• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
 ...a kind of syndrome by which we recognize that something is written in the language of  science
...
TYPICAL DIFFICULTIES OF ESP
•
interlocking definitions
•
technical taxonomies
•
special expressions
•
lexical density
grammatical metaphor
syntactic ambiguity
o
semantic discontinuityHalliday, 1989
TERMINOLOGY
•
Until the 1970s, most scholars in the field of ESP mainly focused on terminology (the“nomenclature” of a given science or profession)
•
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) has favored a more in-depth approach, takingother aspects (i.e. contextual and structural) into accountTEXT IS ANALYZED AS A WHOLEContext≠Co-text
•
Procedures and methods used to collect, define and present the terms belonging to one or more languages/ specialized fields
 Word ≠ TermIn LSP (language for special purpose), terms include:
•
Words (monosemic) [molte parole hanno caratteristica monosemica e.g.: microphone jack; l’inglese è una delle lingue che ha più questa tendenza…(Topo=) Souris [Fra]Mouse [Eng]…l’italiano ha prestiti dall’inglese, il francese meno]
•
Multi-word expressions
•
Symbols
•
Chemical or mathematical formulae
•
Acronyms
1General, can be usedin several contexts,and meaning canchange depending oncontextSpecialized lexical itemswithin a particular field of specialization (aims atmonorefentiality)When you use a particular word out of the textThe other words thatsurround the text[polisemiche: le parolehanno più significati][monoreferenzialità: a unoggetto corrisponde una parola]
 
•
Two basic functions:
1)
Representative
à
representing specialized concepts through univocal, unambiguousdesignations (NORMATIVE)
2)
Communicative
à
describing the way in which terms are used by the discoursecommunities involved (DESCRIPTIVE)TERMINOLOGY ≠LEXICOLOGY
 Important concepts
•
Hyponyms
à
smaller category to which a given term belongs (car/ bike/ train are allhyponyms of the larger concept of “vehicle”)
•
Hyperonyms 
à
larger category that includes smaller terms (e.g. vehicle is the hyperonymof bike, train, car, etc.).CollocationThere are words which don’t have meaning alone but have it in a context.According to John Firth,
 Papers in Linguistics,
1957
à
 
“words shall be known by the companythat they keep”
 
à
notion of COLLOCATIONAL MEANINGE.g. I haven’t the
slightest
ideaInvisible to the
naked
eyeDon’t make a
mountain
out of a molehill (proverb that means:
don’t exaggerate
)She was
watching
with envy (=jealousy)Collocation
≠
colligationLexical words grammatical wordse.g. The contractor 
shall
furnish all necessary labor, equipment, and materials [più forte di uninvito, usato come
dovere
nei testi di legge]GRAMMAR OF CHOICE
"Context is in this kind of model a construct of cultural meanings, realised functionally in the formof acts of meaning in the various semiotic modes, of which language is one. The ongoing processesof linguistic choice, whereby a speaker is selecting within the resources of the linguistic system, areeffectively cultural choices, and acts of meaning are cultural acts." 
(M.A.K. Halliday)TERMINOLOGICAL DEFINITION AS EQUATION
(highly idealized!!!)
2[ci dà schemi terminologici]
Onomasiologic approach:from the concepts to the terms(how is this concept defined?)
[si parte dal concetto e sinomina con una definizionescegliendo I termini][ci dà i dizionari]
Semasiologic approach: from the word to itsmeaning (what does thisword mean?)
[studia il significato della parola partendo dalla parola]
Definition seen as anEQUATIONMust describe the CONCEPT
[uno dei termini è l’oggetto dadescrivere]
Definition seen as culturaland context-dependent.Must describe the USAGE
[il dizionario Collins diceanche luso contestuale]
 
Denotational=reference meaningdescription of objecte.g. water 
à
H
2
OConnotationale.g. Water 
à
 positiveconnotations: life, purity
 
Definiendum = definiens(Definiens
à
a hyperonym of the definiendum + specific characteristics)
e.g. a right angled triangle is a triangle that has one 90° internal angle 90°angle
à
characteristic
Connected with the idea of TERMINOLOGICAL NORMALIZATIONe.g. ISO reference terminology models (main certification agency) [definisce gli standard di qualitàe i nomi di standardizzazione nelle scienze, per esempio nella costruzione non posso chiamare lecose come mi pare]But not all specialized languages have standardized nomenclatures (e.g. linguistics doesn’t haveone)
CREATION OF NEW WORDS
[C’è una serie di procedimenti nella creazione di termini]Development of a register 
•
The development of a new register brings about the introduction of new words:
Re-interpretation of existing words
(e.g. notion of “mass” in Physics; “mouse” incomputer science)
Creation of new words attained by combining words of a native stock 
(e.g.clock+wise = clockwise) [senso orario]
Borrowing of words from other languages
(e.g. the gastronomic words like
 spaghetti
[singolare in ing “spaghetti is”])
Calquing
(an “adaptation” from other languages, e.g.
omnipotens
 
à
all + mighty =almighty)
Invention of brand new words
(rare: e.g. “gas”)
Creation of locutions
(e.g. right angled triangle)
Creation of new words attained by combining words of a non-native stock 
(e.g.“thermodynamic” comes from the fusion of two Ancient Greek words, but the word“thermodynamic” itself didn’t exist in Ancient Greek)The vocabulary of LSP
•
SOFT vs. HARD sciences 
(The ones with mathematics)
•
“Brand new” words are more typical of “soft” sciences, where highly technical wordsare coined to “keep out” the non-specialists (De Mauro).
•
Hard sciences favor the re-interpretation of existing words
Words taken from Latin and Greek 
•
They are typical of both of soft and hard sciences, especially in affixes and affixoids,
e.g
Hemo/ Haemo; -aemia
à
blood
Ped/ Paed
à
children
Hypo
à
low
Hyper 
à
high
Pre
à
before
•
Latin and Greek are also used for borrowing entire words
,e.g. [questi affisoidi vengono da parole piene]
clone (GR sprout[=germoglio])
 phial (GR vial, urn)
ovum (LAT egg)3
90°
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...