As in English or Latin, German written abbreviations consist of a letter, letters or partial words shortened from a longer word or phrase, such as
etc. for
et cetera. Acronyms are a type of abbreviation pronounced as a single word, such as
Laser. Initialisms are abbreviations in which each initial in the abbreviation is pronounced separately, such as
FBI. It is unsettled question in English style guides whether the word acronym can be used to also describe initialisms. This list makes a distinction between the types because of the way German-speakers create, use and pronounce them. •
Abbreviations: German written abbreviations are often punctuated and are pronounced as the full word when read aloud, such as
beispielsweise for
bspw. ("for example"). Unlike English, which is moving away from periods in abbreviations in some style guides, the placement of capital letters and periods is important in German. •
Acronyms are abbreviations consisting of initials of words in the original phrase, written without periods, and pronounced as if they were a single word. Examples that have made their way into German from English include
Laser or
NATO. In German, acronyms retain the
grammatical gender of their primary noun. •
Initialism is a type of abbreviation consisting of the initials of each word in a phrase, almost always capitalized, and pronounced separately. In German they are never punctuated. Examples include EU for
European Union and DDR for
German Democratic Republic. Initialisms are typically found in commercial, government, legal, medical, scientific and technical uses. In German, initialisms retain the
grammatical gender of their primary noun. == Key to sources in tables ==