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acronym

1. It is, on the one hand, the term formed by the union of elements of two or more words: muppet,televisionanddoll; docudrama,dramaticdocumentary; Mercosur,fromthe Common Market of the South. On the other hand, an acronym is also called an acronym that is pronounced like a word: NATO, UFO, AIDS(→acronym). It is very common that the latter, after a first phase in which they appear written in capital letters due to their original condition as acronyms (UFO, AIDS), end up being incorporated into the common lexicon of the language and are written with lowercase letters (UFO, AIDS), except, of course, the initial when it comes to names that require the writing of this letter with a capital letter (Unesco, Unicef). The acronyms usually omit for their formation the articles, prepositions and conjunctions that appear in the complete name, except if they are necessary to facilitate its pronunciation: ACUDE (for the Association of Consumers and Users of Spain), pyme (for small and medium-sized companies).
2. The formation of initials and acronyms is a widespread phenomenon in Anglo-Saxon countries, especially in scientific-technical fields. Thus, numerous words have been incorporated into our language that are, originally, English initials or acronyms: radar, for ra [dio] d [etecting] a [nd] r [anging]; laser, by l [ight] a [mplification by] s [timulated] e [mission of] r [adiation]; púsar or pulsar, from puls [ating st] ar.In some cases, acronyms of foreign origin have been adapted or translated into Spanish: we say AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), and no aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome); NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and not NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) (→ acronym, 6).
3. Once incorporated into the common lexicon, the acronyms form the plural following the general rules of their formation in Spanish (→ plural, 1): ovnis, ucis, radars, transistors.
4. Most of the acronyms formed by the union of elements of two or more words have adopted the masculine gender, even when, in translation, the core word of the abbreviated foreign expression is feminine; thus,a pulsar is said, even though star (engl. star) is feminine; a quasar, even though source is feminine. Sometimes the masculine is explained by an elided masculine concept being understood: the laser [beam], even though light) is feminine. On the contrary, acronyms that originate from acronyms normally adopt the gender of the core word of the complete denomination: ICU (because unit is a feminine word), AIDS (because syndrome is a masculine word) (→ acronym, 4).
5. Only acronyms that have been incorporated into the general lexicon and that, therefore, are written in lowercase, admit their division with a hyphen at the end of the line and are subject to the rules of graphic accentuation in Spanish: lá- / ser, ra - / give.
6. The acronyms are read as they are written, without developing the abbreviated elements.