Peculiarities of use of special terminology

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Introduction
1. Terminology
1.1 Definition of “Terminology” and “Term”
1.2 The functions and aims of terminology and terms
2. Peculiarities of use of special terminology
2.1 Terminology and specialized communication
2.2 Peculiarities of use of terms
Conclusion
References

A large majority of documents today are designed for specialist communication. They are thus written in specialist language, 30-80% of which is composed of terminology. In other words, terminology is the main vehicle by which facts, opinions and other units of knowledge are represented and conveyed. Sound terminology work reduces ambiguity and increases clarity - in other words, the quality of specialist communication depends to a large extent on the quality of the terminology employed, and terminology can thus be a safety factor, a quality factor and a productivity factor in its own right.
The communication of specialist knowledge and information, whether monolingual or multilingual, is thus irretrievably bound up with the creation and dissemination of terminological resources and with te rminology management in the widest sense of the word. Terminology as an academic discipline offers concepts and methodologies for high-quality and effective knowledge representation and transfer.
The objective of the research paper is to examine the peculiarities of use of special terminology. To achieve the objective we need to realise the following tasks:
- to clarify the definition of terminology;
- to analyse the functions and aims of terminology;
- to define the main peculiarities of use of special terminology.

According to the needs of these two groups, terminology can be said to have two dimensions which are closely related: a communicative dimension and a linguistic dimension. For the first group, terminology is a tool for communication. For the second, it is the target of their work.Terms are generally associated with a definite branch of science and therefore with a series of other terms belonging to that particular branch of science. They always come in clusters, either in a text on the subject to which they belong, or in special dictionaries which, unlike general dictionaries, make a careful selection of terms. All these clusters of terms form the nomenclature, or system of names, for the objects of study of any particular branch of science. Terms are characterized by a tendency to be monosemantic and therefore easily call forth the required concept. Terms may appear in scientific style, newspaper style, the belles-lettres style, etc.Terms no longer fulfill their basic function, that of bearing an exact reference to a given notion or concept. Their function is either to indicate the technical peculiarities of the subject dealt with, or to make some references to the occupation of a character whose language would naturally contain special words and expressions. A term has a stylistic function when it is used to create an atmosphere or to characterize a person [13, p.12].Terms can be more or less complex lexical units that are generated following several processes:The extension of the meaning of a word in the standard language (for instance, “mouse” in computing terminology is a device that allows the user to interact with the computer).Generation of a phrase that functions as a whole with one specialized meaning (superconducting magnet).Symbolic expressions, as chemical element symbols (Na) or chemical and mathematical formulas (H2SO4).Abbreviations (PVC) and acronyms (NATO, from North Atlantic Treaty Organization).Names of post (Prime Minister), organizations or administrations (United Nations, Prime Minister).The border line between word and term is drawn by the use of the lexical unit in a specialized field of knowledge with a specialized meaning or not. That is why a certain level of specialized knowledge is needed to recognize a term (we will only know that mouse is a term if we know the computing terminology).2. Peculiarities of use of special terminology2.1 Terminology and specialized communicationSpecialized communication differs from general communication in two ways: in the type of oral or written texts it produces, and in the use of a specific terminology. The use of standardized terminology helps to make communication between specialists more efficient. The criteria they use to evaluate specialized texts are not the same as those used to evaluate general texts. In general texts, expression, variety and originality prevail over other features; in specialized texts, concision, precision and suitability are the relevant criteria [15, p.22]. For example, a scientific text must be concise because concision reduces the possibility of distortions in the information. It must also be precise because of the nature of scientific and technical topics and the functional relations among specialists.Finally, it must be appropriate or suitable to the communicative situation in which it is produced so that, depending on the circumstances of each situation, every text is adapted to the characteristics of the interlocutors and their level of knowledge about the topic, introducing more or less redundancy according to need. Terminology plays a major role in achieving these three objectives. On the one hand, the original terms used to name a specialized concept are usually concise; the use of a term instead of a paraphrase contributes to precision; and finally, the use of standardized terminology is the best resource that specialists have to refer to an area of specialization which they share. 2.1 Peculiarities of use of termsIn order to establish the limit between term and word and correctly use it, it is important to know the characteristics of terms in a specialized language. The characteristics of terms are precision, emotional neutrality and stability over time [5, p.8]. For instance, “aplasia” is a medical term meaning incomplete or faulty development of an organ; it is monosemic which implies precision; it is neutral emotionally; and finally, it is stable over time since it has been used without any variation in use, form and meaning for a long period of time in scientific documents.There are variations in the use of terms depending on the specialization grade of the discourse. The terminological density, which means, the amount of terms in a text is conditioned by the kind of discourse:• Specialized discourse: aimed at experts (there are different specialization levels).• Didactic discourse: aimed at education.• Informative discourse: aimed at people without a specialized knowledge of the subject.The amount of terms used will be very different in these discourses. The level of competence of the text users on the subject presented increases in accordance with the amount of terminologies used. In this way, the specialized communication requires the terminology to be adapted to each type of text. This type is determined on the quantity of information shared between producer and user of the text and the purpose of the text. We will not find the same number of terms in the Penal Code as in a generalist newspaper’s news item on a trialIf a term is precise, then its communicative dimension is unchanging, it means, its meaning does not depend on the context, the discourse in which it is inserted nor the sender of the message nor any other factor of a communicative event [7, p.14]. This does happen in the standard communication. Terms have to submit three conditions to be really precise:1) Its meaning has to be previously delimited;To delimit the meaning of a term, it is necessary to enunciate a definition to establish a relation between the term and the concept. Such definition allows comparing the term with others already existing and defined in order to recognize the differences. In the standard register, words also have their definitions, but the meaning of the words can be altered in standard communication to introduce the feeling, expressivity, and creativity of the speakers. This should not happen with terms in specialized communication, since the main purpose of such communication is, generally, the transmission of objective information that cannot be altered by any feeling, expressivity or creativity. We said “generally” because there are situations where specialized communication for other purposes, in addition to the transmission of information, can be observed. Such is the case of publicity in specialized media (e.g. the advertisement of a machine published in a journal on a certain productive sector aimed at experts; the purpose of the advertisement is to persuade the receiver of the message that the machine is good enough to be bought).2) This meaning has to be monosemic and there has not to be any synonym;A term is monosemic when it has only one meaning, representing a single concept. If a monosemic term has, in addition, no synonym, there is a univocal relation between term and concept leading to precision. This univocity is more usual among terms in specialised communication than in the standard register in which polysemy and synonymy are numerous. It may be possible that a term is monosemic in the field of a science, but has, at the same time, several meanings in other sciences and in the standard register; in this case, there is a univocal relation in such field.