Friday, May 22, 2020

Definition of Clipping in Linguistics

In morphology, clipping is the process of forming a new word by dropping one or more syllables from a polysyllabic word, such as cellphone  from cellular phone.  In other words, clipping refers to part of a word that serves  for  the whole, such as  ad  and  phone from advertisement and telephone,  respectively.  The term is also known as a  clipped form, clipped word, shortening, and truncation. A clipped form generally has the same denotative meaning as the word it comes from, but its regarded as more colloquial and informal. Clipping also makes it easier to spell and write many words. For example, a clipped form may replace the original word in everyday usage—such as the use of  piano in place of pianoforte. Examples and Observations According to the book, Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction, Some of the most common products of clipping are names—Liz, Ron, Rob, and Sue, which are shortened forms of  Elizabeth, Ronald, Robert, and Susan. The authors note that clipping is especially popular in the speech of students, where it has yielded forms like prof for professor, phys-ed for physical education, and  poli-sci for political science. However, many clipped forms have also been accepted in general usage: doc, ad, auto, lab, sub, porn, demo, and condo. The authors add that: A more recent example of this sort that has become part of general English vocabulary is fax, from facsimile (meaning exact copy or reproduction). Other examples of clipped forms in English include biz, caps, celebs, deli, exam, flu, gator, hippo, hood, info, intro, lab, limo, mayo, max, perm, photo, ref, reps, rhino, sax, stats, temp, thru, tux, ump, veep, and vet. Clipping Basics As noted, clipped words form through a social process, such as students preferring to use shortened forms of common terms, as noted in Contemporary Linguistics. The same kind of social forces lead to the creation of clipped words in other English-speaking countries such as Britain, says David Crystal, a leading authority on language. There are also several clippings which retain material from more than one part of the word, such as maths (UK), gents, and specs....Several clipped forms also show adaptation, such as fries (from french fried potatoes), Betty (from Elizabeth), and Bill (from William). Clipped words are not  abbreviations,  contractions, or  diminutives. True, an  abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. But abbreviations often end with a period, such as  Jan.  for  January, and are clearly understood to be stand-ins for the full term.  A contraction is a word or phrase—such as thats, a form of  that has—that has been shortened by dropping one or more letters. In writing, an apostrophe takes the place of the missing letters.  A  diminutive is a word form or  suffix  that indicates smallness,  such as  doggie  for  dog  and  Tommie  for  Thomas.   Types of Clipping There are several types of clipping, including  final, initial, and complex. Final clipping, also called  apocope, is just what the term implies: clipping or cutting off the last syllable or syllables of a word to form the clipped term, such as  info  for information and gas for gasoline. Initial clipping, also called apheresis, is  the clipping of the initial part of the beginning of the word,  also called  fore-clipping, according to the Journal of English Lexicology.  Examples of fore-clipping include  bot  for  robot  and  chute  for parachute. Complex clipping, as the name implies, is more involved. It is the shortening of a compound word by preserving and combining its initial parts (or first syllables), says  ESL.ph, an online site for learning English as a second language. Examples include: Sci-fi for  science  fictionSitcom for  situation  comedyGrandma for grandmotherPerm for permanent waveShrink for head  shrinker As you see, clipped words are not always respectful terms. Indeed, some great literary figures vigorously opposed them, such as Jonathan Swift, who made his feelings clear in the tellingly named A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue, first published in 1712. He saw clipping as a symptom of barbaric social forces that had to be tamped down: This perpetual Disposition to shorten our Words, by retrenching the Vowels, is nothing else but a tendency to lapse into the Barbarity of those Northern Nations from whom we are descended, and whose Languages labour all under the same Defect. So, the next time you hear or use a clipped word, do so knowing that it is considered acceptable in English, but remember that these shortened terms have a long and somewhat controversial history. Sources OGrady, William, John Archibald, Mark Aronoff, et al. Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. 4th ed, Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. 3rd ed, Cambridge University Press, 2019. Jamet, Denis. A morphophonological approach to clipping in English. Lexis Journal of English Lexicology, HS 1, 2009. Swift, Jonathan. A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue: In a Letter to the Most Honorable Robert Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, Lord High Treasurer of Great Britain (1712). H. Kessinger Publishing, 2010.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Strategic Plan, Part I Conceptualizing a Business Free Essays

Strategic Plan, Part I: Conceptualizing a Business BUS/475 Strategic Plan, Part I: Conceptualizing a Business A successful strategic plan must be based on the company’s mission, vision, and values. The purpose of this paper is to define a selected business, products, services, and customers by creating a mission statement. In addition, this paper contains a vision for the organization that demonstrate the expected future for the business, and it will define the company values considering important topics such as culture, social responsibility, and ethics. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Plan, Part I: Conceptualizing a Business or any similar topic only for you Order Now It will also analyze how the vision, mission, and values guide the company’s strategic direction. Finally, it will evaluate how the company address customers needs and how competitive advantage will be achieved. The name of the company is Bella Boutique. Bella Boutique is a trendy fashion and accessory boutique. Bella, which means â€Å"beautiful† in Spanish, defines the concept of the boutique. Bella Boutique will carry a wide variety of contemporary clothing, accessories, shoes, and make up. Bella Boutique also offers free personal style advice, which includes and detail style assessment based on body type, skin color, style, and personality of the customer. The target customers of Bella Boutique are young adult women, including college, professional, modern girls. These girls enjoy shopping in a fun environment that offers trendy and affordable fashions with a superior personalized service. Bella Boutique will stand out from the competition by having a good location in a high-shopping area, offering quality products, and excellent customer service. Products and services will be offered in-stores and online. Mission Statement – To provide modern young women with a boutique that offers a fun and comfortable shopping environment – To offer a wide variety of trendy fashion and accessories to make sure customer always find something they love – To help women learn what styles and colors go best with their unique body types and personalities Vision Statement – To be the boutique of choice for young, modern women To open many stores throughout the country and drive up sales by promoting our products effectively Guiding Principles or Values – Customers are our priority. Always make an extra effort to make sure customers are satisfied with our products and services – Educate customers about new trends and how to style their purchases properly. Make sure customers needs are met – We encourage and promote cultural and ethnical diversity in our stores. Employees from different cultural and e thnical backgrounds bring to our company a true reflection of our society – Our employees are our greatest asset. We encourage employees to share their creative and innovative ideas to improve our company – Our company provides a fun working atmosphere and promotes personal growth and development. We strive to offer our employees a healthy work-life balance – Respect and honesty must always be present when dealing with our customers, vendors, and employees. We do not engage in acts that can be detrimental to the reputation of our company – We conduct our business with social responsibility. Our products are purchased from socially and environmentally responsible vendors. We also contribute to improve society by volunteering and helping in social causes – Employees will adhere to the highest ethical standards at all times The mission, vision, and values statement for my company provide the structure, framework, and goals in which all the actions will be based on. The mission and values provide the framework to guide every action in the strategic plan. The vision is our objective, what we want to accomplish for our company in the future. The mission, vision, and values set the right direction for the company actions. Employees must know that their actions affect the overall mission, vision, and values of the organization. These statements are the guiding principles for the company strategic plan, for that reason employees actions should always reflect the mission, vision, and values statements of the company to ensure its success. The trends in fashion are always changing, Bella Boutique will have to be alert of the new trends to keep customers satisfied. Another resource to make sure the company is addressing customers needs is to have customer satisfaction surveys, allowing the customers to express what they like about our store and what they would change. Bella Boutique will have plenty of local competition from many other boutiques. The most direct competitors will be those with the same concept, located in the same area, carrying some of the same brands we sell, and advertising to our target market. Besides the trendy and affordable clothing and accessories, Bella Boutique will create a significant competitive advantage by providing a place to shop with a fun, comfortable, and welcoming atmosphere. In addition, Bella Boutique offers a superior customer service, and we strive for 100% customer satisfaction. Another unique feature of Bella Boutique that creates competitive advantage is the free personalized styling service, in which a professional stylist helps the customers find the right pieces of clothing for their body type and personality. Bella Boutique locations will be designed with comfort and convenience in mind, the store will be decorated with contemporary furniture and painted with inviting colors. The store will have big private dressing rooms with plenty of hooks to hang the clothing pieces and an assigned employee to assist customers. Also for more convenience the store will have small and elegant shopping carts to make the shopping experience more enjoyable. In addition, the store will have a dedicated kids room where the customer’s children can play while their parents shop. The kids room will also have a nursery portion to allow customer to feed and change small babies. In conclusion, this paper defined the concept of Bella Boutique along with its products, services, and customers. The mission statement was developed to explain the concept of the business. The vision statements are clearly defined to show where the company is heading and the values reflect how the company will conduct business. The mission, vision, and value statements help align the different elements of the strategic plan with the company goals. By creating and implementing the mission, vision, and value statements Bella Boutique, defines the current situation of the company and have a clear understanding of where the company is heading. References Thompson Jr. , A. A. , Gamble, J. E. , ; Strickland III, A. (2006). Strategy Winning in the Marketplace. McGraw-Hill. www. bplans. com. (n. d. ). Retrieved 11 19, 2012, from http://www. bplans. com/womens_clothing_boutique_business_plan/company_summary_fc. php. www. brainmass. com. (n. d. ). Retrieved 11 19, 2012, from http://brainmass. com/business/marketing/286812. How to cite Strategic Plan, Part I: Conceptualizing a Business, Essay examples