For terminology as a type of resource/artifact, see Terminology (artifact).
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other things how such terms of art come to be and their interrelationships within a culture. Terminology differs from lexicography in studying concepts, conceptual systems, and their labels (terms), whereas lexicography study words and their meanings.
Terminology is a discipline which systematically studies the labelling or designating of concepts particular to one or more subject fields or domains of human activity. It does this through research and analysis of terms in context for the purpose of documenting and promoting consistent usage.
Terminology can be limited to one or more languages (multilingual terminology, bilingual terminology, and so forth) or may have an interdisciplinarity focus on the use of terms in different fields.
Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Types of terminology
- 3 Terminology as a discipline
- 4 Terminological theories
- 5 See also
- 6 References
- 7 Further reading
- 8 External links
Overview[edit source | edit]
The discipline of terminology consists primarily of the following aspects:
- analysing the concepts and concept structures used in a field or domain of activity
- identifying the terms assigned to the concepts
- in the case of bilingual or multilingual terminology, establishing correspondences between terms in the various languages
- compiling the terminology, on paper or in databases
- managing terminology databases
- creating new terms, as required
Types of terminology[edit source | edit]
A distinction is made between two types of terminology:
- Ad hoc terminology, which deals with a single term or a limited number of terms
- Systematic terminology, which deals with all the terms in a specific subject field or domain of activity
Ad hoc terminology is prevalent in the translation profession, where a translation for a specific term (or group of terms) is required quickly to solve a particular translation problem.
Terminology as a discipline[edit source | edit]
A terminologist intends to hone categorical organization by improving the accuracy and content of its terminology. Technical industries and standardization institutes compile their own glossaries. This provides the consistency needed in the various areas—fields and branches, movements and specialties—to work with core terminology to then offer material for the discipline's traditional and doctrinal literature.
Terminology is also then key in boundary-crossing problems, such as in language translation and social epistemology. Terminology helps to build bridges and to extend one area into another. Translators research the terminology of the languages they translate. Terminology is taught alongside Translation in the universities and translation schools. Large translation departments and translation bureaus have a Terminology section.
Terminological theories[edit source | edit]
Terminological theories include general theory of terminology,[1] socioterminology,[2] communicative theory of terminology,[3] sociocognitive terminology,[4] and frame-based terminology.[5]
See also[edit source | edit]
- Applied linguistics
- Concept
- Controlled vocabulary
- Critical vocabulary
- Dictionary
- Glossary
- Interpreting
- Jargon
- ISO/TC 37
- Lexicography
- LSP dictionary
- Meme
- Ontology
- Orismology
- Reference work
- SDL MultiTerm
- Specialised lexicography
- Terminology standardization
- Translation
- Taxonomy
- Technical terminology
- Terminology planning policy
- Terminology extraction
References[edit source | edit]
- ^ Wüster, E. (1979). Einführung in die allgemeine Terminologielehre und terminologische Lexikographie. Teil 1-2. Springer-Verlag.
- ^ Gaudin, F. (1993). "Socioterminologie: propos et propositions épistémologiques". Le langage et l'homme (Intercommunications) 28 (4): 247–257.
- ^ Cabré, M.T. (1999). La terminología: representación y comunicación. Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
- ^ Temmerman, R. (2terminology is a scientific word which means divided in particular terms). Towards new ways of terminology description: the sociocognitive-approach.
- ^ Faber, P.; Montero, S.; Castro, M.R.; Senso, J.; Prieto, J.A.; León, P.; Márquez C.; Vega, M. (2006). "Process-oriented terminology management in the domain of Coastal Engineering". Terminology (John Benjamins Publishing Company) 12 (2): 189–213. doi:10.1075/term.12.2.03fab.
Further reading[edit source | edit]
- Sonneveld, H, Loenning, K: (1994): Introducing terminology, in Terminology, p. 1-6
- Wright, S.E.; Budin, G.: (1997): Handbook of Terminology Management, Volume 1, Basic Aspects of Terminology Management, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, John Benjamins 370 pp.
External links[edit source | edit]
- Terminology from the OTTIAQ website
- TermNet - International Network for Terminology
- Infoterm - International Information Centre for Terminology
- ISO Technical Committee 37 "Terminology and other language and content resources" (ISO/TC 37)
- Muegge, Uwe (2007). "Disciplining words: What you always wanted to know about terminology management". Tcworld (tekom) (3): 17–19.
- Faoterm from the FAO Terminology website
- The Online Dictionary of Language Terminology
- TermSciences, the Scientific Terminology Database