxford and Cambridge, is an example
of this. In cases like Oxbridge it can be difficult to decide if the word results from blending
or from compounding if one does not know its background. Blends that are clipped at
morpheme boundaries are therefore a less obvious example of the blending process than
blends that are shortened in a less straightforward manner.
Blending can turn into compounding as in the example that follows. Landscape is a word
that was borrowed from Dutch, and it was used to create new blends: cityscape, inscape,
offscape and more. Even the single word scape was created from the word landscape.
17
Because of this, any new word that is formed using the morpheme scape can no longer be
seen as a blend but a compound. Blending can also give new meaning to morphemes. The
blends radiocast, telecast, sportscast and newscast have given the word cast the meaning of
broadcast (Algeo, 1977:51-52).
8.4.4. Blends with clipping and overlapping
Some blends are created by using both clipping and overlapping. There are many
variations of patterns to this word-formation. The words that follow are some examples.
Californication = California + fornicate
Suspose = suspect + suppose
Hungarican = Hungarian + American
8.4.5. Systematic categories
they can be classified according to whether they are syntagmatic or associative.
Syntagmatic blends are blends that represent combinations of words that occur next to one
another in the speech chain. Although normally regarded as blends, they could equally be
seen as contractions. In most of these cases the first word ends with the same sound or
sequence of sounds as the second word begins with.
Chicagorilla = Chicago + gorilla
Radarange = radar + range
However, syntagmatic blends do not need to be haplologistic1. Some reflect both
clipping of one or both forms, some overlapping, and some both processes. The following
two blends are examples of syntagmatic blends:
Amerind = American + Indian
Hashbury = Haight + Ashbury
Associative blends, by contrast, are created from words that are linked in the word
maker’s mind. The words can share a common base morpheme or affix, or they might be
similar in sound. They can also have a semantic link, which is most common. The clearest
examples of associative blends are those which are made by combining synonyms:
Bonk = bump + conk
Swellegant = swell + elegant
Needcessity = need + necessity

Summary and Conclusion

18
 The English and Kurdish languages are constantly changing. New words are created
in many different ways.
 Acronymy, clipping and blending are three highly productive ways in which
abbreviation (i.e., the shortening of words) is involved in English and Kurdish word-
formation.
 The other strategies of word Formation are not very productive in Kurdish language.
This is why we could not find proper examples for some of word-formation processes
like blending or acronym.
 We know that English as an official and international language is more productively
involved in word formation processes. This is why this language is more expected
(comparing to Kurdish) to have very active word formation processes of any kinds.
Naturally the languages which are more formal or have written form (like English as
nan official language) are more productively involved in different word formation
processes.
 . Even if we find some examples of blending and acronym forms in Kurdish, they are
not originally Kurdish ones but they have been borrowed from other languages, so
they should be regarded as loan words.
 Clipping, is a way to form new words which has actually been around for centuries,
(originated in 1794). Modern technologies such as computers and cell phones have
had a monumental impact in reducing our need for the written word.
 In view of their unorthodox structures, it is not surprising that the apparent irregularity
of form of acronyms, blends and clippings opens the door for creativity and
playfulness, irony and unconventionality. Their resulting originality is attention-
catching and is often exploited in advertising and headlines. This is one of the reasons
why acronyms, blends and clippings have enjoyed an unprecedented popularity and
productivity in English in recent decades.
 Clipping: the process when a word of more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter
form
 Acronym: formed from the initial letters of a set other word
 Blending: is another word formation process by blending the first part of one word
with the last part of the other. I.e. usually two different parts of two different words
are blended to form a new one.
 Despite their frequent marginalization, acronyms, blends and clippings are interesting
cases of seemingly irregular structures.
 Morphemes do not play a role in their formation; instead, these processes make use of
a whole gamut of submorphemic elements, ranging from mere initials, groups of
letters, syllables and splinters to full (not infrequently even complex) words.
 Blends can also be categorized on the basis factors other than their structure, that is
whether they are associative or syntagmatic.The categories were blends with
overlapping, blends with clipping and blends with clipping and overlapping. The
results showed that the most common way to create new blends was by clipping only
and the second most common way was to use clipping and overlapping. Using only
overlapping was highly munusual and stood for only 3 percents of the new blends.
The blends were also divided into subcategories. This categorization showed that the
most common blends with clipping only were those which combined the first part of
19
 the first word and the last part of the second word. This process was also the most
common one when it came to blends with clipping and overlapping where only one
letter overlapped.

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References in Kurdish
 Hassan Kaml, 1979, ‫زاراؤةى كوردى‬. Slemani: college of slemani press.
 Habdwl Jamal, 2008. ‫بةركؤليكى زاراوةسازى كوردى‬. Kurdistan:erbil, xani Dohok press.
 Haji Awrahman, 1998. 4.‫ريزمانى كوردى‬th ed, Iraq, Baghdad
 Khoshnaw Nariman, 2012. ‫ريزمانى كوردى‬. Kurdistan, Erbil, Rozhhallat press.

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