List of glossing abbreviations
This page lists common abbreviations for grammatical terms that are used in linguistic interlinear glossing.
Note the following:
- Abbreviations beginning with may not be listed separately. Abbreviations ending with are treated similarly. For example, and are not listed below, as they are composable from + and +.
- Abbreviations are generally written in all caps or—apart from the terms A, S, O and P—in small caps, to distinguish them from lexical words.
| Gloss | Meaning | Reference |
| › | direction of transitivity or possession in polypersonal agreement | |
| 0, ∅ | zero, covert form | |
| 1 | first person | |
| 2 | second person | |
| 3 | third person | |
| A | agent-like argument of canonical transitive verb | |
| abstract | ||
| abessive case | ||
| ablative case | ||
| absolutive case | ||
| accusative case | ||
| accompanier | ||
| active voice, actor role | ||
| adjective | ||
| adessive case | ||
| admonitive mood | ||
| adverb, adverbial case | ||
| affirmative, affective case | ||
| agentive case | ||
| agreement | ||
| allative case | ||
| allocutive agreement | ||
| alienable possession | ||
| andative | ||
| animate gender | ||
| anterior tense | ||
| antessive case | ||
| anticausative | ||
| antipassive voice | ||
| aorist | ||
| apposition | ||
| applicative voice | ||
| apprehensive mood | ||
| approximative | ||
| article | ||
| aspect, aspectual | ||
| associative case, assumptive mood, assertive mood | ||
| agent trigger | ||
| attenuative | ||
| attributive | ||
| auditory evidential | ||
| augmentative | ||
| auxiliary verb | ||
| benefactive | ||
| 'be' verb | ||
| benefactive case | ||
| common gender, complementizer, Clause | ||
| ability, modal case | ||
| causative | ||
| centric case | ||
| counterfactual conditional | ||
| circumfix | ||
| citation form | ||
| classifier | ||
| compound | ||
| conjunction | ||
| consequential mood | ||
| contrastive | ||
| collective number | ||
| comitative case | ||
| complementizer, comparative | ||
| completive aspect | ||
| concrete | ||
| concessive | ||
| conditional mood | ||
| conjunction | ||
| connective particle | ||
| continuous aspect, continuative aspect | ||
| copula | ||
| coreference | ||
| crastinal tense | ||
| current relevance marker | ||
| converb | ||
| core dative case | ||
| dative case | ||
| different event, change of event | ||
| declarative mood | ||
| definite | ||
| deixis, deictic | ||
| delayed imperative | ||
| delative case ; deliberative mood | ||
| demonstrative | ||
| deontic mood | ||
| dependent | ||
| derivation, derivational | ||
| desiderative mood | ||
| destinative aspect | ||
| determiner | ||
| detransitive | ||
| motion downhill, seaward | ||
| diminutive | ||
| direct evidential ; directional ; direct case | ||
| disjunction | ||
| distal demonstrative | ||
| distributive case | ||
| ditransitive | ||
| delimited | ||
| discourse marker | ||
| direct object | ||
| motion downriver | ||
| different-subject marker | ||
| dual number | ||
| dubitative mood | ||
| durative aspect | ||
| dyadic | ||
| dynamic aspect | ||
| epenthetic morpheme | ||
| elative case | ||
| emphatic | ||
| enclitic | ||
| epistemic mood or modality | ||
| ergative case | ||
| essive case | ||
| evidential | ||
| evitative case | ||
| exclusive person | ||
| exclamative | ||
| excessive duration | ||
| exessive case | ||
| exhortative | ||
| existential | ||
| exocentric case | ||
| Experiencer; experiential, eyewitness = direct evidential | ||
| expletive | ||
| feminine gender | ||
| factive evidential | ||
| familiar register | ||
| finite verb | ||
| focus | ||
| formal register | ||
| final particle | ||
| frequentative aspect | ||
| fraction, fractional | ||
| former, deceased | ||
| future tense | ||
| gender | ||
| genitive case | ||
| gerund | ||
| gnomic aspect | ||
| goal trigger ; high | ||
| habitual aspect | ||
| humble register | ||
| hesternal tense | ||
| historic, as in historical present or | ||
| hodiernal tense | ||
| honorific | ||
| hortative | ||
| hearsay, reported evidential | ||
| human, anthropic gender | ||
| hypothetical mood | ||
| inflected | ||
| identical | ||
| identifiable | ||
| ideophone | ||
| ignorative | ||
| illative case | ||
| immediate, as in immediate imperative mood, near future tense | ||
| imperative mood | ||
| imperfect | ||
| imprecative mood | ||
| impersonal verb | ||
| inclusive person | ||
| inalienable possession | ||
| inanimate gender | ||
| inchoative aspect, inceptive aspect | ||
| indicative mood | ||
| indefinite | ||
| inessive case | ||
| infinitive | ||
| Inflection | ||
| inferential mood | ||
| inelative case | ||
| instrumental case | ||
| intensifier; interrogative | ||
| intentional | ||
| Interjection | ||
| intransitive | ||
| inverse | ||
| indirect object | ||
| imperfective aspect | ||
| irrealis mood | ||
| indirect speech | ||
| iterative aspect | ||
| jussive mood | ||
| low | ||
| second language | ||
| lative case | ||
| locative case + directional | ||
| linking element, interfix | ||
| locative case | ||
| logophoric | ||
| masculine gender | ||
| manner | ||
| middle voice | ||
| mimetic | ||
| mirative | ||
| multiplicative case | ||
| mood, modal, modal case; modifier | ||
| single action verb | ||
| movement | ||
| neuter gender | ||
| non- | ||
| negation, negative | ||
| non-finite or non-feminine | ||
| non-human | ||
| nominalizer/nominalization | ||
| nominative case | ||
| non-subject | ||
| intransitive | ||
| numeral, number | ||
| O | patient-like argument of canonical transitive verb | |
| object; objective case | ||
| oblique case | ||
| obviative | ||
| optative mood | ||
| ordinal numeral | ||
| P | patient-like argument of canonical transitive verb | |
| pre-, post- | ||
| participle ; particle ; partitive case | ||
| passive voice | ||
| patientive | ||
| paucal number | ||
| pegative case | ||
| perlative case | ||
| perfect | ||
| personal | ||
| perfective aspect | ||
| plural | ||
| Pluperfect | ||
| pluractional | ||
| phrase marker, predicate marker | ||
| pronoun | ||
| primary object | ||
| polite register | ||
| possessive marker | ||
| postposition, postpositional case | ||
| postessive case | ||
| postelative case | ||
| potential mood | ||
| past / passive participle | ||
| past perfective | ||
| past passive participle | ||
| proper noun | ||
| precative mood | ||
| predicate, predicative | ||
| preposition, prepositional case | ||
| present participle | ||
| preterite | ||
| perfect | ||
| privative case | ||
| present tense | ||
| probability | ||
| progressive aspect | ||
| prohibitive mood | ||
| prolative case | ||
| propositive mood | ||
| prosecutive case | ||
| prospective aspect | ||
| protasis | ||
| proximal demonstrative; proximate | ||
| past tense | ||
| patient trigger | ||
| particle | ||
| participle | ||
| partitive case | ||
| purposive case | ||
| question word or particle | ||
| quotative | ||
| rational gender | ||
| realis mood | ||
| recent past tense | ||
| reciprocal voice | ||
| referential | ||
| reflexive | ||
| relative | ||
| remote past tense | ||
| reported evidential ; repetitive aspect | ||
| resultative; resumptive | ||
| Retrospective | ||
| root | ||
| S | single argument of canonical intransitive verb | |
| subject | ||
| subjunctive mood | ||
| same event | ||
| semelfactive aspect | ||
| sensory evidential mood | ||
| sequential | ||
| singular | ||
| singulative number | ||
| simultaneous aspect; similative | ||
| specifier; speculative mood | ||
| same-subject marker | ||
| stative aspect, stative verb | ||
| stem | ||
| subject; Subjunctive mood | ||
| subordinator | ||
| subessive case | ||
| sublative case | ||
| successive | ||
| superlative ; supine; supplicative | ||
| superessive case | ||
| trigger | ||
| tense, aspect, or mood | ||
| telic aspect | ||
| temporal case | ||
| terminative case | ||
| tense | ||
| topic | ||
| transitive verb, transitive case | ||
| translative case | ||
| trial number | ||
| trans-numeral | ||
| truth-value focus | ||
| uninflected | ||
| motion uphill, inland | ||
| undergoer role | ||
| motion upriver | ||
| usitative, for usual, customary or typical events | ||
| verb or verbal | ||
| verbalizer | ||
| verb, ditransitive | ||
| venitive | ||
| veridical, veridical mood | ||
| vialis case | ||
| visible, visual | ||
| verb, intransitive | ||
| verbal noun | ||
| vocative case | ||
| volitive mood | ||
| verb, transitive | ||
| wh- question | ||
| zoic gender |
Literature
- Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edition.
- Payne, Thomas E. 1997. Describing Morphosyntax.
- Bybee, Perkins, Pagliuca. 1994. The Evolution of Grammar.
- Aikhenvald, Alexandra. 2004. Evidentiality.
- Helasvuo, Marja-Liisa. Argument splits in Finnish grammar and discourse.
- Bernd Heine, Tania Kuteva. 2006. The changing languages of Europe.
- Paul Kroeber. 1999. The Salish language family: reconstructing syntax.