Clipping

Clipping is the word-formation process by which a polysyllabic word is shortened by deleting one or more segments without otherwise changing its category or core meaning (Marchand 1969; Plag 2003). The clipped form lab is still a noun and still refers to a laboratory; only its phonological shape has been reduced.

Four Types

Clipping is classified by which part of the source word is retained (Marchand 1969; Plag 2003; Mattiello 2013).

Type	Also called	What is kept	Examples
Back-clipping	Apocope	Beginning	lab < laboratory, exam < examination, ad < advertisement, gym < gymnasium, memo < memorandum
Fore-clipping	Aphaeresis	End	phone < telephone, bus < omnibus, plane < aeroplane, gator < alligator, bot < robot
Middle-clipping	Syncope	Middle	flu < influenza, fridge < refrigerator, specs < spectacles, jams < pyjamas
Complex clipping	Compound clipping	Initial parts of two words	sitcom < situation comedy, cab < cabriolet, modem < modulator-demodulator, email < electronic mail

Back-clipping is by far the most common type in English (Plag 2003).

Origins and Register

Marchand (1969) observed that clippings typically originate in the in-group jargon of schools, the military, the medical profession, and similar specialised domains, then leak into general use. Exam, math, lab, prof came from school slang; vet, cap, sarge from army slang; spec, tick from the stock exchange. Many keep an informal register; some (phone, plane, fridge, flu) have fully replaced their longer source in everyday English while the original survives in formal contexts.

Prosodic Constraints

Plag (2003) shows that clipping is not arbitrary: clipped forms tend toward a single foot, typically one or two syllables, and prefer ending in a consonant. Laboratory (5 syllables) clips to lab (1), not laborat; examination (5) clips to exam (2). The shape of the output is governed by prosodic morphology, the same template-based machinery that governs hypocoristics (Robert → Rob, Bob) and reduplications.

Clipping vs Related Processes

Clipping reduces a single source word; blending fuses two truncated sources (smog < smoke + fog). Clipping preserves the source's category and meaning; conversion changes category without phonological reduction. Clippings are not acronyms: lab is a clipping of one word, NASA an acronym made from initial letters of several words. Some forms blur the line: sitcom is sometimes called complex clipping, sometimes a clipping compound, depending on analysis.

Productivity

Clipping is a productive but marginal process compared to affixation and compounding. New clippings appear regularly, especially in informal speech and online register: legit < legitimate, totes < totally, natch < naturally, info < information, app < application, blog < weblog. Some clippings re-enter morphology as bases for further derivation: blog → blogger, blogging, blogosphere; app → appify.

Teaching Implications

Clippings need explicit attention because the source word is often unrecoverable for learners. A student who knows advertisement may not recognise ad; a student who knows laboratory may not recognise lab. Pair the clipped form with its source in vocabulary work, particularly for high-frequency pairs (phone/telephone, plane/aeroplane, flu/influenza, fridge/refrigerator, app/application). Address register: exam, lab, photo are fully neutral, but legit, totes, def mark informal speech and may be inappropriate in writing or formal speaking contexts. For listening comprehension, learners benefit from training in recognising clipped forms in connected speech, where the speaker may use fridge, rep, or uni without ever referencing the long form.

References

• Marchand, H. (1969). The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Formation (2nd ed.). Munich: Beck.
• Mattiello, E. (2013). Extra-grammatical Morphology in English: Abbreviations, Blends, Reduplicatives, and Related Phenomena. Berlin: De Gruyter.
• Plag, I. (2003). Word-Formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Bauer, L. (1983). English Word-Formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.