Conflicting Tendencies in the Development of Scientific and Technical Language Varieties: Metaphorization vs. Standardization

Larisa Iļjinska; Tatjana Smirnova

doi:10.2478/rela-2014-0009

Authors

Larisa Iļjinska Riga Technical University
Tatjana Smirnova Riga Technical University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2478/rela-2014-0009

Keywords:

scientific and technical discourse, technical language, extension of meaning, metaphorization, standardization, pragmatic analysis

Abstract

The present paper discusses relations between meaning and context as an interactive process that promotes cognition and communication, both intralingual and interlingual. The article also studies two evident conflicting tendencies in the development of technical language: metaphorization and standardization. Metaphorical meaning extension is characteristic of technical vocabulary in all discourse domains. At the same time, contemporary development of corpus linguistics facilitates standardization of terms. Taking into account pragmatic aspects of the text environment, i.e. referential, situational, cultural and social contexts, language users can interpret the meaning of new terms, establish relations and interconnections between terms and concepts within a text, domain and entire scientific and technical discourse. In the present article, observations on the nature and application of contemporary technical terminology are made on the basis of extensive empirical research.

Author Biographies

Larisa Iļjinska, Riga Technical University

Larisa Iļjinska is a professor of philology; she has been Head of the Institute of Applied Linguistics of Riga Technical University (RTU) since 1999. Her research interests lie in semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, and translation of scientific and technical texts. She has authored over fifty publications, including four resource books for students majoring in various scientific and technical domains.
Tatjana Smirnova, Riga Technical University

Tatjana Smirnova is an assistant professor specialising in linguistics and translation at the Institute of Applied Linguistics at Riga Technical University (RTU). Her research interests lie in language iconicity, semantics, pragmatics, and terminology. She conducts study courses in the theory of translation, consecutive translation, and target reading in special technical fields.

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