Lecture 10.

Concept and term analysis

Definition
Stages
Concept description.
- concept analysis is the central concern of terminology (acc. to Vienna School of Terminology),
an integrated part of terminology work.
- concept analysis involves a. the description of concepts; through an enumeration of their
characteristics, or properties; b. the description of relations that hold within systems of concepts.

Concept analysis – implicitly regarded as an integrated part of terminological work

Terminological analysis – a wider activity than concept analysis proper; in addition to concept
analysis, it includes also elaboration of definition and identifying translation equivalents to terms.

Definition for (terminological) concept analysis: an activity where concepts belonging to a

whole, their characteristics and relations they hold within systems of concepts are clarified and
described.
- Concept analysis is normally an integrated inseparable element of the process.
Initial points
- delimitation of the field to be elaborated, sub-division of the field into smaller units
- research process and documentation
The steps listed are not always following each other in a linear way.
Stages
1. Purpose and delimitation of concept analysis - the domain and the number of concepts
to be dealt with are estblished. The "semantic inventory" could be done prior to the
concept analysis when trying to narrow down to those terms and concepts, which are
relevant for the study.
2. Acquisition of domain knowledge and creating a general idea of the field
3. Compiling the material Compilation of sources and material is usually started already in
the previous phases, or even prior to them.
4. Documentation The overall research design has an influence on the material selection
criteria.
5. Elaborating a preliminary concept system and/or framework for the analysis A
general outline of the concept system(s) of the domain is needed before analysing the
material systematically. When working with several languages, theories, disciplines, or
sources with different views on the subject matter, it is necessary to establish a
preliminary ordering of the concepts for each of them separately.
6. Systematic analysis of the material Systematic analysis is needed because concepts do
not exist and cannot be defined in isolation. This implies going through the
accumulated data according to the preliminary concept system or other conceptual
framework. This is done separately language by language, field by field etc. in order to
avoid domination by one of them.
Concept description – characteristics of related concepts have to be clarified and
compared.

7. Further analysis and conclusions according to the purpose: summarizing the

activities. The results of these analyses are put together, compared, similarities and
differences between concepts identified, concept systems commented, synonymy,
polysemy, and equivalence of terms identified etc.
Concept description.
Definition - the smallest unit used to communicate specialized knowledge and information. / A
unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics (ISO 2000)
Characteristics of related concepts have to be clarified and compared especially when it concerns
generic concept systems.
Difficulties:
- identify the superordinate concept
- locate a generic superordinate concept
- several overlapping concepts
- associative relation is not always distinguishable from partitive relations

Establishing concept relations

- associative relation (accessorial) - the relation between two entities, one of which can be
attached to the other one without being an actual part of it (e.g. computer - memory stick).
- the property relation ex. relations like silk - strength;
- material component refers to the material that the object contains or which can be
extracted from it (coffee - caffeine)
- ingredient - material that is used to make the object (ingredient relation). (cappuccino :
coffee, milk froth)
- location ex. coffee plant - coffee plantation.
- ownership ex. coffee grower – coffee plantation.
- developmental - various developmental phases of an individual (e.g. child - adult), a
species (e.g. grey wolf - domestic dog), a family (mother dog - puppy), or material (e.g.
dough - biscuit; water - ice).
- Causal relation
A model for systematic concept analysis:

Several types of concept analysis:

- descriptive - describes the state of the concepts and their use. The basic
purpose is descriptive (in this case, the overall research framework may overlap the
concept analysis);
- contrastive - explores and clarifies similarities and differences of similar concepts in
different fields, theories, paradigms, languages, and cultures.
- interpretive - describes the concepts and their use, but also tries to find out the reasoning
behind the conceptual structures of the field. An interpretative analysis goes deeper into
the concepts than a descriptive analysis.
- constructive - aims at developing concepts and concept systems for the field.
In terminology work, concept analysis is a part of the whole process => a foundation for
writing unambiguous definitions for concepts, evaluating and agreeing upon terms to be
recommended and equivalence between concepts and terms in different languages etc.
Contextual Analysis
Weaving is a method of producing cloth by interlacing two or more sets of yams, at least one
warp and one filling set, at right angles to each other. The warp is also called ends, and the filling
is also called picks, or weft. The warp runs from front to back of the loom and lengthwise in a
woven fabric. Extra warp yams at each side form a selvage during weaving. Filling yams run
across from side to side, or from selvage to selvage.
WEAVING (Evelyn E. Stout, Introduction to Textiles, 3rd ed., New York: John Wiley and
Sons,1970, pp. 317-318

Step I: Terms Identification and Extraction

 weaving (Basic concept in the production of woven fabric.)
 producing cloth (to produce cloth) (Basic concept in the production of woven fabric.)
 interlacing sets of yarns (to interlace sets of yarn) (Co-occurring expression which is
broken down below.)
 interlacing (to interlace) (Basic concept in the production of woven fabric.)
 set of yarns (Basic concept in the production of woven fabric.)
 yarn (Basic concept in the production of woven fabric.)
Etc.

Step 2 Identifying relations

Context: The machine for weaving is a loom, of which there are several types, varying in
complexity. All looms, from the most primitive to the most modern, operate on similar principles.
[. . .]
 When selecting a context, the terminologist attempts to cull as much relevant data as
possible on the meaning of a term.
 weaving
o Weaving is a method (nature) of producing cloth (purpose) by interlacing
(means) two or more sets of yarns (material). . . at right angles to each other
(means, see before).