Abbreviation as a variety of substitution of the English-language genetics and genetic engineering terms

Razduyev A. V.

The article examines the phenomenon of substitution of the English-language genetic terms based on structural synonymy (doubling), in which a full-structure term in texts and discourse on the subject of Genetics and Genetic Engineering is replaced by an abbreviated unit. The purpose of the work is to identify the features of using the substitution of terms by specialists (and non-specialists) in special texts and discourse – replacing full-structure units with corresponding abbreviations of various types. In the course of the work, it has been found out that initial abbreviations (to a large extent with two and three components) are more often used during the substitution in comparison with syllabic abbreviations, truncations, contractions, acronyms, as well as blends, mixed and graphic abbreviations. The author comes to the conclusion about the significance of the substitution process in order to prevent repetitions of terminological units in texts and discourse and follow the principle of linguistic economy.

Keywords:abbreviation, substitution, term, Genetics, Genetic Engineering, discourse, text.