Terminology

Janina, Marius, Mareen, Ina and Romina

Concept

What is a concept?
 A concept is represented by a symbol that we use to name any object e.g. plant green tree wood
concept symbol

How do we identify concepts?

The process of concept formation is used to identify concepts 1. Observation and identifying objects as having certain properties 2. Abstraction of properties to name the concept 3. Building groups of abstract types of objects into broader classes

Why do we need characteristics?

 The necessary or essential characteristics are important to separate one concept from the other  e.g. Concept of water vs. concept of lemonade The identifying or essential characteristic may be the sweetness of lemonade in this case

Tree structure of concept liquids

 Intension = the sum of all characteristics  Extension = the range of objects
Liquids

Milk

Coffee

Juice

Cow

Sheep

Mocca

Latte

Orange

Lemon

 1. 2. 

Characteristics can be expressed as: properties of the specific concept or relations to other concepts Next to those characteristics we also need specific classes that concepts belong to

Types of concepts
Many different types of concepts need to be structured carefully  Three main methods to structure concepts: 1. class concepts 2. property concepts 3. relation concepts

1. Class concepts
 
Concepts can be attributed to a class to identify the type of concept e.g. Venus is attributed to the class of planets

2. Property concepts
   Concepts can be grouped according to common properties and the distinctive features of a class e.g. quadrupeds = animals having four legs The common property = quadrupeds It can be divided by the distinctive of being tamed for human use into domestic and wild animals

3. Relation concepts
  
Concepts can be differentiated by the relationships between categories e.g. tables, chairs, cupboards = furniture It can be further differentiated into household furniture and office furniture

Relationships
Important way to structure concepts because any type of conceptual relationship can be relevant  e.g. an object can be related to its geographical origin, its material substance, its method of production, etc.  To structure relationships and to differentiate between them, they are divided up into  the following main subgroups: 1. Generic relationship 2. Partitive relationship


1. Generic relationship
    

Divides concepts up according to a hierarchy: Broader (generic) concept is superordinate to Narrower (specific) concept This most common type of relationship can be expressed by the formula: X is a type of A Or X, Y, Z are types of A Or A has the specific concepts X, Y, Z Or A has the subtype X

The following example presents a horizontal relationship with several layers

Publication Periodic publication Non-periodic publication Monograph Etc.

News Magazine

Journal

Book

Letter

At each lower level the degree of specifity becomes higher, the intention becomes narrower

2. Partitive relationship
 Also called whole-part-relationship whole-part Needed to indicate the connection between concepts consisting of more than one part and their constituent parts  Can be expressed in the following formula:  X is a constituent part of Y Or X, Y, Z are constituent parts of A Or A consists of X Or A consists of X, Y, Z,

Natural Science

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

Pure

Applied

Organic Chemistry

Inorganic Chemistry

Botany

Zoology

Subject classification
 Needed to classify larger groups of concepts next to the relationship  Groups can be found in traditional dictionaries and glossaries as a hierarchical or alphabetical order.  Limited by the fact that they cannot reflect relationships

  

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The thesaurus is a compromise solution between classification and conceptual relationships. It has a deep hierarchical structure with (sometimes) seven or more sublevels e.g. In a Root-Thesaurus the mechanical Rootengineering is subdivided into Heat engineering Fluid engineering Vacuum engineering Prime movers Mechanical systems

 At the end we are left with categories of topics or subject areas and not with concepts of separate entities, activities, properties or relations Subject classification helpful in structuring and selection of entities for a specialised dictionary But beyond this we need a broad structure as well as a complex set of relationships

Definitions

What is a Definition in Terminology?

The explanation of the accepted specialised meanings of lexical items the occurrence of which can be documented in a variety of sources

Methods of Definition
 There are various methods of definition  Choice of method according to:
 the nature of the concept which has to be defined  the particular purpose of the definition

Definition by Analysis
 pneumonia = an inflammation of the lung tissue  stomatitis = an inflammation of the mouth  dog = a domesticated carnivorous mammal

Definition by Synonyms
 software  daisy  dog
= logiciel = bellis perennis = canis lupus forma familiaris

Definition by Paraphrase
 whiteness  flotation  lengthen
= the state of being white = the act of making something float = the process of making something longer

Definition by Synthesis
 metatarsalgia = a painful neuralgic condition of the foot, felt in the ball of the foot and often spreading thence up the leg  dog = a domesticated carnivorous mammal related to the foxes and wolves and raised in a large variety of breeds

Definition by Implication
 dial = a clock or watch has a dial divided into segments for hours and minutes over which the hands move  diagnosis = we make a diagnosis when we identify certain symptoms as characteristic of specific conditions

Definition by Denotation
 dog = dogs are spaniels, poodles, Pekinese, alsatians and similar animals  ocean = oceans are the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean

Definition by Demonstration
 Definition by showing drawings, photographs or pointing to an object

A Theory of Terms

The Onomasiological Approach

 Lexicographer: collects all words of a language, sorts them in various ways  Terminologist: interest in subsets of the lexicon, which constitute the vocabulary of special language needs to structure knowledge orders terms he has discovered by reference to a conceptual system  Rarely involved in the process of naming an original concept  !!! A word can belong to more than one area of knowledge terminologist has to distinguish meaning before he distinguishes words

The Traditional Terminological Theory

 A naming approach  It starts from concepts and looks for the names of these concepts  Avoids occurrence of homonyms  Terminological dictionary: words are ordered in single entries with each separate sense of a word

The Lexicographical Approach

 A meaning approach  It starts from words and looks for their meaning

Terms and Their Forms

 Terms are the linguistic representation of concepts  Special language: strive to systematize principles of designation and name concepts according to pre-specified rules pre Process of scientific observation and description includes designation of concepts manipulating lexical forms

English Terminology
Synthetic and analytic means of term formation a) Synthetic methods: modify lexical items by means of affixes b) Analytic methods: combine independent and lexical units into larger units (e.g. compounding)

Modern Terminological Theory

 Accepts the occurrence of synonymic expressions and variants of terms  Terminology adopts a corpus-based corpusapproach to lexical data collection a term is no longer seen as a separate item

Terms in Dictionaries
 Concepts represented in terminological dictionaries are predominantly expressed by the linguistic form of nouns  Only selected verbs and adjectives  Dictionary entries are relatively uniform:
    

Semantic and pragmatic information Graphic information Acronyms / other abbreviated forms Contextual variations Multiple compound nouns

Homonyms, Synonyms and Variations

 No concept of only one designation  Need to establish criteria for identifying the one regular and proper name for a concept to which the other are variants

Status of Terms
 Terms can have a variable pragmatic status  It is associated with their age, acceptability, exclusiveness of existence and spread of use  TERM-DEFINITION-CONCEPT TERM-DEFINITION(e.g. sitt (German))  Translation theory quality label

Processes of Terminologisation

Terminologist:
1. Recorder of new terms 2. Advisor on designation 3. Administrator of gradual evolution of terms

 Terminologisation: evolution of concepts is accompanied by stages of naming  In the development of knowledge the concepts undergo changes  Innovation in science is dependent upon our ability to question the validity of certain concepts while keeping others fixed

The Question of Terminologisation is Fundamental to the Description of Special Language

 Special communication: particular grouping of lexical items must be clearly assigned to either free collocations or compounds  Idioms used by specialists are terminologised  Problem for lexicographers: must distinguish between inherent and the collocational meaning of the lexical item

 Difficulties for terminologists: recognition of terminological units in running texts  lexicalization solves the problem by form of external characteristic like graphemic signs  terminologisation is less dependent on such devices, because special language users are expected to know the appropriate concepts

A Model of Communication

A Model of Communication
 Two specialists in the same discipline  Sender is motivated to transmit a message  Sender expects recipient message to receive

 1. 2. 3. 4. 

Message is the totality of Intention Assumed expectations Knowledge content Language selected by sender Specialist communication is highly conventional and stylised

Intention transmitted by non- linguistical nonmeans through 1. text forms of instructions 2. manuals 3. income tax returns,.....

  1. 2. 3. 4. 5.  

Compositional signals to signify intention Includes devices as laylay- out capitalisation underlining paragraph numbering subtitling Footnotes and bibliographic references fulfil an additional intention Communication is not successful, if senders intention is misinterpreted!!!

How do you achieve a successful communication? 1. Choice of intention 2. The selection of Knowledge 3. Choice of language

The Functional Efficacy of Terms

Use of special languages restricted Special language differs from general language in that : a) Constituted of special text types

 

1. laboratory reports 2. test certifications 3. special syntax

b) Use of terms in addition to words

Criteria for evaluating effectiveness of communication ( 3 objectives) :  Message should be: 1. economical 2. precise 3. appropriate

Standardization

 Conceptual innovation becomes manifested in the creation of new terms  New terms are introduced to fill gaps or to replace existing ones  A new concept becomes standardized when users reach public agreement  Sets of definitions in textbooks, glossaries or manuals are the outward manifestation of this process Standardization is fixation of meaning

Motivation for Standardization

In the interest of:  Economy  Precision  Appropriateness

Principles of Standardization
 Standardization is introduced after new concepts, objects and processes are established  Then names are given to these new concepts  Many alternatives exist  Standardization is a retrospective activity

Instruments of Standardization
 How do terms become standardized?  Nomenclature commissions play a role in the efforts of standardization in their particular subject fields  In the industrial sector, national standardization bodies are active  Very few guidelines for the selection, definition and publication of terminology lack of uniformity

 ISO (International Organization for Standardization)  Issued basic recommendations  Works on principles of and guidelines for terminology

Objectives of Standardization
ISO established seven principles on standardization 1. Objects are standardized first and then a term becomes standardized 2. Standardization is a social and economic activity 3. The publication of a standard has little value in itself

4. The establishment of a standard firstly requires a choice of a suitable term and secondly a fixation of this term and this definition 5. Standardization must be re- examined at reregular intervals and revised 6. It is necessary to determine test methods in order to verify whether the object conforms to the specifications 7. A standard has to be legally enforced and is a matter of convenience and economy

Methods of Standardization

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. There is a variety of methods and possibilities available to standardization Redefinition of words Redefinition of existing terms Derivation Composition Borrowing Compression

The Efficacy of Standard in Terminology

 Standardization makes communication more effective  Standards are:  economical  precise  appropriate

 When the social, situational and intellectual role differences between participants in communication are minimal a higher proportion of standardized terms can be used  Standardization undermines the creativity of a language

Standardizing Agencies and Glossaries

 They produce glossaries to facilitate communication

 The British Standards Guide says about terms contained in a standard glossary that Terminology within a standard should be consistent, so that the same object or concept is always described or expressed by the same term and not by the use of synonyms  The members of a standardizing company determine which terms get included

 Only very few areas of British standardization are covered by glossaries  Glossaries can be written before standardization of objects, methods or specifications begins  Glossaries can be compiled after standards are established to collect the terminology  So glossaries may be needed to prepare effective standards and effective standards lead to glossaries  Glossaries fulfil the aim of standardization to provide means of communication

Thank you for your attention!!!