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HOW TO WRITE "CORPORATION" IN TWELVE FOREIGN LANGUAGES NELLIE M. PAYNE American Cyanamid Company, Stamford, Conneeticut
PREVIOUSLY' the author published a list of patent terms used in various foreign languages. Since patents are usually assigned t o a corporation, and news concerning chemical developments is frequently about activities of various firms rather than of individuals, expressions meaning corporation or company may be of interest both to teachers and to chemists in industry. Terms may express the idea that the firm is a shareholding group, in which case, the national word for society or company may be preceded or followed by a word meaning share. The German word "Aktie" related t o the Dutch "actie" and the French "action" originally meant a transaction or deed, but has now come t o mean "share" in the sense of a share of stock. Other terms may express other aspects of a corporation. Thus the G.m.b.H., among the German terms, like the Ltd. in British companies, expresses the idea of limited liability. In such corporations, loss by shareholders is limited to the value of shares held. A third idea is expressed by such terms as the "naarnloze vennoot schap" in Dutch and the "Soci6t6 anonyme" in French and the equivalent in other Romance languages. Actually a corporation is not anonymous in the sense of having no name, but rather it is not a natural physical body or entity. The word for "company" without further modification may also be used, especially in the Romance languages. In addition to the various business corporations there are state or national organizations to which patents are frequently assigned in those countries in which industry has been nationalized. Quite a few Czech
' J. CHEM.EDUC.,25,389 (1948).
VOLUME 34, NO. 10, OCTOBER, 1957
patents are assigned to a "narodni podnik," of different types literally t o a national undertaking. Czech patents are frequently taken out under the names of an institute or research establishment, "nstav" or "zavod." I n the Scandinavian languages the definite article also may he used in which case it appears as a suffix, since the article when used as a suffix is the definite one in these languages. Thus bolaget is "the" company or corporation in Swedish. Selskabet is "the" company in Danish. The following table gives a list of terms and their abbreviations. Each of these expressions was encountered in a patent journal or a trade publication written in English. Equivalents for Company or Corporation
Cseeh Danish Dutch French
Spolek akoiov$ Aktieselskab Naamlooee Vennootachan Sociktk anonvme Companie German Aktiengesellsohaft Gesellsehaft mit besehrhkter Haftung Hungarian RBszvBnny-tarasag Italian SocietB per Azioni SoeietB anonima Norse Aktierielskab Polish Spdlka a o~mnicmna ~odpowiedzialnoSci~ Portuguese Sociedade por acpzes Soeiedade anonvma Companhia " Spanish Sociedad an6nima Campa15a Swedish Aktiebalee
AS. N.V. S.A. cje
A.-G. G.m.b.H.
R.T.
S.p.A., 600. per Asioni S.A., Soc. anon. AS. S.A. S.A.
cia
S.A. cia
A.B.
