mcc3d ago

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"?

Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧3d ago
@mcc isn't the thing you're describing "initialism" and "acronym" the thing you're asking for? (or at least that's what i thought these words mean)
Show threadGraham Sutherland / Polynomial3d ago

@whitequark @mcc both of those use the first letter of each word, but strictly speaking initialisms are read out as the letters (e.g. BGP, TCP) and acronyms are pronounced as a word (e.g. LARP, PIN), although in practice "acronym" gets used to mean both.

I think what mcc wants is more like "LoRa".

Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧3d ago
@gsuberland @mcc upon closer inspection there is no consensus on what "acronym" means
Show threadGraham Sutherland / Polynomial3d ago
@whitequark @mcc yup.
Show threadmcc3d ago
@gsuberland @whitequark It's interesting because language is fluid but usually the words used to describe language are more rigid due to them being selected by people whose job it is to describe language
Show threadGraham Sutherland / Polynomial3d ago
@mcc @whitequark my general feeling is that this is true right up until you hit the "no plan survives contact with the enemy" effect of colloquial and informal usage.
Show threadmcc3d ago
@gsuberland @whitequark I like the idea of language speakers and linguists as natural enemies
Show threadGraham Sutherland / Polynomial3d ago
@mcc @whitequark there's definite tribalism. the first example that came to mind is plural-data (which I hate)
Show threadmcc3d ago
@gsuberland @whitequark These datums
Show threadGraham Sutherland / Polynomial3d ago
@mcc @whitequark all my datums, gone
Show threadAdvanced Persistent Teapot3d ago
@gsuberland @mcc @whitequark
Time to bring out my absolute favourite linguistics discussion of all time again
Show threadsleet01
@http_error_418 @gsuberland @mcc @whitequark The rhyming couplet at the end! *le baiser d'un chef*
Jun 24 at 5:26pmWeb