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Linguistic modeling of
professional terminology
Olga Klevtsova,
Tyumen State University,
Russia
Terminological research focuses on:
•revealing the formal morphological
structure,
•semantics,
•interpretation specifics of terms,
•regarding conceptual and logical essence
of a terminological system
(D. Lotte, S. Shelov, V. Leichik, S. Grinev, A.
Gerd, V. Tabanakova, L. Ivina…)
The current research aims at:
a systematic
step by step description of
multilevel linguistic modeling of
professional terminology.
Modeling
•a way to identify the certain strategies or
principles for linguistic organization of
professional terminology or subject domain;
•sustainable in various professional subject
domains, regardless of the size and volume of an
abstract/fragment under study.
The source of the research:
•analysis of the existing theoretical basis
•practical application of theoretical conceptions to
subject domains of:
•medicine (cardiology terms),
•geophysics,
•ecology (the concept of an ecosystem),
•legal sphere (the concept of legal process),
•finance (securities; economic terms; economic ratios),
•video production,
•telecommunications.
A multi-level strategy of terminological
analysis
•the glossary compilation;
•category distribution;
•component analysis;
•frame and slot distribution of the semantic
components/extralinguistic correlation;
•lexico-semantic field interpretation;
•consideration of paradigmatic relations;
•consideration of structural characteristics of terms;
•identification of models for translingual interpretation
(English/Russian – Russian/English).
The first level
professional terms can be extracted from all
types of sources comprising manuals, scientific
articles, encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauruses,
specification documents, reference books by
means of general selection procedure
The second level
term typology: specifying general scientific,
general technical, interdisciplinary, and special
terms. Etymological categorization reveals archaic
terms and neologisms, as some concepts get lost
and others arise due to the evolution of scientific
views. Archaic terms can acquire new meaning or
become part of new units.
The third level
the component analysis based on dictionary
definitions essentially established on the logics
with an indication of the closest generic or
specific category, distinguishing the defined
concept from all other concepts of the same class
The fourth level
cognitive structures (frames and slots reflecting
cognitive activity in a professional/subject domain
(a fragment or a collection of fragments of
knowledge or socio-cultural experience in a
particular functional sphere)
The fifth level
the compilation of a lexico-semantic field
comprising lexical units (terms) united by a
semantic invariant and differentiated by some
semes. This complex structure can be subdivided
into lexico-semantic groups, representing
correlation of language phenomena and
extralinguistic realia
The sixth level
the study of paradigmatic relations inside lexicosemantic fields such as semantic clusters
centered around generic terms (including
derivatives and terminological groups);
polysemantic units; synonyms; antonyms
The seventh level
the mechanisms of term-building:
•semantic (terminologisation, generalization or
specification of a common word meaning),
morphological (suffixation, prefixation, affixation,
blending, abbreviation, letter terms)
•syntactic (composite terms and terminological
groups).
The eighth level
the process of term interpretation as 1) a process
of translingual and intercultural communication;
2) translingual transformation accompanied by
functional, semantic and structural identity.
The task of an interpreter is to identify semantic
correspondence between lexical units of different
languages denoting the same specific concept. To
make the procedure easier an interpreter might
make use of a borrowed term, lexico-grammatical
transformations, or description of attributes of a
special concept.
•the glossary
•category distribution (interdisciplinary terms, special terms,
borrowed terms)
•etymological categorization (archaic terms, neologisms)
•generic and specific semantic components in term
definitionsframe and slot distribution /extralinguistic
correlationlexico-semantic fields for frame-slot realization
•paradigmatic relations inside the fields
•generic terms, polysemy, synonymy, antonymy
•structural characteristics of termssimple/derivative/composite 1word terms(nouns, adjectives, verbs), terminological groups
(morphological types), abbreviations, letter terms
•models of translingual interpretation (English/Russian –
Russian/English)
Such multi-level modeling strategy can be
employed for the analysis of any fragment of a
professional subject domain. The current
description provides a complex linguistic sociocognitive approach to the study of terms,
revealing their dynamic, interdisciplinary
character.
Thank you for attention