ÄTA

18:21 Dec 3, 2013 

My 1999 Norstedts Svenska Ordbok defines 'akronym' as "förkortning som består av initialer och uppfattas som ett namn el. ett ord, t.ex. NATO och SIFO", but Svenska Akademians ordlista (online) has only "förkortning som består av initialer".
So as you say, Mats , confusion reigns in Swedish.
Strictly, the English (BrEng and USEng) definition of 'acronym' is as in the OED extracts I produced earlier, but some sloppy usage also uses acronym for any initialism.
We must agree to disagree on the English usage, Mats, but this has been an interesting discussion and we haven't even got onto hybrids like Benelux, radar and JPEG!

09:14 Dec 3, 2013 

I never said that acronym and abbreviation are synonyms. Indeed they are not. But ÅTA is definitely an abbreviation. It may also be an acronym. Anyway, Anya didn't actually claim it was an abbreviation - she just asked for one :-)

00:10 Dec 3, 2013 

@ Chris S
If a word is spelt ÄTA in capital letters it is heavily to be assumed that it is an acronym and is pronounced ÄTeA, not äta(eat). The question clearly indicated that too.

18:32 Dec 2, 2013 

Mats, I agree with you that abbreviation and acronym are not synonymous. As I said, an acronym is a *type* of abbreviation.

I disagree however, when you say ÄTA is an acronym, solely because it consists of the initials of 3 words. It may be, depending on how it is pronounced. If you can assure me that it is generally pronounced ’äta’ (i.e. same as the Swedish for ’eat’), then I can agree.

I wonder if we are arguing because there is no concept of an initialism in Swedish and 'akronym' is applied to all initial letter abbreviations?

13:37 Dec 2, 2013 

The fact the acronym is A SORT OF abbreviation does not suggest that a and a are synonyms. You don't in earnest equalize pump and heart only because the heart is A SORT OF pump, do you? Anya's term is still an ancronym (consisting of the initials of 3 words)

12:48 Dec 2, 2013 

The Oxford English Dictionary:

Abbreviation: a shortened form of a word or phrase.

Acronym:an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCII, NASA).

Initialism:an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately (e.g. BBC).

Thus Acronym is a type of Abbreviation as Chris S says.
So if ÄTA is pronounced "äta" in Swedish it is an acronym, but if its letters are pronounced separately "Ä.T.A." then it is an Initialism; both versions are Abbreviations.
Only someone familiar with current spoken Swedish in the Construction Industry can tell us if it is an Acronym. Meanwhile Anya rightly used Abbreviation.

09:58 Dec 2, 2013 

@ Chris S
Nationalencycklopedin: " initialförkortning, akronym." (which 'Esq.' and 'Mr' aren't).
I argue that equalizing 'acronym' with 'abbreviation serves no good purpose. It only confuses.

09:22 Dec 2, 2013 

I would argue that an acronym is a type of abbreviation, and that Anya's usage is not incorrect

12:05 Nov 30, 2013 

They are not synonyms!

'ÄTA', like NATO and UN, UEFA FIFA an KFOR are all acronyms (built on the first letter of each component).

'Esq', 'Mr', 'Mrs'. 'incl.', 'excl.' 'yr.' ate all abbreviations (contracted shorter versions of a certain word).

Please accept and apply!

Mats