Terminology
...ted notion, in the meaning of term. 4. No synonyms is the requirement which is imposed both to the ranked term and to the terminological system. But there are synonyms in every area of terminological vocabulary and some types of synonymy are regular (number of synonyms can be very numerous, up to 100) Requirements are usually imposed to the form: 1. Accordance to norms of language, elimination of professional jargon. 2. Brevity: a) Lexical brevity – minimal number of identification features in the form of the term. b) Brevity of the form. 3. Derivation ability, derivative terms are formed easier from the short form. 4. Exsistence of phonetical, graphical, morphological, word-forming, syntactical and other variants of terms lead to variations of spelling and it is the main cause of Invariance requirement (constant form) 5. Validity – semantic intelligibility which helps to make an idea of notion defined by the term. There are three kinds of the notion peculiarities reflection: a) Terms, which semantic structure makes association with widespread notions. (e.g. associations based on similarity of appearance – column neck, knee-cap, etc. b) The form of the term has connection features of the notion with some other notions, and that helps to make an idea of the term. c) The structure of the term has features, displaying the place of the term in the classification, and that is called systematic character. Pragmatical requirements: 1. Introduction, which is characterized by accepting of specialists and scientists or by wide and frequent usualness. 2. Internationality – identity or form proximity and connotation coincidence of the terms which are used in several (more than three) national languages. 3. The requirement of contemporaneity is fulfilled by dislodgment of outdated terms from usage. 4. Euphony of a term has two aspects. Convenience of pronunciation of a term needs orthoepical euphony. And a term also can not make undesirable associations outside the area of highly specialized usage. Listed requirements are widely used in ranking of terms and to intercept the based types of terms. 1.4. Problems of Terminology Term, as traditionally understood, is a word or a word-group which is specifically employed by a particular branch of science, technology, trade or the arts to convey a concept peculiar to this particular activity. There are several controversial problems in the field of terminology. The first is the puzzling question of whether a term loses its terminological status when it comes into common usage. Today this is a frequent occurrence, as various elements of the media of communication (TV, radio, popular magazines, science fiction, etc.) ply people with scraps of knowledge from different scientific fields, technology and the arts. It is quite natural that under the circumstances numerous terms pass into general usage without losing connection with their specific fields. There are linguists in whose opinion terms are only those words which have retained their exclusiveness and are not known or recognized outside their specific sphere. From this point of view, words associated with the medical sphere, such as unit ("доза лекарственного препарата"), theatre ("операционная"), contact ("носитель инфекции") are no longer medical terms as they are in more or less common usage. The same is certainly true about names of diseases or medicines, with the exception of some rare or recent ones only known to medical men. Many of the terms that in the first period of their existence are known to a few specialists, later become used by wide circles of laymen. Some of these are of comparatively recent origin. The origin of terms shows several main channels, three of which are specific for terminology. The remaining two methods are common with other layers of the vocabulary. These are word-formation in which composition, semantic shift and derivation take the leading part, and borrowing from other languages. The character of the terms borrowed, the objects and ideas they denote are full of significance for the history of world culture. Since the process of borrowing is very marked in every field, all terminology has a tendency to become international. An important peculiarity of terms as compared to the rest of the vocabulary is that they are much more subject to purposeful control. There are special establishments busy with improving terminology. Terms are not separated from the rest of the vocabulary, and it is rather hard to say where the line should be drawn. With the development and growth of civilisation many special notions become known to the layman and form part and parcel of everyday speech. The constant interchange of elements goes both ways. The everyday English vocabulary, especially the part of it characterised by a high index of frequency and polysemy, constitutes a constant source for the creation of new terms. Due to the expansion of popular interest in the achievements of science and technology new terms appear more and more frequently in newspapers and popular magazines and even in fiction. Dictionaries for the most part include terminological meanings into the entry for the head-word. The fact that one of the meanings is terminological is signalled by showing in brackets the field where it can be used. There is yet another point of view, according to which any terminological system is supposed to include all the words and word-groups conveying concept peculiar to a particular branch of knowledge, regardless of their exclusiveness. Modern research of various terminological systems has shown that there is no impenetrable wall between terminology and the general language system. To the contrary, terminologies seem to obey the same rules and laws as other vocabulary strata. Therefore, exchange between terminological systems and the "common" vocabulary is quite normal, and it would be wrong to regard a term as something "special" and standing apart. Two other controversial problems deal with polysemy and synonymy. A term is, in many respects, a very peculiar type of word. An ideal term should be monosemantic (i. e. it should have only one meaning) and, when used within its own sphere, does not depend upon the micro-context, provided it is not expressed by a figurative variant of a polysemantic word. Its meaning remains constant until some new discovery or invention changes the referent or the notion. Polysemy, when it arises, is a drawback, so that all the speakers and writers on special subjects should be very careful to avoid it. Polysemy may be tolerated in one form only, namely if the same term has various meanings in different fields of science. The terms alphabet and word, for example, have in mathematics a meaning very different from those accepted in linguistics. Polysemantic terms may lead to misunderstanding, and that is a serious shortcoming in professional communication. This requirement seems quite reasonable, yet facts of the language do not meet it. There are, in actual fact, numerous polysemantic terms. The linguistic term semantics may mean both the meaning of a word and the branch of lexicology studying meanings. In the terminology of painting, the term colour may denote hue ("цвет") and, at the same time, stuff used for colouring ("краска"). The same is true about synonymy in terminological systems. There are scholars who insist that terms should not have synonyms because, consequently, scientists and other specialists would name the same objects and phenomena in their field by different terms and would not be able to come to any agreement. This may be true. But, in fact, terms do possess synonyms. In painting, the same term colour has several synonyms in both its meanings: hue, shade, tint, tinge in the first meaning ("цвет") and paint, tint, dye in the second ("краска"). Being mostly independent of the context a term can have no contextual meaning whatever. The only meaning possible is a denotational free meaning. A term is intended to ensure a one-to-one correspondence between morphological arrangement and content. No emotional colouring or evaluation are possible when the term is used within its proper sphere. As to connotation or stylistic colouring, they are superseded in terms by the connection with the other members of some particular terminological system and by the persistent associations with this system when the term is used out of its usual sphere. A term can obtain a figurative or emotionally coloured meaning only when taken out of its sphere and used in literary or colloquial speech. But in that case it ceases to be a term and its denotational meaning may also become very vague. It turns into an ordinary word. The adjective atomic used to describe the atomic structure of matter was until 1945 as emotionally neutral as words like quantum or parallelogram. But since Hiroshima and the ensuing nuclear arms race it has assumed a new implication, so that the common phrase this atomic age, which taken literally has no meaning at all, is now used to denote an age of great scientific progress, but also holds connotations of ruthless menace and monstrous destruction. The terminology of a branch of science is not simply a sum total of its terms but a definite system reflecting the system of its notions. Terminological systems may be regarded as intersecting sets, because some terms belong simultaneously to several terminological systems. There is no harm in this if the meaning of the terms and their definitions remain constant, or if the respective branches of knowledge do not meet; where this is not so, much ambiguity can arise. The opposite phenomenon, i.e. the synonymy of terms, is no less dangerous for very obvious reasons. An interesting way out is offered by one of the most modern developments in world science, by cybernetics. It offers a single vocabulary and a single set of concepts suitable for representing the most diverse types of systems: in linguistics and biological aspects of communication no less than in various engineering professions. This is of paramount importance, as it has been repeatedly found in science that the discovery of analogy or relation between two fields leads to each field helping the development of the other. Such notions and terms as quantity of information, redundancy, enthropy, feedback and many more are used in various disciplines. Chapter 2. Research 2.1 Definition of the term. Definition is a necessary accessory of the term, it plays important role in separation terminology from vocabulary. What we mean when use a word “floor” – “one level of a building” do not conform to definition of the same word in building and constructional engineering – “a horizontal structure which carries live boards and divides a building into storeys” (Akhmanova, 1974). A simple comparison of these definitions discovers a great difference in understanding of one and the same word by a person who are not connected with the scientific-and-technical area, and by a professional builder. Comparison of term definitions and definitions of the same word, which is a unit of common language, allows to find out difference between them and to disclose some parameters of definitions. For example, word “gravel” usually is “small stones with coarse sand as used for roads and path”, but in the constructional engineering the definition of this word is “material used for coarse aggregate, obtained from river beds or in land quarries”. It shows that the material has a special function – “to serve as coarse aggregate”. One more example, a word beam in common language connected with “a long thick and usually heavy bar of wood” and again in the constructional engineering definition of this word is wider and accurater – “member in a structure carrying loads which tend to bend it”. So we see two most important parameters: beam is a structural member and the function is to carry bending loads. Some times terms often used only in the range of some business and definitions of such no widespread terms should be listed in specification and confirmed by each firm (especially, if the business is international) For example: Definitions. For purposes of this specification, the following definitions shall apply: Batch - A batch shall consist of all parts coated through the complete process at the same time as defined by the Technical Plan. Capability - The words "shall be capable of" or "capability test" indicate characteristics or properties required in the product but for which testing of each lot is not required. However, if such testing is performed by the Purchaser, material not conforming to the requirements shall be subject to rejection. Clear Path Condition - The clear path condition occurs when the coating thickness is fully and continuously removed from the test coupon beneath a diamond tip stylus exposing the underlying substrate while the stylus is being traversed across the coupon. Intermittent patches of removed coating are not considered a clear path condition. Fissure - A microstructural feature that might be interpreted as a tight crack that penetrates through 80 percent minimum of the coating thickness. Flaking - Coating delamination in the form of flakes. HK25 - Knoop microhardness taken with a 25 gram load. Purchaser - The procuring activity of GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) that issued the procurement document invoking this specification. When this specification is invoked by a U. S. Government purchasing activity (or such activity's designee) the Purchaser shall mean such activity or designee as the case may be. Similar Substrate Material Composition and Hardness - The same alloy type (e.g., Ti, Ni, Fe or Co base material) and hardness requirement as the parts. Supplier - Source other than GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) who provides material, parts or services, for incorporation into GEAE products. (General Electric Aircraft Engines specification, 2001) Names of professions should be also mentioned: Certifying Agent - Представитель по сертификации Certifying Agent - A representative of the Purchaser's technical organization who has the authority to provide approval of coating Technical Plans. Coating operator - Металлизатор Custodian - Ответственный за хранение Deputy Director on Quality - Зам. директора по качеству Deputy Director on Science - Зам. директора по науке Design engineer - Инженер-конструктор Foreman - Производственный мастер Laboratory assistant - Лаборант-металлограф Manufacturing engineer - Инженер-технолог (Deviation to MDS PRAD Specification, 2003) 2.2 Problems of terminology Many of the terms that in the first period of their existence are known to a few specialists, later become used by wide circles of laymen. Some of these are of comparatively recent origin. The origin of terms shows several main channels, three of which are specific for terminology. These specific ways are: 1. Formation of terminological phrases with subsequent clipping, ellipsis, blending, abbreviation: transistor receiver → transistor → trannie; television text → teletext; ecological architecture → ecotecture; extremely low frequency → ELF. 2. The use of combining forms from Latin and Greek like aerodrome, aerodynamics, cyclotron, microfilm, telegenic, telegraph, thermonuclear, telemechanics, supersonic. The process is common to terminology in many languages. 3. Borrowing from another terminological system within the same language whenever there is any affinity between the respective fields. Sea terminology, for instance, lent many words to aviation vocabulary which in its turn made the starting point for the terminology adopted in the conquest of space. If we turn back to linguistics, we shall come across many terms borrowed from rhetoric: metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche and others. Terms are not separated from the rest of the vocabulary, and it is rather hard to say where the line should be drawn. With the development and growth of civilisation many special notions become known to the layman and form part and parcel of everyday speech. Are we justified to call such words as vitamin, inoculation and sedative or tranquilliser terms? With radio and television sets in every home many radio terms — antenna, teletype, transistor, short waves — are well known to everybody and often used in everyday conversation. In this process, however, they may lose their specific terminological character and become similar to all ordinary words in the intentional part of their meaning. The constant interchange of elements goes both ways. The everyday English vocabulary, especially the part of it characterised by a high index of frequency and polysemy, constitutes a constant source for the creation of new terms. Due to the expansion of popular interest in the achievements of science and technology new terms appear more and more frequently in newspapers and popular magazines and even in fiction. Much valuable material concerning this group of neologisms is given in two Barn-hart Dictionaries of New English from which we borrow the explanation of two astronomical terms black hole (1968) and white hole created on its pattern in 1971. Both terms play an important symbolic role in A. Voznesensky’s first major prose work entitled “O”. A black hole is a hypothetic drain in space which engulfs matter and energy, even massive stars. A white hole is a hypothetical source of matter and energy through which what was sucked in through black holes may reappear in other universes. Dictionaries for the most part include terminological meanings into the entry for the head-word. The fact that one of the meanings is terminological is signalled by showing in brackets the field where it can be used. For example, the word load as an electrical term means ‘the amount of current supplied by a generating station at any given time’; power in mathematics is ‘the product obtained by multiplying the number into itself, and in mechanics ‘capacity of doing work’; the optical term power denotes ‘the magnifying capacity of a lens’. Polysemy may be tolerated in one form only, namely if the same term has various meanings in different fields of science. The terms alphabet and word, for example, have in mathematics a meaning very different from those accepted in linguistics. The linguistic term semantics may mean both the meaning of a word and the branch of lexicology studying meanings. In the terminology of painting, the term colour may denote hue ("цвет") and, at the same time, stuff used for colouring ("краска"). The same is true about synonymy in terminological systems. There are scholars who insist that terms should not have synonyms because, consequently, scientists and other specialists would name the same objects and phenomena in their field by different terms and would not be able to come to any agreement. This may be true. But, in fact, terms do possess synonyms. In painting, the same term colour has several synonyms in both its meanings: hue, shade, tint, tinge in the first meaning ("цвет") and paint, tint, dye in the second ("краска"). The adjective atomic used to describe the atomic structure of matter was until 1945 as emotionally neutral as words like quantum or parallelogram. But since Hiroshima and the ensuing nuclear arms race it has assumed a new implication, so that the common phrase this atomic age, which taken literally has no meaning at all, is now used to denote an age of great scientific progress, but also holds connotations of ruthless menace and monstrous destruction. 2.3 Experience of studying technical terminology of branches Nowadays, development of technology is characterised by acceleration of modernisation rate, creation of new technical tools and methods of production 2.4 Scientific text translation and its linguocultural peculiarities The comparative analysis of English/Russian texts reveals a number of peculiarities in depicting the material object, the space, the time, and the action. The peculiarities in question may be regarded as linguocultural, because differences of cultures are mirrored in their languages. So, as for material object, it is typical of English to represent an abstract property of a material object as an independent feature of a real situation, or as a real property of a real situation, or as a real property of a situation, e.g. “the pistons also have a radial flange portion at their upper ...