PURPOSE: To obtain a proper abbreviation easily in a short time by using a word storage means for words which should not be used as abbreviations, a storage means for the reading and combination degree of each word, a means for decomposing terminology into words, and an abbreviation generating rule storage means.

CONSTITUTION: A word decomposing part 2 uses an unnecessary word dictionary 4 and a dictionary 3 to segment abbreviation part of terminology. Then, word decomposition is performed, and the result and a decomposition end signal are sent to an abbreviation generating part 6. The unnecessary word dictionary 4 contains words which should not be used as abbreviations. The dictionary 3 has the combination degrees of characters or words, constituting a dictionary of words, added to the dictionary. An abbreviation generation rule table 5 contains the conditions of abbreviation generation, the number of characters of abbreviations, inhibited character forms, etc. An abbreviation generating part 6 stores the decomposed words from the part 2 and a decomposition end signal in a buffer. For the decomposition result, the talbes 5 and 7, and dictionary 3 are referred to and abbreviations which meet the conditions are generated and sent to an output part 8 successively.