Semasiological vs onomasiological

The semasiological approach – specific of Lexicology; sense: from word towards meaning; basic
question: „what does X mean?”
The onomasiological approach – preferred in Terminology; sense: from the concept to the terms
(designation); basic question: „what is x called?”

Normative vs descriptive?

The first approach is descriptive, as it focuses on describing the language as it is used,

without saying how it should be used (,,are least common”, ,,is similar”). The second
approach is prescriptive, because it shows how the language should be used (,,can be used”,
,,should be followed”).

Syncrony vs diachrony
The synchronic approach considers a language at a moment in time (often the present) without taking its
history into account.
The diachronic approach considers the development and evolution of a language through history.

Definitions – roles + functions

A definition: a descriptive statement that gives the essential characteristics of a concept as well as
characteristics that distinguish the concept from all others.
Roles:
- connects two entities:
o The concept
o The term ( = the designation of the concept)
- states the essential and delimiting characteristics of a concept.
- helps establish the textual match between languages
Functions:
- fixation of a concept (typically during first concept – term assignment)
- explanation of a concept
- relating concepts (either for differentiation or similarity)

When is a definition correct

A terminological definition must meet the following requirements:

- the definition inserts the concept into a concept system.
Example bicycle: land-vehicle used for transportation, having two wheels, a frame and a seat,
which is pedal-driven and human-powered

- the definition is concise, clear and brief, but still containing all the essential distinguishing
characteristics.
Example original definition:
Term: ageing Definition: Gradual rise in strength due to physical change in metals and alloys, in
which there is breakdown from supersaturated solid solution and lattice precipitation over a
period of days at atmospheric temperature.
poor shortened form: Term: ageing Definition: Gradual rise in strength due to physical change
in metals and alloys.
good shortened form: Term: ageing Definition: Rise in strength in metals and alloys in which
there is a breakdown from super-saturated solid solution.”

- the definition states what the concept is, rather than what it is not.
Example trailer Definition: Non-mechanically propelled vehicle.

- the definition does not use words whose definitions refer back to the concept in question, nor does it
begin with the term itself.
Example: textiles Definition: Products of the textile industry.

- the definition begins with a term of the same part of speech as the term being defined so that the term
can be replaced by the definition within text without changing the sentence.

Worst practices for definition:

 circularity: using a concept (C1) while defining another (C2), when the definition of C2 involves
use of C1
Example:
 textile: a type of fabric that is woven
 fabric: a type of textile (cf. ISO 1995)
 tautology: using several parts of the definiendum in the definiens
Example:
 uniform movement: movement that occurs uniformly (cf. ISO 1995)
 negation: defining by specifying what is absent
Example:
Health is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (Note WHO’s definition, which is
acceptable: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity)
- incompleteness: insufficient statement of characteristics Influenza is a viral infection (no
differentiating characteristics? There are so many viral infections)
- multiple definitions: explaining more than one term in a definition

Terms

The term - definition - Specialized designations which designate clearly definable concrete or abstract
objects ex. camshaft, criminal proceedings
The term - definition - A (conventional) symbol that represents a concept defined within a particular
field of knowledge (M. T. Cabré, 1999, Terminology. Theory, methods and applications)
Designation – the formal side of the sign
 is a phonological representation
 is a structure of constituent morphemes
 it may have graphemic particularities (spelling)
classification: - form
A term can be:
 word (simple term)
 multiword expression (complex term)
 symbol or formula, a scientific name in Latin
 terminology unit (TU).
Examples
 single word: proliferation
 word combination: nonproliferation treaty
 acronyms: Amex (American stock exchange), UNESCO
 initialisms: CIA, UFO
 abbreviations: vol (for volume), pp for pages
 formula (chemical, mathematical): H2O, π r2

Types of terms:
simple terms - expand into complex terms in order to designate more and more subordinated concepts
(for ex. control, controller, graphics controller, AGP30-compliant graphics controller)
complex terms - contract into abbreviations (for ex., AGP30 = Advanced Graphic Port-30; KBMS means
Knowledge-Based Management System), some of which become simple terms (for example radar).
Types of terms:
Functional: nouns (objects), verbs (activities, processes, operations), adjectives (qualities, properties)
Meaning: objects, activities, processes, operations, qualities, properties, relationships
Origin: internal formation (derivation, composition, conversion) vs. loans

Principles for concept – term connection

Transparency – the concept it designates can be inferred, at least partially, without a definition
(meaning is visible in its morphology.)
- a key characteristic, usually a delimiting characteristic, is used in the creation of the term itself.
- only essential or delimiting characteristics not likely to change quickly as a result of technological
evolution be used. ex. chalkboard vs blackboard
Consistency - Existing terms and new terms must integrate into and be consistent with the concept
system. ex. synthetic fabrics: nylon, orlon, rayon, dacron etc.
Appropriateness - Proposed terms should adhere to familiar, established patterns of meaning within a
language community. Term formations that cause confusion shall be avoided. ex. genetic engineering
vs. genetic manipulation
Linguistic economy - A term shall be as concise as possible. ex. term bank vs. terminological databank
Derivability - Productive term formations that allow derivatives (according to whatever conventions
prevail in an individual language), should be favoured. ex. herb vs. medicinal plant
Preference for native language
Linguistic correctness term shall conform to the morphological, morphosyntactic and phonological
norms of the language in question.
Definition of neologisms in corpus linguistics: the first occurrence of a word or multi-word unit found
within a given corpus.

*An intensional definition gives the meaning to a term by specifying necessary and sufficient conditions
for when the term should be used. In the case of nouns, this means listing the properties that an object
needs to have in order to be counted as a referent of the term. (Wiki)

*An extensional definition gives meaning to a term by specifying its extension, that is, every object that
falls under the definition of the term in question.

Ad hoc research is a question of solving a terminology problem in a translation as quickly as

possible.
Subject-related research (also known as systematic or thematic terminology work) is a
more reliable method because it allows the terminology of all or part of a clearly defined
subject area and the relevant concepts as they relate to each other to be set out in a
systematic/organized form.