נוֹטָרִיקוֹן (notarikon) — acrostic abbreviation; notarikon system

Etymology

The practice of using initial letters as abbreviations appears to have entered Hebrew usage under Greek influence. Accordingly, the first explicit reference to the technique in Jewish literature — in the Mishnah — uses a Greek word: "כתב אות אחת נוטריקון" (Shabbat 12:5, "he wrote one letter as notarikon"). The word נוֹטָרִיקוֹן is a Greek adjective meaning "in shorthand" or "stenographically," derived from the noun נוֹטַרִיאוֹס ("shorthand writer, stenographer"), which in turn comes from Latin notarius.

The word continued in Hebrew usage but was largely displaced by the native Hebrew phrase רָאשֵׁי תֵבוֹת ("heads of words"), first attested in the late medieval Midrash Tanchuma: "ראשי תבות של פסוקים" (Ha'azinu 5). Rabbinic literature used abbreviations extensively to save parchment, ink, and time. Well-known examples include the names of famous rabbis — רש"י (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki), רמב"ם (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon), and בעש"ט (Ba'al Shem Tov) — which became their standard names in common speech.

Modern Hebrew took the abbreviation tradition significantly further: initialisms began to be vocalized as whole words, shedding their quotation marks. The first major example was תַּפּוּז (tapuz, orange), a shortening of תפוח זהב ("golden apple"). Linguist Yitzhak Avinery proposed in 1932 that תפו"ז be written as a plain word, calling it a natural development. Poet Shaul Tchernichowsky mocked the innovation as "Bolshevism in language," and the Va'ad HaLashon urged newspapers not to adopt it — but the word took hold. Within years the Va'ad itself coined acronym-words: סַכּוּם (1938, from סכין כף מזלג — "knife, spoon, fork") and דּוּחַ (1939, from דין וחשבון — "report/account"), which spawned the verbs דִּוֵּחַ and דֻּוַּח despite protests.

Among less-recognized acronyms now embedded in Hebrew: סַמָּל (corporal, from סגן מחוץ למניין, "NCO"), לֵיְזֵר (laser, from the English acronym), רָדָר (radar), מַכָּם (radar in Hebrew, from מגלה כיוון ומקום, coined 1960), and שַׁכְפָּץ (bulletproof vest, from שכבות פיצוץ, "explosion layers").

Key Quotes

"כתב אות אחת נוטריקון" — Mishnah Shabbat 12:5

"זה הפרי על שמו אנו חוזרים עשרות פעמים ביום... החידוש שלי אינו חידוש בעצם. מכבר התרגלנו לכתוב תפו״ז ולקראה כך. נשמיט את המרכאות, ויהיה תפוז" — Yitzhak Avinery, HaDar journal, 1932

"[חידוש תפוז הוא] בולשביזם בשפה" — Shaul Tchernichowsky, responding to Avinery

Timeline

• Mishnaic period: נוֹטָרִיקוֹן borrowed from Greek as the term for initial-letter abbreviations
• Medieval period: רָאשֵׁי תֵבוֹת coined (Midrash Tanchuma); rabbinic literature filled with abbreviations
• 1932: Avinery proposes תפוז as a full word (not תפו"ז); debate ensues
• 1938: Va'ad HaLashon coins סַכּוּם
• 1939: דּוּחַ coined by the Haganah training manual
• 1939: סַמָּל coined as a Hebrew NCO equivalent
• 1957: לֵיְזֵר (from English LASER) enters Hebrew
• 1960: מַכָּם coined as Hebrew alternative to רָדָר
• Post-Yom Kippur War: שַׁכְפָּץ spreads from military to civilian usage

Related Words

• רָאשֵׁי תֵבוֹת — the standard Hebrew phrase for "acronym/abbreviation"
• תַּפּוּז — orange (from תפוח זהב); first major acronym-word in modern Hebrew
• סַכּוּם — cutlery set (knife + spoon + fork)
• דּוּחַ — report (from דין וחשבון)
• מַכָּם — radar (from מגלה כיוון ומקום)
• שַׁכְפָּץ — bulletproof vest (from שכבות פיצוץ)
• סַמָּל — corporal (from סגן מחוץ למניין)