Te minologija | 2007 | 14 37
Te minology wo k
he Swedish way
ANNA-LENA BUCHER
TheSwedishCen e o Te minology
INTRODUcTION
In my a icle I will p esen he language si ua ion in Sweden and he
Swedish cen e o Te minology TNc, he „hub“ in Swedish e minol-
ogy wo k o mo e han 65 yea s. Te minology wo k in Sweden is also
pe o med in a sys ema ic way by o he s: some public agencies and p i a e
companies handle hei own e minology needs, bu s ill in close con ac
wi h TNc. howe e , a new e minology ma ke has e ol ed whe e o he
consul an s han TNc a e o e ing e minology se ices, and his will also
be men ioned.
ThE LANGUAGE SITUATION IN SwEDEN
In i s language policy o 2005, Riksdagen ( he Swedish Pa liamen ) de-
cided ha Swedish should be he main language o Sweden. howe e , in
Janua y 2008, he ques ion o how his should be egula ed by law is s ill
being in es iga ed. Swedish has o many yea s enjoyed an undispu ed s a-
us as Sweden’s main language, e en hough his posi ion has ne e been
o icially sanc ioned. Swedish has been used in all domains o socie y, o
example, adminis a ion, jus ice and he poli ical sys em, as well as all le els
o he educa ional sys em, wo king li e and cul u e. O he languages spoken
in Sweden, among hem Finnish, ha e had o icial endo semen o use in
Sweden’s go e nmen o ha e o he wise been used wi hou in any way a -
ec ing he s a us o Swedish as he ob ious i s language o he na ion.
I is also a ac ha many o he languages a e spoken in Sweden, oday
as in he pas . Labou mig a ion since he 1950s and la e o he kinds o
immig a ion, and EU equi emen s as a consequence o Sweden joining
he EU in 1995 ha e had a s ong in luence on he language si ua ion and
awa eness o language use in he coun y. Among he languages ha we e
decla ed na ional mino i y languages abou six yea s ago a e Sami, Finn-
38
ish and he la e ’s closely ela ed a ie y Meänkielä. These languages ha e
always been spoken on p esen Swedish e i o y. Bu now hey became
legally ecognized, in ha mony wi h EU legisla i e equi emen s. The o he
wo now o icially ecognized mino i y languages, yiddish and Romani, also
ha e long adi ions o use in-coun y.
Pa adoxically, he posi ion o he Swedish language in Sweden could
heo e ically ind i sel h ea ened by he legal s a us a o ded o some o he
coun y’s mino i y languages i i s s a us is no o icially ecognised in law.
while i appea s unlikely ha his would be allowed o occu in p ac ice,
i emains o be seen whe he he ou come o he ongoing discussions will
pu an end o such specula ion.
wha is eally occu ing hough, is ha he use o Swedish has been
h ea ened o e en eplaced by he use o English in some domains and
speech si ua ions in he coun y. This is pa icula ly ue o he p oduc ion
o w i en ea ises and pape s in he na u al and medical sciences in highe
educa ion and esea ch, and, also inc easingly, in companies engaged in
in e na ional business. while Swedish was aken o g an ed be o e, a pe -
cep ion has eme ged ha he choice o Swedish as he p e e ed language
in a ious domains in-coun y migh need a en ion and suppo .
So, in Decembe 2005, Riksdagen ( he Swedish Pa liamen ) decided on
a new language policy o Sweden, wi h ou comp ehensi e goals:
1. Swedish is o be he main language in Sweden.
2. Swedish should be a comple e language, i.e. be possible o use in all
a eas o socie y, se ing and uni ing ou socie y.
3. Swedish in o icial and public use shall be co ec , simple and unde -
s andable.
4. E e yone shall ha e a igh o language: o lea n Swedish, o lea n
o eign languages, and o use one’s mo he ongue o mino i y language.
The new language policy also decla es ha measu es shall be aken o
ensu e ha Swedish e ms and exp essions can be gene a ed in all hose
a eas in which we wan o be able o use Swedish and i is, o cou se, a
necessa y p e equisi e o goal numbe wo.
TERMINOLOGy wORK IN SwEDEN
The making o handbooks, g amma s, glossa ies, dic iona ies and so on
in suppo o Swedish has a long adi ion. Olle Josephson,1 he di ec o o
1 Josephson, O. (2004) ”Ju”.I ågasa asjäl kla he e oms enskan,engelskanochallaand asp åkiS e ige.
S ockholm: No s ed s O dbok. ISBN 91-7227-406-9.
Anna-Lena Buche | Te minologywo k heSwedishway
Te minologija | 2007 | 14 39
he Swedish Language council, says ha language cul i a ion ac s – ac s
o Sp achp lege i we use he Ge man wo d – in oday’s Swedish language
communi y ypically a e in o med by a „social“ a he han a „cul u al“
ideal. The social ideal gene a es a gumen s ha s ess use - iendliness
and aims a e icien communica ion be ween all ci izens and esiden s on
as equal e ms as possible. Language cul i a ion om a cul u al poin o
iew ocuses on he language, no i s use s, and a he s i es o keep and
de elop a ich, mul i ace ed language wi h s ong adi ions and o p omo e
an exp essi e, logical, and consis en language sys em on he ounda ion
o i s his o ical adi ion.
The „social“ ideal in o med he es ablishmen o a Swedish e minol-
ogy cen e. The i s s eps we e aken in 1936, when a commi ee o no-
mencla u e wi hin he Academy o Enginee ing Sciences was es ablished.
Enginee s, especially in en o s and s anda dize s, ook he ini ia i e „ o
mee he g owing need o an adequa e e minology“2. Fi e yea s la e , in
1941, a pe manen cen e o echnical e minology was es ablished on he
basis o he commi ee and wi h s a u es laid down by he go e nmen .
I s name became Tekniska nomenkla u cen alen ( he Swedish cen e o
Technical Te minology) and i s ac onym was TNc. In 2000, he TNc
was econs uc ed and he name was changed in o Te minologicen um
TNc (The Swedish cen e o Te minology). The name was delibe a ely
made mo e gene al in o de o e lec he widening o he cen e’s ac i i ies.
howe e , he ac onym TNc was kep in o de o emphasize he con inui y
o i s ac i i ies.
Those gen lemen (yes, i was only gen lemen!) ha ounded he TNc
we e e y a -sigh ed. S ill oday, mo e han 65 yea s la e , we a he TNc
ag ee wi h he p imacy o he social ideal – and we look upon ou wo k as
„mode n“. Ou a i ude is e y p agma ic, we sol e communica ion p ob-
lems o speci ic use g oups and i is na u al o ecognize he „social“ way
as he only easible way. The needs and demands o doing his come om
he oo s o specialis s’ need o an e icien communica ion. The measu e
o success, he esul , o ou wo k is sa is ying hei needs, and o ha e y
same eason he esul , he e minological ou come, implies ag eemen and
accep ance. wi hou any no ma i e p esc ip ion wha soe e , he ag eemen
2 P o okoll ö id samman äde med Nomenkla u kommi én, Kungl. Ingenjö s e enskapsakademien den
15 janua i 1936. (Minu es om a mee ing wi h he commi ee o nomencla u e, Royal Academy o engi-
nee ing sciences, Janua y 15, 1936).
40
comes o se e as he no m o i s pa icula use g oup. Thus, i is no
because o di ec i es om o abo e bu om a pa icula clien g oup’s own
el needs ha hei e ms become he no m, o hem. This no m uni ies
usage in ha ne wo k o use s.
The new TNc is a p i a e company. howe e , we s ill ecei e a go e n-
men g an om he Minis y o En e p ise, Ene gy and communica ions
in o de o unc ion as he „hub“ o Swedish e minological ac i i ies. The
g an amoun s o abou 50% o he annual u no e .
The main objec i e o TNc was and s ill is o mee all kinds o e mi-
nological needs ha pa icula ne wo ks o p ac i ione s in jus abou any
ield o wo k may ha e. In o de o achie e his objec i e TNc:
• O e s e minological se ices and suppo s public agencies, o ganiza-encies, o ganiza-
ions and companies ha pu sue e minological wo k;
• De elops e minological p oduc s such as glossa ies and e mbanks;
• Elabo a es ules and guidelines o he w i ing o echnical ex s;
• collec s, eco ds and p ocesses e minological in o ma ion, e.g. new
e ms, old e ms in a new con ex , concep ual in o ma ion;
• O e s lec u es and cou ses on e minology and echnical w i ing;
• coope a es wi h o he language and e minology agencies, on bo h he
na ional and in e na ional le el;
• Pa icipa es in in e na ional s anda diza ion wi hin he amewo k o
ISO and cEN.
cOOPERATION NETwORKS
The o he language cul i a ion agency in Sweden, he Swedish Language
council, is unded by he Minis y o cul u e. The council a ends o gen-
e al language usage while TNc a ends o languages o special pu poses
wi h a ocus on e minology. The exis ence o wo language cul i a ion
agencies wi h di e en a eas o esponsibili y has ne e been a p oblem
in Sweden. Bo h agencies a e engaged in a ne wo k o o he language
specialis s’ ins i u ions, e.g. he Swedish Academy, he language consul -
an s in media (newspape s, adio and ele ision), he language consul an s
in he P ime Minis e ’s O ice, he Swedish S anda ds Ins i u e, e c. This
ne wo k mee s ou imes a yea o mu ual exchange o in o ma ion; also
o discussing language policy ma e s and ce ain undamen al language
o e m issues.
Ano he coope a ion, e y impo an o TNc, is he No dic ne wo k
Anna-Lena Buche | Te minologywo k heSwedishway
Te minologija | 2007 | 14 41
No d e m3. No dic coope a ion in e minology has exis ed since he 1940s,
and he No d e m ne wo k which was es ablished in 1976 has sligh ly o -
malized he coope a ion. I was es ablished as a esul o ini ia i es om he
agencies hemsel es. No d e m is no an independen legal en i y and has
no unding on i s own bu may apply unding o ce ain p ojec s.
TNc’S TERMINOLOGy PRODUcTION
The e minological p ojec s ha we e assigned o TNc du ing i s i s
yea s o exis ence in he 1940s, esul ed in glossa ies in di e en echnical
ields, o example Glossa y o ounding, Glossa y o enamelling, Glossa y
o s eng h o ma e ials and Glossa y o house pain ing e ms. The ocus
was o delimi and desc ibe concep s wi hin one subjec ield a a ime (o
a ea o specialized p ac ice) in Swedish, e lec ing he Swedish concep ual
wo ld, and also o gi e equi alen s in o he No dic languages, o en also in
English, Ge man and F ench.
The scien i ic base o TNc’s e minology wo k was well desc ibed by
he i s di ec o o TNc, John wenne be g. he held a doc o a e in elec-
o echnical enginee ing and also had a p o ound knowledge o linguis ics.
Inciden ally, he was acquain ed wi h Eugen wüs e and like wüs e , he
ega ded he concep as in p inciple independen o he language exp es-
sion and explained why i was p ac ical o dis inguish be ween objec s in
he eal wo ld, concep s and e ms and de ini ions. he s a ed: „Te minology
wo k has wo sides, o sanc ion app op ia e e ms and o lay down hei
meaning.“4
The pu pose o TNc’s ea ly e minology p oduc ion was o mee com-
munica ion needs ha came abou due o indus ializa ion, s anda diza ion
and in e na ionaliza ion which ook place a ha ime all o e he wes e n
wo ld. The ini ia o s we e expe s hemsel es who e y o en ep esen ed
no only one company o one o ganiza ional body, bu he en i e subjec
ield o ade.
In he 1960s, e minological p ojec s we e ini ia ed om o he subjec
ields han s ic ly echnical ones, o example o es y, wo k en i onmen ,
cleaning, pensions e c. Te minology wo k in ela ion o ansla ion became
mo e p edominan by he end o he eigh ies. TNc was engaged in a com-
3 The No dic coun ies a e: Denma k, Fae oe Islands, Finland, G eenland, Iceland, No way and Sweden.
4 wenne be g, J. (1955). O d ö kla inga . O d och u yck, 25, p. 21-22. (TNc 25).

42
p ehensi e ansla ion p ojec which ook place om 1989 and onwa ds in
connec ion wi h he es ablishmen o a Eu opean Economic A ea (EEA).
Abou 10 000 pages o o icial Ec documen s we e ansla ed in o Swedish
and as an ou come o TNc’s engagemen we published a somewha di e en
dic iona y “Ec wo ds and Exp essions”5. This dic iona y con ains Swed-
ish and English e ms, ph ases, names and con ex s ex ac ed om pa allel
e sions o some essen ial Ec documen s, he Rome T ea y o example.
The aim was o p o e guidelines o ansla o s and o he use s, o help
a oid mul iple ansla ions appea ing o he same concep s.
when Sweden en e ed he EU in 1995, TNc we e assigned ou com-
p ehensi e asks conce ning he upda ing o he Eu opean commission’s
e mbank Eu odicau om wi h Swedish e minology. wi hin a pe iod o i e
yea s, TNc upda ed Eu odicau om wi h app oxima ely 140 000 Swedish
e ms, mos ly also wi h de ini ions, co e ing abou 100 di e en subjec
ields.
TNc’S QUERy SERVIcE AND SPEcIAL TERM GROUPS
TNc’s e minological que y se ice is one o he se ices o e ed o hose
who need e minological in o ma ion and assis ance in e minology- ela ed
issues. wha dis inguishes dealing wi h e minological que ies om o he
e minology p oduc ion, glossa ies o example, is i s jus -in- ime cha ac-
e . On he o he hand, wha uni es his ac i i y wi h glossa y p oduc ion
is ha i emb aces almos he same ac i i ies: sea ching e minological
in o ma ion, analyzing and, in many cases, p oducing new e minological
knowledge in he o m o new e ms, de ini ions, concep desc ip ions e c.
One migh see he p ocessing o a speci ic que y as a kind o e minology
p ojec on a lesse scale. The accumula ion o que ies and communica ion
be ween TNc and clien s also s imula e la ge p ojec s.
TNc has been p o iding a e minological que y se ice o specialis
language use s and membe s o he public alike since i s ounda ion. Typi-
cally, in he ea lie days many que ies conce ned concep s and e ms ha
belonged o he basic and gene al echnical ocabula y. I was na u al, a he
beginning o TNc’s exis ence, ha people sough ecommenda ions on how
o dis inguish be ween gene al echnical e ms such as machine, ins umen
and appa a us since un il hen, he only ad ice ha could be ound was
5 EGs o d och u yck (Ec wo ds and Exp essions) (1993). wiken. ISBN 91-7119-394-4.
Anna-Lena Buche | Te minologywo k heSwedishway
Te minologija | 2007 | 14 43
wha gene al dic iona ies s a ed and ha was mos ly o a desc ip i e a he
han a collabo a i ely no ma i e na u e.
F om he 1940s o he 1960s, he majo i y o he que ies conce ned
scien i ic and echnical ields. Today i is a wide a ie y o subjec ields:
medicine and heal h ca e, law, chemis y, public adminis a ion, aining
and eaching, compu e science, li e sciences and elecommunica ions. A
simila de elopmen pe ains o he a ie y o occupa ions o p esen day
se ice use s; o me ly he majo i y o use s we e subjec - ield specialis s
and oday’s use s end o wo k in public adminis a ion, o as ansla o s,
eache s, echnical w i e s, jou nalis s e c.
An in e es ing aspec o he que y se ice is how i helps TNc „de ec “
new endencies in LSP, in one o se e al subjec ields. As said abo e Eng-
lish has a s ong in luence on he Swedish language in some domains and
speech si ua ions. In 1996 when he use o In e ne and e-mail was s ill
ela i ely new, he e was an inc easing numbe o que ies abou Swedish
equi alen s o e ms such as homepage,e-mail,web,cha . Sho ly a e
ha , he Swedish Language council and TNc o med The Join G oup
o Swedish compu e Te minology. La e we c ea ed o he simila g oups,
among hem he Join G oup o Swedish Li e Sciences Te minology.
The objec i e o hese g oups is o consolida e and, as inadequacies in
cu en usage may equi e, c ea e an adequa e e minology ha does no
equi e swi ching om Swedish o English, as well as o ha monize he
exis ing e minology by analyzing concep s and p o iding plausible de i-
ni ions and explana ions. The g oups consis o gene al-language cul i a-
ion expe s, e minologis s, subjec ield expe s, some imes also media
ep esen a i es. These g oups a e no like he p ojec g oups ha p oduce
a glossa y in a special ield, hey a e a he o be unde s ood as eme gency
wa ds ha sol e (heal) e m p oblems o laymen and expe s alike, i.e.
no only expe s. The g oups o en ea indi idual concep s a he han
en i e concep sys ems as an immedia e measu e o p opose e ms ha se e
e ol ing usage well.
TERMBANKS
The i s e mbank o TNc was a ca d ile. This collec ion o ca ds had
been piling up al eady om he e y beginning in he la e 1930s. Each ca d
con ained a e m and i s sou ce, and e y o en he e ms we e exce p s
om handbooks and li e a u e. A he end o he 1960s, TNc began o
44
use compu e -aided me hods in elabo a ing glossa ies and his led o he
de elopmen o an elec onic e mbank which, in he middle o he 1980s,
could be accessed ia modem. In 1987 TNc published i s e mbank on a
cD-ROM o he i s ime. O he publica ions o TNc’s e mbank ook
place in 1989, 1992 and 2005.
In 2006 TNc ecei ed special inancing om he Minis y o En e p ise,
Employmen and communica ions o s a building a na ional web-based
e mbank, Riks e mbanken. The easons o his ini ia i e a e s a ed in
se e al go e nmen bills. he e is one example: „Te minology wo k con ib-
u es o a well- unc ioning language wi hin all a eas o socie y and inc eases
e iciency wi hin, and be ween a ious subjec ields. The as de elop-
men o socie y equi es cons an wo k on c ea ing and making accessible
ag eed-upon e minologies, wi hin mo e and mo e subjec ields. An easy
access o e ms ia he In e ne in a na ional e mbank endo ses such a
de elopmen .“6
Du ing he i s phase o de elopmen we ha e looked a o he web-based
e mbanks, e.g. EU’s IATE and he Li huanian Te minų Bankas. we a e now
in he second phase and ha e so a de eloped a so wa e and a e mbank
p o o ype con aining abou 7 000 eco ds, mos o hem om TNc’s glos-
sa ies. Ou glossa ies will cons i u e he basis o Riks e mbanken bu he
collec ion o ma e ial om o he pa ies has al eady s a ed, mainly om
public agencies. In o de o decide wha e minologies quali y o inse ion
in Riks e mbanken, we a e d awing up quali y c i e ia ha we will use o
classi y and e alua e he a ious e minologies. To begin wi h he ollow-
ing c i e ia ha e been conside ed as he mos impo an ones: eliabili y/
p o enance/o igin, up- o-da eness, o iginali y; con en s (numbe o lan-
guages, quali y o de ini ions e c.) we a e planning o make a i s e sion
o Riks e mbanken public by he end o 2008.
Aining Ac iVi ieS
In Sweden, cou ses on e minology s a ed o la e han in some o he
No dic coun ies. T aining in e minology a uni e si ies began on a ela-
i ely la ge scale in Denma k and Finland in he ea ly 1970s (in business
economics) while in Sweden aining was con ined o lea ning on he job
(a TNc), no in deg ee o diploma p og ammes. Sweden’s cen e o e -
6 F ån IT-poli ik ö samhälle ill poli ik ö IT-samhälle (2005). p. 207. ( SOU 2004/05:175). (Go e nmen
bill on Sweden’s IcT policy).
Anna-Lena Buche | Te minologywo k heSwedishway
Te minologija | 2007 | 14 45
minology is he oldes in he No he n egion bu in e es ingly enough we
ha e been la e in es ablishing aining a ou uni e si ies.
wi hin he amewo k o No d e m coope a ion ou pos -g adua e cou s-
es – he i s one in 1978 – ha e been a anged. The oci o knowledge a e
somewha di e en in he No dic coun ies, and an impo an unc ions o
hese cou ses we e o con ibu e o he sha ing, exchange and de elopmen
o knowledge.
These cou ses g adually also led o aining a Swedish uni e si ies and
mos o he aining is gi en by TNc, some imes in coope a ion wi h The
Ins i u e o In e p e a ion and T ansla ion S udies a S ockholm Uni e si y.
The majo i y o hese cou ses a e pa o o he p og ammes, mainly wi hin
ansla o aining o linguis ic cu icula. The sp ing o 2002 saw he es ab-
lishmen o he i s sepa a e e minology cou se o c edi a S ockholm
Uni e si y. And now, Janua y 2008, we ha e jus inished a ou h cou se
o c edi and, o he second ime, as a web-based dis ance cou se.
TNc also o e s cus om-made cou ses o special p ojec s o in e es
g oups bo h in he public and he p i a e sec o .
As a ma e o ac , aining ac i i ies ha e expanded mo e han he o he
o he TNc’s ac i i ies du ing he las decade. The aised e minological
awa eness ha we see as a esul o he cu en in o ma ion and knowledge
socie y (see below) leads o his demand; many people need o unde s and
mo e o e minology heo y and he p inciples and me hods o e minol-
ogy wo k.
when i comes o aining, we ha e he ollowing ision o he u u e
a TNc:
• o elabo a e and de elop mo e web-based cou ses, bo h on a na ional
and on a No dic le el;
• o a gumen o e minology modules in all uni e si y p og ammes,
no only in ansla ion and linguis ic p og ammes, and his a an ea ly
s age o he aining. we a e con inced ha e minological awa eness is
an impo an and aluable ool in he acquisi ion o knowledge.
neW chAllengeS
Socie y’s ansi ion om an indus ial o a knowledge-based socie y aises
new demands and i has an impac also on e minology wo k. Now ac i i-
ies conce ned wi h
• quali y assu ance,