Lexicography versus Terminography

Abstract: Lexicography and terminography are specialised professions concerned with the compilation and editing of dictionaries. The lexicographer documents the words in the vocabulary of the general language whereas the terminographer documents the terminology of specific subject fields and domains. The terminographer works with a more restricted register than the general lexicographer, but from a holistic point of view, general lexicography and terminography are on a continuum where only the nature of the defined words or terms differs. The conceptual system of the sciences is more systematic and exact than that of the general environment. It is for this reason that nowadays the target group of a particular dictionary determines its format and content. A definition remains extremely important, since it describes the meaning of words and terms and serves to standardise the terms, especially in scientific and technical language. This article concerns itself with the similarities between lexicography and terminography, aspects regarding lexicography as a profession are outlined, followed by a discussion of terminography, and in conclusion attention is drawn to the differences between the two professions. Keywords: COMPILE, CONCEPTUAL SYSTEM, DESCRIPTIVE APPROACH, DICTIONARY, DOMAIN, EXCERPTION, GENERAL LEXICOGRAPHER, LEXICOGRAPHER, LEXICOGRAPHY, LINGUIST, PRESCRIPTIVE APPROACH, SUBJECT SPECIALIST, SUBJECT FIELD, TARGET GROUP, TERM, TERMINOGRAPHER, TERMINOGRAPHY, TERMINOLOGY, VOCABULARY, WORD Opsomming: Leksikografie teenoor terminografie. Leksikografie en terminografieis gespesialiseerde beroepe wat hul besig hou met die samestelling en redigering van woordeboeke.Die leksikograaf dokumenteer die woorde in die woordeskat van die algemene taal terwyldie terminograaf die terminologie van spesifieke vakgebiede en terreine dokumenteer. Die terminograafwerk met 'n beperkter register as die algemene leksikograaf, maar vanuit 'n holistiesestandpunt beskou, le die algemene leksikografie en die terminografie op 'n kontinuum waar slegsdie aard van die gedefinieerde woorde of terme verskil. Die begrippesisteem van die wetenskappeis meer sistematies en eksak as die van die algemene omgewing. Dit is om hierdie rede dat dieteikengroep van 'n bepaalde woordeboek deesdae sy formaat en inhoud bepaal. 'n Definisie blyuiters belangrik aangesien dit die betekenis van woorde en terme beskryf en dien om die terme te standaardiseer, veral in wetenskaplike en tegniese taal. Hierdie artikel hou hom besig met die ooreenkomstetussen leksikografie en terminografie, aspekte rakende leksikografie as beroep wordgeskets, gevolg deur 'n bespreking van terminografie, en ter afsluiting word die aandag gevestigop die verskille tussen die twee beroepe. Sleutelwoorde: ALGEMENE LEKSIKOGRAAF, BEGRIPPESISTEEM, DESKRIPTIEWEBENADERING, EKSERPERING, LEKSIKOGRAAF, LEKSIKOGRAFIE, LINGUIS, PRESKRIPTIEWEBENADERING, SAAMSTEL, TEIKENGROEP, TERM, TERMINOGRAAF, TERMINOGRAFIE,TERMINOLOGIE, TERREIN, VAKGEBIED, VAKSPESIALIS, WOORD, WOORDEBOEK,WOORDESKAT


Introduction
Lexicography and terminography are specialised professions concerned with the compilation and editing of dictionaries.The lexicographer documents the words in the vocabulary of mostly the general language whereas the terminographer documents the terminology of specific subject fields and domains.
Dictionaries serve as aids to the comprehension or to the generation of texts in a language.Ohly (1999: 31) argues as follows: If the bilingual dictionary is intended to include vocabulary which helps in the full understanding, for example of a novel written in the SL, or to edit an unspecialized text in the TL, then the dictionary's common language has to be saturated with that part of terminology which has sunk into the common language, being taken over from the workshop language and professional language.It may be impossible to separate words from terms.Whether in such circumstances a lexeme still functions as a term or has become a common word has to be seen.
However, the conceptual systems underlying terms belonging to a specific subject field or domain show such a close generic, hierarchical or associative relationship that it is impossible to regard them as common words belonging to the general vocabulary of the layperson.
In its objectives terminology is akin to lexicography which combines the double aim of generally collecting data about the lexicon of a language with providing an information, and sometimes even an advisory, service to language users.Terminology refers to a technical vocabulary, i.e. a collection of terms, which has a certain coherence because the terms belong to a single subject area.It also refers to the compilation of systematic glossaries (Sager 1990: 3).Some scholars regard the practice of terminology and terminography as a subdiscipline of lexicography.Sager (1990: 1) denies the independent status of terminology as a discipline but affirms its value as a subject in almost every contemporary teaching programme.According to him, terminology is discussed in the context of linguistics, information science or computational lin-guistics.He sees terminology as a number of practices that have evolved around the creation of terms, their collection and explication and finally their presentation in various printed and electronic media.Wüster (cf. Sager 1990: 2) calls terminology an interdisciplinary field of study, relating linguistics, logic, ontology and information science with the various subject fields, the common element among these disciplines being the concern with the formal organisation of the complex relationships between concepts and terms.

Similarities between Lexicography and Terminography
According to Cluver (1992: 32), the difference between general lexicography and technical lexicography (terminography) lies in the variety of language described in each.The assumption can be made that there is no crucial difference between common language and technical language and that it is merely a continuum of registers, where words gradually change to terms and where meanings gradually become more specific.In a holistic sense language workers in both professions of lexicography and terminography use the same basic principles and procedures to document words and terms respectively.In both professions the same basic methods are being used to describe the concept underlying the specific word or term.According to this point of view, the process of lexicography and terminography is placed on a continuous scale.This scale is a reflection of the kind of language usage that extends from common or colloquial language to the language of symbolic logic of science and technology.This scale can further indicate a continuum stretching from contextdependent meanings in lexicography to context-free meanings in terminography (cf.Cluver 1992: 35).Scheffer (1992: 117-119) suggests the discontinuation of the bipolar situation between general language and terminology.Instead of dividing language into different registers, he would rather speak of a scale on which language functions -from the informal (slang) on the one side to the highly formal registers on the other side with several shades in between.The different shades implicate different grades of standardisation, the need for standardisation as well as possibilities of standardisation.While some registers in terminology are normative, standardisation is in some cases not required or even possible, and in general language it is difficult to regulate matters since emotive connotations are/can be attached to words.According to Scheffer, there is no tension between general language and technical language.The bipolar situation is rather a scale loaded with possibilities.
General lexicography and terminography are methodological facets of the lexicography profession with first objective the systematic description and documentation of the usage of words or terms of a specific language community with its discernible culture and subcultures (cf.Eksteen 1985: 1;Alberts and Mtintsilana 1988: 4;Alberts 1990).The difference is: general lexicography documents the words of a language or languages, while terminography documents the terminology of subject fields, domains and disciplines.
The typology of lexicographical and terminographical products shows http://lexikos.journals.ac.za that both professions compile monolingual, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries.The bilingual and multilingual dictionaries can be explanatory or merely translating dictionaries.

Lexicography
Lexicography is the activity or profession of writing and editing dictionaries (cf.Cluver 1989: 117).It comprises the recording of the words in the vocabulary of the language into a specific format (e.g.alphabetically).
Lexicography has two basic components (Alberts 2000): the theoretical component which consists of (a) the general principles of the applied science, and (b) the theoretical principles that form the basis for the general usage and expert principles; and the practical component which deals with the applied science of compiling and editing dictionaries.
Lexicography deals with the compilation and editing of general dictionaries.A general dictionary comprises all aspects of a given source language, i.e. common words, colloquial words, dialects, archaic words, etymology of words, words of literature, slang, vulgar words, deprecated words, sexist words, taboo words, etc.The lexicographer can provide the source-language words with translation equivalents in a target language or target languages.Lexicography is the process in which linguistic information (that is the result of linguistic research) is being written down, processed and compiled in a specific lexicographical format.The result of the lexicographical process is usually a wordlist, glossary, dictionary, thesaurus or a computerised wordbank.
A general dictionary is an alphabetical list of the words of a given language.A dictionary is "a book containing a selection of words, usually arranged alphabetically, with explanations of their meanings and other information concerning them, expressed in the same (source language) or other language (target language)" (Barnhart 1966).A dictionary is supposed to comment on a particular language: "The responsibility of a dictionary is to record the language, not set its style" (Gove in Al-Kasimi 1983: 84).According to Béjoint (1981: 208), a dictionary has a two-way function: it can be "a portrait of the vocabulary of a language", or it can be "a tool for more effective communication".A dictionary is therefore an inventory of the vocabulary of a particular language or of specific languages as well as a tool for communicating in the particular language or in the specific languages.But no dictionary would, according to Zgusta (1984: 154), be able to encompass all the linguistic information a dictionary user would need or like to have.The dictionary should nevertheless contain enough information to allow the dictionary user to successfully discover the relevant information.
http://lexikos.journals.ac.zaA general dictionary offers information about some or all of the following: the spelling, pronunciation, definition, syllabification, translation equivalent, derived forms and compounds, grammatical class, meaning, usage, cross reference to other entries, illustrations, etymology, history of words and source.General dictionaries are therefore, as Cluver (1989) emphasises, word-oriented rather than topic-oriented.They are concerned with a variety of linguistic aspects.
Lexicography works with words.The verbal as well as the written vocabulary of a particular language is documented in monolingual dictionaries.Lexicography also compares different languages in bilingual and multilingual dictionaries.Zgusta (1971: 197) considers Berg's definition to be the best description of a dictionary: "A dictionary is a systematically arranged list of socialised linguistic forms compiled from the speech-habits of a given speech-community and commented on by the author (lexicographer) in such a way that the qualified reader (dictionary user) understand the meaning ... of each separate form, and is informed of the relevant facts concerning the function of that form in its community."Keating (1979: 20) defines a dictionary as "a retrieval system in which are stored, against the words of a language, explanations of the meanings of those words and the ways in which they are used".

4.
Terminography Sager (1990: 4) says that terminology is concerned with "the study and use of the systems of symbols and linguistic signs employed for human communication in specialised areas of knowledge and activities": It is primarily a linguistic discipline -linguistics being interpreted here in its widest possible sense -with emphasis on semantics (systems of meanings and concepts) and pragmatics.It is inter-disciplinary in the sense that it also borrows concepts and methods from semiotics, epistemology, classification, etc.
Terminology is closely linked to the subject fields, of which it describes the vocabulary and for which it seeks to provide assistance in the ordering and use of designations.The International Association of Terminology (1982, in Sager 1990: 4) delineates the scope of terminology as follows: http://lexikos.journals.ac.za Although terminology has been in the past mostly concerned with the lexical aspects of specialised languages, its scope extends to syntax and phonology.In its applied aspect terminology is related to lexicography and uses techniques of information science and technology.
"In practice no individual or group of individuals possesses the whole structure of a community's knowledge," stresses Sager (1990: 16).Conventionally knowledge is divided into "subject areas, domains or disciplines, which is equivalent to defining subspaces for the knowledge space".Terminology (or technical vocabulary) is a collection of terms, which has a certain coherence because the terms belong to a single subject area (Sager 1990: 3).As Sager (1990: 2) puts it, it is "the study of and the field of activity concerned with the collection, description, processing and presentation of terms, i.e. lexical items belonging to specialised areas of usage of one or more languages".In contemporary usage three meanings of the term "terminology" can be distinguished: the set of practices and methods used for the collection, description and presentation of terms; -a theory, i.e. the set of premises, arguments and conclusions required for explaining the relationships between concepts and terms which are fundamental for a coherent (terminographical) activity; and the vocabulary of a special subject field.
Terminography is one of the subdivisions of lexicography and deals with the documentation of the terminology of different subject fields, i.e. technical and scientific terms.The terminology of any subject field (physics, mathematics, biology, chemistry, etc.) or domain (sport, music, etc.) can be documented in terminographical dictionaries, called "technical dictionaries".The vocabulary (called "terminology") of a subject is the group of words (called "terms") that are typically used when discussing the specific subject.
A technical dictionary is also known as a subject dictionary or a terminological dictionary.A technical dictionary contains the standardised terms of a particular subject (Cluver 1989).Technical dictionaries are therefore subjectoriented.
Terminology is divided by subject field before it is ordered in any other way."In order to deal effectively with large quantities of terms, it is generally considered advisable to introduce a classification of terms by subject areas," says Sager (1990: 147).
The practice-oriented origin of terminology is reflected in its fundamental assumptions and working methods.Examining separate "subject fields", it sees the lexicon as many separate subsystems related to the knowledge structure of each subject field or discipline.It can therefore use as starting point the conceptual structure of an area of knowledge (Rondeau 1981;Sager 1984: 317).
A technical dictionary is a bi-or multilingual (alphabetical) dictionary http://lexikos.journals.ac.za which includes the (standardised) terms of a particular subject field, with or without a full definition for each term (Cluver 1978: 91 and1989a: 154;Alberts 1990: 134).A multilingual technical dictionary includes an alphabetical list of terms in the source language and equivalents in several languages (Cluver 1989a: 121;Alberts 1990: 134).
The terminology in a technical dictionary is a coherent, structured collection of terms.According to Sager (1990: 114), it is "a representation of an equally coherent, but possibly differently structured system of concepts".These are expressed in a distinctive way: Concepts represented in terminological dictionaries are predominantly expressed by the linguistic form of nouns; concepts which are linguistically expressed as adjectives and verbs in technical languages are frequently found only in the corresponding noun form and some theorists deny the existence of adjectives and verb concepts.
Terms are "the linguistic representation of concepts" (Sager 1990: 57).Each separate meaning of a term is represented by a separate concept and the entries in a terminological glossary are of separate concepts (Sager 1990: 56).
The terminologist orders the collected terms by reference to a conceptual system which is drawn up in consultation with a subject specialist (Sager 1990: 56).Once a conceptual system has been defined, the terminologist is more certain of exhaustively covering the vocabulary (terminology) of the particular subject field that is being described at any one time (Sager 1990: 56).Sager (1990: 57) explains the difference between general language and special languages as follows: Unlike in general language, where the arbitrariness of the sign is accepted, the special languages (of subject fields and domains) strive to systematise principles of designation and to name concepts according to pre-specified rules or general (terminographical) principles.General language (and therefore general dictionaries) fully exploits polysemy, metaphor, and adjectival determination; genuine word creation is relatively rare.Where it occurs it is based on the experience of every-day life and thus represents a pre-scientific approach of knowledge.The process of scientific observation and description includes designation of concepts and this in turn involves re-examining the meaning of words, changing designations and coining new terms.... Designation in special languages (of subject fields and domains) therefore aims at transparency and consistency (standardisation).
This means that terminology (a) is concerned with special subject languages and must therefore be in a position to subdivide the lexicon; (b) has a practical function of guidance in usage for which it needs to examine existing usage; (c) has a teaching function; and (d) is strongly involved in the creation of new designations and is therefore interested in a theory of active, productive term-formation (Sager 1984: 317).
Terminology can claim to be truly interdisciplinary.According to Wüster (see Sager 1990: 2), terminology is vital to the functioning of all sciences, it is concerned with designations in all other subject fields, and it is closely related to a number of specific disciplines.Wüster (see Sager 1990: 2) calls terminology "an interdisciplinary field of study, relating linguistics, logic, ontology and information science with the various subject fields": "The common element among these disciplines is that they are each concerned ... with the formal organisation of the complex relationships between concepts and terms." "In their advisory function," says Sager (1990: 210), "terminologists can be heavily involved in language planning and in particular in establishing new terminologies to accompany the transfer of science and technology to wider user groups in the same or other linguistic communities."

Differences between Lexicography and Terminography (See Table)
In terminology, the conceptual content of a term needs to be conveyed by means of standardised terms to enable exact communication.According to Alberts (1990: 101), "one of the aims of practical terminological work (terminography) is to order the concept systems of subject fields".In general lexicography, the vocabulary of the standard language is documented in dictionaries (cf.Cluver 1989b: 86).In terminography, attention is given to the dictionary user's needs for information on a specific, marked area of human activity.It is usually demarcated in certain subject fields, subdivisions or domains (Alberts 1990: 109).While general lexicography is in nature descriptive, terminography is primarily prescriptive since terms and the underlying concepts need to be standardised to ensure exact communication (Alberts 1990: 109).
The aim of general lexicography is to document, describe and preserve the vocabulary and its derivations within general language usage.Terminography concentrates on a representation of the terminology (lexicon) of language for special purposes (Alberts 1990: 109).
In its objectives, terminography is akin to lexicography which combines "the double aim of generally collecting data about the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language with providing an information, and sometimes even an advisory, service to language users" (Sager 1990: 3).The justification of considering it a separate activity from lexicography lies in "the different nature of the data traditionally assembled, the different background of the people involved in this work, and to some extent in the different methods used" (Sager 1990: 3).
One of the fundamental differences between lexicography and terminography lies in the attitude to the lexicon, the raw material to be collected and processed.The lexicographer in principle collects "all" the words of a language in order to sort them in various ways.Once he has collected the words, he proceeds to differentiate them by their meanings.His ideal dictionary covers all the words and all their meanings, even though in practice he will produce various types of subsets for diverse uses.The terminologist starts out from a http://lexikos.journals.ac.za much narrower position; he is only interested in subsets of the lexicon, which constitute the vocabulary (or terminology) of special languages (subject fields and domains).In order to arrive at these subsets he needs a structure of knowledge which justifies the existence and the boundaries of special languages (subject fields and domains), so that he can attribute words (terms) to separate areas of this structure.Since a word can belong to more than one area of knowledge (the phenomenon of homonymy), the terminologist has to distinguish meanings before he distinguishes words (Sager 1990: 55, 56).The conceptual structures of special subject fields are distinguished not only by special reference, but also by the nature of the concepts that predominate in particular subjects (Sager 1990: 25).The items which are characterised by special reference within a discipline are the "terms" of that discipline, and collectively they form its "terminology"; those which function in general reference works are called "words" and their totality the "vocabulary" (Sager 1990: 19).
According to Wersig (1976), there is a division of labour between lexicography and terminography.Lexicography descriptively examines the current state of the lexicon and its usage by recording existing designations and their meaning.The role of terminography is to establish firm relationships between concepts and designations, by determining, if necessary prescriptively, which designations should be used and how they should be used (Sager 1984: 316, 317).
Lexicography is concerned with language/languages as such, but terminography deals with subject fields, domains and disciplines of special languages.
Although professionals use terminology related to their working environment on a daily basis, they often do not realize how these terms are created, standardised and documented into terminology lists, dictionaries or term banks.A standardised terminology not only plays an important role in their acquisition of knowledge, but also helps to convey their ideas and to facilitate their communication.The terminologist has to excerpt terms from a variety of sources, has to define the concept to clearly depict the meaning of a source term, has to document and standardise this term with its related information on meaning and usage, and has to supply term equivalents in several target languages.
Terminologists are highly dependent on the input and collaboration of subject-field specialists and experts of various occupational domains.They have to liase with various subject committees and linguists while doing research on terminology and need to systematically document terminological information relating to terms.
Even people practising lexicography are not aware of the difference between lexicography and terminography.For them these are both just processes of documenting terms and related information.They are not aware of the intricate difference between the two dictionary professions: - In lexicography the approach is semasiological, a meaning approach: It starts from the word and looks for its meaning.
In lexicography the point of departure is always language.The words of a given language are documented.The linguistic function of a word in a given language is determined and the word is documented according to its syntactical, semantic, contextual, and other features and functions in the grammar of the particular language.The words of a given language are documented in monolingual dictionaries.These words can then also be compared to words in other languages by means of bilingual or multilingual dictionaries.
Words convey emotions and may have different meanings and connotations in different situations.

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In terminography the approach is onomasiological, a naming approach: It starts from the concepts and creates names for the concepts.
In terminography the point of departure is the concept and its relation to other concepts within a specific field of knowledge.Terminologists are thus focused on the domain or subject field where the terms occur.Terminology concerns the metalanguage of science and technology.It is only when a concept is properly defined within the boundaries of a subject field or domain that the true meaning can be determined.The source-language term needs to be defined and its usage within a subject field or domain needs to be determined.Once this is done, the sourcelanguage term can be standardised.A term should have only one meaning -one concept: one term.
Terms with fixed meanings can be standardised and thus used to promote exact communication among subject specialists, and between subject specialists and laypeople.
Terminology can, to a certain extent, be regarded as an artificial language and it uses spelling and orthography principles of the standard variety of a language when coining terms.Terminology is also mainly concerned with written language and consists mainly of nouns and, to a lesser extent, verbs.Terms are exact and should have no emotional connotations attached to them.When emotional connotations are attached to terms, these terms become words and therefore part of the general vocabulary (the terrain of lexicography).

Conclusion
Though there are several similarities between lexicography and terminography, it is certain that these are also two very distinct professions with clearly demarcated working areas.The functions of the terminographer, and a terminography unit, cannot be taken over by the lexicographer, and a lexicography office, and vice versa.As has been shown in the above discussion, the points of departure and the methods of work of the two professions differ completely. http://lexikos.journals.ac.za

Lexicography Terminography
The theory and practice of compiling and editing general dictionaries.
The theory and practice of compiling technical/subject/terminological dictionaries.Uses basic principles and procedures for the compilation and editing of general dictionaries.
Uses basic lexicographical (terminographical) principles and procedures for the compilation and editing of technical dictionaries.Conducts a process of excerption, documentation, description, processing, and dissemination of information on the general vocabulary of a given language or languages.
One of the subdivisions of lexicography for the excerption, documentation, description, processing, and dissemination of terminological information on various subject fields, domains and disciplines.Concerns the compilation of general dictionaries.
Concerns the compilation of technical dictionaries.Point of departure: language (e.g.English, Xhosa, Sepedi, French, German, Tsonga, Polish, Venda, Dutch, Frisian, …) to promote communication amongst users of the same language or users of different languages.
Point of departure: a subject field or discipline (e.g.physics, zoology, psychology, …) or a domain (music, art, journalism, …) to promote communication among subject specialists and between subject specialists and laypeople.Interested in the spoken and written form of the language.
Mainly interested in the written form of technical language.Descriptive approach to document, describe and preserve a language in all its facets and registers.
Prescriptive approach to document and describe the concepts of a subject field/domain by means of definitions and terms to standardise the terms.Documents the words of a language according to the spelling and orthography rules of the given language.Documents the terms of a subject field according to the spelling and orthography of the standard variety of the given language.Documents all the words of a given language (e.g. common words, colloquial words, jargon, slang, dialectal usage, archaic words, literature, vulgar words).Documents the terms of a subject field (e.g.scientific terms (natural and life sciences), technological terms, human sciences, commercial sciences, jargon (e.g. of the workplace, sport, …) or domain (e.g.journalism, music, art, …) Has a semasiological (meaning) approach which starts from the word and looks for its meaning.
Has an onomasiological (naming) approach which starts from concepts and creates names for concepts.Emotional connotations can be attached to words, resulting in shift in meaning.
Terms are exact.One concept equals one term.No emotional connotations attached to terms.Typology: monolingual, bilingual or multilingual translating or explanatory general dictionaries.