Reducing or shortening a word or phrase, such as shortening of “Metropolitan” to “Metro”.
Abridgment affects signifiers, not words (ie nonverbal or linguistic signifiers). The slightest nod from a person’s repertoire of nonverbal communication gestures can replace the act of nodding or shaking your head up and down several times. Here, as in the case of the abridgment of verbal signifiers, we see in action the principle of economy (a principle in which the maximum effect is sought through a minimum of effort). However, this principle is only one of many that operate in language and other sign systems.
No single principle, alone, can be responsible for all operations in any sign system, however, there is a tendency towards economy, which is characteristic of all sign systems.
