• CONCEPT OF TERMINOLOGY • APPROACHES TO TERMINOLOGY • FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE

DEVELOPMENT OF TERMINOLOGY IN MODERN TIMES

• THE THEORY OF TERMINOLOGY’S BASIC TASKS

• CHARACTERISTICS OF TERMINOLOGY • TERMINOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Terminology

Concept of terminology

• New field of study, 1930s, when Wüster (the father of terminology) published his theory.

To eliminate ambiguity in technical language standardizing its terminology with a view to transforming specialized languages into efficient tools of communication.

To convince specialized language users of the benefits of standardized terminology

To establish terminology as a discipline and transform it into a science.

Terminology Two Main BranchesProposed by Wüster 1-

General Terminology

2-Special

ized Terminology

-which is concerned with the rules governing terms in a certain language.

-which studies systems of concepts, the nature and characteristics of concepts, terms and their nature, and term unification.

What does terminology mean?(in modern literature, the term Terminology is used in three senses)

1st Sense The Theoretical Part

2nd Sense The Practical Part

3rd Sense The Set of Special

Terms

The discipline dedicated to the scientific study of:

the concepts and terms used in specialized languages

the term-concepts relation, the formulation of principles and

methods governing these relations in any given subject field.

1st Sense The Theoretical Part

• The set of practices and activities of collecting, describing, processing, managing, and presenting terms or terminological data,

• these activities are necessary to generate and maintain collections of terminological information, documentation of terms

• (applied or practical part, referred to by some as “terminography”, and by others nowadays as “terminology management”)

2nd Sense The Practical Part

• the set of special terms belonging to a science or used in a particular domain.

3rd Sense The Set of Special Terms

• There are some other definitions proposed for terminology as a theoretical domain.

• All these definitions make a link between terms and concept.

• Why did terminology emerge?• To satisfy the need of specialists to unify concepts and

terms.• To set up and unify the principles of generating terms. • The ultimate purpose is to enhance communication and the

transfer of knowledge. • What does the development of terminology indicate?• Language development• Specialization• Interpreting reality and categorizing experiences• Societal and intellectual sophistication• Encapsulation of knowledge.

What are the Approaches to terminology?(there are three approaches in the study of terminology, which on the based of

them, schools of terminology can be identified into three schools)

Subject-field-oriented approach

Philosophy-oriented approach

Linguistics-oriented approach

• It focuses on - the concept and its relationship to other

neighboring concept - the term-to-concept correspondence - the assignment of terms to concepts

• Russian school: - Adopted this approach - They also pay attention to standardization

Subject-Field-Oriented Approach

• It is similar to subject-field-oriented approach.• but it classifies concepts into philosophical

categories.• Vienne school:

- developed by Wüster, who adopted this approach- focusing on concepts, their characteristics, descriptions,

definitions, the relationships that exist between them.- Then creating the terms that express them.- He drew attention to the importance of standardization

and internationalization of terms.

Philosophy-Oriented Approach

• It considers terminologies as being sub-languages of individual languages;

• therefore, it applies linguistic tools to terminological phenomena.

• Prague school:- Adopted this approach - viewing terms as part of the lexicon of a language- Therefore, linguistic tools should be used to study

terms

Linguistics-Oriented Approach

• This development in terminology research resulted in the establishment of many international organizations and committees, such as the ISO.

• The responsibilities of these organizations and committees include the unification of term –generating methods, finding the best ways to disseminate terms, and organizing terms within a field.

• The biggest transformation/change in these institutions occurred with the introduction of computers and term banks. The first term bank appeared in the late 1960s after some conference recommendations.

1. Progress in science (interdisciplinarity and micro-specialization)2. Development of technology3. Development of mass media4. International political rapport5. International commerce6. Spread of multinational communities7. Standardization (progress in standardization)8. State intervention (language academies)9. Cultural and technological colonialism10. Globalization11. Social media.

What are the factors that contributed to the development of terminology in modern times?

Why do we need terminology theories and research ?

1. It has to account for sets of concepts as discrete entities of the knowledge structure.

2. It has to account for sets of interrelated linguistic entities which are somehow associated with concepts, grouped and

structured according to cognitive principles.

3. It has to establish a link between concepts and terms, which is done traditionally by definitions.

(Through definition we identify the precise reference of a term to a concept and create and declare relationships to other concepts inside the knowledge structure.

- We can expand the knowledge structure by adding new concepts.)

Characteristics of terminology

1. Identifies and investigates concepts.2. Limited to terms and vocabulary items that designate concepts.3. Synchronic not diachronic, examining current state of concept systems and identifying their relationships.4. Concerned with methods of creating and unifying terms.5. Contributes to language enrichment and development.

Characteristics of terminology

6. Concerned only with written, not spoken, terms 7. Specifies the designation of term components.8. Has an international perspective and vision.9. Aims at language planning and embraces standardization.10. Interdisciplinary, related to the various fields of knowledge.

Terminological problems

1. Using a classical term for a new concept that differs from the original concept it used to signify. The result is that the term has two different meanings. 2. Using more than one term to refer to one concept, which is considered a waste of our linguistic resources. For example, linguistics: اللغة علم اللغويات، األلسنية، اللسانيات،3. Using one term to signify two concepts, which minimizes clarity and precision and causes confusion. For example, سياقي و ,for: associative, syntagmatic سياقand contextual.4. Not making use of the efforts of classical Arab scholars.

Terminological problems

5. Using common Arabized terms such as anthropology and at the same time it the dictionary says it’s إناسة6. Having different forms for Arabized terms. For example, ,فونام .فونيم7. Writing proper names differently; ،واشنجتون

واشنغتن واشنجتن،8. Focusing only on basic terms, and overlooking more specific terms. 9. Dictionaries do not provide definitions

Terminological problems

10. Standardized terms are not put into use11. Partial consideration when dealing with a new term. An Arabic word may be chosen when translating a foreign term, then the same word may be used again to translate another foreign term. Thus it is used to signify two different terms. Therefore, it is necessary to make lists of all the terms in a single specialization before creating a new term, so that when doing so, one can choose an appropriate term that is unique and at the same time related to the terms belonging to the same field.

Terminological problems

12. Not making lists of terms of a single field of knowledge in a complete project.13. Not documenting work on terminology.

TERMSAND CONCEPTS

Terms• What is a term? • Why do we need terms? • Characteristics of scientific terms• Standardization of scientific English terms

WHAT IS A TERM?

“A term is a verbal designation of a general concept in a specific subject field”. (2000)

“A term is a word, phrase or symbol used to denote a concept”. (1996)

“A term is a linguistic construct in a conceptual schema language that refers to an entity”. (1999)

“A term is a designation of a defined concept in a special language by a linguistic expression”. (1999)

1. The concept of term has been defined by the ISO variously as follows:

WHAT IS A TERM? 2. L. Bowker (2009: 286-9) emphasizes the term-concept link, stating that

“...terms are linguistic designations assigned to concepts. Because terminology deals with specialized domains of knowledge, terms refer to the discrete conceptual entities, properties, activities or relations that constitute knowledge in a particular domain...”.

WHAT IS A TERM? 3. The main function of a terminological unit (single word, expression, symbol, formula, etc.) is to designate a concept in the particular field of knowledge.

4. A term is a unit in a system of concepts.

• All these definitions link terms to specialized concepts.

.”in Arabic means “to agree مصطلح

WHY DO WE NEED TERMS ?

• Terms are keys to knowledge,

• as Alkhawarizmi once said. Understanding terms has been traditionally considered half of knowledge, because knowledge is a cluster of related concepts organized in a system and terms designate concepts.

• The importance of terms has even increased in this age, because our modern society is described as the society of information or society of knowledge.

• Production and services processes are now dependent on technical and scientific knowledge.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS

• Scientific language: facts?

• Gradgrind mentality works perfectly with this!

• “Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts; nothing else will ever be of any service to them.”

• But “there is a wisdom of the head, and..there is a wisdom of the heart.”

CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS

• Expected to be: abstract, objective, non-personal, non-exaggerative, non-surmising, non-suggestive, non-probabilistic, non-ambiguous, clear, straightforward, exact, accurate, true, experimental, empirical, formal, conservative, terminological, sharp and to the point, circumlocutory and detailed as required, non-literary, non-metaphorical, non-prosodic, non-aesthetic, unimaginative, non-fictional, factual, void of embellishment, ornamentation or any decorative words and illustrative.

SCIENTIFIC TERMS

1) Accuracy: accurate in reference to something: tonsils / gland

2) Specificity: specific in reference to something: electric apparatus / electric shavers/tape-recorder

3) Clarity of concept and reference: a doctor’s knife / lancet.

4) Conciseness: short, sharp and to the point: oil rig / oil filtration system.

Sandwich: // / و/ الشاطر عروس صندويشة لفافة / متطاولة خبز لفافة أو فطيرة بينهما ما و المشطور

5) Its expression of a precise concept: reducible conic ( لالختزال قابل مخروطي is a specific (قطعconcept whereas reducible shape ( قابل شكل / is vague and loose (لالختزالmegadontia/macrodontia ( األسنان/ ضخامة is a (كبرclear concept while “big, old teeth” ( كبيرة أسنان.(قديمة

6) Assignment to a certain field: a scientific terms is preferably assigned to a specific field of knowledge to avoid confusing its different meanings in different texts and contexts. ‘Diabetes’ /sugar (not assigned to a specific field). Sometimes we have to check the context of the term because of multiplicity of sense. ‘Fabricated’: / مفبرك/ محبوك ’fabricated food‘ / ملفق

مصنعة .أطعمة7) Stability in use and meaning: the more a scientific term is solidly established, the more trustworthy and stable. A great number of these terms is stable and well-established throughout history in use and in sense. But not always. ‘pancreas’: المعثكلة / telephone: إرزيز

8) Semantic relevance to the object: relates to the meaning and function of the scientific term: mobile/جوال.9) Liability to change with respect to possible future development and expansion through inflection, derivation and new coinage in accordance with language rules and new developments. A scientific term should preferably be flexible to inflect and derive: / أتمتة

بنك / كمبيوتر

• Other features: accessibility, agreeability, vividness, modernity, non-locality, normality, non-strangeness.

ETYMOLOGY AND TERMINOLOGY

• Etymology: is the study of word origins. It’s concerned with the sources and development of words and morphemes over time.

• Guide to us in word formation and derivation

• Mini\micro (small) , macro\mega (large).

STANDARDIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC ENGLISH TERMS: CRITERIA FOR MAKING NEW TERMS

1) establishment of a specialized organization of the standardization of English terms. British Standards Institution BSI. Responsible for standardizing new English terms introduced into English in the UK.

2) adopting Latin terminology: middle-ground solution to avoid differences, neutralized language, not susceptible to change.

3) borrowing unconditionally and shamelessly form other languages.

4) the use of Latin or Greek and other prefixes and suffixes to form new words: p. 68-72

5) the use of blends (e.g., Pan-American, motel), p. 72

Term formationNew terms that are the result of a formation process are usually classified according to the strategy speakers have used to create them. These strategies can be:• Formal methods • Functional methods • Semantic methods

Formal Methods

Among the formal methods available for creating new (English) terms are:

derivation, compounding, creation of phrases.

Functional Methods comprise 2 processes

a. Conversion or zero derivation, i.e. changing the category of an existing word without changing its form (except that in this grammatical conversion any characteristics of inflection belonging to the former category are eliminated and replaced by those corresponding to the new category). For example: record (v.) record (n); pigeon hole (v.) pigeon hole (n.)

b. Lexicalization, by converting one of the inflected forms of a lexeme into a new word with a different grammatical category. For example: harden (v) ---hardening (n); weld (v) ---welding (n)

Semantic Methods

These methods modify the meaning of a term.

The form on which the new form is based can belong to several subcodes.

Two prime criteria are used to classify the terms that result from this kind of formation process: 1. provenance of the base form, 2. and the type of semantic modification

produced in the process.

Semantic Methods

1. by provenance of the base form, the 2 most frequent sources are the general language lexicon and the terminology of other special subjects.

2. modification takes one of three forms:a. extending the meaning of the base formb. narrowing the meaning of the base form: printerc. changing the meaning of the base form: washer

Besides formal, functional, and semantic methods, all languages also have other ways of creating new terms such as borrowing and loan translation or calquing.

Assignment 1: Find the difference between a number of related similar terms, their equivalent in Arabic, and present a critical point of view.

Concept

• What is a “concept”? • Conceptual systems • Concepts from logicians’ perspective • Concept formation • Concept type • Classification of concepts

WHAT IS A “CONCEPT ?”

Concept has been defined variously as follows:

1. Concepts are “mental constructs that are used to classify the individual objects in the external or internal world by means of a more or less arbitrary process of abstraction. (ISO)

2. A concept is a unit of content consisting of a set of characteristics.

3. Concepts are the units of knowledge that constitute the mental representations of objects

4. A concept is an element of thought, a mental construct that represents a class of objects.

WHAT IS A “CONCEPT ?”

5. A concept is a unit of thought.

6. Concepts are the result of a selection process of the salient characteristics defining a class of objects and not the individual objects themselves.

7. By means of the process of designation we use terms to refer to concrete and abstract reality, a reality that is external and internal as well as individual and collective.

8. A concept is a unit of knowledge that can be represented and identified uniquely by reference to its characteristics, features, or components. This also means defining its position in the knowledge space.

As ISO states, the characteristics of a concept is its paraphrase or definition. For example: A microsome is: a small particle; found in the cytoplasm of a cell; made up of fragmented endoplasmic reticulum to which ribosome are attached.

 

DEPENDING ON THE RELATIONSHIP THEY HAVE WITH THE OBJECT THEY REPRESENT, THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CONCEPTS CAN BE:

1. Intrinsic characteristics describe the concept as a representation of a class: shape, color, size in the case of nouns, types of actions, feelings, or processes in the case of verbs.

2. Extrinsic characteristics are external to the definition as a class: purpose, origin, target, place, inventor, etc.

• Creating a term for a concept means making it part of a particular system of related concepts.

• So concepts are not discrete separable units that exist in isolation; logical or ontological relations exist between these concepts.

CONCEPTUAL SYSTEMS • Within a special subject

• concepts are organized in structured sets that are called conceptual systems.

• these systems reflect the view of the real world held by the experts in the discipline or activity

• conceptual system is a structure that can cover several classes of concepts:

1. Objects, properties of these concepts (visual, auditory, perceivable, material, shared, etc.)

2. Relationships (equivalent, subordinate, derived, etc.)

3. Operations (weld, solder, dissolve, etc.)• In each specific special subject field every conceptual class is

internally organized into several subclasses as a function of the types of concepts included in the class, their properties, relationships, and/or functions.

CONCEPTS FROM LOGICIANS’ PERSPECTIVE

According to Kant, three activities are required to create a concept: (Dates)

comparison

enables us to realize similarities and differences

reflection

helps us realize the characteristics responsible for these similarities or differences

abstraction

we can abstract or identify the essential characteristics that

make up the concept

That is why ISO has described concepts as “the result of a mental process and can be defined as units of thought construct through abstraction”

CONCEPT FORMATION

• Within logic, conceptology deals with the nature of concepts, their representation and the relationships between concepts.

• If we grasp a segment of reality by a process of cognition, and turn it into a concept by a process of abstraction, the relationships established between objects in the real world and the similarities among these objects reflect the relationships and similarities established between concepts. (dough)

• Abstraction is a mental operation where the mind moves from parts or items to the whole or class.

• The evolution of concepts is accompanied by stages of naming, a process which is called terminologisation

CONCEPT TYPE

Abstract Concrete

CLASSIFICATION OF CONCEPTS

• classification is an organized method of connecting or disconnecting the ideas formulated in our minds as concepts and of organizing them mentally.

Is it important?

YES..• Classifying concepts:

• is the best way to knowledge • since when we organize things and concepts in a particular

system,

We will then have a good list of concepts belonging to a certain field of knowledge.

HOW CAN WE DEFINE A CONCEPT?

• by analysis, by synonyms, by paraphrase, by synthesis (by identifying relations, by description), by implication, by denotation, by demonstration.

HOW CAN WE DETERMINE WHAT IS THE MEANING OF A CONCEPT?Concepts are further determined by means of:

1. the relations they have to other concepts,

2. by definitions, which constitute the descriptive, metalinguistic denotation of concepts. A definition is important because it specifies the designation of a term as distinguished from other terms in the same discipline.

• A definition is particularly important because it is the verbal description of a certain concept which makes it distinguishable from other concepts within a system of concepts.

Concept

Verbal Description

THERE ARE 3 BASIC NEEDS FOR DEFINITIONS:

1. The initial fixation of the term-concept equation.

2. The identification of a term via the verification of the existence of an independent definition.

3. The explanation of the meaning of a concept for specialist users.

WE CAN INITIALLY IDENTIFY FOUR MAJOR CONCEPTUAL CLASSES:

• From the point of view of meaning, terms can be classified by the class of concepts they designate.

• Objects or entities (lancet) \ Processes, operations, actions (lumpectomy – ectomy means to excise) \ Properties, states, qualities (nasalization) \ Relationships (homonym)

Each one of these classes of concepts is mainly expressed by a particular functional class:

The functional class The conceptual classes

nouns Objects or entities

verbs, nominalizations of verbs Processes, operations, actions

adjectives Properties, states, qualities

adjectives, verbs, prepositions Relationships

Terms and Concepts in Classical Arabic Heritage

• Principles of creating concepts • The requirements for a scientific term to

be coined and gain currency• Steps of finding an Arabic equivalent for a

new foreign term

Principles of creating concepts• Concept and meaning are equivalents. A

concept is the mental image or representation of what is spoken about.Concept and meaning are inseparable from an entity, both are the image conjured up in the mind.

• Almost all Arab scholars agree on the order of priority when it comes to Arabization methods.

• Ahmad Eesa: priority of Arabization methods:

• Khasara: Arabization methods:

translation, derivation, allegory, compounding, Arabization.

translation, coinage (derivation, allegory), borrowing.

For an appropriate scientific term to be coined and gain currency, the following is required:

1. There should be consensus among specialists on the term, as they are the ones concerned with it; they will use it widely, and can tell if it needs to be modified or changed in the future.

2. It has to have accurate and acceptable, appropriately designating the new concept.

3. It has to be semantically or lexically related to the new concept.

4. It refers to only one concept. There should not be more than one term for one concept. There should not be one term used to signify more than one concept. A term can only refer to a single concept.

Steps of finding an Arabic equivalent for a new foreign scientific term, arranged according to priority:

• Find an appropriate and acceptable Arabic word commonly used, not scientific.

• Find a classical scientific word • Find a semantically related word• Derive a new word from a common word.• Borrow• Compound

• To be dealt with at length in chapter 4

• The recommendation of the conference on unifying term coinage methodologies held in 1981: using linguistic methods in coining new terms as follows: 1. using classical terms, 2. then creating new terms using 3. (allegory, derivation, Arabization, compounding.)

Arabic terminology

• The history of Arabic terminology dates back to the early days of Islam. Qur’an and Prophet’s sayings were the springboard for the development of the Arabic language in every aspect.

• Classification of terms. P. 72

Classical Arabic terminology

• Islamic terms قرآن صالة صوم حج• Accepted and treated carefully.• Translation of scientific terms: derivational

molds based on roots. P. 73