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There are some initialisms out there that are unpronouncable as words in any correct English sense (I found one today of SQRL). However the inventor of such terms force a word onto them, in this case:

The SQRL system (pronounced “squirrel”)

Unless you were aware of this term, and the authors intended pronunciation of it you would pronounce it as letters 'S-Q-R-L'. But that is not how the author intends. So, if these terms that would clearly be initialisms in any normal sense of the word, but have had a pronunciation forced upon them, can these be referred to as an Acronym?

(This is sort of related to the question: Does pronouncing an initialism make it an acronym?, although that post seems to stem from a misunderstanding of the difference between initialism and acronym so the answers reflect that misunderstanding rather than this particular situation)

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JonW
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  • Compare "SQL" (Structured Query Language), which is often pronounced as a homophone of "sequel": Wiktionary, for example, says that for speakers who pronounce it like "sequel", it is an acronym, but otherwise, it is an initialism. – senshin Jan 13 '15 at 21:56
  • For years I pronounced the name of the Unix visual editor vi (which I never used, being an ex fan) as /vɪ/. Come to find out it was called /vi'yay/ by the cognoscenti. – John Lawler Jan 13 '15 at 22:09
  • And Linux, of course, isn't pronounced the way everyone pronounces it. – Hot Licks Jan 13 '15 at 22:11
  • Yeah, i had considered using SQL as an example in this question, but i'm not sure where the pronunciation came from. Whereas SQRL is clearly an enforced pronounciation, not a natural one. – JonW Jan 13 '15 at 22:13
  • I'm not sure what your question is that the first answer in your linked question doesn't answer. Are you confused about the distinction between acronyms and initialisms? There is a general disagreement about whether or not initialisms are a subset of acronyms. Depending on where you are in that argument, the answer is either: they are always acronyms, and only initialisms if pronounced that way, or they are only acronyms if pronounced as a word. – Nick2253 Jan 13 '15 at 22:18
  • Since it appears that *nix folks have lit on this post, another interesting one is nginx, (an alternative web server to apache). At first I thought it was pronounced enjinks, but have come to find that the linux folks, who love their esoteric, insider-only pronunciations, say it engine-'X'. And BTW, vi rules. :) – DJ Far Jan 13 '15 at 23:14
  • Another example from way back is "SCSI/scuzzy." – Sven Yargs Jan 13 '15 at 23:18
  • You mention 'a misunderstanding of the difference between initialism and acronym'. Are you saying that the problem of the conflicting definitions of 'acronym' has been resolved since the previous thread, or are you just assuming that the definition you like is the one everyone should use? – Edwin Ashworth Jan 13 '15 at 23:34
  • @EdwinAshworth That linked question seems to go into whether something like BBC can be 'pronounced'. And that isn't the same thing as a set of letters intentionally turned into being an unnatural word. – JonW Jan 13 '15 at 23:36
  • You clearly write 'although that post seems to stem from a misunderstanding of the difference between initialism and acronym so the answers reflect that misunderstanding'. This is important, but it's not the people who are misunderstanding who're to blame. It's the people who don't realise there are different and conflicting (but not unacceptable) definitions that apply to 'acronym', and others who like them don't disambiguate before using the term. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 13 '15 at 23:48
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    @HotLicks: Linux is is fact pronounced the way everyone pronounces it, by definition: Torvald has no more control than the Sorceror's Apprentice. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymological_fallacy. – Tim Lymington Jan 14 '15 at 16:03
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    @TimLymington yes indeed. Another case in point is the image file format GIF. The inventor can say it should be pronounced 'jiff' all he wants, but the community over the last 20 years has already had its say. – JonW Jan 14 '15 at 16:06
  • @JohnLawler: Huh? What system is that? I hope not the IPA? – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Jan 14 '15 at 16:43
  • The American English phonemic system, as in Kenyon and Knott, 1949. As a phonemic system, it's of course based on the IPA, but it doesn't attempt to represent all the phonetics, only the relevant features that distinguish one phoneme from another. – John Lawler Jan 14 '15 at 16:55
  • @TimLymington - I suppose I should have included a "smiley". (And, JonW, I've always pronounced "GIF" as "jif", but then I'm a member of the great unwashed masses.) – Hot Licks Jan 14 '15 at 17:07
  • @TimLymington - But it needs to be understood that every one of my answers/comments here comes with an implicit ;) – Hot Licks Jan 14 '15 at 17:16

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Unless you were aware of this term, and the authors intended pronunciation of it you would pronounce it as letters 'S-Q-R-L'.

No I wouldn't. When I looked at this page the letters SQRL stood out because they were capitals and a different colour. I read them as "squirrel".

My wife is not a programmer and so not familiar with SQL and has neither heard nor read much of about it nor knew that it was originally called SEQUEL before a trademark dispute forced a name change. On seeing materials of mine with the letters she at first pronounced it "squeal". Now she pronounces SQL as "squeal, oh wait that's not right, what is it again? (There should be a language called squeal)".

People are used to reading words, and they'll very often arrive at them given only half an opportunity. It's realted to teh way msot ppl can unedrtsand tihs.

But that is not how the author intends.

That only goes so far either way. People tend to only respect coiners wishes so far. Likely some people will pronounce SQRL ess cue are el, while conversely if the creators insisted that was the correct pronunciation some people would pronounce it squirrel.

(And if they insisted SQRL was pronounced "donkey fish" they wouldn't have a chance).

So, if these terms that would clearly be initialisms in any normal sense of the word

It clearly is an initialism because it comes from initials. NATO, laser and scuba are initialisms for the same reason. It's not exclusive to being an acronym.

but have had a pronunciation forced upon them,

Actually, how do you know the note on pronunciation wasn't the creator conceding to others?

can these be referred to as an Acronym?

Yes. There are definitions of acronym that exclude those pronounced as spelled-out and definitions that do not, but either way, yes.

Jon Hanna
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  • When I saw the first mention of SQRL here, I pronounced it as squall. – Andrew Leach Jan 14 '15 at 07:26
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    +1 for a sensible discussion, and another +1 for the "typos" (how long before someone tries to edit?). But definitely +1 for your wife's pronunciation of SQL, which is obviously the correct one. – Tim Lymington Jan 14 '15 at 16:07