Transcript A MULTILINGUAL STATISTICAL DICTIONARY IN THE BROADER …

Terminology Development
Dr Mariëtta Alberts
Focus Area Manager: Terminology Development
Pan South African Language Board
Introduction
 National Language Bodies (NLBs)
 Technical Committees (TCs)
 Standardisation
 Spelling and Orthography
 Lexicography vs. Terminography
 Terminology
as
a
tool
in
language
development
 Information
technology
language development
-
the
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
future
of
National Language Bodies (NLBs):
 Are the custodians of the languages
 Determine the standards of the languages
 Empower, promote and develop languages
 Verify and authenticate terms
 Work through Technical Committees (TCs)
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Advisory capacity of NLBs:
 Technical Committees (TCs) advise the NLBs and
PanSALB on:

Standardisation

Terminology development

Dictionary needs

Literature and Media

Research

Education

Other language related matters
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Powers and functions of TCs:
 Standardisation TC - Advice to NLB on:



spelling and orthography
general standards in all functions of language
popularisation of standards generated
 Terminology TC - Advice to NLB on:




the development and authentication of new
terminology;
stabilisation of new terminology;
popularisation of new terminology; and
management of terminology in conjunction with the
National Department of Arts and Culture.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Standardisation
 Crystal (1985) defines standardisation as a
natural development of a standard language
in a speech community or an attempt by a
community to impose one dialect as a
standard.
 According to Hudson (1980) standardisation
is a direct and deliberate intervention by
society to create a standard language where
before there were just ‘dialects’ (non-standard
varieties).
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Standardisation (cont.)
 Standard languages are usually associated with
prestige and cut across regional differences,
providing a unified means of communication.
 The standard language is an institutionalised
norm which can be used in mass media,
economic sector, education, science and
technology:
Concept Symbol Linguistic representation
*
**
I i 1
II ii 2
one, een, eins, uno, tee, nngwe, inye, ukunye
two, twee, zwei, duo, pedi, bobedi, isibini, isibili
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Standardisation (cont.)
 Standardisation
is necessary to facilitate
communication, provide a uniform form for
learning material and dictionaries, and the
establishment of agreed orthography and
spelling rules.
 Standardised
terms
ensure
exact
communication among subject specialists
themselves, but also between subject
specialists and laypeople.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Standardised terms
 The increasing use of
non-standard language
in the classroom often
has dire consequences
for learners and for the
traditional language
 alimentary canal
 digestive tract
 gastrointestinal tract
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Spelling and Orthography
 New and unified spelling and orthography
systems should be created for the languages
selected for standardisation.
 Establishing well standardised, efficient and
practical spelling and orthography rules, is a
crucial basis for developing a modern literacy
tradition.
 An efficient and practical spelling and
orthography is a direct function of enabling
educational, cultural, administrative and mass
media system in the countries concerned
(Abdulaziz, 1991).
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Standardisation (cont.)
 Lexicographers document the vocabulary of a
standard language.
 Terminographers document the terminology of
the standard variety of a language.
 Lexicographers and terminographers adhere
to the spelling and orthography rules of the
standard variety of a language when
compiling dictionaries.
 Language practitioners and language users
need standardised spelling and orthography
rules.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Revision of spelling and orthography rules
 PanSALB requested the National Language Bodies in July




2004 to revise the current (DoE) spelling and orthography
rules.
The Technical Committees: Standardisation of the nine
African Language NLBs revised the current rules.
Consultative meetings were held with stakeholders to
discuss draft rules.
The process was finalised in 2007 and PanSALB is in the
process of publishing the revised spelling and orthography
rules (2008).
The revision of spelling and orthography rules is an ongoing
process and the NLBs will immediately after publication start
with the revision process. Publication would be at the end of
the 5 year term of office of NLBs.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Modernisation
 No living language is static. A living language
change and therefore it needs to be
modernised.
 Modernisation entails that the spelling and
orthography rules of a language need to be
revised on a regular basis.
 An orthography is to literacy what numeration
is to numeracy (EN Emenanjo, 1998)
 Language modernisation is a co-operative
venture between government agencies (i.e.
language bureaux) and the speakers of the
language.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
International Standards
Organisation (ISO)
 Standards can be incorporated into legislation
by referring to them.
 Compulsory specifications can be redrafted as
legislation.
 All standards are voluntary unless incorporated
into legislation.
 Since standards are second to written law, they
affect all aspects of human life.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
ISO/TC 37
 ISO standardised terminology comprises of
all terms and definitions occurring in ISO
standards.
 As such standards are important elements of
the teaching and training of subject related
topics.
 The initiation phase into any specialised field
or domain goes through the learning of its
main concepts, the definitions describing
these concepts and the terms denoting them.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
ISO Standards and South Africa
 South Africa established a national ISO/TC 37
committee in the field of Terminology and
other language and content resources on 19
August 2002.
 StanSA TC 37 is the local standardisation
committee regarding terminology and other
language and content resources.
 StanSA TC 37 is a mirror committee of the
international ISO/TC 37.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
ISO/TC 37 and StanSA TC 37
 Members of StanSA TC 37 represent South
Africa at the annual international ISO/TC 37
meetings.
 The StanSA TC 37 team has a very valuable
role to play in deliberating at international level
when the standards dealing with terminology,
lexicography and other language and content
resources are discussed or under revision.
 The StanSA TC 37 team also gain valuable
experience from the international scene, which
they are able to share with their South African
colleagues.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
ISO standards (cont.)
 Developing new standards has the advantage
that these standards could focus
addressing the needs of the users.
 Developing
new standards
consuming and costly process.
is
a
on
time
 Adopting regional and international standards
has the advantage of utilising standards that
were well researched and relatively cheap.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Lexicography vs. Terminography
 Lexi = word
-graphy = to write
 Lexicography is the practice of compiling
dictionaries.
 Dictionaries can be compiled on any aspect of
language, i.e. general words, explanatory
dictionaries, translation dictionaries, slang
dictionaries, etymological dictionaries, dialectal
dictionaries, technical dictionaries
 Terminography is the practice of compiling
technical dictionaries that are subject related.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Terminology development
 Terminologists document terminology with the aim of
providing subject specialists and laypeople with
standardised terms that denote the corresponding
concepts.
 It is of the utmost importance to use standardised
terms in subject related work.
billion: 109 or 1012 ?
Concept
English/German
109
milliard
1012
billion

American/French
billion
trillion
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Terminology:
 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
relationship between concepts and terms which
are fundamental for a coherent terminological
activity;
A
vocabulary of a special subject
(Sager 1990;3; Cluver 1989:146)
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
field.
Terminology (cont.)
 Point of departure is concept.
 Principally
subject or domain oriented
rather than language oriented.
 There is a one to one relationship between
concept and term
communication.
to
ensure
exact
 Terminology is a standardising process.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Terminological triangle:
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Definitions
 A definition is supplied to designate the concept: a
straight line is the shortest distance between two
points
 If a concept is defined, the exact meaning can be
determined: .__________.
 Information on the concept is gained from the
definition to name such concept or to coin a term:
straight line: reguitlyn, umugqa oqondo thwi, umgca
ongqalileyo,
umugca
locondzile,
umudathwi,
molatlhamalalo, mothalothwii, mola o otlolohileng,
mutalo tswititi, layini-thwi, layini yo ololoka
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
arsonist vs. pyromaniac
 The terms arsonist and pyromaniac describe a
person who sets fire to an object, but:
 An arsonist is a criminal who deliberately sets
fire to something, e.g. a building.
 A pyromaniac is a person who cannot control
the desire to set fire to things, often because of a
mental illness.
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
The role of terminology:
 Language development - functional languages in all
domains/subject areas
 Information retrieval through mother tongue/ first language
(acquire vs. convey)
 Standardisation: misunderstanding vs. exact communication
 Cultural differences:
raisin = grape or dried fruit?
private school vs. public school
billion = 109
or = 1012
 Consultation: subject specialists, language practitioners, lay people,
stakeholders, members of
National
Language
Bodies, etc.
Dr Mariëtta
Alberts, DoE
(Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Terminology as a discipline is
 at the service of the language policy of the
reigning government, e.g. monolingual, bilingual
or multilingual;
 governed by the language policy of the country

previous dispensation:
dictionaries
bilingual

present dispensation: multilingual term lists
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
technical
Role of Terminology in language
development
 Availability of multilingual polythematic terminology:
indicator of development
 Specialised communication has a central axle or
hub in terminology
 Streamlined translation and interpreting services
provide competitive advantages
 Standardised terminology contributes to quality of
translations, interpreting
communication
and
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
subject
related
The Envisaged Web-enabled Lexicography and Terminology Management Model
INTERNET (via HLT interface)
TERMLISTS
DICTIONARIES
CD-ROMS
ON-LINE DICTIONARIES
COLLABORATORS
USERS
LINGUISTS
SUBJECT SPECIALISTS
GENERAL PUBLIC
NATIONAL WORD AND TERMBANK
(via HLT interface)
TERMINOLOGISTS
TRANSLATORS
WORD AND TERMBANK
ADMINISTRATOR
LEXICOGRAPHERS
11 NLUs
EXTERNAL
INPUT
HLT
interface
EXTERNAL
INPUT
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
 Compilation of terminology list is a time-consuming
task
 A task that needs commitment and devotion from

subject specialists

trained terminologists

language practitioners, linguists (e.g. NLBs)
 End-result:

enhancement of subject area

better / exact communication
development of languages into functional languages

Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Dissemination of
terminological information
 Direct queries to national termbank (e.g. Intranet,TCS
homepage (flat files))
 Online dictionaries on Internet or CD ROM
 Indirect queries to national termbank via e-mail,
telephone or fax
 Publications (term lists, technical dictionaries)
 Documents
containing
terms:
text
books,
dissertations, manuals, journals, brochures, etc.
 Mass communication media (radio, press, TV…)
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
PanSALB skills development terminology training programme
TCS, NLS, DAC
PanSALB
Re-skilling of
unemployed
and other
language
workers
Multilingual polythematic
national term bank
National Lexicography Units
Monolingual general dictionaries
National Language Bodies
Verify and authenticate terms
(need terminographic guidelines)
Provincial Language Committees
Subject specialists
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
HLT virtual network
 SA Government has approved the development of
a human language technology (HLT) virtual
network
 All lexicography and terminology endeavours will
be part of HLT virtual network
 Multilingual terms available on HLT virtual network
to end-users (subject specialists, students,
language practitioners, general public)
 Spellcheckers are made available in official
languages
 Microsoft Interface Packs (LIP) for XP and Vista
platforms
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
The following diagram demonstrates the various relationships:
MEDIA
University
A
Govt
Dept B
SABC
Centre for
Human Language Technologies
NLU
Z
Central planning, coordination &
consultation
Digital Text and Speech Corpora
Acquisition, enhancement, management
University
D
NLP Software development
NLU
P
Company
A
HLT Training
University
C
Company
B
Govt
Dept A
Resources and Expertise to feed into
National
Lexicographic
Units
(NLUs)
Government
Departments
HLT products for
e-governance
e-learning
e-commerce
Private sector
development
ICT (HLT) job
creation
software dev.
e-commerce
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Academic
research and
development
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008
Thank you!
Dr Mariëtta Alberts
PanSALB
Private Bag X08
ARCADIA 0007
[email protected]
Tel: 012 341 9638
Fax: 012 341 5938
Dr Mariëtta Alberts, DoE (Subject Facilitators:
Language), St Georges Hotel, 4 and 6 February
2008