doi.org/10.35321/term26-14

Conference Scientific, Administrative and Educational Levels of Terminology

REGINA KVAŠYTĖ

Šiauliai University, Institute of the Latvian Language, University of Latvia

On 17–18 October 2019, the 3rd international scientific conference Scientific, Administrative and Educational Levels of Terminology was held at the Institute of the Lithuanian Language. The Terminology Centre of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language (hereafter LKI) began organizing international scientific conferences in 2003, and they are held every two years; this was therefore already the 9th terminology conference in Vilnius. This year’s conference was the largest yet, bringing together speakers from scientific institutions in Lithuania and 16 foreign countries (Austria, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Poland, Norway, Romania, Russia, Georgia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine, and Hungary). The program included 32 presentations by scholars from foreign countries and 13 by Lithuanian scholars. Among the participants were the world-renowned theorist of terminology, Professor Emeritus Heribert Picht from Denmark, and other prominent terminologists.

The conference was opened by the director of LKI, Dr. Albina Auksoriūtė, who also delivered the welcoming address. As a terminologist herself, she recalled the importance of terminology in a changing world and, drawing on the Guidelines for Terminology Policies prepared in 2005 at the request of UNESCO by the International Information Centre for Terminology (INFOTERM), emphasized the role of terminology development in the advancement of national languages: “<...> there is an important connection between an individual’s ability to use their mother tongue in all areas of culture, science, and business and the social and economic well-being of the community that speaks that language. People whose native-language terminology and special-purpose language have not been developed (or have been inadequately developed), or who do not use their mother tongue in education and training, receive no information in their native language or do not communicate in it at work, do not have favorable conditions for all-round development <...> the terminology of all languages must be continually planned and deve-

280

Regina Kvašytė | Konferencija Moksliniai, administraciniai ir edukaciniai terminologijos lygmenys

kretūs teisiniai, finansiniai ir administraciniai veiksmai jam palaikyti“ (GTP, 2005, Preface Vi). A. Auksoriūtė palinkėjo sėkmingos konferencijos, įdomių idėjų ir mokslinių atradimų, naudingų diskusijų ir šilto pabendravimo.

The conference participants were greeted by Henrik Nilsson, president of the European Association for Terminology (EAFT), and Christian Galinski, director of the International Information Centre for Terminology (INFOTERM) (the latter remotely). His main point was that the conferences organized by LKI have become an excellent example of cooperation among terminologists at the international and national levels. Recalling his own experience (he has taken part in terminology events in Vilnius three times) and the participation of Lithuanian terminologists in INFOTERM’s work (he singled out A. Auksoriūtė’s contribution as president of that organization from 2009 to 2018), Ch. Galinski emphasized that the conferences are improving and that the work is being carried out more professionally, since people interested in terminology issues have been brought together. He wished the organizers continued success in their work and the opportunity to encompass new areas of activity.

Two of the three invited speakers opened the conference. Professor Dr. Johan Myking of the University of Bergen (Norway) spoke about term formation—approaches to theoretical principles and their changes in contemporary terminology theory—with particular emphasis on the importance of motivation. Professor Dr. Larissa Manerko of Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russia) spoke about cognitive terminology as a way of understanding knowledge structures in specialized discourse and terminological systems.

The next part of the plenary session began with a video presentation read by Blanca Stella Giraldo Perez (co-author Ch. Galinski). The presentation discussed sources and practical tools that could be used in teaching and learning terminology to achieve the best possible results. The audience heard insights from Elena Chiocchetti of Italy into terminology work in South Tyrol—a multilingual province of northern Italy—aimed at developing German legal terminology needed by the local public administration, creating new terms, and managing term banks. Lia Karosanidze of the A. Chikobava Institute of Linguistics at Tbilisi State University reviewed the history of the development of the term bank and its future prospects in Georgia, while Dmitry Shilovskiy of the A. I. Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry (Russia) focused on a particular aspect of the interdisciplinary specificities of terminological communication in developing medical students’ systems thinking.

Terminologija | 2019 | 26

281

The third invited speaker, Dr Anita Nuopponen of the University of Vaasa (Finland), examined educational aspects of terminology science. Drawing on descriptions of terminology courses and teaching, she discussed various types of contemporary instruction used for different groups of learners. EAFT President Henrik Nilsson, this time as a representative of C.A.G Mawell / Next, spoke about the emergence of new professional activities related to the management of terms and the status of terminologists in Europe, particularly in Sweden. Meanwhile, colleagues Ana Ostroški Anić and Martina Pavić of the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics (Croatia) discussed the creation of an English–Croatian aviation terminology database using the semantic frame approach.

Later, conference participants continued their work in sections. In Section A (where the working language was English), papers were presented by Esztera Sermann and Dóra Mária Tamás from Hungary (on how term banks and other virtual terminology resources are described and classified); Igorīs Kudashevas and Olga Semenova from the University of Tampere, Finland (on a project to compile a thematic Finnish–Russian medical terminology dictionary); Marekas Łukasikas and Piotras Sulikas from the Pomeranian Academy in Słupsk, Poland (on issues relevant to translators concerning the use of specialised translation dictionaries available online); and Lithuanian researchers Sigita Racekevičienė and Liudmila Mockienė of Mykolas Romeris University, together with their co-author Andrius Utka of Vytautas Magnus University (on the creation of a specialised English–Lithuanian terminology database).

The work of Section B (papers were delivered in Lithuanian) began with a presentation by Regina Kvašytė, representing Šiauliai University and the Institute of the Latvian Language at the University of Latvia. Her paper focused on contrastive studies of Lithuanian and Latvian terminology. Lecturers Jolanta Kovalevskaitė and Agnė Bielinskienė of Vytautas Magnus University discussed in detail one of the teaching and learning methods used in their course Terminologija ir terminografija: a descriptive terminology project. Vidas Valskys, who works at the Lithuanian Armed Forces Training and Doctrine Command, examined current issues in the management of military terminology, while Alvydas Umbrasas, an employee of the Terminology Centre of LKI, revealed the varied usage of the word terminas in Lietuvių kalbos žodyne.

The programme for the second day of the conference opened with a paper by terminologist Miroslav Zumrik of the Ľudovít Štúr Institute of Linguistics at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. His paper addressed terminology and institutional ontology, focusing primarily on verbs in legal texts as

282

Regina Kvašytė

Konferencija Moksliniai, administraciniai ir edukaciniai terminologijos lygmenys

an important component of the language of court decisions. Dace Šostaka of the University of Latvia discussed theoretical aspects of terminology automation and localisation, while Jana Levická of the Ľudovít Štúr Institute of Linguistics at the Slovak Academy of Sciences examined the productivity of adjective suffixes in Slovak medical terminology. The section session concluded with a paper by Kristianas Lewis of the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics, who discussed false friends in Croatian terminology and offered recommendations for avoiding such cases.

As on the first day of the conference, work then continued in parallel sections. In Section A, speakers focused mainly on cognitive aspects of terminology. Larisa Alekseeva, a terminologist at Perm State University (Russia), presented a paper prepared with her co-authors—her university colleague Svetlana Mishlanova and Professor Emeritus Heribert Picht of Copenhagen Business School (Denmark), who also took part in the conference—on the cycle of metaphors in the process of term formation. Papers by two other terminologists from Russia, Anastasios Sharapkova (Lomonosov Moscow State University) and Margarita Lazareva (Perm State University), also addressed metaphors. The former discussed the transformation of culturally specific words into biological terms, while the latter examined the use of mythological metaphors to name bacteria. Elena Logunova, representing Kaliningrad State Technical University (Russia), spoke about cognitive aspects of computer science terminology in economics.

At the same time, Section B was in session. Daiva Aliūkaitė (Vilnius University) presented a paper prepared jointly with Danguole Mikulėnienė (LKI) on problems concerning inherited and new terms in the discourse of traditional dialectology and contemporary regional languages. Nijolė Bliūdžiuvienė (the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania) discussed the standardisation of information and documentation terminology, while her colleague Violeta Černiauskaitė addressed the specific features of language standardisation in library terminology, covering both natural and artificial languages. The paper by Palmira Zemlevičiūtė, head of the Terminology Centre at LKI, focused on the history of terminology: she examined names for human reproductive organs used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Because some speakers were unable to attend, it became possible to stop dividing the work into sections and for everyone to continue listening to the papers together. Professor Siergiejus Grinevas-Griniewiczius of the Prof. Edward F. Szczepanik State Higher School of Vocational Education in Suwałki (Poland) presented a paper on terminology statu nascendi—the formation of early terminology

Terminologija | 2019 | 26

283

the peculiarities of legal terminology (co-author Elvira Sorokina of Russia’s Moscow Region State University). A paper prepared by Konstantin Averbukh of Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Russia) on professional identity from a terminological perspective was heard. Ricardo Eito-Brunas, a representative of King’s College Madrid (Spain), viewed terminology as the foundation of engineering in his paper, while Nino Skhirtladze’e of the A. Chikobava Institute of Linguistics at Tbilisi State University (Georgia) discussed dialectal and archaic vocabulary as a source of contemporary Georgian terminology.

The conference’s closing session was devoted to Lithuanian terminology issues, and all the papers were presented by LKI researchers. Asta Mitkevičienė discussed terms with alternative conjunctions, Aušra Rimkutė-Ganusauskienė contemporary footwear names, Dalia Sviderskienė the use of the term žemėvardis, and Lina Rutkienė the work and development of hybrid compounds in construction terminology.

In conclusion, it is a pleasure to note that a tour of the Lituanistics Hub was organized for conference participants, who were also given the opportunity to socialize in an informal setting and explore Vilnius. Such activities always add value to academic events: they disseminate information about the country, encourage closer interaction, which often leads to collaboration, and strengthen mutual ties. Thanks for this year’s terminology celebration go to the organizers (the LKI Terminology Centre), the sponsors (the Research Council of Lithuania), and the partners (Go Vilnius).

Received 2019-11-25

Regina Kvašytė Šiaulių universitetas P. Višinskio g. 38, LT-76352 Šiauliai

Latvijas Universitātes Latviešu valodas institūts Akadēmijas laukums 1, Rīga LV-1050, Latvija E. paštas [email protected]

284

Regina Kvašytė | Konferencija Moksli­nai, administraciniai ir edukaciniai terminologijos lygmenys