Noun
- An initialism: an abbreviation which is read letter-by-letter, such as "U.N."
- 2002, Gunnel Tottie, An Introduction To American English,
http://books.google.com/books?id=WWDUtK-f1tQC Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0631197923, page 118,
- Some alphabetisms are written as if they weren't alphabetisms at all, like deejay for DJ, disc jockey, or emcee for MC, master of ceremonies.
- The ability to read an alphabet, a rudimentary form of literacy.
- 2001, Ziony Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel: A Synthesis of Parallactic Approaches,
http://books.google.com/books?id=db4hr55j0yYC Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 0826463398, page 639,
- Some of the activities involved in ... corvée and military needs stimulated the spread of a certain type of minimal alphabetism for inventorying and most likely encouraged the development of a professional scribalism for record-keeping and book-keeping.
- Excessive reliance upon the alphabet or alphabetic structures.
- 2006, Daniel Doron Silverman, A Critical Introduction to Phonology: Of Sound, Mind and Body,
http://books.google.com/books?id=XWMKDj6umvgC Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 0826486606, page 208,
- The answer, I suggest, is that phonemism is rooted in alphabetism. Indeed, many linguists have suggested that there really is a /g/ phoneme at the end of 'fang' and other Å‹-final words in English, except that they are not pronounced!
- Discrimination on the basis of the first letter of a name.
- 1978 November 13, The Capital (Annapolis, MD),The injustice of "alphabetism" is, of course, a thorn in the Zitser side, and he playfully promises to assign the problem to "alphabetically neutral" aides.
