I’ve just returned from attending a terminology conference, where the focus was “minority languages,” like Irish, Basque, Romanian, etc. This was my first conference on the subject, so I approached it like a two-day intensive.
The conference focused on three themes related to terminology work: Making, Methodology,and Measurement, and each session had 3-4 speakers discussing their country’s project or the technology they were using to advance, maintain, grow or disseminate the language. Overall, I saw 20 different presentations on the subject, plus poster sessions, and a cultural walk around the city where the conference was held.
Terminologist’s work is indeed reference work. Terminologists respond to questions from the public, researchers, linguists, the government, and others about what accurate term should be used in a specific situation, and when no term exists in the language, they go about the business of creating the term: Think “fidget spinner,” “restorative justice,” “tweet.” This is an organized, and sometimes lengthy process, which is created by individual terminology non-profit organizations, or state/governmental organizations. Many of these organizations endeavor to be as democratic as possible with their processes, involving input from many sectors of society when creating the terms. There are several major associations who support this work.
One item that appeared throughout the presentations was the concept of a term bank. These are official, specialized databases where people can go to find terms, ask questions, and/or provide feedback on proposed terminology. There are term banks at local, national, international and regional levels. Check out IATE.
When I think about how I often use Google translate to do my work, I began to feel guilty and reflected on how horribly inaccurate it can be when it comes to specialized language; that Google would attempt to do the work of trained terminologists, is reductive. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Google employs a team of qualified terminologists to verify the accuracy of their translations.
Why this matters: Well, it matters a great deal. Terminology work is relentless and necessary. If languages continually take in “loan words” from other countries, primarily English, it weakens the language. Languages, especially lesser known or used languages must continue to evolve to remain relevant and to keep its cultures and communities alive. Language is political and language is power.
MmePrice 