Abbreviations in English medical terminology and their adaptation to Croatian

Abstract

The research presents results of classifications and analyses of alphabethisms, acronyms and their hybrid forms on a limited corpus of the English medical terms. Alphabethisms and acronyms were classified according to two criteria: narrower and broader sense, and their dif-ferences in orthographic formation were described by a set of specific descriptors. This kind of description, classification and analysis was used in examining the corpus of both English and Croatian medical terms. In the analysis of orthographic adaptation of English alphabethisms to Croatian, three degrees of their adaptation were suggested: zero orthographic change, par-tial/compromise adaptation and complete adaptation. Substitution and adaptation on the orthographic level is tentatively named transgraphemization.