all Slavic: quotation marks used with the names of companies/organizations

Gavril

Senior Member
English, USA
Recently, I reviewed a translation of a school diploma from Ukraine that began with the following text:

ВСП "Сумський фаховий коледж Національного університету харчових технологій”

which could literally be translated as something like:

SSU "Sumy Vocational College of the National University of Food Technologies"

[SSU = Separate Structural Unit; this may not be the best possible translation of "ВСП", but it's what the translator used in this case.]


I've noticed this kind of pattern in texts from many other Slavic and Baltic countries, where the name of a company or institution is enclosed in quotation marks (often preceded by an abbreviation indicating that it's a limited company, a state institution, etc.).

In what Slavic-speaking countries is this punctuation standard?

Does it apply to the name of any corporation or other organization?


Thanks for any info,
Gavril



PS:
Perhaps needless to say, this use of quotation marks looks unusual from an English-speaking perspective. In English-speaking countries, if you enclose the name of a company/institution in quotes, it suggests that you're not sure about the accuracy of the name, or even that you think the institution bearing the name is illegitimate.
 
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  • Not a thing in Slovenia. I know in Bulgaria they do it even do it with streetnames, ул. ”Витоша” etc.
     
    In Polish we often use quotation for a nickname part of company / organisation name etc, for example:
    Firma Komputerowa „Klik”
    Computer Company "Click"
    In a title or on a signboard.

    It is possible to use quotation for all name:
    „Polska Firma Komputerowa”
    "Polish Computer Company"
    but it's a very rare practice.

    I can imagine its use when the company name appears inside a sentence and quotation marks are used to clearly distinguish the company name.
     
    In Polish we often use quotation for a nickname part of company / organisation name etc, for example:
    Firma Komputerowa „Klik”
    Computer Company "Click"
    In a title or on a signboard.

    What do you mean by "nickname" here?

    I would understand the nickname of a company to be an unofficial name used by people familiar with a company.

    For example, McDonald's is not a nickname, it's the official trade name of the company.

    An actual nickname for this company that you will sometimes hear people use is "Mickey D's".
     
    What do you mean by "nickname" here?
    Nikckname is probably not the best word here, but even in Polish I don't know the proper name for it. My point is that the names of companies and institutions often consist of two parts: a descriptive part and a distinctive(?) part.

    Polish Shipbuilding Company "Posejdon"
    Polish Shipbuilding Company "Neptun"
     
    Nikckname is probably not the best word here, but even in Polish I don't know the proper name for it. My point is that the names of companies and institutions often consist of two parts: a descriptive part and a distinctive(?) part.
    OK, I see.

    I think this speaks to a difference between the company-naming conventions of English-speaking countries versus those of Poland (and maybe also Ukraine, etc.). As far as I'm aware, the "descriptive-vs.-distinctive" system doesn't apply to the names of US companies.

    Out of curiosity, were quotation marks used in the communist era as well (in the names of Polish state organizations/institutions/etc.), or has this practice emerged over the past 30 years?
     

    @Gavril

    I found a ministerial regulation from 1983 and there is a long list of state-owned companies with names created according to this scheme:
    Ustalenie listy przedsiębiorstw o podstawowym znaczeniu dla gospodarki narodowej. - Prawo.pl

    1. Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego "Jaworzno" w Jaworznie
    2. Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego "Komuna Paryska" w Jaworznie
    3. Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego "Siersza" w Trzebini
    4. Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego "Janina" w Libiążu
    5. Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego "Brzeszcze" w Brzeszczu
    (...)

    BTW:
    A list of Ukrainian mines:
    Категорія:Закриті вугільні шахти України — Вікіпедія
     
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