This page lists the various conventions used in Linguistic Discovery’s content.
Abbreviations commonly used in running text.
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| c. | circa (Latin: ‘around’) |
| BCE | Before the Common Era (equivalent to BC) |
| BP | Before Present (calibrated at 1950) |
| C | consonant |
| cf. | confer (Latin: ‘compare’) |
| CE | Common Era (equivalent to AD) |
| ed. / eds. | editor(s) |
| e.g. | exemplī grātiā (Latin: ‘for the sake of an example’ |
| etc. | et cetera (Latin: ‘and other things’) |
| ff. | and following |
| fn. | footnote |
| H | high tone |
| i.e. | id est (Latin: ‘that is, …’) |
| L | low tone |
| p. / pp. | page / pages |
| sic | sic (Latin: ‘thus; as is’) |
| V | vowel |
| viz. | videlicet (Latin: ‘namely; that is to say’) |
| YA | Years Ago |
Abbreviations used in interlinear examples and glosses.
| Abbreviation | Category | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | first person | I, we | |
| 2 | second person | you, y’all | |
| 3 | third person | he, she, it, they | |
| AGT | agent | The argument in a clause that acts with volition, instigates or performs the action, etc. | |
| AND | andative | going (to) | |
| APPL | applicative | Adds an argument to the verb. | |
| CISLOC | cislocative | hither; to here | |
| CL | class | ||
| classifier | Used for noun/verb classes/gender. | ||
| Used for noun/verb classifiers. | |||
| COMP | complementizer | that | Used to mark complement clauses (clauses that function as an argument of another clause). |
| CONT | continuative | still doing | Ongoing, dynamic actions that are still happening. |
| CONTR | contrastive | ||
| DEB | debitive | ought; must; should | A grammatical mood expressing obligation or duty. |
| DEF | definite | the | Indicates a referent that is identifiable to the hearer. |
| DUAL | dual | two | A number marker specifically for two items. |
| DUACT | duactional | two | Indicates that the action involves two of something—a dual pluractional. Also called dualic or duplicative. |
| DUR | durative | Events that have duration. | |
| EXIST | existential | there is/are | |
| F | feminine | she | Feminine grammatical gender. |
| FUT | future | will | |
| IND | indicative | A type of realis mood used for statements of fact. Also used as the default/unmarked mood. | |
| IRR | irrealis | A grammatical mood that indicates that a situation is not known or asserted to have happened. | |
| LINK | linking element | An element whose sole purpose it is to connect elements of a compound. | |
| LOC | locative | in, at, on | Indicates a location. |
| M | masculine | he | Masculine grammatical gender. |
| MID | middle voice | A verb form where the causer of the action is left unspecified (also called anticausative). | |
| N | neuter | it | Neuter grammatical gender. |
| NEG | negative | no; not | |
| NZR | nominalizer | A morpheme that marks nouns or derives nouns from other parts of speech. | |
| OBJ | object | The less topical/salient argument of a clause. | |
| PART | partitive | some | Indicates a part or quantity of something. |
| PAST | past tense | -ed | |
| PAT | patient | The argument in a clause that does not act with volition, instigate the action, etc. | |
| PL | plural | -s | More than one. |
| PLACT | pluractional | Indicates plural actions. | |
| PROG | progressive | -ing | Ongoing, dynamic actions. |
| REAL | realis | A grammatical mood that asserts that an event or situation happened or is true. | |
| RECIP | reciprocal | each other | |
| REFL | reflexive | oneself | |
| REL | relative | that; which | Marks a relative clause or relativized verb. |
| REP | repetitive | A repetitive activity. | |
| REV | reversive | undoing; reversing | |
| SEMIREFL | semi-reflexive | A category in some Iroquoian languages similar to a middle voice. | |
| SG | singular | One of something. | |
| STAT | stative | Situations that do not involve change over time. | |
| SUB | subjunctive | A grammatical mood that expresses something other than statements of certain facts. | |
| SUBJ | subject | The most topical/salient argument of a clause. | |
| TLOC | translocative | thither; to there | |
| VEN | venitive | coming (here) |
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Information / Resources
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Footnote
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Spoiler Alert / Content Warning
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Fun Fact / Aside
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