本文在1955—2015 年的《人民日报》中选择13 个年度的语料作为样本,调查了近60 年来字母词的使用状况。调查结果显示,在这60 年中,字母词在汉语表达中已占有一定空间,经历了数量大幅增长又逐渐趋于平稳的阶段,字母词原型由“字母+ 汉字”形式转向英文缩略词;字母词使用中独用词多,低频词多,稳定性差,较多的失范现象影响了信息传播和语言交际。在归纳字母词使用规律的基础上提出了思考与建议,希望能为政府制定相关政策提供参考。
This article samples thirteen years’ the People’s Daily published between 1955 and 2015 and investigates the use of Roman abbreviations in the newspaper over a time span of 60 years. The study reviews Roman abbreviation use, explains the method of data selection, and discusses the current situation of the Roman abbreviations in Chinese texts. The research shows that the use of Roman abbreviations rapidly increased in the initial stage, became stable, and remained to be part of the Chinese texts. The Roman abbreviations fi rst occurred in the pattern of “Roman abbreviation + Chinese characters”, but this pattern was gradually replaced by alphabetic abbreviations. The article concludes that single use of a particular Roman abbreviation, use of low frequency abbreviations, inconsistent use of Roman abbreviations are common and affect information distribution and communication. Drawing on these findings, the authors also discuss its implications for language policy making.