Variable article use with acronyms and initialisms. A contrastive analysis of English, German and Italian

dc.contributor.authorCallegaro, Elena
dc.contributor.authorClematide, Simon
dc.contributor.authorHundt, Marianne
dc.contributor.authorSara, Wick
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-30T07:42:37Z
dc.date.available2024-04-30T07:42:37Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstractShortening is a common type of word-formation in many languages. Crystal (2008) distinguishes two kinds of abbreviation: initialisms and acronyms. Article use in English is variable with both acronyms and initialisms used as proper names (e.g. (the) UKIP, at the UN vs. at MIT). The question is whether variability is largely dependent on the semantics of the underlying full form (i.e. whether this is derived from a proper name or common noun) or whether the two types of abbreviation show different behaviour with respect to variable article use. This paper uses data from CoStEP, a new, word-aligned version of EuroParl, and a data-driven approach to investigate variable article use with abbreviations and their full forms uttered by Eng- lish native speakers and compares the findings to data from parallel German and Italian corpora. The results show higher article variability in English and a marked preference for and near categorical article use in German and Italian. Furthermore, our evidence confirms that acronyms tend towards the proper name end of the cline, while initialisms behave syntactically more like common nouns.
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1075/lic.16021.cal
dc.identifier.issn1569-9897
dc.identifier.issn1387-6759
dc.identifier.urihttps://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/42470
dc.issue1
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherJohn Benjamins
dc.relation.ispartofLanguages in Contrast
dc.spatialAmsterdam
dc.subject.ddc330 - Wirtschaft
dc.titleVariable article use with acronyms and initialisms. A contrastive analysis of English, German and Italian
dc.type01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
dc.volume19
dspace.entity.typePublication
fhnw.InventedHereYes
fhnw.ReviewTypeAnonymous ex ante peer review of a complete publication
fhnw.affiliation.hochschuleHochschule für Wirtschaftde_CH
fhnw.affiliation.institutInstitute for Competitiveness and Communicationde_CH
fhnw.openAccessCategoryClosed
fhnw.pagination48-78
fhnw.publicationStatePublished
relation.isAuthorOfPublication0f2d0dc7-cf1b-457e-a252-b0886f1e4e26
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery0f2d0dc7-cf1b-457e-a252-b0886f1e4e26
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