Terms and specialized vocabulary

Pius ten Hacken
Table of contents

One of the central concerns of Terminology is the proper definition of terms. In trying to formulate such definitions, classical approaches struggle with some of the inherent properties of language. In this chapter, I will first present the classical terminological approach to definitions (Section 1) and then the main source of problems (Section 2). Against this background, I will propose an analysis of terminology in which terminological definitions apply only when required (Section 3) and describe how this approach can handle some typical challenges (Section 4).

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price.

References

Bessé, Bruno de
1997 “Terminological Definitions”, translated by Juan C. Sager. In Handbook of Terminology Management Volume 1: Basic Aspects of Terminology Management, edited by Sue Ellen Wright and Gerhard Budin, 63–74. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bloomfield, Leonard
1933 Language. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Booij, Geert
2002 The Morphology of Dutch. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chisholm, Hugh
1911 “Encke, Johann Franz.” In Encyclopaedia Britannica, edited by Hugh Chisholm. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COED)
, rev. 12th ed 2011 Edited by Angus Stevenson and Maurice Waite. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
DVLA
2013 Large Vehicles you can drive using your car or lorry licence. INF52, Swansea: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.Google Scholar
Hacken, Pius ten
2007 “The Term-Word Distinction and the Mental Lexicon.” In Translation and Meaning Part 7, edited by Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 21–28. Maastricht: Universitaire Pers Maastricht.Google Scholar
2008 “Prototypes and Discreteness in Terminology.” In Proceedings of the XIII Euralex International Congress, edited by Elisenda Bernal and Janet DeCesaris, 979–987. Barcelona: IULA-UPF.Google Scholar
2009 “What is a Dictionary? A View from Chomskyan Linguistics.” International Journal of Lexicography, 22, 399–421. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010a “Creating Legal Terms: A Linguistic Perspective.” International Journal for the Semiotics of the Law, 23, 407–425. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010b “The Tension between Definition and Reality in Terminology.” In Proceedings of the XIV Euralex International Congress, edited by Anne Dykstra and Tanneke Schoonheim, 915–927. Ljouwert: Fryske Akademy/Afuk.Google Scholar
Harris, Zellig S
1942 “Morpheme Alternants in Linguistic Analysis.” Language, 18, 169–180. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
IAU
2006 “IAU 2006 General Assembly: Result of the IAU Resolution votes.” Retrieved August 18, 2010. http://​www​.iau​.org​/iau0603​/index​.html.
Jackendoff, Ray S
1983 Semantics and Cognition. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press.Google Scholar
Junta de Andalucía
2011 Pliego de Condiciones de la Denominación de Origen ‘Jerez-Xérès-Sherry’. Consejería de Agricultura y Pesca.Google Scholar
Labov, William
1973 “The Boundaries of Words and Their Meanings.” In New Ways of Analyzing Variation in English, edited by C.-J. N. Bailey and R. W. Shuy, 340–373. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press. (Reprinted in Aarts, Bas, David Denison, Evelien Keizer, and Gergana Popova (editor). 2004. Fuzzy Grammar: A Reader, 67–89. Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Luschützky, Hans Christian
2000 “Morphem, Morph und Allomorph.” In Morphology: An International Handbook on Inflexion and Word-Formation, edited by Geert Booij, Christian Lehmann and Joachim Mugdan, 451–462. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter (Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Sciences, 17.1).Google Scholar
Matthews, Peter H
1974 Morphology: An Introduction to the Theory of Word Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mayr, Ernst
2004 What Makes Biology Unique? Considerations on the autonomy of a scientific discipline. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schilling, Govert
2007 De jacht op Planeet X: Sterrenkundigen ontdekken de buitendelen van het zonnestelsel.’ s-Gravenland: Fontaine.Google Scholar
Sparrow, Giles
2006 The Planets: A Journey Through the Solar System. London: Quercus.Google Scholar
Stump, Gregory
2011 “Morpheme.” In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences, edited by Patrick C. Hogan, 513–514. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Temmerman, Rita
2000 Towards New Ways of Terminology Description: The Sociocognitive Approach. Amsterdam: JohnBenjamins. DOI logo  TSBGoogle Scholar
The National Archives
1968 Theft Act 1968, Chapter 60. Retrieved October 11, 2009. http://​www​.statutelaw​.gov​.uk​/content​.aspx​?activeTextDocId​=1204238.Google Scholar
Wilkins, John S
2009 Species: A History of the Idea. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Zambonelli, Carlo
2003 Microbiologia e biotecnologia dei vini: I processi biologici e le tecnologie della vinificazione. Bologna: Edagricole.Google Scholar