A STUDY OF ACRONYMS AND SHORT FORMS AS A SALIENT FEATURE OF JOURNALESE (Pages 210-218) by Prof. Sunil Raosaheb Raut in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

The paper aims at investigating the salient features of Journalese, which is one of the styles of English that is chiefly used in English newspapers. A Learner of English can use newspapers as an excellent form of a study material because a large numbers of semantic and syntactic structures are to be seen in newspapers. English newspapers contain many acronyms and short forms. This is one of the characteristic features of Journalese. Many a time the full form of acronyms is given in newspapers but sometimes they are not given. The same thing happens in case of short forms too. The researcher studied five issues of The Times of India, the leading English Daily published in Aurangabad (M.S.) in India. The period of study was 1st July to 5th July. A record of acronyms and short forms has been kept. Not all the acronyms and short forms were chosen but random method of selection was applied in this study. These items were categorized under different classes or areas. And then the inferences have been made. Knowledge of acronyms and short forms is essential for learners of English. These forms are widely used in writing for saving time and space too. Common acronyms are not illustrated because it has been assumed that the serious readers understand terms. So, English teachers should encourage students to go through all the pages of English newspapers. This practice will be immensely helpful for them as in future when they appear for various competitive examinations. Key-words: Acronyms, Short Forms, Journalese, Abbreviations