THE USE OF ABBREVIATED WORDS IN THE CHINESE MEDIA

This article offers the definition of abbreviated words and the definition of the media language, substantiates the origin of abbreviated words in the media, analyses their use in the Chinese media. The purpose of the study is to analyse the characteristics of shortened words and their original combinations of words, to offer all types of abbreviated words in the Chinese language, to consider the use of abbreviated words in the Chinese media, to give examples from the major news sites («News of China», «People's network», «Chinese military network», «China Central television»), to identify principles for the use of abbreviated words in the Chinese media. As a result, the functions of abbreviated words in improving the efficiency of media information transmission and the functions of the media in the development of abbreviated words are identified, and the rules of correctly using different types of abbreviated words in the Chinese media language are highlighted. This article is addressed to researchers-philologists, postgraduates, students who are interested in learning Chinese and identifying trends in the development of abbreviated words in the Chinese language.


Introduction
Abbreviated words have existed from ancient times to the present day and are used both in China and abroad. It is a common feature of human language. In order to better serve the process of communication, two aspects of the norm should be considered: the own norms of abbreviated words (the necessity and rationality) and the norms of use (Zhou, 2015).
Modern society is developing faster and faster, the pace of life is accelerating. The exchange of information becomes more intensive, and the content is constantly enriched and complicated. People strive to get the most information in the shortest possible time. In this way, abbreviated words develop rapidly, especially in news reports, which play an important role in spreading information. Whether it is radio or television, newspapers or the Internet, we can access various forms of abbreviated words anytime and anywhere (Yao, 2005).
In Russian, the abbreviation (ital. abbreviatura, from lat. abbreviio 'abbreviate') is a noun consisting of truncated words included in the original phrase, or of truncated components of the original compound word. The last component of an abbreviation can also be an entire (uncut) word. (Linguistic encyclopediс dictionary: (online resource). -URL: http://tapemark.narod.ru/les/009b.html; (Date of access: 02.03.2020)) In Chinese, abbreviated words are analogs of abbreviations in Russian: as a rule, they are simplified forms of long and complex initial phrases. From already fairly stable Chinese complex phrases, their main components (morphemes, words) are taken and formed into short words that express the same meaning as their original phrases (Yao, 2005).
The original complex combinations contain more characters and have a more complex structure, but abbreviated words, respectively, have fewer characters and a more compact structure. Although abbreviated words and original combinations may replace each other in expressions of the same meaning, their style and effect of expression are different. As a rule, the original combination is more formal and detailed, and the abbreviated word is simpler and more literal (Yu et al., 2003). Thus, after formation, abbreviated words are usually used more actively than their corresponding original combinations, to some extent even replace them and become stable expressions.

Problem Statement
Abbreviated words are wildly used in the media, to avoid abusing them it is necessary to pay attention to the rules for their correct use.

Research Questions
• Why abbreviated words are wildly used in the media?
• How many types of abbreviated words in the Chinese language?
• How to correctly use different types of abbreviated words in the Chinese media?

Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to analyse the characteristics of shortened words and their original combinations of words, to offer all types of abbreviated words in the Chinese language, to consider the use https: //doi.org/10.15405/epiceepsy.20111.5 Corresponding Author: Xiaoge Li Selection and peer-review under

Research Methods
Summarize all types of abbreviated words, analyze the use of each type in the media, illustrate with examples from the major news sites («News of China», «People's network», «Chinese military network», «China Central television»).

The use of abbreviated words in the media
Media language is a functional type of literary language that was formed with the beginning of mass media distribution. Mass media usually include television, radio, the press, documentaries, electronic newspapers and magazines (New dictionary of methodological terms and concepts (theory and practice of language teaching), 2020) ((online resource). -URL: https://methodological_terms.academic.ru/2429; (Date of access: 06.03.2020)).
As a common language phenomenon in recent years, abbreviated words are increasingly used in the language of Chinese media, which is becoming a necessary and regular method and has a linguistic, pragmatic basis (Yao, 2005).
The language of mass media quickly and actively reacts to social phenomena. A compact and compressed text is able to convey to the mass audience the maximum amount of information in the shortest possible time. This is especially true for the design of headlines: the press has specific requirements for headlines, since they must both generalize the main content of the message, and meet the requirements for the design of a newspaper strip or electronic page, and also take into account the aesthetic effect of language expressiveness. For example, now (in March 2020) China is fighting the epidemic, the new abbreviated word 新冠肺炎 'pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus' (from the phrase 新型冠状病毒肺炎 'pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus') can be found every day in news reports, newspapers, radio and the Internet. Instead of eight characters, the same meaning is expressed by four characters. This new shortened word speeds up the transfer of information.
The possibility of abbreviated words appearing in the media is due to their peculiarities. On the one hand, the abbreviated word has a simple form, more economical than the original phrase; on the other hand, it can generalize a rich content. For example, the abbreviated word 坚持四项基本原则 'firmly adhere to the four basic principles'，the content of which is as follows: 坚持社会主义道路，坚持中国共产党的 领导，坚持人民民主专政，坚持马列主义毛泽东思想 'firmly adhere to the Communist path, the democratic dictatorship of the people, the leadership of the Communist party, Marxism-Leninism, the idea of Mao Zedong'. By expressing rich content in simplified text, the abbreviated word saves space and increases the volume of media information, which coincides with the requirement of news reporting. As a result, on the one hand, the media displays all the latest language abbreviations, and on the other hand, the media also affects language changes and their development. The media introduces new abbreviated words to the audience. People quickly accept and master them. On the contrary, abbreviated words that are widely https: //doi.org/10.15405/epiceepsy.20111.5 Corresponding Author: Xiaoge Li Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference 57 used are again reinforced in the media. This is the process of appearing and fixing abbreviated words in the media (Yao, 2005).
The appearance of abbreviated words has a linguistic basis. The Chinese language is characterized by the absence of morphological changes, so usually for the formation of phrases or sentences, the components are syntactically ordered according to their meaning. Compared to inflectional languages, Chinese focuses on semantic logic and word order, meaning the form follows the set meaning (Li, 2013).
In this regard, some components in combinations of words or sentences can be omitted, without interfering with the expression and understanding of the general meaning. In the language of mass media, due to the limitations of space and time, certain elements are often omitted: this can be both the definition and the subject of behavior and action (Yao, 2005). For example, the abbreviated word 十 八 大 'The 18th Congress', in its original phrase 中国共产党第十八次全国代表大会 'The 18th national Congress of the Communist party of China' definitions are omitted.
The occurrence of abbreviated words also has a pragmatic basis. From the point of view of cognitive linguistics, it is difficult for people to remember long sentences or too much information, so linguistic strategies are needed to increase the volume of received information and communication efficiency. When using language, people prefer to get the most cognitive effects with the least effort. The use of abbreviated words satisfies a person's natural inertia (Yao, 2005).
Especially the use of abbreviations with letters is inevitable, due to the fact that, firstly, political, economic, and cultural communications have become more and more frequent, according to international practice, international organizations and agencies mostly use foreign names; secondly, the Chinese media have become more international (Zhang, 2016). Words with letters have become one of the important forms for borrowing foreign words and producing new words in the Chinese vocabulary system (Wang, 2016).
Words with letters are gradually included in the modern Chinese dictionary, which shows the state of the social language, while not weakening the purity of the Chinese language (Feng, 2017).
So, under the influence of the factors considered, abbreviated words continuously arise and develop.

Rules for using abbreviated words in the media
As we have already suggested in another paper (Krasina & Li, 2017) People can easily associate common abbreviations with their original word combinations and understand their meanings based on the justification of Chinese word formation (Chen & Li, 2016).
Among them, the number of abbreviated words of the first type is the maximum, respectively, they are found most often in the media, almost in every report can be found. For example, in the report «9 provinces, Autonomous regions and cities jointly supply the market of the Wuhan city in Hubei province» from the «People's network» from March 08, 2020. («People's network» (online resource). -URL: http://society.people.com.cn/n1/2020/0308/c1008-31622158.html; (Date of access: 08.03.2020)) we found 19 abbreviated words of compound type: (1) 首先保障 'first of all to ensure' → 首保 'first of all to ensure':首保武汉市场供应，9 省区市 快速响应。'First of all to ensure the market supply of Wuhan city, 9 provinces and cities rapidly responded'.
(2) 联合保障 'joint guarantee' → 联保 'joint guarantee'; (3) 联合供应 'together to provide' → 联供 'together to provide'; (4) 协同合作 'to work collaboratively' → 协作 'to work collaboratively': 9 省联保联供协作机制 的建立，既是责任担当，更是手足之情。'The establishment of the mechanism for the joint cooperation and collaborative work of the 9 provinces shows not only the responsibility but also brotherhood'.  Among them abbreviated words 首保 'first of all to ensure', 保供战 'the battle to ensure the supply', 离汉 'to leave Wuhan' are not stable, but only temporarily used in this and other reports with similar content, but the context makes it easy for people to associate them with full forms, which justifies their use.

'Since the outbreak, the Ministry of Commerce has also never issued a ban on the export of masks and raw materials for their production, and businesses have been able to trade in accordance with the principles of marketization'.
Meanwhile, we have noticed that although some abbreviated words of the truncated type are already fairly stable expressions and perfectly clear and understandable, most official reports still use their original forms. We believe that this is because by omitting the definition, some abbreviated words of the truncated type need to be understood within the context. For example: (1) 复旦大学 'Fudan University' → 复旦 'Fudan  We support the point of view of researcher Zhang (2013) in the article «New features and rules for using abbreviated words with letters». When using them, we must adhere to three principles: the principle of necessity, clarity, and targeting of the audience.
Abbreviated words with letters are mostly loanwords. Even if some of them mean concepts or objects typical of the Chinese tradition, but they are written in letters of foreign alphabets. The audience does not always understand and perceive their meaning. Moreover, according to the rules of the Chinese language, such words do not correspond to any common language or pronunciation norms. So, while recognizing their brevity and high efficiency of communication, it is necessary to pay attention to the rules for their correct use. Abuse of such words will not only lead to the fact that the information being distributed will not be understood and will not achieve the communication goals but also violate the normalization of the Chinese language. (Liao, 2006). Accepting a large number of words with letters, news should be easy to understand and should take the responsibility to standardize the language at the same time (Shu & Zhang, 2018).
About the principle of necessity for example we can take the abbreviated word 4S 店 '4-in-1 car sales service store: sale, spare parts, service, customer feedback support': the form is much simpler and shorter than the original phrase 汽车销售服务店：销售 (Sale)，零配件 (Spare parts)，售后服务 (Service)，信息反馈 (Survey) '4-in-1 car sales service store: sale, spare parts, service, customer feedback support'. With the increase in the standard of living of the people, the car and its related concepts have https: //doi.org/10.15405/epiceepsy.20111.5 Corresponding Author: Xiaoge Li Selection and peer-review under  (2) International English Language Testing System → IELTS (ˈaɪ.ɛlts) → 雅思 (ya si); (3) Test of English as a foreign language → TOEFL ('təufəl) → 托福 (tuo fu): So, all types of abbreviated words can be used in the media language. Abbreviated words with a high degree of stability are usually used independently. At the same time, those that are not stable enough, or that are only specific to a certain group of people or a certain area, can be used together with their original forms.

Conclusion
Based on the above analysis, we can conclude that the widespread use of abbreviated words in the media language is regular and necessary, with strong linguistic and pragmatic foundations. Abbreviated words increase the communication efficiency of the media, on the contrary, the media constantly stimulate their birth, development and consolidation in the language. In the media language, we can use all types of abbreviated words, among which words of the compound type are the most common and are used more It is likely that in the future there will still be numerous new abbreviated words in the media, which will be increasingly used and gradually become stable abbreviated words.