List of glossing abbreviations

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This page lists common abbreviations for grammatical terms that are used in linguistic interlinear glossing.

Abbreviations beginning with TEMPLATE:NOCAPS (a common prefix for non-) or ending with TEMPLATE:NOCAPS (a common suffix for -izer) may not be listed separately. For example, TEMPLATE:NOCAPS non-past and TEMPLATE:NOCAPS transitivizer are not listed, as they are composable from TEMPLATE:NOCAPS non- + TEMPLATE:NOCAPS past and TEMPLATE:NOCAPS transitive + TEMPLATE:NOCAPS -izer.

Gloss	Meaning
›	direction of transitivity or possession (2›3 may mean 2 acts on 3; 1sg›sg may mean a 1sg possessor and a singular possessum)
0	zero (null), covert form (such as gender in a language where the word doesn't show it)
1	first person
2	second person
3	third person
A	agent-like argument of canonical transitive verb
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	abessive case (TEMPLATE:NOCAPS caritive case or privative case: 'without')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	ablative case ('from')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	absolutive case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	accusative case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	accompanier
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	active voice, actor role
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	adjective
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	adessive case ('at'; more specific than TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	admonitive mood (warning)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	adverb(ial), adverbial case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	affirmative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	agentive case (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	agreement
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	allative case ('to')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	allocutive agreement
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	alienable possession
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	animate gender (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	andative (going towards: cf venitive)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	anterior tense (used for TEMPLATE:NOCAPS in some traditions)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	antessive case ('before')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	anticausative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	antipassive voice
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	aorist (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS or TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	apposition
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	applicative voice
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	apprehensive mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	approximative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	article
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	associative case (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS), assumptive mood, assertive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	agent trigger (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS agent voice)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	attenuative; attributive (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	auditory evidential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	augmentative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	auxiliary verb
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	core benefactive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	'be' verb (a conflation of TEMPLATE:NOCAPS and TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	benefactive case ('for')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	common gender; complementizer
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	(cap)ability, modal case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	causative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	centric case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	counterfactual conditional
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	circumfix
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	citation form
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	classifier
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	conjunction (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	consequential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	collective plural
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	comitative case ('together with')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	comparative; complementizer
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	completive aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	concessive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	conditional mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	conjunction (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	connective particle
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	continuative aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	contrastive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	copula
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	coreference
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	crastinal tense ('tomorrow')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	current relevance marker (as in the perfect)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	converb
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	core dative case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	dative case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	different event, change of event (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	declarative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	definite
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	deixis, deictic
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	delayed imperative (a command to do s.t. later)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	delative case ('off of'), deliberative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	demonstrative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	deontic mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	dependent (as in TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	desiderative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	destinative aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	determiner
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	detransitive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	motion downhill, seaward (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	diminutive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	direct evidential (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS); directional (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS); direct case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	disjunction
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	distal demonstrative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	distributive case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	ditransitive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	delimited
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	discourse marker
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	direct object
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	motion downriver (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	different-subject (change of subject) marker (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	dual number
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	dubitative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	durative aspect, continuous aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	dyadic
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	dynamic aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	epenthetic morpheme
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	(used to form various -essive cases)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	elative case ('out of')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	emphatic
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	epistemic mood, epistemic modality
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	ergative case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	essive case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	evidential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	evitative case (= aversive case)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	exclusive person
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	exclamative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	excessive duration
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	existential ('there is')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	exocentric case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	experiential, eyewitness, = direct evidential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	expletive (dummy / meaningless form)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	feminine gender
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	factive evidential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	familiar register (as the T-V distinction)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	finite verb
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	focus
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	formal register (as the T-V distinction)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	final particle (joshi)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	frequentative aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	former, deceased
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	future tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	gender (G4 = the 4th gender)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	genitive case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	gerund
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	gnomic (generic) aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	goal trigger (Austronesian; = TEMPLATE:NOCAPS goal voice)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	habitual aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	humble register
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	hesternal tense ('yesterday')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	historic(al), as in historical present or past historic tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	hodiernal tense ('today')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	honorific
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	hortative,
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	hearsay, reported evidential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	human, anthropic gender (cf. TEMPLATE:NOCAPS; TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	hypothetical mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inflected
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	identical (~ TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	identifiable
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	ideophone (≈ TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	ignorative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	illative case ('into')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	immediate, as in immediate imperative mood, near future tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	imperative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	imperfect (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	imprecative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	impersonal verb
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inclusive person
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inalienable possession
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inanimate gender
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inchoative aspect, inceptive aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inclusive person (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	indicative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	indefinite
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inessive case ('in')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	infinitive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inferential evidential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inelative case ('from within')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	instrumental case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	intensifier; interrogative (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	intentional
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	intransitive (covers an intransitive case for the S argument)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	inverse
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	indirect object
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	imperfective aspect (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	irrealis mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	indirect speech
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	iterative aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	jussive mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	(used to form various -lative cases)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	second language (code-switching)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	lative case (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS, direction)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	locative case + directional
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	linker
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	locative case (includes essive case)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	logophoric
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	masculine gender
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	manner
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	middle voice
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	mimetic (≈ TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	(ad)mirative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	mood, modal, modal case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	single action verb (not iterative)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	movement
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	neuter gender
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	non- (e.g. TEMPLATE:NOCAPS non-singular, TEMPLATE:NOCAPS non-past, TEMPLATE:NOCAPS non-feminine)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	negation, negative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	non-human
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	nominalizer/nominalization
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	nominative case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	non-subject (Latin 'oblique case')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	intransitive (covers an intransitive case for the S argument)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	numeral
O	patient-like argument (object) of canonical transitive verb (= P)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	object
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	oblique case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	obviative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	optative mood
P	patient-like argument of canonical transitive verb (= O)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	pre-, post- (TEMPLATE:NOCAPS prehodiernal)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	participle (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS); particle (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS); partitive case (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	passive voice
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	patientive (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	paucal number
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	pegative case (a special case for the giver)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	perlative case ('per', using)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	perfect (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	personal
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	perfective aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	plural
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	pluractional
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	phrase marker, predicate marker
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	pronoun
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	primary object
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	polite register
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	possessive marker
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	postposition, postpositional case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	postessive case ('after')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	potential mood (a possible conditional)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	past / passive participle
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	past passive participle
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	past perfective
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	proper noun
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	predicative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	precative mood (requests)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	preposition, prepositional case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	present tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	present participle
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	preterite (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	perfect (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	present tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	probability
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	progressive aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	prohibitive mood ('don't!')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	prolative case (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	propositive mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	prospective aspect
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	protasis
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	proximal/proximate
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	past tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	patient trigger
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	particle
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	participle
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	partitive case ('some of')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	purposive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	question word or particle (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	quotative case or mood (marks quoted speech)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	rational gender (thinking beings)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	realis mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	recent past tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	reciprocal voice
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	referential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	reflexive voice
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	relative(izer)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	remote past tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	reported evidential (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS); repetitive (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	resultative; resumptive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	retrospective (synonym for 'perfect' in some traditions)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	referential
S	single argument of canonical intransitive verb (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	subject
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	subjunctive mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	same event (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	semelfactive aspect ('once')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	sensory evidential mood (= TEMPLATE:NOCAPS+TEMPLATE:NOCAPS
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	sequential
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	singular (but 1.TEMPLATE:NOCAPS = 1s, 3TEMPLATE:NOCAPS = 3ms)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	singulative number
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	simultaneous aspect; similative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	subjunctive mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	specifier; speculative mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	same-subject (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	stative aspect, stative verb
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	subject
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	subordinator
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	subessive case ('under')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	sublative case ('onto', 'down onto')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	superlative (TEMPLATE:NOCAPS); supine; supplicative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	superessive case ('on')
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	trigger (used for TEMPLATE:NOCAPS, TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	tense, aspect, or mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	telic aspect (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	temporal case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	terminative case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	tense
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	topic
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	transitive verb
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	translative case (becoming)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	trial number
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	trans-numeral (neither TEMPLATE:NOCAPS nor TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	truth-value focus
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	uninflected
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	motion uphill, inland (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	undergoer role (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	motion upriver (cf TEMPLATE:NOCAPS)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	usitative
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	verb(al)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	verbalizer
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	verb, ditransitive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	venitive (coming towards; cf andative)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	veridical mood (a certain conditional)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	vialis case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	visible, visual
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	verb, intransitive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	verbal noun
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	vocative case
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	volitive mood
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	verb, transitive
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	wh-question
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	-(al)izer (e.g. TEMPLATE:NOCAPS transitivizer)
TEMPLATE:NOCAPS	zoic gender (animals)

References

• Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edition.
• Leipzig Glossing Rules
• Payne, Thomas E. 1997. Describing Morphosyntax.
• Bybee, Perkins, Pagliuca. 1994. The Evolution of Grammar.
• Blake, Guide to Terminology.
• 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.