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| spring07 | Thursday 10th of February 2005 04:09:26 AM |
| Writing abbreviated English - Hi guys,
Happy Lunar new year!! This time I have 1 question to ask you guys. This is how to abbreviate English words. What all I've known is to leave out vowels such as: a, o, u, y, i, e. What if these vowels begin the word, will they be crossed out too? For example: population ->ppltin ?? national -> ntnl ?? Thank you very much for taking time reading this message and answering it if possible !! | |
| Bruce B. | Thursday 10th of February 2005 12:15:37 PM |
| some tips for abbreviating - Spring, thank you for the great question. Consonants are the foundation of English words and vowels just hold them together. In speaking, the vowels help listeners tell one word from another.
As a side note, Hebrew and Arabic were written for centuries without vowels and the reader would simply supply the vowel sound from memory. So, it is natural to abbreviate by dropping vowels. Some words lend themselves to such shortening, others not so well. Some words have standard abbreviations that are accepted everywhere. They are safe to use on such things as postal envelopes and business forms. Following are a few of them: St.=Street (if it follows a name)Elm St., 7th St., Main St. St.=Saint (if it precedes a name)[According to some religions, a saint is an especially holy person. Cities, churches and organizations are often named after these people.] I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. The oldest city in the US is St. Augustine, Florida. A street may be named after a saint: St. Albans St. Bldg=Building Lk=Lake Ln=Lane Mt=Mount or Mountain Rd=Road Trl=Trail In the US, each state has its own two letter abbreviation. They take the form of two capital letters. MN=Minnesota; FL=Florida and so on. Canadian provinces are treated the same way. BC=British Columbia; PQ=(province)Quebec. We also abbreviate the names of many well known cities. Mpls=Minneapolis; StP=St. Paul. These are cities in my home state. Because these are neighboring cities in a single metropolitan area, the whole metro area is called MSP, and locally is abbreviated as TC (Twin Cities). NYC=New York City; LA=Los Angeles; SF=San Francisco. Military ranks get 'disemvoweled' abbreviations. pvt=private cpl=corporal sgt=sargent lt=lieutenant cpt=captain mjr=major col=colonel and gen=general (we always manage to break the rules; this is the joy of learning English.) gvt=government. Most elected offices is the US are abbreviated by the first syllable. Gov.=Gorernor Sen.=Senator Rep.=Representative Sec.=Secretary Pres.=President VP=Vice President (We just had to do it again.) Because the first letter of a word is so important in identifying it, words that start with a vowel include the initial vowel in the abbreviation. abbr=abbreviation acct=account assn or ass'n=association intrst=interest ofc=office Sometimes, the first syllable of a word is connected to the last letter of the word with an apostrophe. The apostrophe indicates missing letters. We've seen one example already: ass'n. nat'l=national. As a rule, in proper writing, when you are making full sentences and paragraphs, you will almost always avoid the use of appreviations. It is also proper to spell out numbers rather than to use numerals. Following these 2 (oops, two) rules will always make your writing more professional and correct. In filling out forms or for brief notes and informal writing, abbreviations are fine and can save you time and space. No doubt, you will get more good advice and examples from our other English experts. This is only an abbreviated lesson. | |
| Bruce B. | Thursday 10th of February 2005 12:32:44 PM |
| Why MN? - A friend just asked me why Minnesota is abbreviated MN and not MI. The answer is simple:
Here is a partial alphabetic list of US states: Michigan, Minnesota,Mississippi, Missouri Since the abbreviations were delegated to states alphabetically, Michigan gets MI. Minnesota must take MN, after the next available letter. Mississippi gets MS, so Missouri must take MO, using the next available letter. Occaionally there's logic behind our actions. | |
| Friday 11th of February 2005 09:50:48 PM | |
| - Hey, spring!
Now, we begin with abbreviations used in employment ads: FT: full-time work PT: part-time work 20hrs: 20 hours per week am/pm: day or night work eves: evenings M-F: monday through Friday sal: salary $9 p/h: $9 per hour $450/wk: $450 per week $1,200/mo: $1,200 per month HS Dip: high school diploma required exp: experience pref: preferred req: required No exp req: no experience required | |
