T.C.

ÇANAKKALE ONSEKİZ MART UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF LETTERS ANC SCIENCE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Translation of Scientific Terms

Gülşah Kazancı

LECTURER: Öznur Benderlioğlu Doğangün

21.05.2019
 Translation is a communication device that brings different cultures together. From ancient
times to today, it has been used to transfer ideas, thoughts, feelings between two languages. For
example, translation of Mesopotamian sources enriched the culture of Roman and Greek
civilizations. Later these sources are translated and used by Islamic writers. Moreover, in the Age
of Enlightenment, these resources gave insight to European thinkers. The history of translation and
information transfer is still effective on our lives. For example, almost half of the daily English
words is coming from ancient Latin or Greek.

Terminology is the study of the use of special terms for a specific area. It analyzes the concept
structures used in a field of activity and identifies these concepts with the assigned terms.
Categorization of these terms in a consistent way is crucial for researchers to have a mutual
communication device. If necessary, the new terms should be created. Jargon is the technical
terminology that is used to define specific terms in a particular group of scientists, engineers or
artists. Main reason for the creation of jargon is the need for a precise and efficient communication
between these group of people. Many of these terms are known only to professionals, but due to
popularization of science and the effects of technology in our daily lives they gradually become a
part of common languages.

A new scientific term can be created with the invention of new concepts, materials or
techniques. These names can be an alternative meaning of common words, composite words,
acronyms or sometimes they are assigned with an interest in art. For example, color of a subatomic
particle is a property of these particles that has nothing to do with the usual meaning of color. This
is an example of common words used in a new terminology. As a composite word nanotechnology
is the study of small scaled systems in technology. On the other hand, laser is the acronym for
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. An instance of artistic enthusiasm can
be seen in Gell-Mann’s quarks which means rubbish. Subatomic particles protons and neutrons
consist of three smaller particles called quarks. The discoverer of quarks, Gell-Mann, coined the
term from James Joyce’s book Finnegans Wake:

Three quarks for Muster Mark!

Sure he hasn’t got much of a bark
And sure any he has it’s all beside the mark.
 In order to have a detailed jargon for a specific domain in a language, there should be lots of
researchers that work and produce results in that language. For example, scientific research in
Turkish is deficient, so scientific terms in Turkish are not sufficient. While translating scientific
terms for the first time for languages such as Turkish, previous techniques can be used to create
new words, or some terms can be directly taken from the source language. Turkish translation
examples for common words are “kapsama alanı” for the coverage zone or “kök” for the root.
Composite word examples also can be found: “bilgisayar” for the computer or “uçaksavar” for the
anti-aircraft gun. As Turkish is an agglutinative language, new words can be derived from smaller
words: “işlemci” for the processor or “verici” for the transmitter. Direct adaptation is also possible
by changing some letters for being more appropriate for that language. For example, “popülasyon”
for the population, “termometre” for the thermometer.

First studies on scientific language in Turkish was done in Mekteb-I Tıbbiye in Mahmut the
second era who stated that courses and books should be in Turkish. Lugat-I Tıbbiye published in
eighteen seventy-three was the first medicine dictionary in Turkish and French. In 1926, Celal
Esad published an art dictionary. In 1937, Atatürk wrote a book on geometry and it was published
by the Ministry of National Education in the same year. Later the ministry ordered to use this book
or any Turkish book that is based on it. It consists of basic information on two- and three-
dimensional geometric shapes and includes a geometry dictionary at the end. For example, the
terms “açı, üçgen, teğet, artı, çarpı, eşit” are derived by Atatürk himself. In 1941, Turkish Terms
Guide was published, and it included natural science terms. Later there were more specific
dictionaries. For example, Assoc. Prof. Sevinç Karol published a zoology dictionary in 1963. In
1969, Prod. Abdullah Kızılırmak published an astronomy dictionary. He coined the terms
“gökada” for the galaxy and “bulutsu” for the nebula.

There are also some recent studies in Turkish language about scientific dictionaries. For
example, Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) started the studies of following dictionaries
which can be also found online: 2002 Dictionary of Natural Sciences, 2003 Dictionary of Health
Sciences, 2004 Dictionary of Social Sciences, and 2006 Dictionary of Engineering. Other
examples are the mathematical dictionary of Turkish Mathematical Society or the Mathematical
Terms Dictionary of Turkish Language Society which consist of Turkish, German, French,
English, Russian and Azeri. In 2009, Hacettepe University founded the Center of Terminological
Application and Research (TermTurk) with the aim of research in terminology. The missions of
this center can be summarized as coordination of interdisciplinary research and projects, funding
the researchers in terminological sciences, educational programs, conferences or seminars for
every level of researchers and finding solutions and giving feedbacks to researchers. Between 2011
and 2015, TÜBİTAK and German Ministry of Education and Sciences had the project of
Terminology Information Policy, Portal and Service (TIPPS). The aims of this project were to
create a terminology policy between Turkish and German, create a Turkish terminology portal,
collect terminological resources, giving educational programs in terminological research and
develop software about terminology.

REFERENCES:

1. Geometri, M. K. Atatürk, Ministry of National Education Press, 1937.

2. Türkçe Dil Bilgisinde Terminoloji Sorunu, C. Demir,Türk Dili Araştırmaları Yıllığı,
2006.
3. Gökbilim Terimlerinde Dil Birliği Sempozyumu Bildirisi, Ege University, 2009.
4. https://translationjournal.net/journal/28reviewa.htm
5. https://isteataturk.com/g/icerik/Ataturk-ve-Geometri-Kitabi/943