缩略语

缩写（英语：Abbreviation（Abbrev），来自拉丁语 brevis，意为“短”），在语言学里是一种词语或短语的简易形式，又称省略、缩略语、缩写词。缩写大部分时候等同于简称，但它们之间有细微的差别。 广义的缩写囊括了元音缩合（英语：Crasis）(Crasis，一种通过合并两个元音把多个词复合为一个词的现象）、首字母缩略词（Acronym）、字母词（Initialisms）和中略（英语：中略）（Contraction）等概念，但在较为严格的分析当中可能会把他们排除或分别讨论。:p167首字母缩略词，又称头字语，是英语、法语里面常见的缩写类型。这种音素缩写会将缩略语以词的形式发音。如：字母词也是一种首字母缩略词，但是一般将其按字母逐字发音。如：拼写简化（Short form）只在书写上缩减，并不会改变词的读法。一部分拼写简化属于中略。这种缩写一般会在后面加一个点“.”.:p167–170 。如：英语：截音法，转写：en:Clipping (morphology)，直译：截音（英语：Clipping）是截取词语的一部分作为缩略语的方法，是一种音节缩写（英语：Syllabic abbreviation）。如：一些缩略语由复合词或短语中截取一部分音节构成，这些缩略语也是典型的音节缩写。这种缩略语一般用于专有名词。这种音节缩写容易跟混成词（英语：Portmanteau或Blend word）混淆，虽然两者的意义和读音来自两个以上的语素，但混成词并没有一个作为原型的短语。例如：与英语、法语相比，音节缩写在德语与俄语比较常见。纳粹时期及之前的德国、苏联为了新的官僚机构命名时，非常盛行使用音节缩写。如：后来的德国人，包括东德，仍然会使用音节缩写，如：语素是由词、短语中的词或语素构成缩略语的缩写方法。这是汉语、日语里面最常见的缩写类型之一。由于汉语是非常典型的孤立语，其语素单位大部分时候与音节单位契合，所以往往也可以视为音节缩写。如：汉语也会由从词、短语甚至句子中抽出相同的语素，与数词（或再加量词）构成缩略语。如：acronyms  A number of commentators (as Copperud 1970, Janis 1984, Howard 1984) believe that acronyms can be differentiated from other abbreviations in being pronounceable as words. Dictionaries, however, do not make this distinction because writers in general do not:"The powder metallurgy industry has officially adopted the acronym 'P/M Parts'"—Precision Metal Molding, January 1966."Users of the term acronym make no distinction between those pronounced as words ... and those pronounced as a series of characters" —Jean Praninskas, Trade Name Creation, 1968."It is not J.C.B.'s fault that its name, let alone its acronym, is not a household word among European scholars"—Times Literary Supp. 5 February 1970."... the confusion in the Pentagon about abbreviations and acronyms—words formed from the first letters of other words"—Bernard Weinraub, N.Y. Times, 11 December 1978.Pyles & Algeo 1970 divide acronyms into "initialisms", which consists of initial letters pronounced with the letter names, and "word acronyms", which are pronounced as words. Initialism, an older word than acronym, seems to be too little known to the general public to serve as the customary term standing in contrast with acronym in a narrow sense.