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The document defines an acronym as a word formed from the initial letters of other words in a phrase or name. Acronyms can be pronounced as individual letters, as words, or a mixture. There is debate around how to classify abbreviations that are not pronounced as words. The document goes on to discuss the etymology of the term "acronym" and issues around punctuation, capitalization, pluralization, and other orthographic conventions for acronyms. It also covers changes in meaning and uses of acronyms in other languages.

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56 views

Acronym: Jump To Navigationjump To Search

The document defines an acronym as a word formed from the initial letters of other words in a phrase or name. Acronyms can be pronounced as individual letters, as words, or a mixture. There is debate around how to classify abbreviations that are not pronounced as words. The document goes on to discuss the etymology of the term "acronym" and issues around punctuation, capitalization, pluralization, and other orthographic conventions for acronyms. It also covers changes in meaning and uses of acronyms in other languages.

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dumbass
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Acronym

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


  (Redirected from Acronymization)

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For the <acronym> HTML tag, see HTML element § acronym.
For the use of acronyms on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Acronyms.
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or
phrase, usually using individual initial letters, as in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) or EU (European Union), but sometimes using syllables, as
in Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg), or a mixture of the two, as
in radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging). Similarly, acronyms are sometimes
pronounced as words, as in NASA or UNESCO, sometimes as the individual letters, as
in FBI or ATM, or a mixture of the two, as in JPEG or IUPAC.
The broader sense of acronym inclusive of terms pronounced as the individual letters
(such as "TNT") is sometimes criticized, but it is the term's original meaning [1] and is in
common use.[2] Language authorities such as dictionary and style guide editors are not
in universal agreement on the naming for such abbreviations—in particular it is a matter
of some dispute whether the term acronym can be legitimately applied to abbreviations
which are not pronounced "as words"—or the correct use of space, case,
and punctuation. See the Nomenclature, Lexicography and style
guides and Orthographic styling sections below.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Nomenclature
 3Lexicography and style guides
 4Comparing a few examples of each type
 5Historical and current use
o 5.1Early examples in English
o 5.2Current use
 5.2.1Aids to learning the expansion without leaving a document
 5.2.2Jargon
 5.2.3As mnemonics
 5.2.4Acronyms as legendary etymology
 6Orthographic styling
o 6.1Punctuation
 6.1.1Showing the ellipsis of letters
 6.1.1.1Ellipsis-is-understood style
 6.1.1.2Pronunciation-dependent style and periods
 6.1.1.3Other conventions
 6.1.2Representing plurals and possessives
o 6.2Case
 6.2.1All-caps style
 6.2.2Small-caps variant
 6.2.3Mixed-case variant
 6.2.4Pronunciation-dependent style and case
o 6.3Numerals and constituent words
o 6.4Casing of expansions
 7Changes to (or word play on) the expanded meaning
o 7.1Pseudo-acronyms
o 7.2Redundant acronyms and RAS syndrome
o 7.3Simple redefining
o 7.4Backronyms
o 7.5Contrived acronyms
o 7.6Macronyms/nested acronyms
 7.6.1Recursive acronyms
 8Non-English languages
o 8.1Specific languages
 8.1.1Chinese
 8.1.2Korean
 8.1.3Japanese
 8.1.4German
 8.1.5Hebrew
 8.1.6Indonesian
 8.1.7Russian
 8.1.8Swahili
 8.1.9Vietnamese
o 8.2General grammatical considerations
 8.2.1Declension
 8.2.2Lenition
 9Extremes
 10See also
 11Notes
 12References
 13External links

Etymology[edit]
The word acronym is formed from the Greek roots acr-, meaning "height, summit, or tip"
and -onym, meaning "name"[3]. This neoclassical compound appears to have originated
in German, with attestations for the German form Akronym from as early as
1921. [4] English language citations for acronym date to a 1940 translation of a Lion
Feuchtwanger novel.[5]

Nomenclature[edit]
Whereas an abbreviation may be any type of s

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