TERMINOLOGY AND

TRANSLATION

FOCUS ON: Terminology and LSP

Terminological studies find their application in LSP.

LSP is here taken in a very broad sense:

not just the language of science, but the language of specific domains, i.e. domains characterized by specific knowledge and shared terminology

(fashion, archaeology, food industry, textile or footwear industry, chemistry, environment, etc.). Different language levels (formal language, popular language, technical jargon) and variants are also included.

TOPICS Terminology as a discipline - What is terminology? - What is a term? - Terms and concepts - Terminology Management and Translation Mapping the concepts Developing “good” definitions Using reliable sources Planning terminological records Exploring the web Finding the equivalents

What is terminology? It is the name of an academic and professional discipline associated with studying and managing specialized lexical items (terms). Terminology also serves «the purpose of facilitating communication in special languages» by collecting, structuring and organizing information according to «the words, terms and expressions needed in special communication» (Sager 1990:5).

As a branch of linguistics, terminology is closely related to lexicology (defining words and creating dictionaries), but with a focus on concepts (analysis, definition, denotation) in special domains.

Terminology is not just a question of meaning conveyed by terms, but rather it is a question of concepts that find their medium in linguistic form within a specific field of knowledge. As a discipline, terminology supports content creation, translation and other forms of knowledge management (creation of databases, creation of glossaries, etc.)

Terminology can refer to a set of terms in a specialized area (e.g. the terminology of medicine or of the footwear industry).

What is a term?

A term can be

a single word (simple term, bone),

a multi-word expression (complex term, bone mineral density),

a symbol (©, ®, Na, Ca)

a formula (H2O; a + 0 = a)

names of posts (Prime Minister; CEO, Chief Executive Officer)

that designates a particular concept within a given subject field.

Terms and words Terms may coincide with words in general language. Their precise meaning depends on their context or usage in a specialized subject field. A term may contain symbols and have variants, such as abbreviations:

clippings, e.g. lab for laboratory; blendings, e.g. motel for motor+hotel; initialisms, made from initial letters of several words, pronounced as the alphabetic names of the letters, e.g. NBC, National Broadcasting Company, or ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; acronyms, these too made from initial letters but pronounced as words, e.g. NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Terms can also have different forms of spelling (morphological variants), e.g. oedema/edema , oestrogen/estrogen, hyperglycaemia/hyperglycemia

In specialized language, terms have some specific characteristics:

precision, emotional neutrality stability over time

Terms can belong to any of the open word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), though 80% or more in any given field are nouns.

in a terminology management system (TMS) aimed at translation, adjectives and adverbs are often not included in the system because their meaning can change slightly depending on the context in which they are used. Consequently, it can be difficult to determine target language equivalents.

Terms as designations of concepts

Sharing terms – or, even better, terminological data - makes it possible for everyone to use the same words to designate the same concept, thus avoiding problems in translation.

Terminological data include: entry term (including word class); definition; context; subject field; variant/s; equivalent/s; sources.

What is a concept?

A concept is a unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics (ISO 1087:1-2000). It can refer to something material, immaterial or even imagined. Within terminology management concepts are the units to which terms are designated. When a concept is named, the word (term) is a label.

The label for most concepts is a single word (simple term), or more than one word (multi-word/complex term), or a symbol.

It is impossible to characterize any concept without its relation to other concepts, and in fact, in order to get information about a specific domain, subdomain or topic, mapping its concepts is essential.

Terminological data: DEFINITIONS The needs of end-users with respect to definitions are

a key determining factor. When the needs of translators have to be considered, if a term has multiple meanings within a specific topic, each meaning should be clearly defined since each one expresses a unique concept and is likely to have a specific equivalent.

Definitions are essential whenever there is potential confusion by translators about similar terms, or terms with many meanings.

IDEAL CONDITION: one term – one definition, so that anyone consulting a record can see what a concept means.

Features of a “good” definition

Specify the essential features of the concept, i.e. what the concept is and how it differs from other related concepts.

A definition describes a concept, and not a term. For ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, “the ultimate objective is to relate only one term to one concept and only one concept to one term.”

Start with an “anchor word” or descriptor, i.e. a generic or superordinate word of the same part of speech as the term.

e.g. anabolic drug

Treatment that acts on bone metabolism contributing to the building up of the bone structure and increasing the rate of bone formation.

Features of a “good” definition

State what the concept is, not what the concept is not. Therefore, do not define a concept by denying another one.

Do not use paraphrases. Good definitions are non-circular. e.g. defining “fracture reduction” as “reduction of a fracture” still does not clarify what it is.

Definitions should be simple, accurate and concise, and redundant information should be avoided.

Defining and describing

A definition should be limited to the essentials, and it should answer the question”What is it?”

A description could include other information like the time and manner of use of the thing described, or the name of its inventor. A description could answer questions such as “How is it used? By whom is it used?”

Terminology and documentation

Object of the study of terminology:

analysis and description of the units representing specialized knowledge in specialized discourse

Teresa Cabré’s Communicative Theory of Terminology states that any terminology work is based on documents. Consequently, texts are needed to find and study terms in their context of use.

Object of the study of documentation:

organize the information found in documents and conveyed by means of terminological units (TU)

Terminology and documentation

In theory and in practice, terminology and documentation are interrelated:

Terminological work cannot be carried out without documentation

At least part of the documentary work cannot be carried out without terminology

Terminology is therefore necessary for documentary work and documents are the basis for any terminological work.

Key issues in terminological work

Basic elements of terminological work:

all terminological projects are founded on practical professional needs

they are expected to answer these professional needs

they are expected to be adequate to the communicative situation which is defined on parameters such as professional activity, domain and specific topic, sociolinguistic context, language function or specific addressees

Documentation

Documentation is necessary to terminology because:

it makes the description of terms possible: in fact, terms are fundamental elements of the oral and written discourse produced by specialists;

it helps develop a theory of “terms” in context

Documentation

REMEMBER: terms, or terminological units

convey the concepts of a given special field

interrelate and transfer knowledge under given circumstances and for specific communication purposes

Communication takes place through oral and written discourse

This discourse produces texts (documents) that are the object of documentation

Documentation

Terms appear in specialized communication when specialists have to name a concept of their discipline

Terminologists retrieve from the documents the units they will integrate in dictionaries to be consulted by specialists and other users

Translators can use documents to retrieve the terms they need to acquire specialized knowledge

specialized texts are the natural habitat of these terms

Documentation is the source of terminographical work

Terminology and translation Terminology is also of primary interest to

translators.

Good terminology management

reduces translation time

helps produce good quality consistent translations

cuts localization costs

is an excellent way of acquiring specialist skills.

These skills can be developed at an early stage if terminology training is given an appropriate role in translator training programs.

Language competence and translation skills can benefit from the balanced and consistent frame of mind that terminology helps to create.

Documentary phase: Searching the web

acquire specialized knowledge on the topic;

understand how the topic knowledge field is structured and how the concepts are organized;

identify the terms assigned to these concepts;

identify the relations between terms expressed by verbs, thus mapping the field;

contextualize the terms and find their definitions in relation to the specific concepts they are assigned to.

Resources: dedicated websites, mostly maintained by specific national and international organizations, societies, and foundations related to the domain of interest

Websites in English (SL): useful for gathering terminological data and compiling the main record

Websites in TLs: useful for finding parallel information, checking equivalents, finding recurring patterns of use.

What dedicated websites can offer Links to detailed information and documents

(including academic articles)

High quality sources in specialized domains

Electronic texts: a useful basis for corpus

building and corpus analysis

Databases: e.g. Biology online

http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Main_Page

Genetics Home Reference http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/

MediLexicon http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php

National Library of Medicine, Medical Subject Headings, MeSH 2014,

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html

Termium Plus http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/

RESULTS

Reliable documents contribute to creating a

“reference corpus” (dictionaries, databases, various documents used to gather information and solve terminological problems)

and an

“extraction corpus” comprising texts dealing with the specific subject field and necessary for defining concepts, creating a network of meanings, and extracting terms.

THE DATA MODEL: layout of the terminological record

The layout of the terminological record presents information at both term and language level.

Term level:

• grammatical category

• Definition+source

• Context+source

• Notes

Language level

Concept represented in the TLs, with the term, its variants, and its equivalents for each language.

• vertebroplasty

• noun English SOURCE: F. Grados et al., Long-term observations of vertebral osteoporotic fractures treated by percutaneous vertebroplasty, Rheumatology, 2000, 39 DEFINITION: Minimally invasive surgical procedure whereby bone cement is introduced into a fractured vertebral body via a percutaneous injection, thus conferring strength and stability to a vertebra. SOURCE: D.K. Resnick, S.R. Garfin, Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty, Thieme, 2005 EQUIVALENTS: French vertébroplastie noun M. Namer et al. eds., Cancer du sein en situation métastatique, Springer, 2011 Italian vertebroplastica noun C.V. Albanese, R. Passariello, Osteoporosi e malattie metaboliche dell'osso, Springer, 2009 Italian VP noun C.V. Albanese, R. Passariello, Osteoporosi e malattie metaboliche dell'osso, Springer 2009 CONTEXT: Vertebroplasty is typically offered to patients suffering from painful, spontaneous vertebral compression fractures, usually resulting from systemic osteoporosis. SOURCE: G.P. Siskin ed., Interventional radiology in women's health, Thieme, 2009

vitamin D receptor gene

EQUIVALENTS:

French gène VDR noun J. Robert, Signalisation cellulaire et cancer, Springer, 2011 French récepteur de la vitamine D noun M. Garabédian et al., Métabolisme phosphocalcique et osseux de l'enfant, Lavoisier, 2011 Italian recettore della vitamina D noun M.L. Brandi, Malattie paratiroidee, vol. I, S.E.E., 2001 Italian gene VDR noun C. Gennari, Il ruolo della vitamina D e del calcio nella patogenesi e nel trattamento dell'osteoporosi, S.E.E., 2001 TERM VARIANTS: VDR gene noun (Acronym) vitamin D (1,25- dihydroxyvitamin D3) receptor noun (Scientific name)

Organizing the data

• bone matrix, n. Extracellular substance of bone tissue consisting of collagen fibers and ground substance, before the deposition of inorganic bone salts.

• Variant: BM

Fr. matrice osseuse

It. matrice ossea

Organizing the data

• bone densitometry, n. Measurement of the amount of calcium in bone.

• Variants: bone mineral density test; bone density measurement; BMD test

• Fr. Ostéodensitométrie; densitométrie osseuse

• It. Osteodensitometria; densitometria ossea

Data selection and data organization are strictly dependent on the needs of the end user.

What matters is not how many data are needed but the rationale behind your organization.

Terminology can facilitate working with LSPs.

But you must respect a triple condition.

Be consistent, be systematic, be pragmatic.