ISO 4:1997 pdf download.Information and documentation一Rules for the abbreviation of title words and titles of publications
For the purposes of this International Standard, the following definitions apply.
2.1 abbreviation:Abbreviated term resulting from the omission of some of its letters. [Adapted from ISO 1087:1990]
2.2 abbreviated qualifying element: Abbreviated element added to an abbreviated title in order to make the abbreviated title unique.
2.3 acronym: Abbreviated complex term made up of letters from the full form of a term and strung together into a sequence pronounced only syllabically. [ISO 1087: 1990]
EXAMPL E: AL GOL = algorithmic language.
2.4 affix: Morpheme which is neither a stem nor an ending but which is attached to the stem in order to change its meaning or its lexical or grammatical categony. [ISO 1087:1990]
2.5 artificial word: Word created for a special purpose and not normally found in dictionaries.
2.6 complex term: Term consisting of two or more stems with or without other term elements.
[ISO 1087:1990]
2.7 compound word: Word whose component parts are themselves words or combined forms.
2.8 contraction: Shortening of a word, syllable, or word group by omission of internal letters.
2.9 corporate body: Organization or group of persons identified by a particular name.
2.13 initialism: Abbreviated complex term or name made up of the first letters of the term elements. [ISO 1087:1990]
NOTE一An initialism forms a sequence which may be pronounced letter by letter, syllabically, or both.
2.14 morpheme: Smallest meaningful unit of a language. [ISO 1087:1990]
2.15 prefix: Affix which precedes another stem or another prefix. [ISO 1087:1990]
2.16 root: Word element which forms the etymological basis of a family of words in one language or in several languages. [ISO 1087:1990]
2.17 section title: Title specific to a section which serves to distinguish one part of a group of related serials having a common title.
2.18 serial: Publication, in any medium, issued in successive parts, usually having numerical or chronological designations, and intended to be continued indefinitely.
2.19 stem: Word element which can be used as a term in itself or as the base of a derivative. [ISO 1087:1990]
2.20 suffix: Affix which follows a stem or another sufix. [ISO 1087:1990]
2.21 title: Word or phrase, or a group of characters, usually appearing on the document, by which it is convenient to refer to it, which may be used to identify it, and which often (though not invariably) distinguishes it from any other document. [Adapted from ISO 5127/3a):1981]
Whether the method of abbreviation is truncation or contraction (or a combination of those methods), at least two letters shall be dropped from the word to be abbreviated. Words from which only a single letter would be dropped are not abbreviated.
The method of indicating an abbreviation shall be a full stop (period). Abbreviations are normally followed by a full stop. However, in some applications the full stop may be omitted (see also 4.6).ISO 4 pdf download.