Acronym

===Specific languages===
====Chinese====
In English language discussions of languages with [[syllabary|syllabic]] or [[logographic]] writing systems (such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean), "acronyms" describe the short forms that take selected characters from a multi-character word.

For example, in Chinese, 'university' ({{lang|zh-hant|大學}}/{{lang|zh-hans|大学}}, {{literally|great learning}}) is usually abbreviated simply as {{lang|zh|大}} ('great') when used with the name of the institute. So '[[Peking University]]' ({{lang|zh-hans|北京大学}}) is commonly shortened to {{lang|zh|北大}} ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} 'north-great') by also only taking the first character of ''Peking'', the "northern capital" ({{zh|c=北京|p=Beijing|labels=no}}). In some cases, however, other characters than the first can be selected. For example, the local short form of '[[Hong Kong University]]' ({{lang|zh-hant|香港大學}}) uses {{lang|zh-Latn|Kong}} ({{lang|zh-hant|港大}}) rather than {{lang|zh-Latn|Hong}}.

There are also cases where some longer phrases are abbreviated drastically, especially in Chinese politics, where proper nouns were initially translated from Soviet Leninist terms. For instance, the full name of China's highest ruling council, the [[Politburo Standing Committee]] (PSC), is 'Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China' ({{lang|zh|中国共产党中央政治局常务委员会}}). The term then reduced the 'Communist Party of China' part of its name through acronyms, then the 'Standing Committee' part, again through acronyms, to create {{lang|zh|中共中央政治局常委}}. Alternatively, it omitted the 'Communist Party' part altogether, creating 'Politburo Standing Committee' ({{lang|zh|政治局常委会}}), and eventually just 'Standing Committee' ({{lang|zh|常委会}}). The PSC's members full designations are 'Member of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China' ({{lang|zh|中国共产党中央政治局常务委员会委员}}); this was eventually drastically reduced to simply {{lang|zh-Latn|Changwei}} ({{lang|zh|常委}}), with the term {{lang|zh-Latn|Ruchang}} ({{lang|zh|入常}}) used increasingly for officials destined for a future seat on the PSC. In another example, the word {{lang|zh|全国人民代表大会}} ('[[National People's Congress]]') can be broken into four parts: {{lang|zh|全国}} = 'the whole nation', {{lang|zh|人民}} = 'people', {{lang|zh|代表}} = 'representatives', {{lang|zh|大会}} = 'conference'. Yet, in its short form {{lang|zh|人大}} (literally 'man/people big'), only the first characters from the second and the fourth parts are selected; the first part ({{lang|zh|全国}}) and the third part ({{lang|zh|代表}}) are simply dropped.

Many proper nouns become shorter and shorter over time. For example, the [[CCTV New Year's Gala]], whose full name is literally read as 'China Central Television Spring Festival Joint Celebration Evening Gala' ({{lang|zh|中国中央电视台春节联欢晚会}}) was first shortened to 'Spring Festival Joint Celebration Evening Gala' ({{lang|zh|春节联欢晚会}}), but eventually referred to as simply {{lang|zh-Latn|Chunwan}} ({{lang|zh|春晚}}). In the same vein, CCTV or {{lang|zh-Latn|Zhongguo Zhongyang Dianshi Tai}} ({{lang|zh|中国中央电视台}}) was reduced to {{lang|zh-Latn|Yangshi}} ({{lang|zh|央视}}) in the mid-2000s.

====Korean====
Many aspects of academics in Korea follow similar acronym patterns as Chinese, owing to the two languages' commonalities, like using the word for 'big' or 'great' i.e. {{lang|ko-Latn|dae}} ({{lang|ko-Hang|대}}), to refer to universities ({{lang|ko-Hang|대학}}; {{lang|ko-Latn|daehak}}, literally 'great learning' although 'big school' is an acceptable alternate). They can be interpreted similarly to American university appellations, such as "UPenn" or "Texas Tech".

Some acronyms are shortened forms of the school's name, like how [[Hongik University]] ({{lang|ko-Hang|홍익대학교}}, {{lang|ko-Latn|Hongik Daehakgyo}}) is shortened to {{lang|ko-Latn|Hongdae}} ({{lang|ko-Hang|홍대}}, 'Hong, the big [school]' or 'Hong-U') Other acronyms can refer to the university's main subject, e.g. [[Korea National University of Education]] ({{lang|ko-Hang|한국교원대학교}}, {{lang|ko-Latn|Hanguk Gyowon Daehakgyo}}) is shortened to {{lang|ko-Latn|Gyowondae}} (교원대, 'Big Ed.' or 'Ed.-U'). Other schools use a Koreanized version of their English acronym. The [[KAIST|Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology]] ({{lang|ko-Hang|한국과학기술원}}, {{lang|ko-Latn|Hanguk Gwahak Gisulwon}}) is referred to as KAIST ({{lang|ko-Hang|카이스트}}, {{lang|ko-Latn|Kaiseuteu}}) in both English and Korean. The 3 most prestigious schools in Korea are known as SKY ({{lang|ko|스카이}}, {{lang|ko-Latn|seukai}}), combining the first letter of their English names ('''S'''eoul National, '''K'''orea, and '''Y'''onsei Universities). In addition, the College Scholastic Ability Test ({{lang|ko-Hang|대학수학능력시험}}, {{lang|ko-Latn|Daehak Suhang Neungryeok Siheom}}) is shortened to {{lang|ko-Latn|Suneung}} ({{lang|ko-Hang|수능}}, 'S.A.').

====Japanese====
{{main|Japanese abbreviated and contracted words}}
The [[Japanese language]] makes extensive use of abbreviations, but only some of these are acronyms.

Chinese-based words ([[Sino-Japanese vocabulary]]) uses similar acronym formation to Chinese, like {{nihongo|''Tōdai''|東大}} for {{nihongo|''Tōkyō Daigaku''|東京大学|Tokyo University}}. In some cases alternative pronunciations are used, as in [[Saikyō Line|Saikyō]] for 埼京, from {{nihongo|''[[Saitama, Saitama|Saitama]]'' + ''[[Tokyo|Tōkyō]]''|埼玉＋東京}}, rather than Sai'''tō'''.

Non-Chinese foreign borrowings ([[gairaigo]]) are instead frequently abbreviated as [[clipped compound]]s, rather than acronyms, using several initial sounds. This is visible in [[katakana]] transcriptions of foreign words, but is also found with native words (written in [[hiragana]]). For example, the ''[[Pokémon]]'' media franchise's name originally stood for "pocket monsters" ({{lang|ja-Kana|'''ポケ'''ット·'''モン'''スター}} [po-ke-tto-mon-su-tā] → {{lang|ja-Kana|ポケモン}}), which is still the long-form of the name in Japanese, and "[[wāpuro]]" stands for "[[word processor]]" ({{lang|ja-Kana|'''ワー'''ド·'''プロ'''セッサー}} [wā-do-pu-ro-se-ssā]→ {{lang|ja-Kana|ワープロ}}).

====German====
To a greater degree than English does, German tends toward acronyms that use initial syllables rather than initial single letters, although it uses many of the latter type as well. Some examples of the syllabic type are {{lang|de|[[Gestapo]]}} rather than ''GSP'' (for {{lang|de|Geheime Staatspolizei}}, 'Secret State Police'); {{lang|de|Flak}} rather than ''FAK'' (for {{lang|de|Fliegerabwehrkanone}}, '[[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] gun'); {{lang|de|Kripo}} rather than ''KP'' (for {{lang|de|[[Kriminalpolizei]]}}, 'detective division police'). The extension of such contraction to a pervasive or whimsical degree has been mockingly labeled {{lang|de|[[wikt:de:Aküfi|Aküfi]]}} (for {{lang|de|Abkürzungsfimmel}}, 'strange habit of abbreviating'). Examples of {{lang|de|Aküfi}} include {{lang|de|Vokuhila}} (for {{lang|de|vorne kurz, hinten lang}}, 'short in the front, long in the back', i.e., a [[Mullet (haircut)|mullet]] haircut) and the mocking of [[Adolf Hitler]]'s title as {{lang|de|[[Gröfaz]]}} ({{lang|de|Größter Feldherr aller Zeiten}}, 'Greatest General of all Time').

====Hebrew====
{{Main|Hebrew acronyms}}
It is common to take more than just one initial letter from each of the words composing the acronym; regardless of this, the abbreviation sign [[gershayim]] {{angle bracket|״}} is always written between the second-last and last letters of the non-inflected form of the acronym, even if by this it separates letters of the same original word. Examples (keep in mind Hebrew reads right-to-left): {{lang|he|ארה״ב|rtl=yes}} (for {{lang|he|ארצות הברית|rtl=yes}}, the United States); {{lang|he|ברה״מ|rtl=yes}} (for {{lang|he|ברית המועצות|rtl=yes}}, the Soviet Union); {{lang|he|ראשל״צ|rtl=yes}} (for {{lang|he|ראשון לציון|rtl=yes}}, [[Rishon LeZion]]); {{lang|he|ביה״ס|rtl=yes}} (for {{lang|he|בית הספר|rtl=yes}}, the school). An example that takes only the initial letters from its component words is {{lang|he|צה״ל|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|he-Latn|Tzahal}}, for {{lang|he|צבא הגנה לישראל|rtl=yes}}, [[Israel Defense Forces]]). In inflected forms, the abbreviation sign {{lang|he-Latn|[[gershayim]]}} remains between the second-last and last letters of the non-inflected form of the acronym (e.g. 'report', singular: {{lang|he|דו״ח|rtl=yes}}, plural: {{lang|he|דו״חות|rtl=yes}}; 'squad commander', masculine: {{lang|he|מ״כ|rtl=yes}}, feminine: {{lang|he|מ״כית|rtl=yes}}).

====Indonesian====
{{see also|List of Indonesian acronyms and abbreviations}}
There is also a widespread use of acronyms in [[Indonesia]] in every aspect of social life. For example, the {{lang|id|[[Golkar]]}} political party stands for {{lang|id|Partai Golongan Karya}}, {{lang|id|[[Monas]]}} stands for {{lang|id|Monumen Nasional}} ('National Monument'), the {{lang|id|Angkot}} public transport stands for {{lang|id|Angkutan Kota}} ([[Share taxi#Indonesia|'city public transportation']]), {{lang|id|warnet}} stands for {{lang|id|warung internet}} ('[[internet cafe]]'), and many others. Some acronyms are considered formal (or officially adopted), while many more are considered informal, [[slang]], or [[colloquial]].

The capital's metropolitan area ([[Jakarta]] and its surrounding [[Satellite city|satellite regions]]), {{lang|id|[[Jabodetabek]]}}, is another acronym. This stands for {{lang|id|Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi}}. Many highways are also named by the acronym method; e.g. {{lang|id|Jalan Tol}} ('Toll Road') {{lang|id|Jagorawi}} ({{lang|id|Jakarta-Bogor-Ciawi}}), {{lang|id|Purbaleunyi}} ({{lang|id|Purwakarta-Bandung-Cileunyi}}), and {{lang|id|Joglo Semar}} ({{lang|id|Jogja-Solo-Semarang}}).

In some languages, especially those that use certain [[alphabets]], many acronyms come from the governmental use, particularly in the military and law enforcement services. The [[Indonesian military]] (TNI – {{lang|id|Tentara Nasional Indonesia}}) and [[Indonesian police]] (POLRI – {{lang|id|Kepolisian Republik Indonesia}}) are known for heavy acronyms use. Examples include the {{lang|id|[[Kopassus]]}} ({{lang|id|Komando Pasukan Khusus}}; '[[Special Forces]] Command'), {{lang|id|[[Kopaska]]}} ({{lang|id|Komando Pasukan Katak}}; '[[Frogmen]] Command'), {{lang|id|Kodim}} ({{lang|id|Komando Distrik Militer}}; 'Military District Command' – one of the Indonesian army's [[administrative divisions]]), {{lang|id|Serka}} ({{lang|id|Sersan Kepala}}; 'Head [[Sergeant]]'), {{lang|id|Akmil}} ({{lang|id|Akademi Militer}}; 'Military Academy' – in [[Magelang]]), and many other terms regarding [[Military ranks|ranks]], units, divisions, procedures, etc.

==== Malay ====
Although not as common as in Indonesian, a number of Malay words are formed by merging two words, such as {{lang|ms|tadika}} from {{lang|ms|taman didikan kanak-kanak}} ('kindergarten') and {{lang|ms|pawagam}} from {{lang|ms|panggung wayang gambar}}. This, however, has been less prevalent in the modern era, in contrary to Indonesian. It is still often for names such as organisation names, among the most famous being MARA from {{lang|ms|[[Majlis Amanah Rakyat]]}} ('People's Trust Council'), a government agency in Malaysia.

Some acronyms are developed from the [[Jawi alphabet|Jawi]] (Malay in Arabic script) spelling of the name and may not reflect its Latin counterpart such as PAS from {{lang|ms|[[Malaysian Islamic Party|Parti Islam Se-Malaysia]]}} ('Malaysian Islamic Party') which originated from the Jawi acronym {{lang|ms-Arab|ڤاس from ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا}}, with the same pronunciation, since the first letter of the word 'Islam' in Jawi uses the letter [[Aleph]], which is pronounced like the letter ''A'' when in such position as in the acronym.

Rules in writing initialisms in Malay differ based on its script. In its Latin form, the initialism would be spelt much like in English, using capitals written without any spacing, such as TNB for {{lang|ms|[[Tenaga Nasional]] Berhad}}.

In Jawi, however, the way initialisms are different depending on the source language. For Malay initialisms, the initial Jawi letters would be written separated by a period such as {{lang|ms-Arab|د.ب.ڤ}} for {{lang|ms-Arab|[[Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka|ديوان بهاس دان ڤوستاک]]}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last1= bin Dahaman |first1=Ismail |last2=Ahmad |first2=Manshoor bin Haji |title=Daftar Kata Bahasa Melayu: Rumi-Sebutan-Jawi (Jilid 1) |publisher=[[Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka]] |date=2001 |isbn=978-983-62-4672-1 |location=Kuala Lumpur |page=129 |language=ms-MY |trans-title=Malay Language Word Directory: Rumi-Pronunciation-Jawi (Book 1)}}</ref> If the initialism is from a different language, however, it would be written by transliterating each letter from the original language, such as {{lang|ms-Arab|عيم.سي.عيم.سي.}} for [[Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission|MCMC]], or {{lang|ms-Arab|الفا.ڤي.ثيتا}} for [[Aristotle University of Thessaloniki|Α.Π.Θ.]]<ref>{{cite web |url= https://fdocuments.in/document/report-for-malaysias-internationalized-domain-cssescwaorglbictd096001pdfreport.html |title=Report for Malaysia's Internationalized Domain Name: Jawi Language Issues |publisher=MYNIC Berhad |date=December 3, 2009 |via=FDocuments.in}}</ref>

====Russian====
Acronyms that use parts of words (not necessarily syllables) are commonplace in Russian as well, e.g. {{lang|ru|Газпром}} ({{lang|ru-Latn|[[Gazprom]]}}), for {{lang|ru|Газовая промышленность}} ({{transliteration|ru|Gazovaya promyshlennost}}, 'gas industry'). There are also initialisms, such as {{lang|ru|СМИ}} ('SMI', for {{lang|ru|средства массовой информации}} {{transliteration|ru|sredstva massovoy informatsii}}, 'means of mass informing'; {{lang|ru|ГУЛаг}} ({{lang|ru-Latn|[[GULag]]}}) combines two initials and three letters of the final word: it stands for {{lang|ru|Главное управление лагерей}} ({{transliteration|ru|Glavnoe upravlenie lagerey}}, 'Chief Administration of Camps').

Historically, ''[[OTMA]]'' was an acronym sometimes used by the daughters of [[Emperor]] [[Nicholas II of Russia]] and his consort, [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alexandra Feodorovna]], as a group nickname for themselves, built from the first letter of each girl's name in the order of their births: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia.

====Swahili====
In [[Swahili language|Swahili]], acronyms are common for naming organizations such as ''TUKI'', which stands for {{lang|sw|Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili}} ('Institute for Swahili Research'). Multiple initial letters (often the initial syllable of words) are often drawn together, as seen more in some languages than others.

====Vietnamese====
In [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], which has an abundance of compound words, initialisms are very commonly used for both proper and common nouns. Examples include ''TP.HCM'' ({{lang|vi|Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh}}, '[[Ho Chi Minh City]]'), ''THPT'' ({{lang|vi|trung học phổ thông}}, 'high school'), ''CLB'' ({{lang|vi|câu lạc bộ}}, 'club'), ''CSDL'' ({{lang|vi|cơ sở dữ liệu}}, 'database'), ''NXB'' ({{lang|vi|nhà xuất bản}}, 'publisher'), {{lang|vi|ÔBACE}} ({{lang|vi|ông bà anh chị em}}, a general form of address), and {{lang|vi|CTTĐVN}} ({{lang|vi|các Thánh tử đạo Việt Nam}}, '[[Vietnamese Martyrs]]'). Longer examples include ''CHXHCNVN'' ({{lang|vi|Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam}}, 'Socialist Republic of Vietnam') and ''MTDTGPMNVN'' ({{lang|vi|Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam}}, '[[Viet Cong|Liberation Army of South Vietnam or the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam]]'). Long initialisms have become widespread in legal contexts in [[Vietnam]], for example ''TTLT-VKSNDTC-TANDTC''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Từ viết tắt |trans-title=Abbreviations |publisher=[[BBC Academy]] |access-date=September 4, 2017 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/vietnamese/article/art20131007102738486 |language=vi |quote=Chưa kể cách viết này còn dễ bị cho là lười biếng hoặc tỏ ra quan trọng, vì đây là cách chép nguyên xi, máy móc các cụm từ viết tắt từ văn bản pháp quy của chính quyền, như TTLT-VKSNDTC-TANDTC, khá phổ biến ở Việt Nam hiện nay. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171120141047/http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/vietnamese/article/art20131007102738486 |archive-date=November 20, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is also common for a writer to coin an ad hoc initialism for repeated use in an article.

Each letter in an initialism corresponds to one [[morpheme]], that is, one syllable. When the first letter of a syllable has a tone mark or other diacritic, the diacritic may be omitted from the initialism, for example {{lang|vi|ĐNA}} or {{lang|vi|ĐNÁ}} for {{lang|vi|Đông Nam Á}} ('[[Southeast Asia]]') and ''LMCA'' or {{lang|vi|LMCÂ}} for {{lang|vi|Liên minh châu Âu}} ('[[European Union]]'). The letter {{lang|vi|[[Ư]]}} is often replaced by ''W'' in initialisms to avoid confusion with ''U'', for example ''UBTWMTTQVN'' or {{lang|vi|UBTƯMTTQVN}} for {{lang|vi|Ủy ban Trung ương Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam}} ('Central Committee of the [[Vietnamese Fatherland Front]]').

Initialisms are purely a written convenience, being pronounced the same way as their expansions. As the [[Vietnamese alphabet#Letter names and pronunciation|names of many Vietnamese letters]] are disyllabic, it would be less convenient to pronounce an initialism by its individual letters. Acronyms pronounced as words are rare in Vietnamese, occurring when an acronym itself is borrowed from another language. Examples include {{lang|vi|SIĐA}} ({{IPA-vi|s̪i˧ ˀɗaː˧|pron}}), a respelling of the French acronym ''SIDA'' ('[[AIDS]]'); ''VOA'' ({{IPA-vi|vwaː˧|pron}}), a literal reading of the English initialism for '[[Voice of America]]'; and ''[[NASA]]'' ({{IPA-vi|naː˧ zaː˧|pron}}), borrowed directly from the English acronym.

As in [[#Chinese|Chinese]], many compound words can be shortened to the first syllable when forming a longer word. For example, the term {{lang|vi|[[Viet Cong|Việt Cộng]]}} is derived from the first syllables of {{lang|vi|Việt Nam}} ('Vietnam') and {{lang|vi|Cộng sản}} ('communist'). This mechanism is limited to [[Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary]]. Unlike with Chinese, such [[clipped compound]]s are considered to be [[portmanteau]] words or [[blend word]]s rather than acronyms or initialisms, because the [[Vietnamese alphabet]] still requires each component word to be written as more than one character.