Chapter 2. Term usage and socioterminological variation
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Valérie Delavigne
Abstract
Terms get around. Try as we may to control them, they do not stay put inside their original sphere of activity. Experts in a given field have a mutual understanding of terms: they share their usage and meaning. However, when technical and scientific terms are used outside the boundaries of their “natural” environment, shared understanding is lost. A work of discursive negotiation and reformulation, well-described in the context of the popularization of science (Jacobi 1986, 1999; Mortureux 1988), becomes necessary to restore mutual comprehension. Reformulation depends on several factors: the terms involved, the context in which they are used, the textual genres in which they circulate, and the medium through which they are conveyed. In our chapter, we adopt a socioterminological stance to show that discursive negotiation takes a variety of forms, but also, significantly, it is not at work with any terms when terms enter new discourse communities.
Abstract
Terms get around. Try as we may to control them, they do not stay put inside their original sphere of activity. Experts in a given field have a mutual understanding of terms: they share their usage and meaning. However, when technical and scientific terms are used outside the boundaries of their “natural” environment, shared understanding is lost. A work of discursive negotiation and reformulation, well-described in the context of the popularization of science (Jacobi 1986, 1999; Mortureux 1988), becomes necessary to restore mutual comprehension. Reformulation depends on several factors: the terms involved, the context in which they are used, the textual genres in which they circulate, and the medium through which they are conveyed. In our chapter, we adopt a socioterminological stance to show that discursive negotiation takes a variety of forms, but also, significantly, it is not at work with any terms when terms enter new discourse communities.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. The social dimension of variation
- Chapter 1. The emotional dimension in terminological variation 11
- Chapter 2. Term usage and socioterminological variation 31
- Chapter 3. Diastratic variation in language for specific purposes 57
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Part II. Tools and methods
- Chapter 4. Towards a resource of semantically and contextually structured term variants and their translations 83
- Chapter 5. Specialized verbs and specialized uses of verbs in a comparable corpus of judgments produced in Canada, Portugal and Brazil 109
- Chapter 6. Should we be looking for the needle in the haystack or in the straw poll ? 131
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Part III. Semantics of variation
- Chapter 7. Terminological variation and the unsaturability of concepts 155
- Chapter 8. Terminological metaphors and the nomadism of specialised terms 181
- Chapter 9. Term and concept variation in specialized knowledge dynamics 213
- Index 259
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. The social dimension of variation
- Chapter 1. The emotional dimension in terminological variation 11
- Chapter 2. Term usage and socioterminological variation 31
- Chapter 3. Diastratic variation in language for specific purposes 57
-
Part II. Tools and methods
- Chapter 4. Towards a resource of semantically and contextually structured term variants and their translations 83
- Chapter 5. Specialized verbs and specialized uses of verbs in a comparable corpus of judgments produced in Canada, Portugal and Brazil 109
- Chapter 6. Should we be looking for the needle in the haystack or in the straw poll ? 131
-
Part III. Semantics of variation
- Chapter 7. Terminological variation and the unsaturability of concepts 155
- Chapter 8. Terminological metaphors and the nomadism of specialised terms 181
- Chapter 9. Term and concept variation in specialized knowledge dynamics 213
- Index 259
