Terminology is the study of terms and their use — of words and compound words that are used in specific contexts. A word is a unit of language that carries meaning and consists of one or more morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together, and has a phonetical value. ... A compound is a word (lexeme) that consists of more than one free morpheme. ... ConTeXt is a document preparation system based on the TeX typesetting system. ...

Terminology also denotes a more formal discipline which systematically studies the labelling or designating of concepts particular to one or more subject fields or domains of human activity, through research and analysis of terms in context, for the purpose of documenting and promoting correct usage. This study can be limited to one language or can cover more than one language at the same time (multilingual terminology, bilingual terminology, and so forth). A concept is an abstract idea or a mental symbol, typically associated with a corresponding representation in language or symbology, that denotes all of the objects in a given category or class of entities, interactions, phenomena, or relationships between them. ...

Overview

The discipline of terminology is based on its own theoretical principles and consists primarily of the following aspects:

• analysing the concepts and concept structures used in a field or domain of activity
• identifying the terms assigned to the concepts
• in the case of bilingual or multilingual terminology, establishing correspondences between terms in the various languages
• compiling the terminology, on paper or in databases
• managing terminology databases
• creating new terms, as required

In computing , a database can be defined as a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer so that a program can consult it to answer queries. ...

Types of terminology

A distinction is made between two types of terminology:

• Ad hoc terminology, which deals with a single term or a limited number of terms
• Systematic terminology, which deals with all the terms in a specific subject field or domain of activity

Ad hoc terminology is prevalent in the translation profession, where a translation for a specific term (or group of terms) is required quickly to solve a particular translation problem. Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Terminology as a discipline

As a discipline, terminology is related to translation, alongside which it is often taught in universities and translation schools. Large translation departments and translation bureaus will often have a terminology section, or will require translators to do terminology research. Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Typology

Terminology is also defined by context, the study of terms primarily concerned with organizing them by the context in which they are used. These contexts may include:

• Military terminology
• Political terminology
• Scientific terminology
• Technical terminology

Rumsfeld (DoD) and Franks (CJCS). ... International Scientific Vocabulary (or ISV) is a form of vocabulary comprising scientific words whose language of origin may or may not be certain, but which are in current use in several modern languages among scientists. ... Technical terminology is the specialised vocabulary of a profession or of some other activity to which a group of people dedicate significant parts of their lives (for instance, hobbies or a particular segment of industry). ...

See also

• Concept
• Glossary
• Interpreting
• Jargon
• Lexicography
• Specialised lexicography
• Translation
• Terminology planning policy

A concept is an abstract idea or a mental symbol, typically associated with a corresponding representation in language or symbology, that denotes all of the objects in a given category or class of entities, interactions, phenomena, or relationships between them. ... Look up glossary in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that Interpreter (communication) be merged into this article or section. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The dictionary is a list of words with their definitions, a list of characters with their glyphs, or a list of words with corresponding words in other languages. ... Specialised lexicography (also spelled specialized lexicography) is a an academic discipline that is concerned with the design, compilation, use and evaluation of specialized dictionaries. ... Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Terminology planning is a planning activity for developing domain communication largely according to the needs and requirements of knowledge representation. ...

External links

• Terminology from the Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec website