Apocopation
A apocopation is a type of metaplasm that refers to a shortened form of a longer word, where the end of the original word has been omitted.
It is distinguished from aphaeresis
and syncope, where a part of the original word is removed from the start or the
middle respectively.
The word apocopation is derived from Greek, apo, to cut; and koptein,
away from.
Usage
Some languages have apocopations internalized as mandatory forms.
- In Spanish, many adjectives that come before the noun lose the final vowel when they precede
a noun in the masculine singular
form. The word uno (one) thus becomes un and grande (big) becomes gran. In these cases, one would say
un mundo (one world) rather than *uno mundo, and gran taco (big taco), rather than *grande taco.
In many languages, apocopation is also used to form shorter synonyms of a word,
which becomes a sort of spoken abbreviation the word.
- In French, réac is used as short for réactionnaire
and démo means démonstration.
- Japanese shorten their name for McDonald's, Makudonarudo, into
Makudo, and Kentaki Furaido Chikin, or Kentucky Fried Chicken, is referred to as Kenfuraido in daily speech.
Apocopation is also used regularly to from diminutives of names, for
example: Thomas might be shortened to Tom; Alexander might be shortened to Alex; Andrew might be shortened to Andy; Meghan or
Megan might be shortened to Meg;
Some Apocopations in English
When apocopation is done with Cockney rhyming slang,
it is called hemiteleia:
- bread from bread-and-honey
- raspberry from raspberry tart
- titfer from tit-for-tat
See also
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