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.

List of glossing abbreviations

Section Title:
Table Section Text: 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.

Gloss	Meaning

›	direction of transitivity or possession in polypersonal agreement (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 does not show it)

1	first person

2	second person

3	third person

A	agent-like argument of canonical transitive verb

AB	abstract

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 (in role and reference grammar)

ADJ	adjective

ADE	adessive case ('at'; more specific than LOC)

ADM	admonitive mood (warning)

ADV	adverb(ial), adverbial case

AFF	affirmative

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 mood

AT	agent trigger (= AV agent voice)

ATT	attenuative

ATTR	attributive

AUD	auditory evidential

AUG	augmentative

AUX	auxiliary verb

B	benefactive (when it is a core argument)

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

CMPD	compound

CNJ	conjunction (= CONJ)

CNSQ	consequential mood

CNTR	contrastive

COL	collective number

COM	comitative case ('together with')

COMP	comparative; complementizer

COMPL, CPL	completive aspect

CON	concrete

CONC	concessive

COND	conditional mood

CONJ	conjunction (= CNJ)

CONN	connective particle

CONT, CTN	continuous aspect; continuative aspect

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)

DER	derivation, derivational

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 or 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

IND	indicative mood

INDF, NDEF	indefinite

INE	inessive case ('in')

INF	infinitive

INFER, INFR	inferential mood

INEL	inelative case ('from within')

INS, INSTR	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	linking element, interfix

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

NF	non-finite (nonfinite verb, non-finite clause) or non-feminine

NH	non-human

NMZ, NZ, NOMI	nominalizer/nominalization

NOM	nominative case

NS	non-subject (see 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')

POSTEL	postelative case

POT	potential mood

PP	past / passive participle

PPFV	past perfective

PPP	past passive participle

PR	proper noun

PREC	precative mood (requests)

PRED	predicate, predicative

PREP	preposition, prepositional case

PRESP	present participle

PRET, PRT	preterite (= PFV.PST)

PRF, PERF	perfect (= RET)

PRIV	privative case

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 demonstrative; proximate

PST	past tense

PT	patient trigger

PTCL, PTC	particle

PTCP, PCP	participle

PTV	partitive case ('some of')

PURP	purposive case

Q	question word or particle (= INT)

QUOT	quotative (quotative case or quotative mood)

R	rational gender (thinking beings)

REAL	realis mood

REC	recent past tense

RECP	reciprocal voice

REF, RFR	referential

REFL	reflexive (reflexive pronoun, 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)

ROOT	root

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

SPEC	specifier; speculative mood

SS	same-subject marker (cf SE)

STAT, STV	stative aspect, stative verb

STEM	stem

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, for usual, customary or typical events

V, VB	verb or verbal

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)

Sentence(s)

Imperative mood can be denoted by, the glossing abbreviation IMP.

final_sentence: Imperative mood can be denoted by, the glossing abbreviation IMP.