List of glossing abbreviations

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

Abbreviations beginning with N- (a common prefix for non-) or ending with -Z (a common suffix for -izer) may not be listed separately. For example, NPST non-past and TRZ transitivizer are not listed below, as they are composable from N- non- + PST past and TR transitive + -Z -izer.

Abbreviations are generally written in all caps or—apart from the terms A, S, and O—in small caps, to distinguish them from lexical words.

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
ABE	abessive case (AKA caritive case or privative case: 'without')
ABL	ablative case ('from')
ABS	absolutive case
ACC	accusative case
ACCOM	accompanier
ACT	active voice, actor role
ADJ	adjective
ADE	adessive case ('at'; more specific than LOC)
ADM	admonitive mood (warning)
ADV	adverb(ial), adverbial case
AFF	affirmative mood
AG, AGT	agentive case (cf ACT)
AGR	agreement
ALL	allative case ('to')
AL, ALLOC	allocutive agreement
ALIEN	alienable possession
AN	animate gender (cf R)
AND	andative (going towards: cf venitive)
ANT	anterior tense (used for PRF in some traditions)
ANTE	antessive case ('before')
ANTIC	anticausative
ANTIP, AP	antipassive voice
AOR	aorist (= PFV or PST.PFV)
APP	apposition
APL, APPL	applicative voice
APPR	apprehensive mood
APRX	approximative
ART	article
ASP	aspect
ASS	associative case (= COM), assumptive mood, assertive
AT	agent trigger (= AV agent voice)
ATT	attenuative; attributive (= ATTR)
AUD	auditory evidential
AUG	augmentative
AUX	auxiliary verb
B	core benefactive
BE	'be' verb (a conflation of EXIST and COP)
BEN	benefactive case ('for')
C	common gender; complementizer
CAP	(cap)ability, modal case
CAU, CAUS	causative
CENT	centric case
CF	counterfactual conditional
CIRC	circumfix
CIT	citation form
CL, CLF	classifier
CNJ	conjunction (= CONJ)
CNSQ	consequential
COL	collective plural
COM	comitative case ('together with')
COMP	comparative; complementizer
COMPL, CPL	completive aspect
CONC	concessive
COND	conditional mood
CONJ	conjunction (= CNJ)
CONN	connective particle
CONT, CTN	continuative aspect
CNTR	contrastive
COP	copula
COR	coreference
CRAS	crastinal tense ('tomorrow')
CRS	current relevance marker (as in the perfect)
CVB	converb
D	core dative case
DAT	dative case
DE	different event, change of event (cf DS)
DEC, DECL	declarative mood
DEF	definite
DEI, DEIX	deixis, deictic
DEL	delayed imperative (a command to do s.t. later)
DEL	delative case ('off of'), deliberative mood
DEM	demonstrative
DEO	deontic mood
DEP	dependent (as in DEP.FUT)
DES, DESI	desiderative mood
DEST	destinative aspect
DET	determiner
DETR	detransitive
DH	motion downhill, seaward (cf DR)
DIM	diminutive
DIR	direct evidential (= EXP); directional (= LAT); direct case
DISJ	disjunction
DIST	distal demonstrative
DISTR	distributive case
DITR	ditransitive
DLM	delimited
DM	discourse marker
DO	direct object
DR	motion downriver (cf DH)
DS	different-subject (change of subject) marker (cf DE)
DU	dual number
DUB	dubitative mood
DUR	durative aspect, continuous aspect
DY, DYAD	dyadic
DYN	dynamic aspect
E	epenthetic morpheme
-E	(used to form various -essive cases)
ELA	elative case ('out of')
EMP	emphatic
EPIS	epistemic mood, epistemic modality
ERG	ergative case
ESS	essive case
EV, EVID	evidential
EVIT	evitative case (= aversive case)
EX, EXCL	exclusive person
EXCLAM	exclamative
EX.DUR	excessive duration
EXESS	exessive case
EXH	exhortative
EXIST	existential ('there is')
EXO	exocentric case
EXP, EXPER	experiential, eyewitness, = direct evidential
EXPL	expletive (dummy / meaningless form)
F, FEM	feminine gender
FACT	factive evidential
FAM	familiar register (as the T–V distinction)
FIN	finite verb
FOC	focus
FORM	formal register (as the T–V distinction)
FP	final particle (joshi)
FR, FREQ	frequentative aspect
FMR	former, deceased
FUT	future tense
G	gender (G4 = the 4th gender)
GEN	genitive case
GER	gerund
GNO	gnomic (generic) aspect
GT	goal trigger (Austronesian; = GV goal voice)
HAB	habitual aspect
HBL	humble register
HEST	hesternal tense ('yesterday')
HIST	historic(al), as in historical present or past historic tense
HOD	hodiernal tense ('today')
HON	honorific
HORT	hortative,
HSY	hearsay, reported evidential
HUM	human, anthropic gender (cf. HBL; R)
HYP	hypothetical mood
I	inflected
ID	identical (~ NID)
IDENTIF	identifiable
IDEO	ideophone (≈ MIM)
IGNOR	ignorative
ILL	illative case ('into')
IMM	immediate, as in immediate imperative mood, near future tense
IMP	imperative mood
IMPERF	imperfect (= PST.IPFV)
IMPR, IMPREC	imprecative mood
IMPRS	impersonal verb
IN, INCL	inclusive person
INAL	inalienable possession
INAN	inanimate gender
INCH, INCHO, INCEP	inchoative aspect, inceptive aspect
INCL	inclusive person (= IN)
IND	indicative mood
INDF, NDEF	indefinite
INE	inessive case ('in')
INF	infinitive
INFER, INFR	inferential evidential
INEL	inelative case ('from within')
INS	instrumental case
INT	intensifier; interrogative (= Q)
INTEN	intentional
INTR, NTR	intransitive (covers an intransitive case for the S argument)
INV	inverse
IO	indirect object
IPFV	imperfective aspect (= NPFV)
IRR	irrealis mood
IS	indirect speech
ITER	iterative aspect
JUS	jussive mood
-L	(used to form various -lative cases)
L2	second language (code-switching)
LAT	lative case (= MVMT, direction)
LD	locative case + directional
LK	linker
LOC	locative case (includes essive case)
LOG	logophoric
M, MASC	masculine gender
MAN	manner
MID	middle voice
MIM	mimetic (≈ IDEO)
MIR	(ad)mirative
MLT, MLTP	multiplicative case
MOD	mood, modal, modal case
MOM	single action verb (not iterative)
MVT	movement
N, NEUT	neuter gender
N-	non- (e.g. NSG non-singular, NPST non-past, NF non-feminine)
NEG	negation, negative
NH	non-human
NMZ, NZ, NOMI	nominalizer/nominalization
NOM	nominative case
NS	non-subject (Latin 'oblique case')
NTR, INTR	intransitive (covers an intransitive case for the S argument)
NUM	numeral
O	patient-like argument (object) of canonical transitive verb (= P)
OBJ, OB	object; objective case
OBL	oblique case
OBV	obviative
OPT	optative mood
P	patient-like argument of canonical transitive verb (= O)
P	pre-, post- (P.HOD prehodiernal)
PART	participle (= PTCP,PCP); particle (= PTCL); partitive case (= PTV)
PAS, PASS	passive voice
PAT	patientive (= UND)
PA, PAU	paucal number
PEG	pegative case (a special case for the giver)
PER	perlative case ('per', using)
PERF, PRF	perfect (= RET)
PERS	personal
PFV	perfective aspect
PL	plural
PLU, PLUR	pluractional
PM	phrase marker, predicate marker
PN, PRO	pronoun
PO	primary object
POL	polite register
POS, POSS	possessive marker
POST	postposition, postpositional case
POSTE	postessive case ('after')
POT	potential mood (a possible conditional)
PP	past / passive participle
PPP	past passive participle
PPFV	past perfective
PR	proper noun
PRED	predicative
PREC	precative mood (requests)
PREP	preposition, prepositional case
PRESP	present participle
PRET, PRT	preterite (= PFV.PST)
PRF, PERF	perfect (= RET)
PRS, PRES	present tense
PROB	probability
PROG	progressive aspect
PROH	prohibitive mood ('don't!')
PROL	prolative case (= VIA)
PROP	propositive mood
PROS	prosecutive case ('across', 'along')
PROSP, PRSP	prospective aspect
PROT	protasis
PROX	proximal/proximate
PST	past tense
PT	patient trigger
PTCL, PTC	particle
PTCP,PCP	participle
PTV	partitive case ('some of')
PURP	purposive
Q	question word or particle (= INT)
QUOT	quotative case or mood (marks quoted speech)
R	rational gender (thinking beings)
REAL	realis mood
REC	recent past tense
RECP	reciprocal voice
REF	referential
REFL	reflexive voice
REL	relative(izer)
REM	remote past tense
REP	reported evidential (= HSY); repetitive (cf ITER)
RES	resultative; resumptive
RET	retrospective (synonym for 'perfect' in some traditions)
RFR	referential
S	single argument of canonical intransitive verb (cf CIT)
SBJ, SUB	subject
SBJV, SJV	subjunctive mood
SE	same event (cf SS)
SEM	semelfactive aspect ('once')
SENS	sensory evidential mood (= VIS+AUD
SEQ	sequential
SG	singular (but 1.SG = 1s, 3MASC.SG = 3ms)
SGV	singulative number
SIM	simultaneous aspect; similative
SJV, SBJV	subjunctive mood
SPEC	specifier; speculative mood
SS	same-subject marker (cf SE)
STAT, STV	stative aspect, stative verb
SUB, SU	subject
SUBR, SUBORD, SBRD, SR	subordinator
SUBE	subessive case ('under')
SUBL	sublative case ('onto', 'down onto')
SUC	successive ('then')
SUP(L)	superlative (SUPL); supine; supplicative
SUPE	superessive case ('on')
-T	trigger (used for AT, PT)
TAM	tense, aspect, or mood
TEL	telic aspect (cf PFV)
TEMP	temporal case
TERM	terminative case
TNS	tense
TOP	topic
TR, TRANS	transitive verb, transitive case (rare)
TRANSL	translative case (becoming)
TRI	trial number
TRN	trans-numeral (neither SG nor PL)
TVF	truth-value focus
U	uninflected
UH	motion uphill, inland (cf UR)
UND	undergoer role (cf PAT)
UR	motion upriver (cf UH)
USIT	usitative
V, VB	verb(al)
VBZ	verbalizer
VD	verb, ditransitive
VEN	venitive (coming towards; cf andative)
VER	veridical, veridical mood (a certain conditional)
VIA	vialis case
VIS	visible, visual
VI	verb, intransitive
VN	verbal noun
VOC	vocative case
VOL	volitive mood
VT	verb, transitive
WH.Q	wh- question
-Z	-(al)izer (e.g. TRZ transitivizer)
ZO	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.
• 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.