2002 TheDynamicsOfTerminology

• (Kageura, 2002) ⇒ Kyo Kageura. (2002). “The Dynamics of Terminology: a descriptive theory of term formation and terminological growth." Volume 5 of Terminology and Lexicography Research and Practice. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN:9027223289

Subject Headings: Technical Terminology, Terminological Unit, Concept, Conceptual Structure, Concept Characteristic, Domain, Subject Field.

Quotes

1.1.1 Terms and related notions

• Any discussion about the basic status, nature and function of terms within language must start with a provisional definition of "term" and immediately related concepts. According to Besse', Nkwenti-Azeh & Sager (1997) - a compact and convenient glossary of the expression of this feild - "term" and "terminology" are defined as follows:
  • term: A lexical unit consisting of one or more than word which represents a concept inside a domain.
  • terminology: The vocabulary of a subject field.
• Two sets of expression are important in these definitions. i.e. "lexical unit" and "vocabulary" on the one hand and "concept inside a domain" on the other. "Lexical unit" and "vocabulary" are conventional linguistic notions defined adequately in many dictionaries of linguistics....
• It is unfortunate that between "term" and "word". In one sense, "word" is used as equivalent to "lexical item", in which case terms are a subset of words. In another sense, "word" and "term" are used in a mutually exclusive sense (Miyajima 1981). … it suffices to state that "term" refers to an individual item and "terminology" refer to the collective object, in accordance with the distinction between lexical unit and vocabulary.
• The definitions of "concept" and some related concepts are given as:
  • concept: An abstract unit which consists of the characteristics of a number of concrete or abstract objects which are selected according to specific scientific or conventional criteria appropriate for a domain.
  • conceptual structure: A representation of the structure of the concepts which belong to a subject field or domain.
  • characteristic: The semantic element which together with others constitutes the intension of a concept.
• Lastly, "domain" and "subject field" are delimited as follows:
  • domain: The subject field, area of knowledge, discipline, production process, or method in which a concept is being used.
  • subject field: An area of knowledge which is established for the purpose of grouping into conventional categories that concepts considered as belonging together.
• Other glossaries of terms exists such as ISO 704 (1987), and most textbooks give basic definitions of most of the terms listed above (Cabre 1993; Felber 1984; Picht & Draskau 1985; Sager 1990). In fact, the definition and characterisation of "term" in itself has been one of the main topics amont terminologists (e.g. Akhmanova 1974; Desmet & Boutayeb 1994; Miyajima 1981; Shelov 1982; and a special issue of the journal Terminology [vol. 5, no. 1, 2000]). Any definition is controversial and provisional outside a specific context, and the validity of any definition of term should be support by an explicitly declared theoretical standpoint and the concrete description of the phenomena based upon it. The above definitions are sufficient for the immediate purpose of opening the discussion.

1.1.2 Terms, words and parole

• There is a fundamental tension in the ordinary language term concept. On one hand, it is something out there in the world: "the Newtonian concept of mass" is something that is spoken of as though it exists independently of who actually knows or grasps it. Likewise, "grasping a concept" evokes comparison to grasping a physical object, except that one somehow does it with one's mind instead of one's hand. On the other hand, a concept is spoken of as an entity within one's head, a private entity, a …,

	Author	volume	Date Value	title	type	journal	titleUrl	doi	note	year
2002 TheDynamicsOfTerminology	Kyo Kageura			The Dynamics of Terminology: a descriptive theory of term formation and terminological growth			http://books.google.com/books?id=S8VdJoDe8YwC			2002