Lexicography versus

Terminography

Dr Mariëtta Alberts
Manager: Standardisation and Terminology Development
Pan South African Language Board
 Introduction
 Lexicography and Terminography are
specialised professions concerned with the
compilation and editing of dictionaries.
 Lexicographers document the words of the
vocabulary of the general language.
 Terminographers document the terms of
specific subject areas, domains or disciplines.
 This paper concerns itself with the similarities
and the differences between the two
professions.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts2 2
Vocabulary
The vocabulary of a language is the total
number of words in it.

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A person's vocabulary is all the words of a

specific language known to him.
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 0

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Lexicography
Lexicography is a formal word for the activity
or profession of writing and editing
dictionaries.

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Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 5
 Lexicography (cont.)
 Lexicography comprises the recording of the
words in the vocabulary of the language into a
specific systematised format (e.g.
alphabetically).
 Lexicography has two basic components:
The theoretical component which consists of the
 general principles of the applied science
 theoretical principles that form the basis for the
general usage and expert principles; and
The practical component which deals with the
applied science of compilation and editing of
dictionaries. Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 6
 Lexicography (cont.)
 Lexicography is the process in which linguistic
information is being recorded, processed and
compiled in a specific lexicographical format.
 The result of the lexicographical process is usually
a wordlist, glossary, dictionary, thesaurus or
electronic (computerised) databank.
 Information supplied:
 spelling, pronunciation, definition/explanation
(semantics), syllabification, translation equivalents,
derived forms and compounds, grammatical class,
usage (syntax), cross reference to other entries,
illustrations, etymology, source references, etc.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 7
 Lexicography (cont.)
 A comprehensive general dictionary comprises
all aspects of a given source language, i.e.
common words, colloquial words, dialectal
varieties, archaic words, etymology of words,
words in literature, science, technology, slang,
vulgar words, deprecated words, sexist words,
taboo words, etc.
 A dictionary is an inventory of the vocabulary of
a particular language, as well as a tool for
communication in a particular language or in
different languages (cf. Zgusta 1984)
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 8
Lexicography (cont.)
 A dictionary is a retrieval system in which
are stored against the words of a language,
explanations of the meanings of those
words and the ways in which they are used
(Keating 1979).
 The dictionary should contain enough
information to allow the dictionary user to
successfully determine relevant information
(Zgusta 1984).
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 9
 Lexicography (cont.)
 Lexicography works with words
 Verbal vocabulary
 Written vocabulary
 The vocabulary of a particular language is
documented in a monolingual dictionary
 Different languages are compared in
bilingual and multilingual dictionaries
 General dictionaries are word-oriented
rather than topic-oriented (Cluver 1989)
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts
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Lexicography (cont.)
 Dictionaries serve as aids to the
comprehension (decoding) or to the
generation (encoding) of texts in a language
or languages.
 Lexicography combines the double aim of
general collecting of data on the lexicon of a
language with providing an information and
advisory service to language users
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 11
 Terminography

Terminography is a subdivision of
lexicography that deals with technical and
scientific terms. The vocabulary (called
terminology) of a subject is the group of
words (called terms) that are typically used
when discussing it.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 12
 Terminography (cont.)
 Terminology refers to a technical
vocabulary, i.e. a collection of terms which
has a certain coherence because the terms
belong to a single subject area.
 The conceptual system underlying terms
belonging to a subject field or domain show
such a close generic, hierarchical or
associative relationship that it is
impossible to regard them as common
words belonging to the general vocabulary
of the layperson.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 13
Terminological relationships

B asic term in olog ical relation s

E q u ivalen t relation

P referred term S yn on ym Q u asi-syn on ym

alim en tary can al d ig estive tract g astroin testin al tract

Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 14
Terminological relations:
B a s ic te rm in o lo g ic a l re la tio n s

H ie ra rc h ic a l re la tio n

G e n e ric re la tio n S u b s e t re la tio n

a n im a l

d og cat d on key e le p h a n t

B o xe r A ls a tia n S ia m e s e P e rs ia n B u rm e s e

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Terminological relations:
B a s ic T e r m in o lo g ic a l r e la t io n s

H ie r a r c h ic a l r e la t io n

G e n e r ic r e la t io n S u b s e t r e la t io n

S o u t h A fr ic a

G a u te n g

P r e t o r ia

M a m e lo d i

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 Terminological relations:

B asic Term inological relations

A ssociative relation

insect insecticide insect repellant herb herbal herbalist

Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 17

 Terminography (cont.)
 Terminology is concerned with the study and
use of the systems of symbols and linguistic
signs employed for human communication in
specialised areas of knowledge and
activities (Sager 1990)
 Terminology is the study of the field of
activity concerned with the collection,
description, processing and presentation of
terms, which have a certain coherence
because the terms belong to specialised
areas of usage in one or more languages (cf.
Sager 1990) Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 18
Terminography (cont.)
 A term is a visual, linguistic or
non-linguistic representation of a mental
concept and can be any of the following:
 single term, compound word, phrase,
collocation, numeral, acronym, letter word,
abbreviation, chemical symbol, formula,
barcode, icon, mnemonic sign, etc.

Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 19

 Terminography (cont.)
 Terminology is discussed in the context of linguistics,
information science, computational linguistics, etc.
 Terminology/terminography can be regarded as a
number of practices that have evolved around the
creation of terms, their collection, explication,
presentation and dissemination.
 Terminography is an interdisciplinary practice linking
linguistics, logic, ontology and information sciences
with a variety of different subject areas and domains.
 The common element being the concern with the
formal organisation of the complex relationships
between concepts and terms.
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Terminological triangle

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 rectangle
reghoek
unxande
uxande
calandze, irekthengeli
uncamane, uhlangothine
khutlonnetsepa
A rectangle is a shape which has four rekthenkele
sides and four angles, each of which is a rekithiengele
right angle. Each side has the same yinhla-dzi-mune, rhekithengele
length as the side opposite to it.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 22
 Terminography (cont.)
 Terminology has a restricted register
 The conceptual system of sciences is more
systematic and exact than that of the
general environment
 Definitions remain extremely important since
they describe the meaning of concepts
 Definitions serve to standardise terms
especially in scientific and technical
language. Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 23
Definition: The terms arsonist and
pyromaniac describe a person
who sets fire to an object, but:
 Arsonist  Pyromaniac
An arsonist is a A pyromaniac is a
criminal who person who cannot
deliberately sets control the desire to
fire to something, set fire to things,
especially a often because of a
building mental illness
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 24
 Terminography (cont.)
 The terminology (vocabulary) of a subject is
the group of terms (words) that are typically
used in the specific subject.
 A dictionary containing terms is known as:
 a technical dictionary,
 a subject dictionary,
 a term list,
 a terminological dictionary or
 a dictionary for specialised purposes
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 25
 Terminography (cont.)
 Terms are the linguistic representation of
concepts (Sager 1990)
 A technical dictionary contains the
standardised terms of a particular subject or
domain
 Technical dictionaries are therefore subject-
oriented
 Terminology is divided by subject field before
it is ordered in any other way
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Terminography (cont.)
 Terminology work is concept oriented
 Point of departure: concept
 Principally subject oriented rather than
language oriented
 One to one relation between concept and
term for exact communication
 Terminology is a standardising process

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Similarities
 There is no crucial difference between
common language and specialised
(technical) language – it is merely a
continuum of registers, where words
gradually change into terms and where
meanings gradually become more specific.
 In a holistic sense workers in both
professions use the same basic principles
and procedures to record and disseminate.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 28
Similarities (cont.)
 Lexicography and terminography are
methodological facets of the profession with
its first objective the systematic description
and documentation of the usage of words or
terms of a specific language community with
its discernible culture and subcultures.
 The typology of the products shows that
both professions compile monolingual,
bilingual and multilingual dictionaries.
 These products can be explanatory or
merely translating dictionaries.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 29
Similarities (cont.)
 Documents the words/terms of a language
according to the spelling and orthography rules
of the given language.
 Macrostructure:
 Alphabetical; retrograde
 Unidirectional; bidirectional
 Front matter; central matter; back matter
 Microstructure:
 Explicit information
 Implicit information
 Information classes
 Mediostructure:
 Cross-referencing system
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 30
 M E DIO S TRUCTURA L E NTRIE S

FRO NT M A TTE R CE NTRA L TE X T B A CK M A TTE R

A - Z

S UB TE X TS

Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 31

Similarities (cont.)
 The same basic methods are being used to
describe the concept designated by the
basic word or term.
 Therefore the process of lexicography and
terminography can be placed on a
continuous scale.
 This continuum stretches from context-
dependent meanings in lexicography to
context-free meanings in terminography
(see Cluver 1992).
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 32
 Similarities (cont.)
 Instead of dividing language in different
registers, it could reflect a scale on which
language functions – from informal (slang,
vulgar) to the highly formal registers (science,
technology) with various shades in between.
 The different shades implicate different grades
of standardisation (i.e. some registers in
terminology where standardisation is difficult)
and general language where it is difficult to
regulate (e.g. emotive connotations)
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 33
 Lexicography
Differences
 Terminography
 Documents the words  Documents the terminology of
of language(s). subject fields, domains,
 Accepts the disciplines.
arbitrariness of the  Strives to systematise principles
sign. of designation and to name
 The aim is to concepts according to pre-
document, describe specified principles.
and preserve the  The aim is to concentrate on a
vocabulary and its representation of the terminology
derivations within of language for special purposes.
general language Attention is given to user needs
usage. for information on a specific,
marked area of human activity.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 34
 Differences (cont.)
 Lexicography  Terminography
 Point of departure:  Point of departure:
language subject field/domain
 Interested in spoken and  Interested mainly in
written form of language written form of language
 Descriptive approach,  Prescriptive approach,
describe and preserve describe concepts by
 Records all the words of means of definitions and
a given language terms to standardise
(common, colloquial, jargon,  Records terms of
dialects, slang, vulgar,
archaic, literature, different subject fields,
specialised) domains and disciplines
(polythematic)
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 35
 Differences (cont.)
 Lexicography  Terminography
 Semasiological  Onomasiological
(meaning) approach (naming) approach
which starts at the which starts at the
word and looks for its concept and creates
meaning a name (term) for the
concept
Emotional connotations  Terms are exact: One
could be attached to concept equals one
words, resulting in a term. No emotional
shift of meaning connotations to be
attached to terms.
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 36
Conclusion
 Several similarities between Lexicography
and Terminography
 Distinct professions with clearly demarcated
working areas, several differences
 The points of departure and methods of
work differ
 The functions of the terminographer cannot
be taken over by a lexicographer and vice
versa
Copyrighted: Dr Mariëtta Alberts 37
Thank you!
[email protected]
Tel: +27 (0)12 341 9638
Fax: +27 (0)12 341 5938