Zol án Somogyi182 Linguis ic App oaches o Technical
Documen a ion and Technical Tex s
doi.o g/10.35321/ e m29-10
Linguis ic App oaches o Technical
Documen a ion and Technical Tex s
ZOLTÁN SOMOGYI
Ká oli Gáspá Uni e si y o he Re o med Chu ch in Hunga y
ORCID id: 0000-0002-3721-6513
Ágo a Fó is, And ea Bölcskei (eds.) 2021:
LINGUISTIC RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF CONTENT
DEVELOPMENT AND DOCUMENTATION,
Ká oli Gáspá Re o má us Egye em,
L’Ha ma an, Budapes –Pa is, 389 p.
ISBN 978-2-343-25167-7.
The main goal o he book Linguis ic Resea ch in he Field o Con en De el-
opmen and Documen a ion is o sha e he unique indings on he linguis-
ic aspec s o documen a ion, con en de elopmen , and echnical w i ing
wi h a much b oade audience. The au ho s ocus on he p ocess o ech-
nical documen a ion, he ea u es o echnical ex s, and hei ansla ion
mainly om he aspec s o e minology, ansla ion s udies, and ex lin-
guis ic esea ch. The ele ance o his esea ch is connec ed o he ad-
ancemen o echnology and he changes in how we collec , sha e, and
unde s and in o ma ion as a esul . The selec ed pape s a e he English
ansla ions o he o iginal Hunga ian ones, which we e published in wo
sepa a e olumes in Hunga ian. The book is spli in o h ee main pa s:
he i s chap e examines echnical communica ion om a b oad pe spec-
i e, he second chap e ocuses on he connec ion be ween documen a-
ion, e minology, and ansla ion, and he book ends wi h s udies abou
linguis ic analysis o echnical ex s.
183Te minologija | 2022 | 29
The i s pa begins wi h Ágo a Fó is’ pape i led ‘Con en De elop-
men and Documen a ion om he Pe spec i e o Hunga ian Linguis ics’.
The au ho explains he aims and me hods o he esea ch p ojec (‘The
Hunga ian Language and P o essional Cul u e. Hunga ian Linguis ic Re-
sea ch in he Fields o Con en De elopmen and Technical Documen-
a ion’) conduc ed by TERMIK (Te minology and Communica ion Re-
sea ch G oup), whose achie emen s a e p esen ed in he book, as well as
he signi icance and applicabili y o i s esul s in highe educa ion. She
hen desc ibes he place and ole o linguis ic s udies in con en de el-
opmen and documen a ion, and in he di e en possible aspec s o such
s udies. This is ollowed by a gene al o e iew o he cha ac e is ics and
sys ems o mode n con en c ea ion and managemen p ac ices. The au-
ho also ou lines he cu en ends in he ield and commen s on he
impac hey ha e on echnical w i e s and end-use s.
The nex pape , ‘P o essional Documen a ion in he 21s Cen u y’, is
by Esz e B. Papp. Recen changes in echnical documen a ion can be
explained by changes in he way in o ma ion is c ea ed and ecei ed; all
hese new phenomena a e subsumed unde he concep o ‘In o ma ion
4.0’. The s udy p o ides a de ailed o e iew o how indus ial and echni-
cal documen s in use oday can be g ouped. Mode n in o ma ion sys ems
a e mo ing away om p in and he lowing ex . Scalabili y (p o iding
jus as much in o ma ion as he use needs), sea chabili y, he e o less
way o e ie al, eusabili y, and in eg a ion in o au oma ion p ocesses a e
becoming inc easingly impo an . To mee hese demands, in o ma ion is
c ea ed and s o ed as sel -con ained, meaning ul uni s and modules, and
he indi idual modules a e o ganised in o la ge uni s along wi h docu-
men maps. The pape concludes, wi h some case s udies, on he bene i s
o selec ing he igh in o ma ion, using con olled language in documen-
a ion and enume a es he challenges aced by echnical w i e s who do no
w i e in hei na i e language.
The second s udy o he same au ho , ‘Documen a ion 4.0’, gi es a
mo e nuanced pic u e o he cons an ly changing en i onmen in which
echnical documen a ion is embedded. One o he di ec e ec s o Indus-
y 4.0 is ha pape -based documen a ion o he pas is being eplaced by
digi al, well-s uc u ed in o ma ion, simul aneously a ailable on mul iple
de ices, which can be in e p e ed by machines and human use s alike. O
cou se, mode n documen a ion also akes he changes in use ’s habi s in o
Zol án Somogyi184 Linguis ic App oaches o Technical
Documen a ion and Technical Tex s
accoun . The au ho also poin s ou ha English has become he dominan
language in documen a ion due o i s global sp ead. In his con ex , he
au ho p esen s some key ea u es o documen s p oduced by na i e and
non-na i e w i e s, as well as he speci ic documen a ion- ela ed concep s
and s anda ds.
This is ollowed by And ea Bölcskei’s pape ‘P ac ices in Technical
Communica ion and he La es Challenges’, which opens wi h an o e iew
o he basic concep s o echnical communica ion and documen a ion. The
au ho discusses he ci cums ances o and he s eps in ol ed in he c ea-
ion o echnical documen a ion, as well as he legal and s anda disa ion
equi emen s ha go e n hese s eps. A e his, he pape highligh s he
u u e impo ance o echnical documen a ion, he ele ance o he c e-
a ion o in elligen in o ma ion p oduc s, and he signi ican ole o e -
minology in documen a ion. I concludes wi h an o e iew o he skills
needed o good echnical communica o s.
The au ho ’s nex pape , ‘Wha Do Technical W i e s Do and Wha Do
They Lea n?’, p o ides a de ailed desc ip ion o echnical w i ing as a job
and o e s an o e iew o he aining cou ses cu en ly a ailable in highe
educa ion and in some o he educa ional p og ammes in some coun ies.
The au ho poin s ou ha language skills a e becoming mo e alued in a
numbe o p o essions, including echnical w i ing. The pape app ecia es
he TecCOMF ame amewo k, which desc ibes he knowledge, skills, and
abili ies o echnical w i e s and de ines hem along six dimensions. The
s udy hen gi es a gene al pic u e o he labou ma ke demand o echni-
cal w i e s, no ing ha he e is an excessi ely high demand o such p o-
essionals ac oss Eu ope. Examples om Eu ope, Canada, and he Uni ed
S a es show ha aining cou ses in echnical documen a ion a e o e ed
a se e al le els (e.g., bachelo and mas e ) and in se e al o ms (mino s,
specialisa ions, s and-alone cou ses, specialised aining p og ammes) in
highe educa ion.
This chap e closes wi h he pape ‘How is Technical Con en C ea ed?
The Li ecycle o Technical Documen a ion’ by Ágnes Czinkóczki and Ildikó
Fehé . Since he au ho s a e p ac icing echnical w i e s, he pape p o ides
i s -hand in o ma ion on he mys e ies o echnical documen a ion,
complemen ing he heo e ical issues p esen ed in p e ious a icles. In
his s udy, hey de ine he e ms echnical con en , echnical documen a ion,
echnical ex , echnical w i e , use , and a ge audience. The de ini ions also
185Te minologija | 2022 | 29
show he di e si y o he wo k o echnical w i e s who no only w i e
con en , bu also plan and schedule he p ocess o p oducing echnical
documen a ion, esea ch he ele an subjec , which includes ga he ing
in o ma ion, consul ing wi h expe s, and, whe e app op ia e, es ing he
p oduc . Fu he on, he au ho s p esen hei de ailed model o he p ocess
o echnical w i ing. A he end o he a icle, he eade s lea n some basic
ules o con en c ea ion, including he impo ance o legal compliance, a
ho ough unde s anding o he a ge audience, and guidelines o keeping
con en simple and concise.
The second pa o he olume s a s wi h Ágo a Fó is’ and And ea
Faludi’s s udy ‘Rela ions o Documen a ion and Documen Managemen
wi h Te minology and T ansla ion’. This pape aims o delimi he ield o
documen a ion and documen managemen and examine i s ela ionship
wi h ansla ion and e minology managemen . In his ega d, he pape
gi es a de ailed pic u e o how documen managemen is ca ied ou and
how i accompanies he whole li e cycle o a documen . The au ho s con-
clude ha e minology managemen plays a key ole in he documen a ion
p ocess, bo h because p o essionals use e minology uni s o o ganise in-
o ma ion and because a well-de eloped e minology ensu es consis ency
o con en in exis ing and u u e documen s. In addi ion o he desc ip ion
o he c ea ion o o iginal documen a ion, he au ho s also discuss in de ail
he p ocesses and ools in ol ed in ansla ing documen s, including he
a ious ools ha assis in ansla ion, publishing so wa e, in o ma ion
managemen s anda ds, and ile o ma s (e.g., DITA XML) ha a e p esen
in he ield o documen a ion.
The nex pape in he olume, ‘Technical W i ing and Documen a-
ion as In alingual Technical T ansla ion’, is also by he abo e co-au ho s.
I begins wi h how he concep o ‘documen a ion’ can be in e p e ed.
The au ho s came up wi h h ee di e en app oaches which also leads o
making p og ess in he de elopmen o which e ms could ep esen hese
concep s in Hunga ian in his ield, which is also one o he aims o he
Hunga ian e sion o he book and he esea ch p ojec . Cla i y and com-
p ehensibili y a e wo key aspec s o good echnical documen a ion. Cla -
i y can be achie ed p ima ily h ough he app op ia e use o concep s
and e ms, which also enhances he alue o a well-de eloped na ional
e minology. Comp ehensibili y is ensu ed by he app op ia e ‘ ansla ion’
o echnical e ms wi hin he language. This sheds ligh on he aspec s and
Zol án Somogyi186 Linguis ic App oaches o Technical
Documen a ion and Technical Tex s
issues o in alingual ansla ion. The au ho s conclude ha he seconda y
communica ion si ua ion ha a ises du ing he documen a ion p ocess can
be conside ed as ‘in alingual ansla ion’, adding ha his phenomenon is
mainly p esen in he communica ion be ween p o essionals and laype -
sons and is e lec ed, abo e all, in he co espondence and unde s anding
o he e ms.
The nex pape is he s udy ‘Fea u es o Tex s on Websi es and Cha -
ac e is ics o hei T ansla ion’ by Má a Kóbo . The pape aims o p esen
he dis inc i e ea u es o w i ing o he web and hei implica ions o
ansla ion, and o p o ide a basis o he de elopmen o he cu iculum
o ansla ion echniques on his opic. The au ho discusses he ypical
cha ac e is ics o websi es and he possible ca ego isa ion c i e ia. She con-
cludes ha ansla ing websi es equi es ansla o s o ha e a basic knowl-
edge o web echnology in addi ion o hei ansla ion skills. La e on, he
au ho examines in de ail he o eign and Hunga ian language cha ac e -
is ics o he publicly a ailable B2C and E2L websi es.
In he pape ‘Te minology Wo k in he P ocess o Technical W i ing
and T ansla ion’, And ea Faludi p esen s he esul s o an in e iew en-
qui y on he ole o e minology wo k in he ansla ion p ocess and high-
ligh s he ole ha ho ough and well-s uc u ed e minology wo k should
play in he i s place in he c ea ion o he sou ce language ex , be o e i is
ansla ed. The au ho used he me hod o s uc u ed in e iews o in es i-
ga e he place and ole o e minology wo k and e minology managemen
in he p ocess o echnical w i ing and in ansla ion o echnical ex s.
Dó a-Má ia Tamás’ s udy ‘Te minology and Documen a ion in Te -
minology Da abases’ also examines he ela ionship be ween e minology
and echnical documen a ion. The s udy begins wi h de ining he concep s
o ‘ e minology managemen ’ and ‘ e minology da abase’. The e mino-
logical wo k i sel in ol es documen a ion, which mus be p esen a all
h ee s ages o he p ocess ( he p epa a o y phase, he elabo a ion phase,
and he inal phase o e minology wo k). The p esence o documen a ion
can also be a gua an ee when assessing he quali y o a da abase. One
o he end p oduc s o his p ocess could be, o example, an edi o ial
guide ha se es as a e e ence o sou ce managemen , copy igh issues,
he s uc u e o he e minology da abase, and he eco ding o he da a
associa ed wi h e ms. I may also be impo an o c ea e documen a ion
con aining in o ma ion on he use o he eady da abase o he end use s.

187Te minologija | 2022 | 29
This pa concludes wi h he s udy ‘Concep s Rela ed o he Te m Doc-
umen a ion in Ce ca e m, a Ca alan Te minology Da abase’ by Esz e Se -
mann, who gi es a comp ehensi e o e iew o he changes in he s a us o
he Ca alan language and he ole o language planning, including e mi-
nology planning in his p ocess. The pape p esen s in de ail he Ce ca e m
da abase, which eco ds he esul s o Ca alan e minological wo ks. In he
second hal o he pape , he au ho examines he e m documen a ion and
i s ela ed e ms in he da abase.
The las pa o he book begins wi h Csilla-Ilona Dé ’s pape ‘Scien i ic
Gen es – Specialized Gen es’, which ocuses on he de ini ion and di e -
en ia ion o scien i ic gen es. These gen es a e pa o a b oade scien i ic
discou se ha is linked o o he p o essional discou ses. The au ho con-
cludes ha scien i ic gen es should be conside ed in he con ex o aca-
demic, scien i ic, p o essional, pedagogical/ins i u ional discou ses. In he
es o he pape , he au ho examines in mo e de ail he gen e and clas-
si ica ion sys ems o he Da abase o Hunga ian Scien i ic Wo ks (Magya
Tudományos Mű ek Tá a, MTMT). A e a de ailed cha ac e isa ion o i s
classi ica ion sys ems, one o he au ho ’s c i icisms is he con adic ion
be ween he scien i ic and he educa ional classi ica ions, which means
ha , o example, a ex book w i en o educa ional pu poses canno be
conside ed a scien i ic wo k e en i i mee s he c i e ia o scien i ici y.
Nó a Cson os’ pape , ‘Technical Tex s om he Pe spec i e o Tex Ty-
pology. Tex Typology Analysis o Ins uc ion Manuals’, examines he ex
ype o ‘ins uc ion manual’ wi hin he amewo k o he unc ional cog-
ni i e heo y o ex ypology and p agma ic app oach. A he beginning
o he pape , he au ho b ie ly e iews p e ious esea ch on ex ypology
and no es ha i lacks homogeneous ca ego ies: he di e ences lie in he
heo e ical amewo ks wi hin which he ex is app oached. The co pus is
based on p in ed and online ins uc ion manuals, wi h he cen al heme
o he cogni i e uni o echnical subjec and i s o ien a ion owa ds i .
The aspec s o analysis include he discu si e ela ionship, he ocus o
a en ion, concep ual schemas and sc ip s, he complexi y o he echnical
subjec , he pu pose o he ex , i.e., he speech ac , and hei ypical lin-
guis ic cons uc ion.
The second pape by he same au ho , ‘Means o Sha ing Knowledge in
Technical Tex s: “A Possible In e p e a ion o he Technical Tex Types”’,
examines echnical ex s in a socio-cogni i e amewo k and es ablishes
Zol án Somogyi188 Linguis ic App oaches o Technical
Documen a ion and Technical Tex s
a possible ypology o echnical ex s. The pape desc ibes he language
use ’s expe ien ial knowledge in connec ion wi h echnical ex s, as well as
he componen s o knowledge in educa ion and o he ins i u ionalised and
con en ionalised con ex s, and hei ela ionship o each o he . To assess
knowledge elemen s and o in es iga e he language use ’s pe cep ion o
he echnical ex , he au ho conduc ed a ques ionnai e su ey, and, as a
esul , she ound ha se e al knowledge componen s could be ac i a ed
simul aneously du ing he o ma ion o he ypes o echnical ex and
language use s cons uc ca ego ies based on hese.
In hei s udy ‘Types, and Cha ac e is ics o Technical Tex s’, Ágnes
Czinkóczki and Ildikó Fehé also look o common cha ac e is ics o echni-
cal ex s, mainly om a non-linguis ic poin o iew. The main unc ion o
echnical ex s is o p o ide he eade wi h complex echnical in o ma ion
while ensu ing ha i is concise, ele an , and accu a e o he a ge audi-
ence, and is accessible quickly and easily. In his espec , h ee subca ego ies
a e dis inguished: desc ip ion, ins uc ion, and e e ence. In his con ex ,
he au ho s desc ibe he DITA au ho ing s anda d, which is widely used
oday in he ield o echnical w i ing. Ano he impo an aspec o conside
is he publishing channel, i.e., how a gi en piece o con en o in o ma ion
is deli e ed o use s. Along hese lines, he au ho s iden i y se e al di e en
ex ypes, which hey analyse in de ail by desc ibing he publica ion chan-
nel, he cha ac e is ics, and linguis ic ea u es o he con en .
In he s udy ‘Seman ic Fea u es in he Te ms o he Hunga ian Ve sion
o an EU Regula ion’, Réka Sólyom examines he ela ionship be ween
concep ual me apho s and me onymies and EU e minology in a cogni i e
seman ic amewo k by analysing EU egula ions. As a esul o he anal-
ysis, he au ho was able o iden i y dis inc ypes o me apho s, me ony-
mies, and pe soni ica ions, o g oup hem by hei speci ic cha ac e is ics,
and de e mine hei p opo ions in he co pus.
In he second pape , ‘Concep ual Me apho s and Me onymies in a
Technical Tex Rela ed o Quali y Managemen Sys ems’, Réka Sólyom
examines he appea ance and unc ions o concep ual me apho s and me-
onymies in a unc ional cogni i e amewo k wi hin a speci ic ex , he
EN ISO 9001:2009 s anda d on quali y managemen . While e iewing he
heo e ical backg ound, he au ho b ie ly summa ises he main ideas o
li e a u e on me apho s and me onymy, which ha e hei oo s in he o i-
cal wo ks. The au ho poin s ou ha he basic unc ion o hese linguis ic
189Te minologija | 2022 | 29
ools is o help he ecipien s unde s and abs ac concep s o p ocesses
abou which hey ha e no o jus limi ed expe ience. In he analysis, he
au ho does no conside he whole ex bu ocuses only on ce ain wo ds
and ph ases. As a esul , she inds ha he e a e se e al ypes o me apho s
in he co pus, mainly e bal me apho s and pe soni ica ion, as well as
o ien a ional me apho s, which a e also common in colloquial language,
making i easie o he eade s o unde s and he ex .
The e has been ela i ely li le p agma ic esea ch on echnical docu-
men s in connec ion wi h he Hunga ian language. In he las s udy o he
olume, ‘Abou he Usage o Discou se Ma ke s in A chi ec u al Technical
Documen a ion’, Csilla-Ilona Dé a emp s o ill in his gap. Fi s , he au-
ho cla i ies he concep o discou se ma ke s and explains how hey can
be classi ied. The co pus o he s udy consis ed o eely a ailable echnical
documen a ion on building a chi ec u es, om which he au ho ex ac ed
he discou se ma ke s manually, hen iden i ied hei unc ions, so ed hem
in o g oups, and used s a is ical me hods o examine hei p opo ions.
All s udies in his olume ha e a s ong connec ion o e minology
and e minology managemen , as hey p o ide a specialised amewo k o
echnical documen a ion in which he heo e ical and p ac ical app oaches
o dealing wi h e ms a e embedded. By gi ing an o e iew o he cha -
ac e is ics o echnical documen a ion and he ela ed wo k o echnical
w i e s, he p ocess o c ea ing echnical documen a ion, and he a ious
ea u es o specialized echnical ex s, whe e p ope e minology manage-
men has a high ele ance, he au ho s desc ibe he en i onmen whe e
specialised e ms and concep ual hie a chies a e p esen in high num-
be s. The olume can be used by p o essionals in ol ed in all p ocesses o
documen a ion, especially e minologis s, who would like o gain a be e
unde s anding o he impac s o e ms in c ea ing and eading echnical
ex s, and o e minology managemen in he whole p ocess. Besides, i
can se e as a ex book in cu en and u u e highe educa ion cou ses.
Gau a 2022-08-29
Zol án Somogyi
Ká oli Gáspá Uni e si y o he Re o med Chu ch in Hunga y
Te minology and Communica ion Resea ch G oup
Re iczky u. 4, Budapes , Hunga y
E-mail zol an.somogyi@p o onmail.com