Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai

Terms in the Field of Cryptographic Currencies: Meanings, Forms and Variants ROBERTAS STUNŽINAS Institute of the Lithuanian Language KEYWORDS: cryptocurrencies, cryptographic technologies, terminology, loanwords, metaphors The era of cryptocurrencies is considered to have begun in 2009, when a person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto created the software for the Bitcoin network and began processing its transactions. The core of the Bitcoin network is made up of the so-called distributed ledger technology: in a synchronised database distributed among websites, countries and institutions, users who are not controlled by supervisory authorities trade or make payments in special settlement units, using a coded chain of information and transmitting information objects (blocks). Soon, numerous other monetary units not controlled by central banks or government institutions appeared, and more than 1,5001 different cryptocurrencies are currently in circulation. Cryptocurrencies are a new phenomenon that is only beginning to be regulated by law, so Lithuanian terminology in this field is new, unsettled and rich in foreignisms. This article examines terms for cryptocurrencies and related concepts found in electronic texts of various styles. The aim of the study is to analyse the meanings, forms and variants of terms in the field of cryptocurrencies found in texts published online and in other sources. The article uses a descriptive method. In analysing the forms of Lithuanian terms, particular attention is paid to their relationship with their English equivalents. Variants of terms2 1 The data from the Coinmarketcap website dated 21 May 2018 are used. 2 This article adopts a broad conception of variants, i.e. different linguistic units linked by the same meaning or function. The conception of variants may be narrower: formal variants of the same linguistic unit that have the same lexical and grammatical meaning and the same morphological structure, but may differ in pronunciation, phoneme composition, stress placement, form formation, case endings and grammatical marking (Miliūnaitė 2009: 141–147). 128 Robertas Stunžinas Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai are evaluated from the perspectives of language and terminological correctness and semantic precision. The material was taken from news portals, documents published online, scholarly works, blogs, chat sites, and terminology databases. Data from the electronic domain were collected using the “Google” search engine: terms were searched for using English terms found in Lithuanian texts, the components kripto(–), kriptografinis, and other associative formations. English glossaries in this field were used as a basis for searching for Lithuanian cryptocurrency terms3. Terms denoting cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency technologies and operations, people engaged in cryptocurrency mining, and their actions are examined in terms of meaning, expression, variation, and terminological precision. In all, 151 terms denoting 51 concepts are analyzed. Names of cryptocurrency, its types, and its smaller components. This section examines 56 terms denoting 15 different concepts. More than two dozen Lithuanian terms serve as generic names for a type of digital currency obtained using mathematical operations and encoding technologies, for example: internet money (bitcoincentras.lt), encoded currency (lietuviu.globalsciencecollaboration.org), crypto asset (delfi.lt), crypto currency (aipt.lt), cryptographic electronic currency (giruzis.lt), cryptographic currency (naujienos.vu.lt), cryptographic money (www.15min.lt), cryptographic asset (lt.all4bitcoin.com), crypto-money (delfi.lt), cryptoasset (kriptovaliutos.org), cryptocurrency (lt.wikipedia.org), private digital currency (sarmatas.lt), digital currency (spectrocoin.com), crypto (traders.lt), digital money (bitcoincentras.lt), virtual cryptocurrency (vytat.lt), virtual currency (giruzis.lt). It can be seen that almost half are modeled on the English synonymous terms cryptocurrency (IATE), crypto-money (IATE), crypto-asset (IATE), and their longer variants cryptographic currency (patents.google.com), cryptographic money (applancer.com), and cryptographic asset (bravenewcoin.com), for example: cryptocurrency, crypto currency, cryptographic currency; crypto-money, crypto-money, cryptographic money; cryptoasset, crypto asset, cryptographic asset. The terms containing the components kriptografinis (–ė) most accurately reflect the concept: monetary units are obtained using cryptographic technologies. Compounds with the component kripto- should be considered insufficiently precise in reflecting the concept— 3 For example, Cryptocurrency Vocabulary: 50 Terms to Understand Cryptocurrency (coinherald.co), 21 Terms to Understand Cryptocurrency. Terminologija | 2018 | 25 129 ing, because the component kripto- (Greek kryptos—“hidden, secret,” TŽŽe) indicates that the concept expressed by the second part of the word is secret or invisible; for example, kriptonimas, “a pseudonym consisting of the first letters of the author’s surname and first name,” and kriptodepresija, “a flooded depression (hollow, basin) in the Earth’s surface, the floor of which lies below sea level and the water surface above it” (see TŽŽe). Phrases with the separate component kripto, which frequently occur in colloquial texts, should be considered incorrect. Kripto- should be used only as a component of compound words. Sometimes the name of the currency is shortened to the dependent component kripto, for example: “If Russia diversifies its reserves into c r y p t o, how will we talk if the ECB starts doing that?”4 (traders.lt). Terms containing the components kripto- graf(ini)s (–ė) are used in recent EU institutional documents, for example: cryptographic asset (52018DC0109), cryptographic currency (52017DC0345). Shorter forms also occur, however—compounds with the component kripto-—cryptocurrency (52017PC0806). The terms are assessed differently with respect to their main components (money, currency, asset). Specialists at the Bank of Lithuania argue that the phenomenon in question should not be called currency, since it lacks the characteristics ordinarily associated with a currency (see Grigolytė 2018 for more). It can be added that this phenomenon should likewise not be called money. The terms money and currency are defined as “<...> banknotes, coins and funds in accounts issued by a bank; banknotes issued by other states, treasury bills, coins and funds in accounts, which constitute legal tender; and other means of payment expressed in monetary terms” (Law Amending the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering of the Republic of Lithuania (Official Gazette, 2008, No. 10–335)); “the monetary unit of a country (gold, silver, paper money); a type of monetary system; foreign money used in international circulation (foreign currency)” (AĮVTŽ). The phenomenon analyzed in the article is not specific to any one country, is not controlled by national or international institutions, is not tied to gold, silver, or other money, and is not legal tender in many countries. Thus, terms containing the components money, currency are considered metaphorical: the phenomenon is a means of payment and is linked to actual money or currency by similarity of function. Some variants arose from using terms with meanings other than their own. Cryptocurrency is often referred to by the term electronic money (geopo-5 4 The language of the examples has not been corrected, except for typographical errors. 5 For convenience, the term cryptographic currency is used henceforth in the article. 130 Robertas Stunžinas Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai (litika.lt) or its variants electronic currency (geopolitika.lt, decrypto.ee), digital money (bitco centras.lt), digital currency (spectrocoin.com), internet money (bitco centras.lt)6. Electronic money is defined as “monetary value issued into circulation after electronic money issuers receive funds from natural or legal persons, expressed as a claim on its issuer and having the following characteristics: 1) it is stored on electronic media, including magnetic media; 2) it is intended for carrying out payment transactions; 3) it is accepted by persons other than the issuers of that electronic money” (Draft Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Electronic Money and Electronic Money Institutions; LRTB). Cryptocurrency should be regarded as a particular type of electronic money: it is stored on electronic media and intended for carrying out payment transactions. However, it differs from electronic money in that it is not legally defined and its issuers are also its users (for more, see “Are cryptocurrencies electronic money?”, alfa.lt). Terms containing additional components that denote more distinguishing features of the concept are considered more precise, e.g.: cryptographic electronic currency (giruzis.lt), private digital currency (sarmatas.lt). The term virtual currency is sometimes used to refer to cryptocurrency, e.g.: “Lithuania discovers virtual currency [headline]. Abroad, cryptocurrency is increasingly used by major banks, while Lithuanian companies that settle payments in this currency are under scrutiny” (lzin io s.lt). Virtual currency is a broader term: it encompasses all unregulated digital money: “unregulated digital money that can be used as a means of payment, but which is not issued into circulation or guaranteed by a central bank” (IATE). Cryptocurrency should be considered a subgroup of virtual currency: it is obtained using cryptographic technology. A more precise term would be cryptographic virtual currency. No instances of this term were found in actual usage; only a term with the reverse order of its dependent components and its shorter two-word variant were found: virtual cryptographic currency (it.lrytas.lt) and virtual cryptocurrency (vz.lt). These terms are imprecise because their component virtual is redundant: cryptocurrency cannot be non-virtual. The spelling variant with dependent components linked by a hyphen—virtual-cryptographic currency (it.lrytas.lt)—is also considered imprecise. A hyphen may be used between two syntactically equivalent adjectives expressing a complex property of an object, e.g.: 6 For more on the synonymy of the terms electronic currency, electronic money, digital currency and digital money, see Digital currency (en.wikipedia.org), Digital Currencies vs. Cryptocurrencies, Explained (cointelegraph.com). Terminologija | 2018 | 25 131 interrogative-relative pronouns, socio-economic system. A hyphen is not used between adjectives that are syntactically unequal and have unequal relationships with the noun they modify. One of them, usually the second, is more closely related in meaning to the noun and forms a phrase with it, while the first (the one farther from the noun) modifies it, e.g.: evening secondary school, steam hydraulic press (for more, see Hyphen, http://www.vlkk.lt/aktualiausios-temos/rasyba/bruk­snelis). Cryptocurrency is also referred to by the term encoded currency (lietuviu.globalsciencecollaboration.org). This term is considered precise because encoding is one of the essential aspects of the technological process of cryptocurrency mining. When cryptocurrency is discussed in contrast to another type, the traditional currency issued and controlled by state institutions is usually mentioned. The term fiat money (currency) most accurately reflects the concept. The Dictionary of Economic Terms defines fiat money as “state paper money issued by decree, not backed by gold reserves, not convertible into gold, and used only as a medium of exchange. Most modern money is fiat money” (ETŽ). The synonym traditional money (currency) is used in journalistic texts, e.g.: “Prominent Lithuanian businessman and chairman of the ‘Nextury Ventures’ fund, Ilja Laurs, says that t r a d i t i o n a l m o n e y is no longer suitable for the modern electronic economy and may be displaced by cryptocurrencies” (diena.lt). “First of all, when making transfers in bitcoins, there are no intermediaries between the buyer and seller, so they are completed much faster and cost less than transactions in t r a d i t i o n a l c u r r e n c y through the banking system” (delfi.lt). Sometimes the unadapted loanword⁷ fiat is inserted into the term (cf. English fiat “official permission or proposal, decree” ODE 2010), e.g.: fiat money (delfi.lt), traditional (fiat) currency (verslas.lrytas.lt). Compounds formed on the model of the English terms fiat money, fiat currency also occur, e.g.: “fiat⟧ money (lt.all4bitcoin.com), fiat currency (m.technologijos.lt). Sometimes the loanword is incorrectly treated as an acronym, e.g. FIAT money (avnt.lt). When cryptocurrencies are discussed, the first one is mentioned most often—Bitcoin (English bitcoin, a borrowed abbreviation—BTC (spectrocoin.com). In popular usage, orthographically and morphologically adapted variants, variants adapted only morphologically, wholly unadapted variants, and compounds containing unadapted variants occur, e.g.: Bitkoinas (admiralmarkets.lt), bitcoinas (seopaslaugos.com), 7 Plačiau apie skolinių integracijos į tekstą būdus žr. Vaičiakauskienė 2016: 90–91. 132 Robertas Stunžinas Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai bitcoin (kriptorinka.lt), bitcoin currency (youtube.com). All other cryptocurrencies are called altcoins (English altcoin) (masterforex-v.lt). Other terms in use are altcoinas (kriptovaliutos.org), alternative currency, alternative cryptocurrency, e.g.: “This year began turbulently for the crypto market—Bitcoin and other alternative currencies are trying to recover after the correction that took place at the end of last year” (ecoin.lt). “Alternative cryptocurrencies are a way to address Bitcoin’s shortcomings, expand and provide new opportunities, and speed up transactions” (kriptovaliutos.lt). The term alternative currency should be regarded only as a contextual synonym8—it denotes a broader concept, namely, a type of money created privately and not regulated by central banks, used in a particular territory in place of the national currency (for example, Brixton pound, sardex), or unregulated electronic money (cryptocurrency) (see worldpolicy.org). Another popular currency is most often called ether (delfi.lt) (English Etherium). A much less common variant is eteriumas (udris.lt). The first form is correct—the currency’s creator derives the name from the term ether (for more, see Ethereum, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum). Smaller units of cryptocurrencies, or units of their value (English token), are designated by words or components used figuratively—token (52018DC0109), virtual token (52018DC0109). The initial offering of such monetary units (English ICO, Initial Coin Offering) is designated by a borrowed abbreviation or multiword terms, e.g.: ICO (aipt.lt), initial distribution of crypto coins (52018DC0109), initial cryptocurrency offering (delfi.lt), initial distribution of coins or tokens (aipt.lt). The term initial offering of cryptocurrency. would most accurately reflect the concept. Smaller units of different types of cryptocurrencies are characterized by metonymic—antonomastic9—nomination. The smallest unit of bitcoin is named after its founder: satoshi (English Satohi). This is the smallest possible fraction of a bitcoin transaction, approximately equal to one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin. No other Lithuanian names for bitcoin units could be found; however, one-thousandth of a bitcoin may be called by the loanwords milibitcoin (cf. English millibitcoin) or milibit (cf. English millibit); one-millionth is called microbitcoin (English microbitcoin) (for more, see Millibit, en.bitcoin.it). Other popular cryptocurrencies are— 8 Contextual synonyms arise only in certain contexts and situations, when the same thing is alternately called by words with different meanings (LKE 1999: 572). 9 Antonomazija – tikrinio vardo vartojimas bendrine reikšme (LKE 1999: 410). Terminologija | 2018 | 25 133 eterio – no Lithuanian names for smaller units could be found, but they should be terms derived from adapted forms of the personal names of the creators of the currencies: finis (English finney < Hal Finney), sabas (English szabo < Nick Szabo, en.wikipedia.org), vėjus (English wei < Wei Dai, en.wikipedia.org). Names of technologies and operations. This section discusses 85 terms denoting 34 concepts. Cryptocurrency mining uses a database distributed and synchronized across websites, countries or institutions (English distributed ledger), which, by analogy with its function, is often metaphorically named after the book in which an accountant records entries – accounting book (English ledger ‘book of accounts’, ODE 2010). The metaphorical term is used alone or with modifiers digital, distributed, distributed digital, dispersed (naujienos.alfa.lt), for example: “You are essentially downloading a huge a c c o u n t i n g b o o k, which encodes all the transfers made up to that point, and you can use it to allow the computer to verify new transactions” (pareigununija.lt). “A blockchain is a d i g i t a l a c c o u n t i n g b o o k, in which information about economic operations is securely accumulated and which can be programmed to record not only financial transactions but essentially anything of value” (weststeincard.com). Other variants also occur: digital ledger (delfi.lt), ledger (ecoin.lt), book (15min.lt), distributed journals (delfi.lt), transaction log (ecoin.lt). The concept is most accurately represented by non-metaphorical terms; for example, the IATE terminology database of EU institutions provides the non-metaphorical term distributed register alongside the metaphorical term dispersed transaction book (IATE). One of the technologies of such a register, that is, a data system enabling the creation of a cryptocurrency transaction system in a decentralized network, is called by the term block chain, which has a metaphorical head component, or by the borrowing blockchain (English blockchain), for example: “The b l o c k c h a i n is a technology created for making payments with bitcoins, but its capabilities are much broader—from payments to electronic voting and healthcare” (lrt.lt). “B l o c k c h a i n, b l o c k c h a i n, bitcoin, ethereum, cryptocurrencies—neologisms increasingly heard in the business press and public sphere; many have heard of them, but few know much about them” (udris.lt). Unadapted variants also occur in wider usage, for example: “In this article I will explain in simple terms what b l o c k c h a i n technology is and how it works” (lifehacks.lt). The first such block (English genesis block) in the chain is called by two 134 Robertas Stunžinas Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai terms – initial block (kaip-padaryti.blogspot.lu), prime block (aipt.lt). From a terminology perspective, both terms are acceptable: prime ‘1. preceding others; being the cause of something’ DŽe; initial see beginning ‘1. the first part of something having length’. In colloquial texts, terms containing unadapted borrowings occur, such as genesis block (traders.lt). A property of a block indicating how many blocks in the chain precede the prime (initial) block is called block size (ecoin.lt). This term is clearer than the variant block height found in machine-translated texts (medium.com), which is modeled on the English term block height (bitcoin.stackexchange.com). An additional part of a blockchain (English fork) is called by the metaphorical term branch, for example: “A Bitcoin software b r a n c h is confusing, because every user connected to the Bitcoin network must ensure network compatibility, or miners may start mining the wrong blockchain” (admiralmarkets.lt). Payment for a block (English block reward) is denoted by the term block reward (English block reward). Halving this reward (English halving) is usually called by the borrowing halvingas, for example: “H a l v i n g live in less than three hours!” (traders.lt). A clearer descriptive term would be halving of block rewards. A block that is not connected to the blockchain should be called an isolated block or a separate block. English uses the metaphorical component orphan block (blockchain.info) (cf. orphan ‘orphan’, ODE 2010). Programs that execute transactions between buyers and sellers are most often called by the metaphorical term smart contract (cf. English smart contract), for example: “A modern s m a r t c o n t r a c t is essentially a computer program that executes the specified terms of a contract written in the program code” (1zinios.lt). In some sources, terms with a borrowed head component occur, such as smart contract (m.technologijos.lt). Figurative meanings are also characteristic of other names for programs, technologies and operations. For example, a mixer (English faucet10 is the name for a reward-distributing system—a website or application. A special cryptographic operation is called a hash (English hash11), for example: “Even without delving into the technical details, it is worth noting the ciphers (English hash, Lithuanian h a s h, although this Lithuanian term is accurate, it sounds rather strange to many)” (ecoin.lt). 10 Faucet ‘tap’ (ODE 2010). 11 Hash ‘to mix, mince, chop’ (ODE 2010). Terminologija | 2018 | 25 135 The same thing is also referred to by loanwords, e.g.: “Just as distance is measured in meters and kilometers, the capacity for ‘mining’ currency is measured in h a s h units: megahash, gigahash, terahash, etc.” (bznstart.lt). Hash is a standard computing term: hash is “a method for formally obtaining a summary of a data set, called a hash value. A hash value is used for data management, searching, encryption, integrity checking and other purposes. <...> The method is called hashing because it is based on mixing data” (EKŽe). The operations of buying and selling cryptocurrencies (English transactions) are called transactions (English transaction – operation, transaction ALKKŽe), e.g.: “All this means that the number of bitcoin t r a n s a c t i o n s at present is very limited – only 7 per second” (aina.lt). However, loanwords also occur in usage, e.g.: “Basically, there would be no Bitcoin currency if there were no supercomputers that verify t r a n s a c t i o n s <...>” (bankai.lt). A special-purpose integrated circuit used for cryptocurrency mining is most commonly designated in general usage by the borrowed abbreviation ASIC (English ASIC, Application Specific Integrated Circuit) with or without the nomenclatural component chip, e.g.: “Samsung enters the world of cryptocurrencies, will start producing A S I C” [headline]. <…> “The A S I C c h i p s being produced will be very efficient and will probably be aimed at Bitcoin mining” (tech-news.lt). The appropriate term is special-purpose integrated circuit. In usage, terms without an adjectival form occur most often, e.g.: “S p e c i a l – p u r p o s e i n t e g r a t e d c i r c u i t (English application-specific integrated circuit or ASIC) – an integrated circuit adapted to solve specific tasks” (lt.wikipedia.org). Texts published online abound in incorrect variants. Sometimes the abbreviation is mistakenly treated as a proper name, as indicated by its use with quotation marks, e.g.: “ ‘A S I C’ (specialized integrated circuits for a single client) will be produced, as well as ‘ASSP’ (specialized processors used in a particular field, developed according to the desired specifications of several clients) processors” (delfi.lt). In other cases, terms with a different meaning or abstract expressions are used, e.g.: special-purpose integrated circuit (rtn.elektronika.lt) (cf. integrated circuit – “a set of interconnected electronic circuit elements, inseparably connected within or on the surface of a particular medium” (AETŽ)), application integrated circuit (rtn.elektronika.lt), specialized chipsets (15min.lt). Sometimes the integrated circuit in question is colloquially referred to using personal names, 136 Robertas Stunžinas Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai e.g.: “A S I C m i n e r sales and connection” (digimedia.lt). The emergence of the jargon term may have been influenced by English words (cf. English miner “a person who works in a mine”). Foreignisms also occur in usage, e.g.: “Bitmain, a small Chinese company that manufactures A S I C m i n e r s, today announced the ‘Antminer E3’, an ASIC miner whose purpose is Ethereum mining” (btc.lt). “The first enthusiasts used ordinary personal computers or laptops for this activity – at first using the processing power of their computers, later with graphics cards, and now only with specialized devices – ‘b i t c o i n m i n e r s’, otherwise known as ASICS” (bitcoincentras.lt). Cryptocurrency mining using special-purpose integrated circuits is most often referred to by the unadapted loanword proof of work: “<…> identifies two types of cryptocurrency ‘mining’: p r o o f – o f – w o r k and p r o o f – o f – s t a k e. The first method uses ASIC computers specifically: in order for transactions to be ‘mined’ and encrypted into the blockchain, special ASIC computers that use a lot of electricity are needed” (bznstart.lt). It was not possible to find suitable Lithuanian equivalents of the English term proof of work that reflect the concept; calques are used, e.g.: “Proof-of-Work. W o r k p r o o f. The original bitcoin consensus protocol on the network. This protocol confirms a transaction and adds a block to the chain” (aipt.lt). Related terms proof of stake, proof of concept also lack Lithuanian equivalents, e.g.: “P r o o f – o f – s t a k e is a more modern way to maintain the infrastructure of the ‘blockchain’ network” (bznstart.lt). Descriptive terms could be used to designate the concepts, e.g.: mining using special-purpose integrated circuits, mining using conventional means, and so on. Bitcoin buying and selling transactions take place in a decentralized network whose users are peers12. Such a network should be called a peer-to-peer network (English, English peer-to-peer), e.g.: “It is a p e e r – t o – p e e r n e t w o r k (English peer-to-peer) made up of users’ computers” (technologijos.lt). The adjective peer-to-peer should be used when referring to users, so the synonym peer-to-peer network that occurs in usage should be regarded as a metonymic, indirect meaning— 12 The opposite of such a network is a client-server architecture network, in which data processing is distributed among the workstations of computerized clients and the server. The server may be a high-performance personal or central computer designed to serve many clients efficiently at the same time (see EKŽE for more details). 13 Peer-to-peer architecture is “a network architecture consisting of two or more computers that exchange data using the same or the same type of software. All the computers in the network are peers, and each performs the server function in relation to the others” (see EKŽE for more details). Terminologija | 2018 | 25 137 Examples: “Recent technological innovations, such as public-key cryptography, peer-to-peer networks – P2P, mobile smart devices, etc., laid the foundations for the emergence of decentralized virtual currencies” (bernardinai.lt). The architecture under discussion is sometimes named according to another feature – transactions take place without intermediaries, e.g.: “The third type of virtual currencies includes a new generation of decentralized virtual currencies based on a direct exchange between users (English peer-to-peer model), which are often also called cryptographic electronic currencies (English crypto currency)” (giruzis.lt). Terms with a borrowed abbreviation or an unadapted loanword are also often used – P2P tinklas (maze.lt), peer-to-peer tinklas (kriptovaliutos.lt). The computers comprising the network (English network nodes, nodes) are designated by the metaphorical term mazgas (aipt.lt). This is a conventional computing metaphor denoting a device (computer, server, printer) connected to a network (EKŽe). The means for decrypting encrypted data are called by the metaphorical terms viešasis raktas (zinaukaip.lt) and privatusis raktas (kykompiuteris.blogspot.com). These are traditional computing metaphors: privatusis raktas (English private key) “one key of a key pair used in public-key cryptography. The private key is kept secret and is used to decrypt data that was encrypted with its corresponding public key” (EKŽe); viešasis raktas (English public key) “one key of a key pair used in public-key cryptography. It is freely accessible and published as part of a certificate. It is most often used to verify a digital signature and encrypt data sent to the public-key owner” (EKŽe). The mathematical operation that verifies ownership is called a parašu, e.g.: “Every user of the Bitcoin network can verify whether the signature is valid <...>” (bitcoinlt.org). An electronic device for storing cryptocurrencies, or an online service for storing them, is designated by 32 terms. All the terms identified have the metaphorical head component piniginė (English wallet). The following related terms are used: blockchain piniginė (spectrocoin.com), kripto piniginė (btc.lt), kriptografinė piniginė (lt.all4bitcoin.com), kript piniginė (skelbiu.lt), kriptovaliutos piniginė (kiberzona.lt). In certain contexts, the single-word metaphorical term piniginė is also used, e.g.: “Bitcoin is the currency of the future, and to use it you need to create a wallet” (ecoin.lt). The most correct and semantically precise term would be cryptocurrency wallet. 138 Robertas Stunžinas | Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai Cryptocurrency storage solutions are divided into several types according to how the private and public keys are stored. They may be special applications accessible through a browser (English online wallet), accessed via a mobile device (English mobile wallet), ordinary or specially dedicated computers used for storage (English desktop wallet), special flash drives (English hardware wallet), and paper-based solutions (English paper wallet) (for more, see hobowithalaptop.com). The first type, i.e., applications accessible through a browser, is referred to by the following terms: elektroninė piniginė (lzinijos.lt), internetinė piniginė (kriptovaliutos.lt), mobilioji piniginė (kiberzona.lt), online piniginė (bankai.lt), virtualioji piniginė (kriptovaliutos.lt). The concept would be most accurately represented by four-word terms containing modifiers that indicate purpose, kriptografinės valiutos, for example: internetinė kriptografinės valiutos piniginė (cf. online “online” EKŽe), prijungtinė kriptografinės valiutos piniginė (cf. online “connected” ALKKŽe). Two-word terms are imprecise, because the terms mobilioji piniginė, elektroninė piniginė, skaitmeninė piniginė and virtualioji piniginė have other, broader meanings. For example, mobilioji piniginė is “a mobile phone application that enables the user to pay for certain services” (IATE). Skaitmeninė piniginė (synonym – elektroninė piniginė) is defined as “a software tool that enables a user to register data for one or more payment instruments and settle payments with an e-commerce provider” (Resolution No. 03-172 of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania of 30 September 2014 “On Minimum Security Requirements for Payments Made Online”, raštija.lt). Virtualioji piniginė is a bank account unit (for more, see What Is a Reserve Account Virtual Wallet?, smallbusiness.chron.com). Mobile wallets, that is, means of accessing cryptocurrencies via a mobile device, are referred to by the terms išmanioji piniginė (English smart wallet) (btc.lt), mobilioji piniginė (kaip-uzsidirbti-pinigu.com), e.g.: “S m a r t w a l l e t keeps you from wasting money” [headline] (tv3.lt). As already noted, the term mobilioji piniginė has a broader meaning, so a more precise term would include additional qualifying components – mobile cryptocurrency wallet. Cryptocurrency can be stored on a regular or specially dedicated computer. This type of wallet is called a computer wallet, e.g.: “Method No. 3 – c o m p u t e r w a l l e t. Most cryptocurrencies have official applications for computers (PC, MAC, Linux, etc.), Terminologija | 2018 | 25 139 with which cryptocurrencies can be stored on a computer” (medium.com). However, the texts published online most often contain unsuitable terms – translated on the model of the English term or containing borrowed components, e.g.: darbalaukio piniginė (bytecoin.lt), desktop piniginė (bitcoinbaltic.com), “desktop“ piniginė (kriptovaliutos.org), PC piniginė (btc.lt). A special flash drive for storing codes (English hardware wallet) is most often referred to by terms whose modifiers are various Lithuanian equivalents of English hardware, or by terms containing this loanword, e.g.: aparat inė piniginė (kaip-uzsidirbti-pinigu.com), aparatūrinė piniginė (skelbiu.lt), techninės įrangos piniginė (prekybakriptovaliuta.lt), hardware piniginė (bankai.lt), “hardware“ piniginė (kaip-uzsidirbti-pinigu.com). Sometimes this type of wallet is called by the compound Lithuanian term piniginė laikmenoje, e.g.: “H A R D W A R E (w a l l e t o n a s t o r a g e d e v i c e). It works on various USBs, which must be connected to a computer or mobile phone” (perkuinternete.lt). Sometimes this type of wallet is inaccurately designated by the term elektroninė piniginė, which has a different meaning, e.g.: “Advantages of e l e c t r o n i c (hardware) w a l l e t s <...>” (medium.com). The concept is most precisely denoted by the term hardware (cryptocurrency) wallet, since the component aparatinė indicates that the wallet consists of a separate unit (cf. aparatinis “made of physical material or describing the physicality of an object” EKŽė). A sheet of paper on which a code (viešasis raktas) is printed is called a paper wallet (bankai.lt). These wallets are also classified according to the type of security responsibility. A wallet for whose security the user is personally responsible is called a full wallet (English core wallet) (kiberzona.lt). This term can be considered sufficiently precise: its modifier indicates that the solution contains all the security elements (cf. pilnas 4. “whole, complete” DŽe). A wallet for whose security the wallet provider is responsible is called a mobile wallet (English mobile wallet) (kiberzona.lt). In view of the term full wallet, the more systematic term would be partial wallet. Cryptocurrency may be stored in a currency exchange (English exchange). Wallets of this type (English exchange wallets) are most often called by the two-word term exchange wallet (steemit.com) or by the clearer, longer variant containing the component cryptocurrency – cryptocurrency exchange wallet (kriptovaliutos.lt). Wallets are also classified according to whether they maintain a constant connection to the internet. Wallets connected to the internet are metaphorically named after the English-language model— 140 Robertas Stunžinas Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai … called hot (English hot wallet), while those without a connection are called cold, for example: “Cryptocurrency is stored in ‘hot’ wallets (when both keys are kept online by your provider) and ‘cold’ wallets (the private key is stored on an external device and is inaccessible to anyone except the user)” (lzin ios.lt). Non-metaphorical terms that could be recommended are the antonymic pair connected wallet (cf. connected (–a) ‘the state of a computer (or some other device) when connected to other computers or devices’ EKŽe) and disconnected wallet (cf. disconnected state ‘the state of a program when it has no connection to the network, although the computer may not be physically disconnected from the network’ EKŽe). The account number for a cryptographic currency is called an address (spectrocoin.com). In computing, the term address denotes ‘a label that identifies the location or destination of data or another resource’ (EKŽe). Names for persons and their actions. This section discusses 9 terms denoting 3 concepts. The terms kasėjas, kasikas, maineris (cf. English miner ‘a person who works in a mine’ ODE 2010), mineris refer to people engaged in cryptocurrency mining, for example: “Cryptocurrency miners are cancelling graphics card orders, and card prices are falling” (15min.lt). “According to its data, Bitcoin miners consume 0.7 percent of energy in the US and 3.1 percent in the Russian Federation per year” (delfi.lt). The process of cryptocurrency mining is also usually named metaphorically—as kasimu, kasyba (cf. English mining ‘digging’), for example: “The whole truth and myths about Bitcoin mining (English mining)” (ecoin.lt). Other variants also occur—gavyba, leidyba, gamyba, generavimas (bitcoinai.wordpress.com), for example: “We hereby inform you that, as of 2014-09-13, the Dedikuoti.lt servers ordered will no longer be available for virtual currency mining (English crypto-currency mining)” (forumas.dedikuoti.lt). “Cryptocurrency production can consume many resources, so hackers seeking to profit have begun using malicious programs (English malware)” (cybersecurityacademy.wixsite.com). The term that most accurately reflects the concept is mining. The subordinate concept—cryptocurrency mining using an application-specific integrated circuit—is most often denoted by metaphorical terms with the English abbreviation, for example: ASIC kasimas (kriptorinka.lt), ASIC kasyba (pixv.org). The recommended term would be mining using an application-specific integrated circuit. No term denoting the result of the cryptocurrency mining process was found in usage, but this could be mining reward (cf. English mining reward). Terminologija | 2018 | 25 141 CONCLUSIONS 1. The novelty, lack of legal regulation and diversity of the cryptocurrency domain, as well as specialists’ desire to follow English usage, have led to variety and metaphoricity in its terminology, and to the incorrect formation of some terms. Most concepts have more than one designation, and colloquial texts contain many loanwords, a considerable number of which are unadapted. 2. Variability is characteristic of the terminology of this domain: more than two thirds of concepts have more than one designation. Variation is especially common among terms denoting cryptocurrency itself, its types, and its smaller components. The abundance of variants in the terminology of the domain under study may have been caused by conceptual opacity or a failure to understand essential distinguishing features, attempts to use calques of English terms, use of terms with meanings other than their own, and the designation of several concepts by the same terms. 3. The influence of English may have given the terminology of this domain its figurative character. Metaphoricity is characteristic even of the main terms in the domain under study: on the basis of functional similarity, a means of payment is called currency, money. Metonymically, smaller components of cryptocurrencies are named after their creators, while the network in which cryptocurrency buying and selling transactions are carried out is named according to the relationship between users. Most figurative terms have arisen through following English usage; only a small number are traditional terms used in terminology dictionaries. 4. When standardizing the terminology of this domain, greater attention should be paid to the requirements of clarity, precision and correctness, and standard Lithuanian dictionaries and terminology dictionaries from various fields—especially computing, economics and engineering—should serve as a basis. REFERENCES AND SOURCES AETŽ – Explanatory Dictionary of Electrical Engineering Terms. Ed. S. Žebrauskas, Kaunas: Technologija, 2010. AĮVTŽ – Martinkus B., Neverauskas B., Sakalas A., Venskus R., Žilinskas V. Explanatory Dictionary of Business Management Terms, Kaunas: Technologija, 2000. ALKKŽ – Dagienė V., Grigas G., Jevsikova T. English–Lithuanian Computing Dictionary, Vilnius. DŽe – Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian. Ed. St. Keinys, 6(3rd ed.), Vilnius: Institute of the Lithuanian Language. EKŽe – Dagienė V., Grigas G., Jevsikova T. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Computing, Vilnius. ETŽ – Vainienė R. Ekonomikos terminų žodynas, Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2005. EUR-lex – European Union legal acts and other public documents database (eur-lex.europa.eu). Grigolyte R. 2018: Lietuvos bankas gyventojus pratins prie termino „kripto turtas“. – Naujienų portalas „Delfi“ (https://www.delfi.lt/verslas/verslas/lietuvos-bankas-gyventojus-pratins-prie-termino-kripto-turtas.d?id=77685201). IATE – Multilingual European Union terminology database (iate.europa.eu). LKE 1999: Lietuvių kalbos enciklopedija, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. 142 Robertas Stunžinas Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai LRTB – the Terminology Bank of the Republic of Lithuania (terminai.vlkk.lt/pls/tb/tb.search). Miliūnaitė R. 2009: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos vartosenos variantai, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. ODE 2010: Oxford Dictionary of English. Third edition. Edited by A. Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford university press. TŽŽe: Dictionary of International Words (www.zodziai.lt). Vaičiakauskienė S. 2016: Kompiuterijos srities naujieji skoliniai. – Žmogus ir žodis 18, 80–95. 52017DC0345 – Commission report “On the implementation and results in 2016 of the ‘Pericles 2020’ programme for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting”. 52017PC0806 – Recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the opening of negotiations on an agreement between the European Union and the State of Israel on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the competent Israeli authorities responsible for combating serious crime and terrorism. 52018DC0109 – Commission Communication “FinTech Action Plan: For a more competitive and innovative European financial sector”. Website of the Authority of Audit, Accounting, Property Valuation and Insolvency Management (avnt.lt). Forum Kiberzona (kiberzona.lt). Forum Maze.lt (maze.lt). Google patents website (patents.google.com). Integrated Information System of Lithuanian Language and Writing Resources Raštija.lt (raštija.lt). Online shopping website (perkuinternete.lt). Investors’ portal Traders (traders.lt). Cryptocurrency glossary 21 Terms to Understand Cryptocurrency (medium.com). Cryptocurrency glossary Cryptocurrency Vocabulary: 50 Terms to Understand Cryptocurrency (coinherald.co). Cryptocurrency investment website (prekybakriptovaliuta.lt). Cryptocurrency news portal Globalsciencecollaboration (lietuviu.globalsciencecollaboration.org). Cryptocurrency news portal Ecoin (ecoin.lt). Lithuanian National Radio and Television (lrt.lt). News and entertainment portal TV3 (tv3.lt). News portal 15min (15min.lt). News portal Alfa.lt (alfa.lt). News portal Bernardinai (bernardinai.lt). News portal Bzn start (bznstart.lt). News portal Delfi (delfi.lt). News portal Geopolitika (geopolitika.lt). News portal Kripto rinka (kriptorinka.lt). News portal Lietuvos rytas (pasaulis.lrytas.lt, verslas.lrytas.lt). News portal Lietuvos žinios (lzin if not) News portal Lifehacks.lt (lifehacks.lt). News portal Sarmatai (sarmatas.lt). News portal Technologijos.lt (m.technologijos.lt). News portal Žinaukaip.lt (zinaukaip.lt). News portal World policy (worldpolicy.org). Officials’ Credit Union website (pareigunununija.lt). Classifieds portal Skelbiu.lt (skelbiu.lt). Website Admiral Markets (admiralmarkets.lt). Website All4bitcoin.com (lt.all4bitcoin.com). Website About investing in simple terms (aipt.lt). Website Applancer (applancer.com). Website Bankai.lt (bankai.lt). Website Bitcoin Baltic (bitcoinbaltic.com). Website Bitcoin Center (bitcoincentras.lt). Website Bitcoin.org (bitcoinlt.org). Website Bitcoin Stack Exchange (bitcoin.stackexchange.com). Website Bravenewcoin (bravenewcoin.com). Terminologija | 2018 | 25 143 Website Chron (smallbusiness.chron.com). Website Coinmarketcap (coinmarketcap.com). Website Cointelegraph (cointelegraph.com). Website Decrypto (decrypto.ee). Website Digimedia (digimedia.lt). Website How to Make Money (kaip-uzsidirbti-pinigu.com). Website Cryptocurrencies (kriptovaliutos.org). Website Master forex (masterforex-v.lt). Website Medium.com (medium.com). Website Communications Technology News (rtn.elektronika.lt). Website SEO Services (seopaslaugos.com). Website Spectrocoin (spectrocoin.com). Website Technews.lt (technews.lt). Website Udris.lt (udris.lt). Website about blockchains (blockchain.info). Website about bitcoins (btc.lt). Website about computers (kykompiuteris.blogspot.com). Blog IT (kaip-padaryti.blogspot.lu). Blog Hobo with laptop (hobowithalaptop.com). Video-sharing website Youtube (youtube.com). Website of the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language (vlkk.lt). Website of the State Consumer Rights Protection Authority (vvtat.lt). Varėna region community newspaper Giružis (giruzis.lt). Business news portal Verslo žinios (vz.lt). Wikipedia (lt.wikipedia.org). Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org). Vilnius University news website (naujienos.vu.lt). THE TERMINOLOGY OF CRYPTOCURRENCY DOMAIN: SEMANTICS, FORMS AND VARIATIONS This article deals with Lithuanian cryptocurrency terminology from electronic discourse. The aim of the article is to determine form, semantics and variations of Lithuanian cryptocurrency terms. Variations of terms are evaluated according to the Lithuanian language and terminology requirements. Terminology is taken from websites, blogs, chat sites, term bases and other information posted online. Material has been collected using „Google“ search engine to look for English cryptocurrency terms in Lithuanian texts, Lithuanian terms having components kripto(-), kriptografinis and other associative combinations. Online English vocabularies of cryptocurrency terms were used as the basis for searching for English and Lithuanian cryptocurrency terms. Terms denoting cryptocurrencies, technologies and operations of cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency miners and their actions are analyzed in respect of semantics, form, variation and terminological precision. Overall 151 terms denoting 51 concepts are analyzed. Analysis shows that variety, metaphoricity and irregularity of terminology of cryptocurrencies is caused by novelty, diversity, absence of regulation of this domain and intentional following of English terms. The majority of concepts have more than one denotation and texts of spoken language contain plentiful foreign words, part of which are unadapted loan words. Variability is the characteristic feature of this domain – more than two thirds of concepts have more than one denotation. Variability is particularly specific to terms, 144 Robertas Stunžinas Kriptografinių valiutų srities terminai: reikšmės, raiška ir variantai denoting cryptocurrencies and their smaller parts. This abundance of variations could have been caused by lack of clarity of concepts and poor understanding of their essential characteristics, attempts to use calques of English terms, use of terms in incorrect meanings, designating different concepts by the same terms. The figurative nature of cryptocurrency terminology could have been a caused by the influence of English language. Metaphoricity is specific to main terms of this domain – according to the similarity of function payment measure is named using the terms valiuta (currency), pinigai (money). Methonymic nomination is used for denoting smaller parts of cryptocurrency and peer-to-peer network. The majority of figurative terms have appeared due to the influence of English terminology and only small part of terms are traditional metaphors and used in term dictionaries. In standardizing cryptocurrency terminology the principles of terminological clarity, precision and correctness should be taken into account and term dictionaries of various subject fields (computing, economics, engineering etc.) as well as dictionaries of standard language should be taken as the basis for the creation of cryptocurrency terminology. Received 2018-06-06 Robertas Stunžinas Institute of the Lithuanian Language 5 P. Vileišio St., LT-10308 Vilnius Email: [email protected] Terminologija | 2018 | 25 145