ARCHIVED Handbook of Terminology - Glossary

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Alphabetical index – Handbook of Terminology

Navigation menu providing access to the glossary terms, arranged in alphabetical order.

abbreviation: The act of removing one or more components of a word or phrase by clipping, acronymy, initializing, or blending. The designation formed by omitting words or letters from a longer designation. Examples: laboratory = lab; stagflation = stagnation +
inflation; World Wide Web = web, www.

acronym: An abbreviation composed of the initial letters or syllables of a compound term and which is pronounced as a single word. Examples: Disk Operating System = DOS; L'ATelier du TERminologue = LATTER.

anchor word: The term with which a terminological definition begins, and which designates the concept that is broader than the one being defined, thus showing the latter's relative position in a concept system. cf. genus.

antonym: Any of a pair of terms designating opposite concepts.

applied computational linguistics: see language engineering

applied linguistics: The branch of linguistics concerned with practical applications of language studies, with particular emphasis on the communicative function of language, and including such professional practices as lexicography, terminology, general or technical translation, language teaching (general or specialized language, mother tongue or second language), writing, interpretation, and computer processing of language.

artificial intelligence: A branch of information science aiming at computational models of human cognition, such as expert systems.

associative relationship: The relationship between two concepts having a non-hierarchical thematic connection based on spatial or temporal proximity, such as the relationship between a container and its contents, an activity and the tool used to perform the activity, a cause and its effect, a producer and its product, an organization and the building in which it is located, etc.

base list: A list of terms, symbols and formulas designating the nodes of a concept diagram, established for the purpose of researching the terminology of a given subject field.

blending: The creation of a word (called a "blend") by combining a word or word part with another word or word part. Examples: smog from smoke and fog; email from electronic mail; simulcast from simultaneous broadcast.

borrowing: In specialized languages, the adoption of a terminology unit from one language or subject field for use in another. Examples: découpage – English term of French origin; virus, inoculate – virology terms used in computer security.

broader concept: see superordinate concept

cancellation: A transaction resulting in the removal of a terminology record from the database.

characteristic: An abstraction of a property of an object or of a set of objects, used for describing a concept. Examples: essential,
non-essential, delimiting, intrinsic, extrinsic characteristic. Also semantic feature.

classification system: A structured scheme for categorizing knowledge, entities or objects to improve access or study, created according to alphabetical, associative, hierarchical, numerical, ideological, spatial, chronological, or other criteria.

code: An alphabetic, numeric or alphanumeric abbreviation or symbol entered as a value in certain fields of a terminology record. Examples: record-originator code; reviser code; source code; subject-field code.

cognitive science: The study of human intelligence and of the symbol-processing nature of cognition.

comparative terminology: The study, in relation to a given subject field, of terms designating a specialized concept in two or more languages, with a view to determining their equivalence.

composition: The process of creating new terms by joining established words, affixes, or combining forms. Examples: cyberspace; nonbiodegradable; webcast.

computational linguistics: The branch of cognitive sciences and theoretical linguistics concerned with the computational aspects of the human language faculty. See also language engineering.

concept: A unit of knowledge abstracted from a set of characteristics attributed to a class of objects, relations, or entities.

concept analysis: The analysis required to identify and determine the scope of a concept designated by a given term as it is used in a particular subject field. Also conceptual analysis.

concept diagram: The graphic representation, often in the form of a tree diagram or a rake diagram, of a concept system.

concept harmonization: An activity whose purpose is to eliminate minor differences between two concepts which are closely related to each other.

concept system: A set of concepts structured according to the logical relationships among them. Also conceptual system; system of concepts.

concept-to-term approach: The study of the means of naming a concept. Also onomasiological approach.

concordancer: Software that counts and lists the occurrences of a given term, together with its co-occurrents, in the text corpus compiled for vocabulary research.

consultation: The process of seeking information from a file or from a specialist. Examples: consultation of TERMIUM^®; consultation of a source; consultation of a specialist.

content: The substantive or meaningful part of the information stored in a database for consultation by users.

content management: All of the processes and activities (analysis, evaluation and diagnosis of existing collections, planning and performance of terminological activities) that have as their objective the creation, development and maintenance of a terminology file, database or data bank in one or more specialized subject fields.

content manager: A person or team responsible for the content management of a terminology file, database or data bank.

content provider: A person or company that creates, structures, and delivers informational products. Also content supplier.

context: The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word and determines its meaning. A type of textual support on a terminology record that provides information about the semantic features of a concept or the use of a term. Examples: defining context; explanatory context; associative context.

co-occurrent: An element of discourse (e.g. a word) that frequently appears in combination with a given term in a particular subject field. Also phraseologism.

corpus: A collection of selected written texts assembled for the purpose of performing terminological analysis.

correction: A transaction in a terminology database which, contrary to a modification, involves only the appearance of a record. Example: typographical error.

data bank: A collection of logically interrelated databases organized in such a way that it can be consulted by many users.

database: A collection of logically interrelated data accessible using appropriate software.

database manager: The component of a computer system that handles the organization, storage and extraction of the data and that interprets queries made against the database.

data entry: The process in which a human operator keys the information recorded on a terminology record into a file, database or data bank.

data-entry protocol: A form on which instructions for the data entry of a particular set of terminological data are provided to a data-entry service.

data recording: The action of entering on a terminology record the information acquired about a concept during terminological analysis.

definition: A dictionary-style statement that describes the concept designated by a term. A type of textual support on a terminology record that helps establish the textual match between languages by stating the delimiting characteristics of a concept.

derivation: The process of forming new words from an existing base by adding affixes. Example: digital–digitize.

designation: The sign denoting a concept, such as a term, phrase, abbreviation, formula or symbol. Example: water = H₂O. Also designator.

digitization: The conversion of images, characters, or sounds to digital codes so that the information may be processed or stored by a computer system.

discussion group: A group of Internet users who hold a dialogue on topics of mutual interest by exchanging open e-mail messages on an Internet site.

documentary search: A systematic and thorough search for written material on a specific subject area. Also documentation search.

documentation of usage: The citation of a text demonstrating the use of a term in an original-language source.

electronic library: A library whose holdings have been digitized and made available to users via terminals installed on-site.

electronic publishing: The production of documents using computerized means such as word-processing and desktop-publishing software, and the distribution of the documents in a format, including hypertext, that is accessible by computer.

entry term: One of the terms designating the concept dealt with on a terminology record. The term which heads a terminological entry in a vocabulary.

entry word: A word listed in a lexicographical reference work and which begins an entry block containing information about the meaning and usage of the word. Also headword.

false synonym: see pseudo-synonym

field: A specified area of a record used for recording one particular class of data elements. Examples: definition field; source field; subject-field field.

formulation: The process of creating and expressing a definition in accordance with accepted terminological principles. Also writing.

general language: The spoken or written system of communication used by a particular community or country. cf. specialized language.

generic concept: The superordinate concept in a generic relationship.

generic relationship: The hierarchical relationship between a general concept and a series of subordinate concepts that inherit its properties but which are distinguished from one another by at least one delimiting characteristic. Also genus-species relationship.

genus: A class of objects which have common semantic features and which can be divided into subordinate kinds.

genus-species relationship: see generic relationship

glossary: A list of terms that pertains to a specific subject field, together with equivalents (but no definitions) in one or more languages. A monolingual list of difficult or specialized terms with their definitions, often placed at the back of a book.

handbook: A compact reference book giving the essential information in a given field of study.

headword: see entry word

hierarchical relationship: A relationship between two concepts where one of the concepts is broader than the other.

homonym: A word or term with the same spelling as another but with a different meaning. Example: sound (noise) and sound (stretch of water).

hyperlink: A logical connection from a hypertext file or document to another location or file, typically activated by selecting a specially marked word or image at a particular location on the screen.

hypernym: see superordinate term

hyperonym: see superordinate term

hypertext: A method of presenting computerized information that allows the display of documents in an associative way that mimics the human structuring of ideas, as opposed to the linear model of speech or writing.

hyponym: see subordinate term

indexer: Software that extracts significant words in a text and assembles them into an alphabetical list, together with technical information required to retrieve the texts corresponding to each entry in the list. Also indexing software.

information medium: The physical support on which information can be recorded, stored, or distributed.

initialism: An abbreviation made up of the initial letters of the components of the full form of a designation or from syllables of the full form, and pronounced letter by letter.

initialization: The abbreviation of a complex designation by retaining only the initials of the component words.

knowledge: An integrated collection of facts and relationships which, when exercised, produces competent performance.

knowledge engineer: A computer specialist concerned with acquiring knowledge from subject-field experts and other knowledge sources and incorporating it into a knowledge base.

knowledge engineering: The discipline concerned with the application of computer systems to problems of human endeavour such as thinking, learning, problem solving, decision making, and knowledge transfer.

knowledge structure: A structure such as a script, a plan, a list, or a diagram designed for classifying knowledge so that it makes sense to its intended users.

knowledge worker: A professional who applies his or her intellectual capacities to the acquisition, processing, management, and communication of knowledge.

language dictionary: A reference book containing an alphabetical list of the lexical items of a language, together with their meanings, descriptions of their use or other linguistic information. cf. glossary, vocabulary.

language engineering: The applied component of computational linguistics that focusses on the practical outcome of modelling human language use (natural language processing, terminology databases, textual and multimedia information retrieval systems, machine translation, multilingual knowledge acquisition, voice recognition, etc. Also applied computational linguistics.

language industry: Sector of activity dedicated to designing, producing, and marketing tools, products, or services related to computerized language processing.

language information service: A linguistic service responsible for responding to requests for information submitted by clients. Also SVP service.

language management: The systematic organization of activities aimed at developing, improving, implementing and disseminating language features (including terminology) that reflect modern society.

language notice: A means of informing the affected user community of a decision made by an authorized individual or organization with regard to recommended or deprecated terminology usage. Also official language notice.

language planning: Official actions taken to modernize a language.

language professional: A person practicing a profession in the area of languages, particularly in a discipline of theoretical, applied, or computational linguistics (such as language teaching, lexicography, terminology, translation, or interpretation). Also language worker.

level of language: The particular social context with which the use of a given term or expression is associated, as indicated by a stylistic label where applicable. Examples: jargon; familiar; scientific; popular. Also language level.

lexicalization: The process by which a group of words comes to be fixed by usage and to behave as a single lexical item. Examples: information highway; sweet potato.

lexicography: The science or practice of compiling dictionaries, based on a study of the form, meaning, and behaviour of the words in a given language.

lexicology: The study of the history, form, and meaning of words.

linguistics: The study of the structures, sounds, forms, functions and varieties of specific languages and of human speech in general.

loading: The process of transferring terminological data from input media (e.g. records, processed vocabularies, glossaries, scanned texts) into a central terminology database.

localization: The adaptation of a product to a target language and culture.

modification: A transaction in a terminology database for the purpose of improving the form or substance of an existing terminology record.

monolingual terminology: The study of specialized concepts and of their designations in a single language.

monosemy: The relationship between designations and concepts in a given language in which one designation only relates to one concept.

narrower concept: see subordinate concept

neologism: A newly created term or a term that has been given a new meaning.

new record: A transaction that results in the addition of a record dealing with a concept previously missing from a terminology file or database.

node: The end of a branch or the point of intersection of two or more branches of a tree diagram. Examples: generic node; specific node; terminal node; root node.

object: A physical or abstract entity that is recognized by its attributes or properties.

observation: A type of textual support on a terminology record that comments on or clarifies a concept or the use of a term.

official language notice: see language notice

official status: The status of a term that has been the subject of authoritative review and recommendation.

official title: The accepted designation of an organization, program, administrative or other entity. Note: Official titles often have an abbreviation.

on-line search service: A documentary-search service giving access to computerized information holdings through querying terminals.

online tutorial: An interactive electronic course that presents new knowledge units to a student in a predetermined order, and attemps to monitor the student's progress in mastering new knowledge.

onomasiological approach: see concept-to-term approach

optical character reader: A device for scanning documents by identifying alphanumeric characters using photoelectric devices and software and producing coded signals for computer processing or storage.

parameter: Any of the data elements entered on a terminology record to qualify the usage or status of a term. Parameters may be terminological (usage labels, grammatical labels, acceptability ratings) or technical (e.g. "standardized").

partial synonym: see quasi-synonym

partitive relationship: The hierarchical relationship between a superordinate concept constituting the whole and the subordinate concepts that are parts of that whole. Also part-whole relationship.

phrase: A group of words forming a syntactic unit. Also syntagm.

phraseologism: see co-occurrent

phraseology: The set of expressions surrounding terms in discourse, including the nouns, verbs, and adjectives commonly co-occurring with a term.

polysemy: A relationship between designations and concepts in a given language in which one designation represents two or more concepts sharing certain characteristics.

proofreading: A content-management activity performed by the terminologist following the data entry of a record for the purpose of confirming that the captured data respect the established data-recording rules and terminology research principles.

pseudo-synonym: A designation incorrectly used for a given concept as a result of misunderstanding correct usage, confusion between a generic and a specific, etc. Example: Y2K virus instead of Y2K bug. Also false synonym.

quality assurance: All of the planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service satisfies the quality requirements established to maintain client confidence.

quasi-synonym: A term that designates the same concept as another, but which is not interchangeable with the other term in all contexts as its use is limited to certain communication situations. Also partial synonym.

querying: The entry of search commands to retrieve relevant terminological data from a database according to the criteria specified. Examples: querying by term; querying by subject field.

querying terminal: A computer or computer terminal connected to a telecommunications system and allowing users to send requests to and receive information from a database.

quotation: A passage taken from a source text and entered on a terminology record, with reference to the source.

record-completion guide: A reference document that systematically presents the rules to be followed when entering terminological data on records. Example: TERMIUM^® record-completion guide.

research methodology: All of the techniques, methods and procedures adopted in terminology work to carry out terminology research.

reviser: A person who contributes to quality assurance by reviewing the form and substance of a terminology record and conveying comments to the record originator so that improvements can be made.

scanning for terms: see term extraction

search engine: Software allowing the user to search for information in a database or on the Internet.

semantic feature: see characteristic

semantics: The study of meaning and the development of meanings of words.

semasiological approach: see word-to-meaning approach

single-concept principle: The principle that a terminology record should deal with one concept only and that all data relating to a given concept should be consolidated on one record.

software: The programs, procedures, rules and associated documentation needed to operate an information processing system.

source: Any person or organization providing information or any written work used to document a term, formulate a definition, quote a context, etc., in terminology work.

specialist: A person who possesses in-depth and extensive knowledge of a particular area of study. Also subject-field specialist.

specialized language: Natural language used by a community of subject specialists in a particular field of knowledge. Also special language.

specialized lexicography: Lexicography dealing with the vocabulary of a specialized language.

specific concept: The concept in a generic relationship that has the broader intension and that inherits semantic features from its hierarchically superior generic concept.

specific difference: Property or semantic feature that distinguishes a specific concept from others of the same class.

spell checker: A word-processing program that is used to highlight and correct misspellings. Also spelling checker.

spelling variant: A term whose spelling differs only slightly from that of another term designating the same concept.

standard: The result of the work of a terminology standardization committee concerning a concept, a term, or a specialized vocabulary and sometimes disseminated as a standardization notice that includes terms and their definitions.

standardization: The selection, approval, and dissemination of one or more terms by a recognized standardizing body, for the purpose of promoting preferred usage or discouraging deprecated usage in the target community.

subject field: The carefully delineated sphere of human activity in which vocabulary research is carried out.

subject-field breakdown: The graphical representation, often in the form of a tree diagram, of the component subdivisions of a subject field.

subject-field classification: The organization of the subject fields and subfields dealt with in a terminology file, database, or data bank into a logical structure.

subject-field specialist: see specialist

subordinate concept: The specific concept in a generic-specific relationship, or the part concept in a part-whole relationship. Also narrower concept.

subordinate term: A term that has a hierarchical relationship to another term whose semantic range is broader than and encompasses its own. Also hyponym.

superordinate concept: The generic concept in a generic-specific relationship, or the whole concept in a part-whole relationship. Also broader concept.

superordinate term: A term that has a hierarchical relationship to another term whose semantic range is more restricted. Also hyperonym; hypernym.

SVP service: see language information service

synonym: A term designating the same concept as another in the same language and which can be used interchangeably with the other term in all contexts. Also true synonym.

syntactic variant: A term whose syntactic form differs only slightly from that of another term designating the same concept. Example: competency certificate, certificate of competency.

syntagm: see phrase

system of concepts: see concept system

tautology: The repetition, in the definition, of information already provided by the term designating the concept. Note: Tautology constitutes a fault in the writing of the definition.

term: A word (simple term), multiword expression (complex term), symbol or formula that designates a particular concept within a given subject field. Also terminology unit.

term extraction: The careful reading of a corpus and selection of terms, normally with contexts, for recording on terminology records. Also scanning for terms.

term formation: The creation of terminology units in a specialized language.

term harmonization: An activity leading to the designation of one concept, often in different languages, by terms which reflect the same or similar characteristics or have the same or a slightly different form.

term identification: The part of term extraction that involves the recognition and selection of designations.

terminological analysis: The analysis of terms in context and of the concepts designated by them within a given subject field in order to determine their interrelationships.

terminological data: Any information relating to a term or the concept designated. Note: The more common terminological data include the entry term, equivalents, alternate terms, definitions, contexts, sources, usage labels, and subject fields.

terminological definition: A brief statement providing a clear understanding of a specialized term.

terminological entry: The part of a terminological product which contains the terminological data related to one concept.

terminological product: The result of terminology work, such as a record, file, database, glossary, vocabulary, standard, official language notice, etc.

terminologist: A language professional specialized in terminology.

terminologization: The process by which a general-language word or expression is transformed into a term in a special language.

terminology: The set of special words belonging to a science, an art, an author, or a social entity. The language discipline dedicated to the scientific study of the concepts and terms used in specialized languages.

terminology approval: The process by which an official-approval committee in a company, department or other administrative unit approves a set of terms (and, in some cases, their definitions) for the purpose of establishing preferred usage for a particular user community. Also validation.

terminology case file: A terminological-analysis tool in which textual information, specialists' opinions and personal observations concerning a given concept are collected for study.

terminology committee: A group of subject or language specialists assembled to review research findings and recommend terminology and, in some cases, definitions.

terminology file: A collection of terminology records that are logically linked through the use of a common format, retrieval module, and set of record-completion rules.

terminology record: A medium for recording, in a structured set of fields, the terminological data for a specialized concept.

terminology research: The search for, analysis, synthesis, recording, and processing of terminological data relevant to one or more concepts. Also terminological research.

terminology standard: The result of the work of a terminology standardization committee concerning a term or specialized vocabulary and sometimes distributed as a standardization notice.

terminology standardization board: A terminology committee composed of members drawn from a number of organizations and mandated by a standardizing body to review comprehensive research findings on terms relating to a given subject area for purposes of standardizing usage.

terminology unit: see term

terminology work: Work concerned with the systematic collection, description, processing, and presentation of concepts and their designations, for the purpose of documenting and promoting correct usage.

text-alignment tool: Software that allows comparison of parallel texts (often a source-language text and its translation) by displaying them side by side based on correspondences established between text units (e.g. paragraphs, sentences, words). Also text aligner.

textual match: The correspondence of semantic features found in contexts or definitions, used to demonstrate that all data recorded on the record deal with a single concept.

textual support: A statement that provides the user of a terminological product with information about a specialized concept or about the usage of the terms designating the concept.

transaction: An electronic operation that changes the contents of a database by adding, modifying, transferring or deleting data.

true synonym: see synonym

updating: The content-management activity encompassing operations performed on a terminology database to ensure that quality-assurance requirements are met and that the information is up to date, including the deletion of duplicate, erroneous, or out-of-date records, the modification of existing records, and the addition of new records to provide missing information.

usage: The way in which a term is actually used by subject-field specialists.

usage label: A label on a terminology record that qualifies the usage of a given term according to some factor such as currency of use, locality, social context, etc.

usage sample: A type of textual support on a terminology record that consists of a brief quotation illustrating the use of a term in a given subject field, without providing any of the semantic features of the concept designated by the term.

user: A person who regularly makes use of a database.

validation: see terminology approval

validation: The content-management activity that involves checking that the terminology records to be loaded into a database respect the data-recording rules established for that database, before transactions are effected.

virtual compartment: A subdivision of a database whose contents belong to a user other than the owner or manager of the remainder of the database's contents.

virtual library: A collection of machine-readable documents made available through an Internet site.

vocabulary: A list of terms relating to a specific subject field, together with equivalents and definitions (or explanations) in two or more languages. cf. glossary, language dictionary.

vocabulary research: In-depth terminology research carried out on the terms and concepts specific to a given subject field.

word-to-meaning approach: The study of words with a view to finding all of their meanings. Also semasiological approach.

work tool: A document, device or computer program used by professionals in the performance of their functions.

workstation: Computer system integrating a set of work tools designed to assist language professionals in the performance of their functions.

writing: see formulation