Terminology from a lexicographic perspective
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Pius ten Hacken
Abstract
Wüster’s Allgemeine Terminologielehre was the first general theory of terminology. Despite numerous attacks, it continues to be dominant in guiding the work of standardization institutions. In this paper, it is evaluated to what extent this dominance can be explained from a lexicographic perspective. The challenges discussed are based on corpus-based terminology work, terminological work in the service of language preservation, and the relationship between precisely delimited terms and prototype semantics. Also a recent proposal by San Martín (2022) is discussed, which implies the replacement of definitions consisting of necessary and sufficient conditions by a more flexible selection of information. It is argued that a user-oriented lexicographic evaluation of terminological resources should admit that Wüster’s theory serves an important user category, that of the domain experts.
Abstract
Wüster’s Allgemeine Terminologielehre was the first general theory of terminology. Despite numerous attacks, it continues to be dominant in guiding the work of standardization institutions. In this paper, it is evaluated to what extent this dominance can be explained from a lexicographic perspective. The challenges discussed are based on corpus-based terminology work, terminological work in the service of language preservation, and the relationship between precisely delimited terms and prototype semantics. Also a recent proposal by San Martín (2022) is discussed, which implies the replacement of definitions consisting of necessary and sufficient conditions by a more flexible selection of information. It is argued that a user-oriented lexicographic evaluation of terminological resources should admit that Wüster’s theory serves an important user category, that of the domain experts.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents/Inhalt V
- Zur Bedeutsamkeit der Lexikographie: Europa und Australien 7
- Regarding the Significance of Lexicography: Europe and Australia 1
- Australian lexicography and the Australian story: Historical perspectives and the current scene 15
- Warum brauchen wir historische Lexikographie? 31
- Zur Berechtigung historischer Lexikographie: Fakten und Überlegungen 53
- Signed language lexicography and the Auslan dictionaries in print and online 83
- Terminology from a lexicographic perspective 115
- Online terminography for Indigenous Australians 133
- The AIATSIS Dictionaries Program: Supporting the strengthening of Australian Indigenous Languages 157
- Encyclopaedic lexicography: The Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary 189
- Behind the lingo – slang and the dictionary 209
- People, machines and dictionaries: Is artificial intelligence killing dictionaries? 235
- Profilex: Kognitive Leistungen des Lexikographen und die Qualität im Wörterbuchartikel 259
- Dialektwörterbücher als Wörterbücher der Zukunft 273
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents/Inhalt V
- Zur Bedeutsamkeit der Lexikographie: Europa und Australien 7
- Regarding the Significance of Lexicography: Europe and Australia 1
- Australian lexicography and the Australian story: Historical perspectives and the current scene 15
- Warum brauchen wir historische Lexikographie? 31
- Zur Berechtigung historischer Lexikographie: Fakten und Überlegungen 53
- Signed language lexicography and the Auslan dictionaries in print and online 83
- Terminology from a lexicographic perspective 115
- Online terminography for Indigenous Australians 133
- The AIATSIS Dictionaries Program: Supporting the strengthening of Australian Indigenous Languages 157
- Encyclopaedic lexicography: The Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary 189
- Behind the lingo – slang and the dictionary 209
- People, machines and dictionaries: Is artificial intelligence killing dictionaries? 235
- Profilex: Kognitive Leistungen des Lexikographen und die Qualität im Wörterbuchartikel 259
- Dialektwörterbücher als Wörterbücher der Zukunft 273
