The list is an assemblage from many different languages. To keep all abbreviations distinct, some counterintuitive abbreviations had to be forged (a few conflicts have been preserved, though). Since any given language will need only a small subset from the list, abbreviations can then be streamlined.
value | abbrev. | category | comment |
---|---|---|---|
1st person | 1 | person | |
2nd person | 2 | person | |
3rd person | 3 | person | |
abessive | (prv) (avers) | use 'privative' and 'aversive' | |
abilitative | (hab) | use 'habilitative' | |
ablative | abl | local case relator | 'from' (= separative) |
absolute | absl | nominal | free non-incorporated form of noun |
absolutive | abs | grammatical case or pronominal index slot | in ergative system |
abstract | abstr | nominal | |
accusative | acc | grammatical case relator | |
across | acrs | spatial demonstrative | 'same level' |
action nominalizer | acnnr | deverbal nominal derivation | |
active | act | voice | |
actor | a | pronominal index slot | not known as a case in 2017 |
actor topic | atop | voice | |
additive, -ional | add | case relator | |
addressee-honorific | 2hon | honorification | |
addressee-humble | 2hml | honorification | |
adelative | adel | local case relator | |
adessive | adess | local case relator | |
adhortative | (hort) | use 'hortative' | |
aditive | (all) | use 'allative' | |
adjectiv(al)izer | adjr | derivational or syntactic | |
admonitive | adm | mood | |
adverbializer | advr | derivational or syntactic | |
adversative | adrvs | interpropositional relation | 'whereas' |
affirmative | aff(mt) | opposite to negative | normally unmarked |
agent nominalizer | agnr | deverbal nominal derivation | |
agentive | ag | ||
alienable | al | possessive attribution morpheme | |
allative | all | local case relator | 'to' |
allocutive | alloc | honorification | kind of addressee-honorific |
ambient | amb | derivational | weather, time, environment |
ambulative | ambv | verbal | |
anaphoric | ana | pronominal | |
andative | and | deictic | |
animate | an | ||
antepresent | atp | verbal | only if distinct from 'perfect' |
anterior | ant | tense | relative tense |
anticausative | acaus | deverbal verb derivation | = deagentive, blocking of actor argument |
antipassive | apass | voice | |
aorist | aor | tense-aspect | perfective past (as opposed to imperfect) |
applicative | appl | deverbal verb derivation | subtypes may be distinguished by appl.rec, appl.inst etc. |
apprehensional | app(r)h | interpropositional relation | 'lest' |
approbative | app(r)b | illocutionary formative | approval to what is said |
approximative | app(r)x | verbal | distinct from paenitive |
apudessive, -lative | apud | only if distinct from adessive/-lative | |
ascensive | asc | verbal | upward movement |
assertive | asrt | modality | subtype of declarative: high degree of commitment |
associative | ass(oc) | adnominal case relator | 'with, Ã ' |
associated andative | ass.and | verbal | 'go Ving, go to V, V on the way there' |
associated ventive | ass.ven | verbal | 'come Ving, come to V, V on the way here' |
assumptive | assum | evidential | |
attentional | attn | imperative | |
attenuative | att(v) | verbal or adjectival derivation | |
attributor | at | nominal | links an attribute to the head |
audible | aud | demonstrative | |
auditory | aud | evidential | ≠'hearsay' |
augmentative | aug | denominal nominal derivation | |
authentic | auth | nominal or adjectival | |
autonomous motion | am | verbal | |
auxiliary | aux | if it is the only auxiliary root | |
aversive | avers | case relator | only if distinct from 'ablative' and 'privative' |
background | bg | aspect | only if distinct from imperfective |
benefactive | ben | case relator | 'for' |
cardinal | card | numeral | if marked grammatically |
caritive | (prv) | use 'privative' | |
catalytic | cat | derivational | submorphemic unit enabling another operation |
causative | caus | deverbal verb derivation | |
certitive | cert | modal category | |
change of state | COS | aspectual | |
circumstantial | circ | interpropositional relation | 'in, by' |
clamative | (excl) | use 'exclamative' | |
class # | cl# | noun class # | # for numbers; specific labels otherwise |
classifier | clf | nominal | followed by class identifier, e.g. hum |
cohortative | (hort) | use 'hortative' | |
collective | coll | ||
comitative | com | case relator | 'with, in the company of' |
common | c(om)m | gender | either masc. or fem.; cf. 'human' and 'animate' |
comparative | cmpr | degree of comparison | |
complementizer | comp | subordinator | = sr |
completive | cmpl | aspect | only if distinct from perfective |
compounder | cmpj | marker of incorporation joint | |
conative | cntv | mood | |
concessive | conc | interpropositional relation | 'although' |
concrete | cncr | pronominal | |
conditional | cond | 1) interpropositional relation; 2) mood | 1) 'if'; 2) 'would' |
conductive | cndv | case relator | 'taking X with oneself' |
conjectural | conjc | evidential | |
conjunctive | conj | interpropositional relation | of non-finite predicate |
connector, -ive | conn | if there is only one | |
consecutive | consec | interpropositional relation | 'so that' |
construct | const | nominal | construct state |
converb | (ger) | use 'gerund' | |
continuative | cont | aspect/aktionsart | |
copula | cop | if there is only one | |
counterfactual | (irr) | mood | use 'irrealis' |
crastinal | cras | tense | 'tomorrow' |
culminative | clm | verbal | 'end up / get as far as' |
customary | (hab) | aspectual | use 'habitual' |
dative | dat | grammatical case relator | |
deagentive | (acaus) | use 'anticausative' | |
debitive | deb | mood, hyperonym of 'obligative' | |
declarative | decl | sentence-type | normally unmarked |
deferential | defr | honorification | ~ speaker-humble |
definite | def | determination | |
deictic of 12 person | d12 | demonstrative | |
deictic of 1st person | d1 | demonstrative | |
deictic of 2nd person | d2 | demonstrative | |
deictic of 3rd person | d3 | demonstrative | |
delative | del | local case relator | 'down from' |
demonstrative | dem | determination | accompanied by specific feature |
dependent verb form | (subj) | use 'subjunctive' | |
derelationalizer | derel | nominal | |
descensive | desc | verbal | downward movement |
desiderative | des | verbal | |
destinative | dest | local case or directional | ‘up to goal’ if typically for human destinations, use 'benefactive'; if on non-finite verb form which itself represents the goal, use 'supine' |
determiner | det | pronominal | will normally be def, indef, gnr, spec, nspec |
detransitivizer | detr | deverbal verb derivation | see also 'anticausative' and 'introversive' |
different subject | ds | ||
diminutive | dim | denominal noun derivation | |
direct | dr | voice | vs. inverse |
direct evidential | direv | evidential | |
direct object | do | pronominal index slot | |
directional | dir | case or verb derivation | (if there is only one:) 'towards'; use and and ven for deictic directionals |
directive | dirv | modal | |
dishabilitative | dishab | ||
disjunctive | disj | ||
dissociative | dissoc | ||
distal | dist | demonstrative | remote from deictic center |
distributive | distr | nominal or verbal | |
donative | don | auxiliary of benefactive construction | |
down(wards) | infra | spatial demonstrative | |
dual | du, dl | number | |
dual exclusive | de | number | |
dual inclusive | di | number | |
dubitative | dub | mood | |
durative | dur | aktionsart | |
dynamic | dyn | aktionsart | vs. stative |
egressive | egr | aktionsart | |
elative | elat | local case relator | 'out of' |
elongated | elong | classifier | |
emotive | emot | ||
emphasizer/emphatic | emph | 1) information structure marker; 2) pronominal | |
equative | eqt | 1. case; 2. predicative | 'as'; feature/marker of adjective in nominal clause |
ergative | erg | grammatical case or pronominal index slot | in ergative system |
essive | ess | case relator | 'as'; see also 'transformative' |
euphonic | eu | ||
evidential | evid | verbal | if there is only one |
exclamative | excl | mood | |
exclusive | (de, pe) | use 'dual exclusive', 'plural exclusive' | |
exist(ential) | exist | grammatical verb | |
experiential | exper | aspect | |
extensive | ext | ||
extrafocal | exfoc | verbal | status of subordinate clause of cleft-sentence |
extraversive | extrv | deverbal verb derivation | transitivization by addition of undergoer |
factitive | fact | denominal/deadjectival verb derivation | A-fact NP 'make NP A' |
familiar | fam | pronominal | if distinct from 'definite' |
feminine | f | gender | |
final | fin | 1) aspect; 2) = purposive | 1: only if distinct from 'perfective' and 'completive' |
finite | fin | verbal | |
first person dual inclusive | 12 | if treated as a quasi-singular; otherwise 'dual inclusive' | |
flat | plan | classifier | |
focus | foc | information structure | |
formal | frm | mood | |
frequentative | freq | aktionsart | multiple times on several occasions |
future | fut | tense | |
generic | gnr | determination | |
genitive | gen | grammatical case relator | |
gerund | ger | verbal | verbal adverb or converb |
gerundive | (deb) | use 'debitive' | |
goal | g | pronominal index slot | only if distinct from io; case is 'allative' |
habilitative | habil | modal | |
habitual | hab(it) | aktionsart | ~ customary |
habitual-generic | use 'habitual', 'generic' | ||
habitual-past | use 'habitual', 'past' | ||
hearsay | hs | evidential | ≠'auditory' |
hesitative | hesit | information structure | |
hesternal | hest | tense | yesterday's past |
hodiernal future | hodfut | tense | today's future |
hodiernal past | hodpst | tense | today's past |
honorific | hon | honorification | |
horizontal | hor | positional | |
hortative | hort | mood | 1st person imperative |
human | hum | ||
humble | hml | honorification | comprises 'speaker-humble, addressee-humble, referent-humble' |
hypocoristic | hcr | affect | |
hypothetical | hyp | mood | |
illative | ill | local case relator | 'into' |
immediative | imm | aspect | |
immediate/imminent future | immfut | tense | |
immediate past | (recpst) | use 'recent past' | |
imperative | imp | mood | |
imperceptible | impc | demonstrative | |
imperfect | impf | tense-aspect | imperfective past; vs. aorist |
imperfective | ipfv | aspect | |
impersonal | impr | pronominal | only if formally distinct from the specific persons |
impersonal passive | ips | voice | passive without promotion to subject |
inactive | inact | grammatical case or pronominal index slot | in active system |
inalienable | inal | nominal | possessive attribution morpheme or feature |
inanimate | inan | ||
inceptive | (ingr) | use 'ingressive' | |
inchoative | inch | denominal verbal derivation | N/A-inch 'become N/A' |
inclusive | (di, pi) | use 'dual inclusive', 'plural inclusive' | |
incompletive, noncompletive | incmp(l) | aspect | normally = imperfective |
inconsequential | incons | interpropositional relation | |
incorporative | incj | marker of incorporation joint | |
indefinite | indf | determination | |
independent | indep | mood | only if distinct from indicative |
indicative | ind | mood | |
indirect interrogative | indint | clause type | |
indirect object | io | pronominal index slot | |
inessive | iness | local case relator | 'inside' |
inferential | infr | mood or evidential | |
infinitive | inf | verbal | |
ingressive | ingr | aktionsart | |
initializer | initr | information structure | only if distinct from hes |
injunctive | inj | mood | |
instructive | (man) | use 'manner' | |
instrument nominalizer | instnr | deverbal nominal derivation | |
instrumental | inst(r) | case relator | |
intensive | ints | verbal | often aktionsart |
intentional | intl | ||
interrogative | int | sentence type | particle or morphological category |
intransitive | intr | verbal | morpheme or grammatical category |
intransitive subject | s | pronominal index slot | only if distinct from both a and p; use sbj otherwise |
introversive | intrv | deverbal verb derivation | blocking of undergoer argument |
inverse | inv | usually verbal | vs. direct |
invisible | invs | demonstrative | |
involitive | invol | verbal category | only if distinct from nvol |
irrealis | irr | mood | |
iterative | iter | aktionsart | several times on one occasion |
jussive | juss | mood | 3rd ps. imperative or dependent mood |
lative | lat | local case relator | 'to ~ from ~ via' |
ligature | lig | nominal | |
limitative | lim | 'only' | |
linker | lnk | nominal | links subconstituents of a phrase, typically an NP; properly includes 'attributor' |
locative | loc | local case relator | |
locative topic | ltop | voice | |
logophoric | log | pronominal or verbal | |
malefactive | mal | deverbal verb derivation | |
manner | man | case relator | also on non-finite verbs |
manner nominalizer | mannr | deverbal nominal derivation | |
masculine | m | gender | |
masculine personal | mhum | gender | |
medial | med | demonstrative | medial distance from deictic center |
medial | medv | verbal | verb form in a chain |
mediative | medt | case relator | 'between, among; by means of' |
mediopassive | medp | voice | |
middle | mid | voice | excludes passive |
mirative | mir | verbal or sentence type | 'surprise' |
motivative | mtv | case relator | 'by'; sometimes called 'causal' |
multiple action | mult | ||
multiplicative | mulv | numeral | |
narrative | narr | tense | |
nativizer | ntvr | derivation | converts loans into a native category |
near future | nrfut | tense | after 'immediate future' |
negative | neg | ||
neuter | n | gender | |
neutral | ntl | in contrast with other members of the paradigm, e.g. positional | |
nominalizer | nr | deverbal nominal derivation or syntactic subordination | see also the more specific ones |
nominative | nom | grammatical case relator | |
non- | n | e.g. npst | |
non-finite | nfin | verbal | inflectional counterpart of NR & GER |
non-future | nfut | tense | |
non-human | nhum | gender | |
non-masculine personal | nm | gender | |
non-past | npst | tense | |
non-plural | npl | number | < 3 |
non-singular | nsg | number | > 1; only if there is a plural for > 2 |
non-specific | nspec | determination | |
non-visual | nvis | evidential | non-eye-witness |
non-volitional | nvol | verbal | |
noun class # | cl# | noun class # | # is a number or a feature |
numeral | num | pronominal | subcategory |
object | obj | pronominal index slot | |
obligative | oblg | mood, hyponym of 'debitive' | |
oblique | obl | case relator | |
obviative | obv | person | vs. proximate |
open container | oc | classifier | |
optative | opt | mood | |
ordinal | ord | numeral | |
paenitive | paen | verbal | 'almost' |
partial affectedness | prl | verbal | |
participle | ptcp | verbal | as a marker, not as a conjugation form |
partitive | prtv | case relator | |
passive | pass | voice | |
past | pst | tense | |
patient nominalizer | patnr | deverbal nominal derivation | |
paucal | pau | number | |
pejorative | pej | affect | |
perfect | p(r)f | tense-aspect | |
perfective | pfv | aspect | |
pergressive | (perl) | use 'perlative' | |
perlative | perl | local case relator | 'through' |
permanent | perm | ||
person(al) | ps | pronominal | |
place nominalizer | locnr | deverbal nominal derivation | |
pluperfect | plup | tense | past or perfect of a past |
plural | pl | number | |
plural exclusive | pe | number | |
plural inclusive | pi | number | |
plural object | plo | verbal | class of classificatory verb |
pluritive | (pl) | plural of a singulative; use 'plural' | |
polite | (frm) | use 'formal' | |
portative | port | ||
positional | pos | verbal | |
positive | (aff) | use 'affirmative' | |
possessed | (rel) | use 'relational' | |
possessive | poss | possessive determiner, pronoun and pronominal index slot | use gen, at, prt or pry otherwise |
possessive classifier | pcl | followed by specific class feature | |
postcrastinal | pocras | tense | future after tomorrow |
postelative | postel | local case relator | 'from behind' |
posterior | post | relative tense | |
postessive | postess | local case relator | 'behind' |
post-hodiernal | pohod | tense | future after today |
potential | pot | mood | |
precative | prec | mood | for requesting |
predicative | pred | nominal | predicative form |
present | prs | tense | |
presumptive | prsmt | mood/evidential | typically a particle |
preterite | (pst) | use 'past' | |
pre-hesternal | prhest | tense | past before yesterday |
primary object | po | pronominal index slot | |
privative | pr(i)v | case relator | 'without' |
processive, -ual | proc | denominal verb derivation | |
product nominalizer | prdnr | deverbal derivation | |
progressive | prog | aspect | |
prohibitive | proh | mood | negative imperative |
prolative | prolat | local case relator | 'along, by (way of)' |
proper name | prpn | nominal | marker on proper names |
property | ppy | nominal | dummy possessum |
proprietive | ppv | case or denominal derivation | 'having, provided with' |
prosecutive | prosec | case relator | 'on from X' |
prospective | prosp | tense-aspect | 'going to'; opposite of perfect |
proximal | prox | demonstrative | near the deictic center |
proximate | prx | person | vs. obviative |
proximative | (paen) | verbal | use 'paenitive' |
punctual | pnct | aspect or aktionsart | |
purposive | (dest) | use 'destinative' | |
qualifier | qul | verbal | |
quality nominalizer | qualnr | deverbal nominal derivation | |
question marker | (int) | use 'interrogative' | |
quotative | quot | marking indirect speech | |
realis | rls | mood | vs. irrealis |
realization | rlz | ||
recent past | recpst | tense | = immediate past |
reciprocal | rcp | voice or pronominal | |
reconfirmative | recnf | ||
reduplicative | gloss by function | ||
referent-honorific | 3hon | honorification | |
referent-humble | 3hml | honorification | |
referential | rftl | deverbal nominal derivation | |
referentive | rfv | case relator | 'about' |
reflexive | r(e)fl | voice or pronominal | |
reinforcement | (intns) | use 'intensive' | |
relational(izer) | rlr | nominal | |
relative | rel | subordinative and/or pronominal | in relative clause |
relative | (rfr) | use 'referentive' | |
remote | (dist) | demonstrative | use 'distal' |
remote past | rempst | tense | |
repetitive | rep | aktionsart | only if distinct from iterative |
reportative | rprt | evidential | |
restrictive | (lim) | use 'limitative' | |
resultative | res | aspect or aktionsart | |
reversive | rvrs | aktionsart | |
same subject | ss | ||
secondary object | so | pronominal index slot | |
semelfactive | smlf | aktionsart | |
sensory | sens | evidential | |
separative | (abl) | use 'ablative' | |
sequential | seq | interpropositional relation | vs. simultaneous |
similative | simv | case relator | 'as, like' |
simultaneous | sim | interpropositional relation | vs. sequential |
singular | sg | number | restricted |
singulative | sgt | nominal | vs. collective |
sociative | soc | verbal | 'together' |
speaker-honorific | 1hon | honorification | |
speaker-humble | 1hml | honorification | |
specific | spec | determination | |
speculative | specl | evidential | |
spherical | spher | classifier | 'round object' |
stative | stat | aktionsart | |
subelative | subel | local case relator | 'from under' |
subessive | subess | local case relator | 'under' |
subject | sbj | pronominal index slot | |
subjunctive | sbjv | mood | |
sublative | subl | local case relator | 'to under' |
subordinator | sr | interpropositional relation | only for the single universal subordinator ('that') |
superdirective | (supl) | use super-lative | |
superelative | supel | local case relator | 'from above' |
superessive | supess | local case relator | 'above' |
superficial | supf | 'on the surface' | |
superlative | sup | degree of comparison | |
super-lative | supl | local case relator | 'to above' |
supine | supn | non-finite verbal | ‘(in order) to V’ |
surprise | (mir) | use 'mirative' | |
tag question | tag | sentence type | |
temporal | tmp | in combination with more specific features | |
temporary | temp | verbal | 'for a while' |
terminative | term | local case or aktionsart | 'up to' |
timitive | (apph) | use 'apprehensional' | |
topic(alizer) | top | information structure | |
total affectedness | tot | verbal | |
transformative | trnsf | case relator | 'becoming N'; dynamic counterpart of essive |
transitional | trnl | ||
transitive | tr | verbal | morpheme or grammatical category |
transitive patient | p | pronominal index slot | only if opposed to both s and a; use obj otherwise |
transitive subject | a | pronominal index slot | only if opposed to both s and p; use erg otherwise |
transitivizer | trr | deverbal verb derivation | |
translative | trnsl | local case relator | 'across' |
transportative | trp | verbal | 'transporting X' |
trial | trl | number | only if distinct from paucal |
undergoer | u | pronominal index slot | |
undergoer topic | utop | voice | |
unrestricted | (pl) | use 'plural' | |
unspecified | unspec | person | unspecified argument of relational base |
up(wards) | supra | spatial demonstrative | |
validator | use 'assertive', 'declarative' | ||
ven(i)tive | ven | deictic | |
verbal interrogative | intv | only if distinct from both int and indint | |
verbalizer | vr, vbz | verb derivation | |
vertical | vert | positional | |
visible | vis | demonstrative | |
visual | vis | evidential | eyewitness |
vocative | voc | case relator | |
volitional, volitive | vol | verbal | |
zero | ∅ | making no contribution to sentence meaning |