Transcript Terminology
Terminology Lesson two “official” definition of a term • the name or designation of a concept in a particular subject field – This definition is given by ISO http://www.iso.org/iso/, the International Organisation for Standardization (Standard ISO 1087). Characteristics of a term • a name – nouns – noun phrases • unit of thought or understanding • used in a specialized area of knowledge or activity Simple terms, complex terms • fern • vascular plant • forest canopy – How do we distinguish between terms and other, discursive noun phrases? Cf. Le Pavel • • • • • • • Termes simples par dérivation : budgétiser; disquette Termes simples par composition :télétravail (travail à distance); cybermarchand (vendeur sur Internet) Termes simples par télescopage : logithèque (bibliothèque de logiciels) Termes simples par acronymie : maser (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) Termes simples par siglaison : ZLEA (Zone de libre-échange des Amériques); SRAS (syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère) Termes complexes par jonction – zéro-tolérance; e-formation (formation en ligne) Termes complexes par juxtaposition – édition électronique; pollution par le bruit, université virtuelle – http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/didacticiel_tutorial/francais/lecon1/page1_2_5_ f.html Criteria for distinguishing terms • • • • • • semantic : the term refers to a single concept quantitative : frequency in similar sorts of texts taxonomic : part of a hierarchical classification synonymic : synonym of a recognized term neological: name for a new concept in the field typographical: use of inverted commas, italics, etc. http://hosting.eila.univ-paris-diderot.fr/~juilliar/ - Cours 5 : Introduction à la terminologie, L’Unité terminologique: le découpage des termes complexes Role of the expert • A term [is a] – specialised concept – used in a specialised field • by experts/specialists – Experts can define the term/concept – Experts can relate the term with other terms of the field – Thus giving insight into the knowledge structure Some term candidates • • • • • • vascular plant leafy plant flowering plant adult plant fern conifer Hyperonyms & hyponyms vascular plant fern conifer flowering plant distinguishing feature ? Essential feature • What distinguishes ferns, conifers, and flowering plants? – Their mode of reproduction • Spores • Cones • Flowers/pollen… Do all flowering plants have leaves? Do all ferns have leaves? - non essential feature? Another term candidate • Mesozoic or • Mesozoic era ? – Cenozoic era – Mesozoic era – Paleozoic era taxonomies • closed lists of terms are called nomenclatures • arranged hierarchically, they are called taxonomies – The Mesozoic era is further divided into the • Triassic period • Jurassic period • Cretacious period Botanical taxonomy • • • • • • Phleum pratense is – a plant, member of a kingdom (Plantae) – of a class (Liliopsida) – of a family (Poaceae) – of a genus (Phleum) - of a species (pratense) Language markers in taxonomies • Botanical families are characterised by the –ceae suffix – in French –cée, as in poacée - The equivalent for families in zoology is -ideae – Many taxonomies incorporate features of the hierarchy into the morphology, as is the case with the suffixes used in natural history. Exercise • Take the following text, which is from the same except on ferns, and extract the term candidates, going from the most specialised to the most general. Part 2: a terminology project • a dictionary of terms of mediaeval military architecture Anaïs Breton, Lucie Deville and Catherine Zheng • http://www.eila.univ-parisdiderot.fr/user/mojca_pecman/terminologie • Go to Dictionnaire terminologique. • Open the five documents, and consult the tree diagramme (“arborescence”) in French. Term record in English • The first file is composed of term records in English. It corresponds to the next file, which contains the equivalent terms in French. What you can see on the page is a print out of a data base (ACCESS) file, and the different headings are the fields of the data base. • Go to the first term record, and see how it is made up. Term and definition • On the left, we have information about the meaning of the term. • There is the term itself – entry, or, as in a dictionary – Headword This is followed by the definition. What do you notice about the form of the definition? Is it a sentence?