Terminology. International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Issues in Specialized Communication - Current Issue

Abstract

A term is a lexical unit with specialized meaning in a particular domain. Terms may be simple (STs) or multi-word (MWTs). The organization of terms gives a representation of the structure of domain knowledge, which is based on the relationships between the concepts of the domain. However, relations between MWTs are often underrepresented in terminology resources. This work aims to explore distributional semantic models for capturing terminological relations between multi-word terms through lexical substitution and analogy. The experiments show that the results of the analogy-based method are globally better than those of the one based on lexical substitution and that analogy is well suited to the acquisition of synonymy, antonymy, and hyponymy while lexical substitution performs best for hypernymy.

Abstract

This paper presents the introduction of frame semantics in SciE-Lex, a lexical database of biomedical English, in order to establish frame-based semantic networks among the lexical units contained in the database and draw attention to the domain-specific meanings and syntactic patterns that they exhibit. Taking the general English FrameNet database as a reference and the verbs diminish, compete, and perturb as an illustration, this paper shows how modelling the syntacticosemantic properties of biomedical English results in three scenarios: (a) the general English FrameNet analysis is fully adequate for biomedical usage (b) the frame elements in the general English FrameNet do not fully characterize the semantic and syntactic properties of the lexical items in biomedical English, so an existing frame needs to be customized (c) the frame(s) evoked in general English are different, so either the customization of an existing frame or the addition of a new frame is necessary.

Abstract

Polysemy, even when it is considered within specialized domains, is a recurrent phenomenon and the topic is debated from time to time in terminology literature. Part of this literature still advocates ways to prevent polysemy. Another portion recognizes the prevalence of polysemy, especially in specialized corpora, but considers it from the perspective of other phenomena, such as ambiguity, indeterminacy, categorization or variation. Although the number of perspectives on meaning have increased over the years, the treatment of polysemy in terminological resources is still unsatisfactory. This article first shows that polysemy is an integral part of specialized communication and that there are different kinds of domain-specific polysemy. Then, it reviews selected perspectives that have been taken on polysemy in terminology literature. The treatment of 45 polysemous lexical items in four specialized resources is then analysed. Finally, different methods based on lexical semantics are proposed to account for polysemy in terminological resources.

Abstract

San Ti (Three Body, better known to English readers as The Three-Body Problem) stands out as the most successful Chinese literary work introduced to international audiences through translation. Previous studies have primarily focused on translating culture-specific terms and fictive terms in the work, arguing that the strategy of foreignization alongside occasional footnotes significantly contributes to its tremendous success. Techno-scientific terms, on the other hand, have received relatively little attention because their rendering seemed to be a straightforward matter of back translation. However, our case study reveals that the source-text-oriented translation strategy for culture-specific terms and fictive terms presents only a partial picture of the science fiction (SF) terminology translation in San Ti. It demonstrates that translating techno-scientific terms needs to be considered alongside culture-specific and fictive terms. Moreover, it provides proof that translating techno-scientific terms cannot be simplified to a process of back translation only. The translator sometimes deviated from the principles of equivalence, resulting in three different types of interlingual terminological shifts, which are discussed and analyzed in the current study. Given the heterogeneity of the target readers and the interesting paradox of San Ti as hard SF, these different types of deviation serve two divergent purposes: popularization and scientization. In addition to explaining the success of San Ti in the English-speaking world, the findings of this case study also provide insights into the unfaithful facets, contextual factors and research scope of terminology translation in this specific genre.

This article reviews Translation Tools and Technologies978-0-367-75033-6

This article reviews Terminology Saturation: Detection, Measurement and Use978-981-16-8630-6

This article reviews Terminology, Ontology and their Implementations978-3-031-11038-2