For a long time, the use of abbreviations in the Russian language was considered bad form and was rarely used. However, in the last hundred years, abbreviations have become an integral part of the language, an active way of word production. Especially often they can be found in a business and scientific style. There is even a whole regulatory framework that contains the rules for reducing words and a list of generally accepted abbreviations in modern Russian.
What is abbreviation?
The abbreviation in modern Russian language is the truncation of a word with the preservation of its original meaning. Also, sometimes a new word resulting from this truncation is called an abbreviation.
Abbreviations are mainly found in reference books, official documents, personal notes, and notes. They are almost impossible to find in a literary text only if the author intentionally did not stylize a piece of it into a different style of the Russian language.
Basic rules for abbreviations
There are several basic rules for word abbreviations that will help not to spoil the text and not confuse the reader. Most important: abbreviations, generally accepted including, should be used only if it is justified stylistically. Their use in the text of an artistic style is extremely undesirable.
The second important rule: the abbreviation should be clear to the reader. In Russian, generally accepted abbreviations can be found everywhere, so any native speaker can easily decipher them. However, even if the author uses a special abbreviation, providing a list with detailed decoding at the end of the text, you should take care of the simplicity of the abbreviation so that the reader does not have to constantly return to this list, but he can easily remember the abbreviation. In the end, the main purpose of truncating words in a text is to save time.
The third rule: you should avoid abbreviations-homonyms, which are written in the same way, but have different meanings. It may be difficult for the reader to decipher such abbreviations. Their use is still permissible, provided that it is clear from the context what exactly the author has in mind.
The fourth rule: even though this may seem complicated, it is worth monitoring the neutrality of the form of reduction. Dissonant words can distract the reader from the content of the text, make him laugh, make it difficult to perceive, cause undesirable associations.
Fifth rule: it is necessary to observe the unity of abbreviations, if words and phrases of one type are present in the text, then it is unacceptable to reduce one and not reduce the other. Also, if we are talking about periodicals, a text in several volumes, and so on, then it is necessary to monitor the uniformity of abbreviations, it is unacceptable to shorten a word in one issue and leave it untouched in the next.
The sixth rule no longer applies to stylistics, but to the grammar of the Russian language. You can abbreviate words according to generally accepted rules in the first letter, if we are talking about a universally accepted abbreviation, which will be easily understood by the reader of the text, on the initial consonant, but in no case on the vowel.
The seventh rule: you can shorten the words of almost any part of speech - a noun, an adjective, a verb, a numeral, an adverb, and so on. The reduction does not depend on the case, number, gender of the source word. If the truncated form of the noun belongs to the common abbreviations, then adjectives and participles formed from the same root are abbreviated in the same way.
The main types of abbreviations
All abbreviations are divided into three main types. There are graphic abbreviations, initial and complex abbreviations. Some of them are also divided into subtypes.
In addition, in the Russian language there are so-called carved words (when some letters and syllables in the middle are deleted from the word, for example, a billion - billion) and mixed abbreviations combining several types at once. It makes no sense to dwell on them in too much detail, since they are used relatively rarely in modern Russian.
Graphic Abbreviations
In graphic abbreviations, deleted letters or syllables are replaced graphically. For example, when cutting off the ending of a word, it is customary to use a period (English - English). If the abbreviation omits the middle part of the word, then you need to use a hyphen, for example: pr-in - production. The slash is used in abbreviations, where the final part of the phrase is cut off. For example: Rostov-on-Don - Rostov n / a.
And finally, the most rare and complex form of graphic reduction, cutting off the initial part of the word. Such abbreviations are practically not found in modern Russian.
Initial abbreviations
The initial abbreviation or initial abbreviation is often found among the generally accepted abbreviations and is familiar to every native speaker of the Russian language since childhood. They are formed using the first letters (sometimes sounds) of all words of the phrase. When reading such an abbreviation aloud, it is not customary to decipher it; it is pronounced in the same way as it is written.
Initial abbreviations are divided into alphabetic (CIS), alphanumeric (CSKA) and sound (ITAR). The differences between them are insignificant and mainly lie in the field of phonetics. It is also important to distinguish between them for the successful declension of abbreviations, but more on that below.
Compound words
Among the abbreviated words, one can also find many common abbreviations, the explanation of which is often not required. They are formed by adding up the abbreviations of some or all words of the phrase. For example: car factory, collective farm.
Common abbreviations
Also, sometimes reductions are divided into three types according to their prevalence. The most extensive and easiest to learn type are generally accepted abbreviations. A list of such abbreviations can be found in special regulatory documents. It can also be specialized specialized literature.
The generally accepted abbreviations of words in documents, reference books, media can be used without special decoding. The only exceptions may be for children, as they may simply not know the meaning of these abbreviations.
Special abbreviations
Special abbreviations also do not need to be decrypted, however, unlike generally accepted abbreviations and abbreviations, they are used exclusively in industry publications, reference books, and professional documents that are intended to be read only by specialists in a narrow field who should be well aware of the decoding of these abbreviations.
Personal Abbreviations
Personal or individual abbreviations are often found in only one edition, in the reference literature of authorship of one person, in personal notes, in summaries. If the text is intended to be read by other people, then the author must provide, most often at the end of the text, a special list with transcripts of personal abbreviations, especially if their number exceeds 20 and they appear several times in the text. Otherwise, the author may provide a transcript directly in the text, next in abbreviation.
Key Reduction Requirements
There are generally accepted requirements in relation to generally accepted abbreviations and not only. Less than two letters at the end of the word should not be abbreviated (although exceptions can be found in the abbreviation lists). Also, abbreviations in addition to vowels cannot end in “b”, “b” or “th”. The point is set in graphic abbreviations, however, there are exceptions, for example, in units of measurement it is often absent. Some nouns in the plural are on the lists of generally accepted abbreviations of the Russian language and, according to the rules, are transmitted by doubling the first letter, for example: years - "years", centuries - "centuries".
If the reduction occurs on a double vowel, then it remains, but in some cases, for example, at the junction of morphemes, this rule does not work. In addition, in the media and some business documents, this rule is no longer respected today.
Also, according to GOST, generally accepted abbreviations are unacceptable in headings, subheadings, annotations and abstracts.
Regulations
The main document governing the formation of generally accepted abbreviations is GOST 2011. It was there that the basic requirements for truncating words were formulated, and an extensive list of special cases that did not lend themselves to the existing rules of the Russian language was presented. Basically, in this document you can find geographical, political, legal, economic and scientific terms. Drawing up generally accepted abbreviations according to GOST is the safest and most correct way, especially if the abbreviation is present in official documents.
You can also refer to numerous dictionaries of abbreviations and abbreviations for deciphering unfamiliar words in the text or to help shorten words when writing text. But first of all, you should rely on your knowledge of the unified rules for the abbreviations of the modern Russian language, so that there is no confusion. In addition, there are international lists of abbreviations that are constantly updated. You can contact them when decoding foreign abbreviations.
Using generally accepted abbreviations in documents is a great way to save time and effort of the organization’s employees. However, do not get carried away, you need to make sure that reductions are not found in the text of official documents too often.
Declination rules
When reading a text with the presence of abbreviations aloud or simply in the process of speaking, many people often have problems with determining the kind of reduction and its correct declination.
If we are talking about an alphabetic abbreviation, then it is worth first of all to think about the main word in the phrase. For example, in the generally accepted abbreviation of Moscow State University, the main word is "university." Accordingly, the abbreviation will be inclined as a masculine word.
The sound abbreviation is read in syllables, so it is easy to determine its type. Here the grammatical gender of the word is defined a little differently. If the abbreviation ends with a vowel letter, then it is inclined according to the rules of the masculine gender, even if the main word is of a different kind.
In foreign abbreviations, you need to focus on the main word in the Russian translation and start from its grammatical gender.
The importance of acronyms in modern Russian
Common abbreviations of words are an important part of the modern Russian language. They have been used for a long time not only when writing texts of a scientific or journalistic style. Almost every person in everyday life is faced with filling out various kinds of documentation. Possession of a business style is today considered a prerequisite for a successful existence in society. And abbreviations, in turn, are an extremely important part of these styles of the Russian language.
Also, abbreviations and abbreviations are often used in colloquial speech, therefore, any native speaker who seeks to speak competently and beautifully should know about the rules for compiling them and about special cases that are an exception to the rules.
In addition, even if you never encounter the need to use generally accepted abbreviations according to GOST in documents, the ability to easily and quickly truncate words so that later written is understandable not only to you, but also to the reader, is an excellent skill for any person receiving higher education. Quick and effective compilation of abstracts is a practical and necessary skill.
Thus, generally accepted abbreviations and abbreviations, one way or another, are found in the life of any native speaker of the Russian language, therefore, one should not neglect the study of the rules associated with them.