Abstract: How to sinologiz all the English abbreviations (also known as lettered words), esp. the widely-accepted ones in Chinese has drawn more attention for a long time. From the linguistic point of view, replacing abbreviations with full phrases in Chinese language is unacceptable on many occasions, but it is necessary to use the Chinese abbreviation (i.e. shortened form) to translate its English counterparts. We presents some specific methods and principles that have been used by translators in sinologizing English abbreviations, in the hope that this research can inspire relevant departments in their efforts to keep Chinese language clean.

Key words: abbreviations, lettered words, sinologizing, full phrases