Úvod do odborné terminologie

Michaela Dlouhá
 COMPREHENSION CHECK 1
1) What is the relation between lexicology and terminology?

While terminology is the study of terms specific to certain fields of specialised knowledge,
lexicology is the study of words in general.

2) Explain the fundamental notions associated with terminology: concept,

definition, and term.

We use concepts, which are abstract representations of the things that make up the world
around us, in order to organise our knowledge.

A definition is a statement that explains what a word means. To differentiate an idea from
other concepts and terminology, a definition must be as specific as necessary.

Terms are linguistic labels applied to concepts. Terms describe the people, things, things, or
relationships that exist in a certain domain or field.

3) Explain how the processes of terminologization, determinologization and

re-terminologization influence the dynamics of terminology. Give specific
examples.

Terminologization is the process of giving existing general-meaning words specialised

meanings in order to create specialist terms.
General-meaning cloud: “a grey or white mass made of tiny drops of water that floats in the
sky”.
Specialized cloud: “a network of computer servers on which data and software can be
stored”.

The process of determinologization, which is the opposite of terminologization, involves

removing a term's "special meaning" and incorporating it as a well-known word into general
language.
Re-terminologization is the process of transferring a term from one particular context to
another. Respective lexical unit is still a term, but it now has a different meaning and is used
in a different context.
 ASSIGNMENT 1
Using a dictionary, compare the general vs. specific meaning of the following
words:

- folder, driver, widget (IT)

- bill, hearing, motion (law)

- casting, lock, spring (tech.)

General
IT
Folder - a thick paper or plastic cover for holding loose papers, etc.
Driver - a person who drives a vehicle.
Widget - used to refer to any small device that you do not know the name of.
LAW
Bill - a document that shows how much you owe somebody for goods or services.
Hearing - the ability to hear.
Motion - the act or process of moving or the way something moves.
TECH.
Casting - the process of choosing actors for a play or film.
Lock - to fasten something with a lock.
Spring - the season between winter and summer when plants begin to grow.

Specific
IT
Folder - way of organizing and storing computer files.
Driver - software that controls the sending of data between a computer and a piece of
equipment that is attached to it, such as a printer.
Widget - a small box on a computer screen that delivers changing information, such as news
items or weather reports.
LAW
Bill - a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to change an existing law that is presented for
debate before Parliament.
Hearing - an official meeting at which the facts about a crime, complaint, etc. are presented
to the person or group of people who will have to decide what action to take.
Motion - a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for decision.
TECH.
Casting - an object made by pouring hot liquid metal, etc. into a mould.
Lock - a mechanism used to synchronize different processing threads, with set limits to avoid
unlimited accessibility of a certain resource within a computing environment.
Spring - usually a twisted piece of metal that will return to its previous shape after it has been
pressed down.
 COMPREHENSION CHECK 2

1) What is professional English, in what contexts is it used, and what are its
typical linguistic properties?

Professional English is an umbrella term referring to the specific expert language used by
English speakers in various professional contexts.
Linguistic properties:
- Complex and varied sentence structure.
- Terms and term-like expressions constitute a significant part of professional
vocabulary. They carry a high degree of information.
- Words and phrases tend to have literal meanings. There is little room for figurative
language.

2) Which morphological components take part in forming English terms? Give

specific examples.

Prefixes

Prefix Meaning Terms

De- “opposite” demotivated, deactivate

Un- “not” unhappy

Suffixes

Suffix Meaning Terms

-like “similar to” lifelike

-some “a tendency to” quarrelsome

3) Which word-formation processes contribute to extending the repertoire of
English terms? Give specific examples.

- Derivation, the most typical method of word formation, involves adding prefixes and
suffixes (examples in question no.2)
- Compounding is combining two or more distinct lexical units to create a new word form..
- closed compounds – fingerprint, textbook, joystick
- hyphenated compounds - plug-in, right-of-centre, four-by-four
- open compounds – boarding pass, nuclear power plant, expansion card
- Blending is the process of taking a part of one word and joining it to a part of another
word to combine two lexical forms.
- brunch = breakfast + lunch, biopic = biography + picture, glimmer = gleam +
shimmer
- Clipping is when a word with more than one syllable is shortened.
- bot = robot, chute = parachute, roach = cockroach
- Conversion is a process that happens when a word's meaning changes. During
conversion, verbs can become nouns, adjectives or noun into verb.
- verb to noun – to print out = a printout, to spy = a spy
- verb to adjective – to stand up = stand-up comedy, to see through = a see-
through fabric
- noun to verb – a bottle = to bottle a product, a chair = to chair a meeting
- Back-formation is a modification of the word's length and part of speech.
- destruction = to destroy, injury = to injure, donation = to donate
- Coinage is the act of creating a brand-new term.
- Kleenex, zipper, nylon
- eponyms (based on proper names) – Fahrenheit, sandwich, nicotine
- Borrowing is taking words from different languages and merging them into your own.
- Japanese – bento, katana, mocha
- Czech – polka, pilsner
- Spanish – avocado, macho, guerrilla
- Acronym – creation of new words formed from the initial letter of other words
- NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- BOGO – buy one, get one (free)
- SCUBA – self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
- BAE – before anyone else
- Initialisms – same as acronyms but are pronounced as individual letters
- FAQ – frequently asked questions
- ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- OMG – oh my god
4) Explain the possible reasons for the existence of terminological synonymy.
Give specific examples.

- Geographical – the same entities are referred to differently in different countries even
though they speak the same language.
- Boiler = grill (American X British)
- Soccer = football (American X British)
- Pacifier = dummy (American X British)
- Social – because of societal changes, the same concept has a new name.
- chairman – chairperson
- Ideological – because of political or ideological considerations, the same concept has
taken on two (or more) different names.
- cosmonaut – astronaut
- Preferential – because different professional user groups prefer or have their own terms,
they refer to the same concept differently.
- IT-related terms: control vs widget
- Marketing – because of a marketing and/or media "push" behind it, the same idea has
taken on a different name.
- sticky note vs post-it

5) Explain the difference between homonymous and polysemous terms. Give

specific examples.

Words with many meanings share a common linguistic ancestor. Homonyms are words
whose distinct meanings are unrelated to one another. We can see from dictionaries that
homonyms have their own entries while polysemous words are typically treated within a
single item.

Polysemous

Field of use Definition Czech translation

“A hold that prevents an

Sport opponent from moving (in Zámek
wrestling or martial arts)

“The maximum extent to

which the front wheels of a
Car technology rejd
vehicle can be turned left or
right.”
Homonymous

Field of use Definition Czech translation

“To give or receive official

International transport permission to transport good proclít, celně odbavit
across the border.”

“To kick or hit a ball or a

dostat míč/puk z obranného
Sport puck away from the area
pásma
near your own goal.”
 ASSIGNMENT 2
Word Meaning Prefix Suffix Translation

a person or
company that is
paid by another
Contractor company to work
none -or zhotovitel
(business) on a particular
project for a
particular amount
of money

a circumstance in
plants where the
Homogamy anther and
-homo -gamy homogamie
(botany) stigmas both
mature at the
same time

Geologist a person who

-geo -ist geolog
(science) studies geology

a word or
Monosyllabic
utterance of only -mono -ic jednoslabičný
(linguistics)
one syllable

relating to a job of
Managerial
a manager or none -ial manažerský
(business)
management
 ASSIGNMENT 3
1. KOLEKTIV AUTORŮ. Česko-anglický slovník pojišťovnictví. Praha: Grada, 2007.
Finanční trhy a instituce. ISBN 978-80-247-1817-0.
2. OHEROVÁ, Jana. Anglicko-český právnický slovník. 4., aktualiz. a dopl. vyd. Praha:
Linde, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7201-816-1.
3. CHROMÁ, Marta. Česko-anglický právnický slovník s vysvětlivkami: Czech-English
law dictionary with explanations. 3. vyd. Voznice: Leda, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7335-
249-3.
4. CHROMÁ, Marta. Česko-anglický právnický slovník s vysvětlivkami: Czech-English
law dictionary with explanations. 3. vyd. Voznice: Leda, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7335-
249-3.
5. ELMAN, Jiří a Václav MICHALÍČEK. Anglicko-český technický slovník: English-Czech
technical Dictionary / Jiří Elman, Václav Michalíček. Praha: Sobotáles, 1998. ISBN
80-85920-50-6.
6. BERAN, Michal, Petra DOHNALOVÁ a Klára NEUREUTTEROVÁ. Tematický česko-
anglický a anglicko-český soudnělékařský slovník: Thematic Czech-English and
English-Czech dictionary of forensic medicine. Praha: Univerzita Karlova,
nakladatelství Karolinum, 2018. ISBN 978-80-246-3712-9.
7. Fraus praktický technický slovník : anglicko-český, česko-anglický. 1. vyd. Plzeň:
Fraus, 2007. 471 s. ISBN 978-80-7238-640-6.
8. BÜRGER, Josef. Fraus velký ekonomický slovník : anglicko-český, česko-anglický. 1.
vyd. Praha: Fraus, 2007. 1312 s. ISBN 978-80-7238-639-0.
9. ELMAN, Jiří. Velký slovník zkratek Evropské unie. Praha: East West Publishing
Company, 2000. 977 s. ISBN 80-7219-007-5.
 COMPREHENSION CHECK 4
1. What benefits does terminology management bring to translation
practice?
By managing the databases they use, translators can make their work easier.
If left unmanaged terminology/database can easily become inconsistent or confusing.
Therefore, terminology management can help in preventing that. It is a set of activities that
ensure systematic collection, development, storage, reviewing, updating and distribution of
terminology data.
2. What functions does translation software provide with regard to
terminology and the use of termbases?
Translation software provides these features:
- allows the use of multiple termbases at the same time
- allows online termbase sharing between translators
- allows translators to quickly add new terms to termbases
- helps manage electronic term collection
- keeps track of the currently translated text and compares it against a specified
termbase
- automatically recommends and/or inserts the respective translation if the source text
has a term that is stored in the termbase
- provides features (like for example adding, modifying or deleting terms) for basic
terminology organisation and management
- works with dedicated terminology management software, if more advanced features
are needed

3. Explain how term extraction works, and why a translator might

want to use a term extractor.
3.1. How term extraction works?
A term extractor analyses text, identifies terms and puts them on a list.
3.1.1. Term extraction can be approached with two different goals in mind:

Monolingual extraction analyses text written in a specific language, finds potential terms,
and creates a word list that can be used as the foundation for a termbase. The terms in the
generated list will still need translations, though.

Bilingual extraction: analyses a source text together with its translation, identifies
potential terms in the source text, and then tries to match them with their equivalents found in
the translation. The result is a ready termbase containing terms in two languages.
 3.1.2. There are three main approaches that term extractors apply in order to
tackle the task:

Linguistic: Term extractors that take a linguistic approach look for word combinations that
fit specific morphological or syntactic patterns (e.g., "noun + noun," "adjective + noun," etc.).
The candidates are filtered using a variety of pattern-matching techniques because this will
unavoidably identify many combinations that aren't actually terms.
This approach is very language-dependent, seeing as each language has differing term-
formation patterns. Therefore linguistic approach term extraction tools are usually designed
to work in a single language (or closely related languages).

Statistical: Because terms are important words that are frequently repeated in texts, term
extractors using statistical approaches look for repeated sequences of lexical items (words,
phrases, etc.). The user can typically specify the frequency threshold, which is the minimum
number of times a word or group of words must appear in order to be considered a candidate
term.
This approach can easily be applied to any language, because it searches based on
frequency rather than patterns.

Hybrid: The most widely used technique today; it combines the two methods mentioned
above. Although it is primarily statistical, it allows for the incorporation of rules and filters to
select candidate terms that have particular linguistic features.

3.1.3. Why a translator might want to use a term extractor.

Since the translator no longer needs to manually enter terms, term extractors speed up the
process of creating a sizable termbase. Larger termbases have more terms in them, which
makes them more likely to offer a solution during translation.
The procedure could eventually be fully automated, but since the programmes are not yet
trustworthy enough, a terminologist or translator must manually check the output.
 Assignment4
Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between
a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often
gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion does not always result in fire,
because a flame is only visible when substances undergoing combustion vaporize, but when it
does, a flame is a characteristic indicator of the reaction. While the activation energy must be
overcome to initiate combustion (e.g., using a lit match to light a fire), the heat from a flame may
provide enough energy to make the reaction self-sustaining.

List of candidate terms:

redox chemical reaction
combustion
activation energy
combustion vaporize
flame
reaction
heat
light
indicator
substances
fire
result
smoke
mixture
products
oxygen
oxidant
reductant
fuel
energy