Abbreviations as a modern phenomenon in business jargon
Roč.14,č.2(2024)
CASALC Review
English language used in a business environment, influenced by the usage of new communication technologies, but also by the growth of economization of language in general, has been changing radically. To establish a sound basis for language courses in Business English, research is needed into the lexical, syntactic and discourse characteristics of the register of English used within contemporary business jargon. The presented analysis aims to understand the abbreviation processes in current business communication to the point that can be given to the students of the Business English course in the most authentic way. Using qualitative corpus analysis, we put shortening processes in a context, i.e. contextualising the features of the abbreviation processes based on fundamental notions of extra-grammatical processes rather than presenting statistical quantitative analyses. The outcome of our research is general features, which determine abbreviatory processes occurring in business correspondence. Finally, we demonstrate specific class activities of Business English course taking into account the real characteristics of abbreviations used in business jargon.
acronyms; authenticity; business correspondence; business English; business jargon; corpus analysis
Ivana Kapralikova
University of Economics in Bratislava
Ivana Kapráliková (MA in English language and Education, MA in Politology, PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Business English, teaching Business English and Business negotiations at the University of Economics in Bratislava and the Faculty of Economy at Pan-European University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Her research interests include lexicology, specializing in EU jargon analysing the documents of the European Union institutions and political discourse analysis of Central European politicians´ rhetoric.
Bauer, L. (2001). Morphological Productivity. Cambridge University Press, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486210
Becker, T. (1993). Back-formation, cross-formation, and ‘bracketing paradoxes’ in paradigmatic morphology. In: Booij, G., Van Marle, J. (eds) Yearbook of Morphology 1993. Yearbook of Morphology. Springer, Dordrecht, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3712-8_1
Beliaeva, N. (2019). Blending creativity and productivity: on the issue of delimiting the boundaries of blends as a type of word formation. Lexis, Journal in English Lexicology 14, https://doi.org/10.4000/lexis.4004
Benavent, G. T; Penamaria, S. S. (2011). Use of authentic materials in the ESP classroom. Encuentro 20, ISSN 1989-0796, pp.89-94. ISSN 1989-0796
Berezenko, V.; Cherkhava, O.; Musiienko, Y. (2022). Communicative language teaching approach in promoting the linguistic competence if EFL learners. Advanced Education, 9(20), pp.88–96, https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.224016
Coancă, M. (2017). Linguistic features of business acronyms and abbreviations in English. Romanian Economic and Business Review, 12(4), Brasov, pp.125-134,
Cortes, V. (2004). Lexical bundles in published and student disciplinary writing: Examples from history and biology. English for Specific Purposes, 23(4), pp. 397-423, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2003.12.001
Cortes, V. (2006). Teaching lexical bundles in the disciplines: An example from a writing intensive history class. Linguistics and Education, 17(4), pp. 391-406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2007.02.001
Gilmore, A. (2007). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. Language Teaching, 40(2), pp. 97-118, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444807004144
Hou, Hsiao-I. (2014). Teaching Specialized Vocabulary by Integrating a Corpus-Based Approach: Implications for ESP Course Design at the University Level, English Language Teaching, 7(5), pp.26-37
Imre, A. (2022). Categorizing and translating abbreviations and acronyms. Open Linguistics 2022; 8, DeGruyter, pp.378-389, https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2022-0204
Jablonkai, R.; Csomay, E. (2022). The Routledge Handbook of Corpora and English Language Teaching and Learning. London, Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003002901
Jovanović, V. (2003). On productivity, creativity and restrictions on word conversion in English. Facta Universitatis: Series Linguistics and Literature. 2. pp.425-436,
Kąkol, P. (2007). Acronyms and Abbreviations in Business Communication. Linguistics Beyond and Within The Outskirts of the Regular. Book of Abstracts. John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland, ISBN 978-83-8061-450-5
Kastovsky, D. (1986). The problem of productivity in word formation. Linguistics 24, pp.585–600, https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1986.24.3.585
Lieber, R. (2021). Introducing morphology. Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 9781108832489
Luján-Garcia, C. (2020). The use of English initialisms and abbreviations in the field of pharmaceutical business communication in Spanish. Terminology. International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Issues in Specialized Communication, 26 (1), pp. 60-81 https://doi.org/10.1075/term.00042.luj
Mahiaddynova, K. (2022). Abbreviations in business discourse. Path of Science 8(9), pp.3001-3005,
Mattiello, E. (2013). Extra-grammatical Morphology in English: Abbreviations, Blends, Reduplicatives, and Related Phenomena. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110295399
Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect.
Nelson, M. B. (2000). Corpus-based study of the lexis of business English and business English teaching materials. Thesis awarded by University of Manchester https://businessenglishes.com/a-corpus-based-study-of-the-lexis-of-business-english-and-business-english-materials/
Plag, I. (1999). Morphological Productivity: Structural Constraints in English Derivation. Topics in English linguistics 28, ISSN 1434-3452
Pop, A.-M.; Sim, M.-A. (2014). Business English outside the box. Business jargon and abbreviations in business communication. The Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Sciences 2, pp. 111-119
Safont, M.-P.; Esteve, M. J. (2004). Online resources for the EAP classroom: Ways of promoting EFL learners’ autonomy. Linguistic Studies in Academic and Professional English, eds. Inmaculada Fortanet, Juan Carlos Palmer, and Santiago Posteguillo, pp. 261-274. Castellón: Universitat Jaume I
Skorczynska Sznajder, H. (2010). A corpus-based evaluation of metaphors in a business English textbook, English for Specific Purposes, 29 (1), pp.30-42 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2009.05.003.
Spencer, A. (2019). The Nature of Productivity (Including Word Formation Versus Creative Coining). Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.587
Trebits, A. (2009). Conjunctive cohesion in English language EU documents. A corpusbased analysis and its implications. English for Specific Purposes, 28(3), pp. 199-210 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2009.04.004
Veloso, J. (2017). The minimal word in European Portuguese: The oralization of abbreviated forms. Alfa, São Paulo 61(1), pp.131-167 DOI:10.1590/1981-5794-1704-6
Vorobyova, A.E. et al. (2015). Peculiarities of linguistic manipulation in the texts of electronic business correspondence. The Social Sciences 10 (6), Medwell Journals, pp.872-875 DOI: 10.36478/sscience.2015.872.875
Zinukova, N.V. (2021). Linguistic features of Business English discourse thesaurus. Alfred Nobel University Journal of Philology 1(21), pp.176-186, 2021 DOI: 10.32342/2523-4463-2021-1-21-18
Copyright © 2025 Ivana Kapralikova