<![CDATA[Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word.]]>Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. I notice Japan, which incidentally has a syllabary, seems to create this sort of "acronym" fairly often.

Is there a word, like a linguistics word, for this type of syllabic "acronym"?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/0f91b66d-25c8-40cb-98d4-e99185e155a9/imagine-an-acronym-but-instead-of-taking-the-first-letter-of-each-word-you-took-the-entire-first-syllable-of-each-word.RSS for NodeThu, 25 Jun 2026 10:29:36 GMTWed, 24 Jun 2026 16:32:29 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:28:51 GMT]]>Let me say that one of the things I most dislike in Tumblr (in addition to not being able to limit search of tags simply to your own blog) is the lack of automatic time stamps.

@swetland @http_error_418 @gsuberland @mcc @whitequark

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/iju/statuses/116806499135332187https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/iju/statuses/116806499135332187Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:28:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:13:25 GMT]]>@mcc I feel there's something similar in Mandarin that's existed longer than what I care to pay attention to, but it also felt just slightly different enough that idk if it's what you have in mind

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://toot.cat/users/BigShellEvent/statuses/116806438473345782https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://toot.cat/users/BigShellEvent/statuses/116806438473345782Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:13:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:59:00 GMT]]>@http_error_418 @gsuberland @mcc @whitequark
I love it. Also managed to find the original tumblr thread:
https://kingfucko.tumblr.com/post/131682181176/gollyplot-flittering-sylph-man-i-hate-it

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/swetland/statuses/116806381784664489https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/swetland/statuses/116806381784664489Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:59:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:58:17 GMT]]>@mcc Mandarin also does this, but with the first character (e.g. 高速铁路, "high speed railway", becomes 高铁, "high iron"). I would probably call them abbreviations, but that's somewhat generic

legal german does it similarly, but they just use enough characters to distinguish conflicting terms, it can get annoying

e.g. BVerfG for Bundesverfassungsgericht and BVerwG for Bundesverwaltungsgericht, two different courts

or SGB for Socialgesetzbuch and StGB for Strafgesetzbuch, two different laws

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.mildlyfunctional.gay/users/artemist/statuses/116806378914430763https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.mildlyfunctional.gay/users/artemist/statuses/116806378914430763Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:58:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:56:09 GMT]]>@mcc japanese likes to take *two* ~syllables from each word, like pasocon for personal computer

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tutut.delire.party/users/simon/statuses/116806370569676191https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tutut.delire.party/users/simon/statuses/116806370569676191Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:56:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:44:58 GMT]]>@mcc I'd just think of it as a portmanteau

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://rubber.social/users/dragonarchitect/statuses/116806326588355674https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://rubber.social/users/dragonarchitect/statuses/116806326588355674Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:44:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:42:52 GMT]]>@http_error_418 @gsuberland @mcc @whitequark @david_chisnall I never thought I would see “Dog Anglo-Saxon” lol

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/jonmsterling/statuses/116806318298247759https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/jonmsterling/statuses/116806318298247759Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:42:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:35:05 GMT]]>@http_error_418 😂😂

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/dwardoric/statuses/116806287727524338https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/dwardoric/statuses/116806287727524338Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:35:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:29:57 GMT]]>@http_error_418 @gsuberland @mcc @whitequark

the last one is even kinda readable once you know to read that strange "o" as "the".

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/agowa338/statuses/116806267468739169https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/agowa338/statuses/116806267468739169Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:29:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:26:53 GMT]]>@http_error_418 @gsuberland @mcc @whitequark The rhyming couplet at the end! *le baiser d'un chef*

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/sleet01/statuses/116806255475469482https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/sleet01/statuses/116806255475469482Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:26:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:26:22 GMT]]>@ShadSterling @mcc
We do that for daily use: "Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales Berlin" becomes "Lageso".

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://berlin.social/users/slowtiger/statuses/116806253448084065https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://berlin.social/users/slowtiger/statuses/116806253448084065Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:26:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:25:15 GMT]]>@mcc @whitequark @syn Nazi and Stasi are whatever this is, too. Spotting a pattern...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/TomF/statuses/116806249056164998https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/TomF/statuses/116806249056164998Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:25:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:22:38 GMT]]>@slowtiger @mcc I’m having trouble imagining words so long that German needs to shorten them

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/ShadSterling/statuses/116806238780773244https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/ShadSterling/statuses/116806238780773244Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:22:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:12:23 GMT]]>@mcc you may also consider it a kind of clipped compound, or ClipCom

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chitter.xyz/users/gutmunchies/statuses/116806198482731841https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chitter.xyz/users/gutmunchies/statuses/116806198482731841Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:12:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:11:12 GMT]]>@mcc
German does that all the time, but I don't know of any specific term for this.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://berlin.social/users/slowtiger/statuses/116806193812135438https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://berlin.social/users/slowtiger/statuses/116806193812135438Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:11:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:11:12 GMT]]>@gsuberland @mcc @whitequark
Time to bring out my absolute favourite linguistics discussion of all time again

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/http_error_418/statuses/116806193816646688https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/http_error_418/statuses/116806193816646688Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:11:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:50:32 GMT]]>@mcc The closest I can find is people just saying "we have no specific English word for this, so we'll borrow the Japanese word ryakugo".

Which is translated as 'abbreviation' but it's kind of like how 'danraku' is translated as 'paragraph' even though they're similar but not really the same thing.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tech.lgbt/users/Catriona/statuses/116806112519358081https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tech.lgbt/users/Catriona/statuses/116806112519358081Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:50:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:46:03 GMT]]>@mcc
I remember:
The shortening of the name of the show Absolutely Fabulous to AbFab
MST3K using ConHugeCo as a name for a gigantic corporation

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mefi.social/users/rodneylives/statuses/116806094889525799https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mefi.social/users/rodneylives/statuses/116806094889525799Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:46:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:45:51 GMT]]>@mcc Like Nabisco (for National Biscuit Company) or SoHo (South of Houston?) Some parts of the internet say "syllabic abbreviations" although obviously that should be shortened to syllabbs.

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/9bvo3g/til_words_like_nabisco_tribeca_fedex_and_haribo/

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://freeradical.zone/users/baconandcoconut/statuses/116806094119452616https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://freeradical.zone/users/baconandcoconut/statuses/116806094119452616Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:45:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:45:09 GMT]]>@mcc @whitequark all my datums, gone

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/gsuberland/statuses/116806091386921830https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/gsuberland/statuses/116806091386921830Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:45:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:45:03 GMT]]>@mcc This might be a good place to start for info about that feature. 🙂

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_abbreviated_and_contracted_words

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://corteximplant.com/users/ann3nova/statuses/116806090978392977https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://corteximplant.com/users/ann3nova/statuses/116806090978392977Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:45:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:44:56 GMT]]>@gribnoysup @syn @mcc oh, i guess that's the exact thing mcc is looking for then 😄

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.treehouse.systems/users/whitequark/statuses/116806090514402884https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.treehouse.systems/users/whitequark/statuses/116806090514402884Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:44:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:44:28 GMT]]>@gsuberland @whitequark These datums

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/mcc/statuses/116806088680057633https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/mcc/statuses/116806088680057633Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:44:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Imagine an "acronym" but instead of taking the first letter of each word, you took the entire first syllable of each word. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:44:15 GMT]]>@whitequark @syn @mcc interesting that clicking through on a Russian word gives a slightly different name: syllabic abbreviation https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#syllabic_abbreviation

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://kolektiva.social/users/gribnoysup/statuses/116806087852431058https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://kolektiva.social/users/gribnoysup/statuses/116806087852431058Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:44:15 GMT