Let's take a closer look at abbreviations that are not written in Latin letters, but purely in Japanese. What are the features of this type of abbreviations?

1)Abbreviation of kango

Within the Kango lexicon, the abbreviation is characterized by the fact that words consisting of 4 or more kanji are shortened into 2-3 syllables by discarding the hieroglyph (usually the second) from each pair. Abbreviations formed from kango phrases can be classified according to which components fall out:

・the second syllables of both members of the conjunction, e.g., 原爆/gembaku (from 原子爆弾/genshi-bakudan) atomic bomb;
・the second syllable of the first member and the first syllable of the second member of the word-conjugation, e.g. 高校 /ko:ko:/ (from 高等学校/ko:to:-gakko:/) high school;
・the first syllables of both members of the conjunction, e.g., 閣議 /kakugi/ (from 内閣会議/naikaku-kaigi/) meeting of the Cabinet,
・the first member of the first member and the second member of the second member (rarely), e.g., 郷軍/go:gun/ (from 在郷軍人/zaigo: gunjin/) reservist;
・only one of the compounds of one of the members while preserving the completeness of the other member, e.g., 大公使/taiko:shi/ (from 大公公使/taishi-koshi) ambassadors and envoys;
・two syllables of one of the members while preserving the fullness of the other, e.g., 最高裁 /saiko:sai/ (from 最高裁判所 /saiko:saibansho/ The Supreme Court.

The most common type of abbreviation within the Kango lexicon is the creation of abbreviations according to the model "the first kanji of the first member of the conjunction + the first kanji of the second member of the conjunction".

When shortening word combinations, the reading of hieroglyphs often changes (読み替え /yomikae/). This type of abbreviation is purely Japanese, as it is associated with the unique features of Japanese writing. When changing the reading two cases are possible:
1) replacing KUN readings with ON, e.g.,
大阪神戸 /O:saka-Ko:be/ – 阪神 /Hanshin/, Osaka and Kobe;
東京横浜 /To:kyo:-Yokohama/ – 京浜 /Keihin/, Tokyo and Yokohama.
2) replacement of ON reading by another (rare), e.g., 外為/gaitame/ (from 外国為替/gaikoku-kawase) money transfer abroad).

2)Abbreviation of wago

Within the wago contraction is less common than among kango or gairaigo. Such abbreviations appear mostly in spontaneous conversational speech in order to increase the pace of speech and rarely become a literary norm. Youth actively use abbreviations in slang:
・ニクタマ/nikutama/ unbearable boredom (the abbreviation appeared in the youth environment and comes from the words 憎い/nikui/ unpleasant and たまらない /tamaranai/ unbearable);
・チカメシ /chikameshi/ local resturant (comes from the words 近い /chikai/ close and 飯 /meshi/ food, and it is written in katakana, as it helps to introduce the semantics of something new, not related to traditional life);
・きもい /kimoi/ terrible, unpleasant (abbreviation of the noun 気持ち /kimochi mood and the adjective 悪い/warui/ bad).

When shortening wago, as a rule, either the endings of both words forming an abbreviation, or only one, are reduced. A typical abbreviation consists of four syllables, of which the first two are usually the initial syllables of the first word, and the last two, respectively, the initial syllables of the second the word that has undergone reduction.

3) Abbreviation of gairaigo
Abbreviation of words and phrases within the gairaigo words is a very common phenomenon inherent in both colloquial speech and literary language. Gairaigo reductions can occur in several models:

・usually the first two syllables of each word (or the first two words) remain, and the rest of the syllables are cut off, e.g. ハイテク /haiteku/ (from ハイ・テクノロジー) high tehnologies, セクハラ /sekuhara/ (from セクシュアル・ハラ スボント) sexual harassment.
・somewhat less often there are cases when the beginning of the first word can be attached to the end of the second, e.g., コーポラス/ko: porasu/ (from “corporation house”).
・one of the words may not be shortened at all, e.g., エコマーク /екома:ку/ (from “ecological mark”) an emblem of ecologically clean products.
・only one long word can be shortened:
- cutting off the syllables of the final part of the word, e.g., インフレ/infure/ (from インフレーション ) inflation, リハビリ /rihabiri/ (from ハビリテーション) rehabilitation;
- the reduction of one or more initial syllables is less common
parts of the word, e.g., ホーム /homu/ (fromプラットホームホーム/purattoho: mu/) platform.

Abbreviation of mixed type.
This includes abbreviations formed from words of different types. Accordingly, abbreviations are possible:
a) kango and gairigo, e.g., 合コン /go: kon/ (from 合同コンパニオン /go:do: companion) group dating, アルバイシュン/arubaishyun/ (from アルバイト /arubaito/ part-time job and 売春 /baishyun/ sell one's spring, engage in prostitution) one who sells one's youth for additional income, アル中 /aruchyu:/ (from アルコール中毒 /aruko:ru dokuchu:) alcoholic;

b) wago and gairaigo, e.g., ロコミ /kuchi komi/ (from 口からロへしコミュニアション/kuchi-kara kuchi-e-no communike: shōn/) oral communication;

c) kango and wago, e.g., 独男/dokuotoko/ (from 独身 /dokushin/ unmarried and 男 /otoko/ man) young man; いた電/itaden/ (from いたずら電話 /itazuradenwa/) telephone hooliganism.

The given examples show that such units can both belong to the literary language and be on its periphery, functioning mostly in the youth environment.

What abbreviations do you know? Share in the comments!