Trijų Baltijos valstybių terminologijos seminaras

On October 21, 2003, the State Language Commission, which is subordinated to the President of the Republic of Latvia, organized a terminology seminar for the three Baltic States entitled Terminology work now and in the future in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia: plans for cooperation in the context of EU member states. Vice-President of the Latvian Academy of Sciences akad. Juris Ekmanis at the beginning of the seminar said that terms need to be created unnaturally quickly, and there are few people who create them. He emphasized that the new terms are not always welcomed by the public, and some are criticised by the government. Terms coming from English are often elements of jargon, Ekmanis asked how the terms are perceived and interpreted in other Baltic countries. Term databases are large and need to be synchronized, creating common Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian term databases. How terminology work is done in Lithuania, what institutions are involved in this work and what problems Lithuanian terminologists faced, A. Auksoriūtė, J. Gaivenytė-Butler, A. Umbrasas, employees of the Terminology Center of the Lithuanian Language Institute, spoke. Hije Tamm, a terminologist at the Estonian Legal Language Centre, gave an overview of the institutions working in the field of terminology, spoke about the terminologists at the Estonian Language Institute, the Estonian Terminology Association (Website address: www.cter.ee), the Estonian Legal Language Centre, where she works (for more information see Hiie Tamm’s article in this issue of Terminology). Chairperson of the Commission on Terminology of the Latvian Academy of Sciences Valentina Skujina presented a diagram of all institutions working on terminology in Latvia, and outlined the structure and work of the Terminology Commission. The Terminology Commission, working at the Academy of Sciences, has 24 terminology subcommissions: aviation; librarianship, bibliography, book studies and information science; botany; demographics; rail transport; economics; cnergetikos; philosophy; geology; hydraulic engineering; information technology and telecommunications; rights; chemistry and chemical technology; agricultural machinery; medicine; mechanics and machine construction; forestry; military; museums; motor vehicles; sports; textile industry; history; heat, gas and water technology. About 250 specialists from research institutes, universities and other institutions work in the listed subcommissions; some kuric of them, such as information technology and telecommunications, energy, work very actively. Skujina raised several problems of Latvian terminology: 1. The main task of the Terminology Commission of the Latvian Academy of Sciences is to take care of the preparation of uniform terminology, but the Terminology Commission 171 is a non-legal entity, so its legal basis is insufficient. 2. Publishers shall first publish purchased dictionaries, about which the Terminology Commission nc always has information. Before there was one centralised publishing house and one newspaper, now there are many publishing houses and many newspapers, and there is insufficient information. The terminology commission publishes Terminology news, 4 issues have been published. but not everyone receives this publication, it is not sent to other cities in Latvia. 3. The educational aspect is very important. The attitude towards teaching Latvian in secondary schools must change. It is necessary to include terminology in higher education programmes. 4.The state allocates very little money for terminology work, some terminologists work without receiving a salary. Communication with the public also requires a lot of money and energy. Andrejus Vasiljevs, director of Tildes, spoke about the term bank being created in Latvia. He mentioned that a few small term banks are available, but there is a lack of a broad and reliable bank, so it is important to create a uniform base, which would include the terms approved by the Terminology Commission. Subcommissions of the Terminology Commission must have technological equipment and databases; the publication of sub-commissions' decisions should also be ensured. Vasilyev emphasized that the public should be involved in the creation of terms. Marta Jaksone, Director of the Terminology and Translation Centre, also emphasized that there is no uniform database in Latvia that provides approved terminology. Therefore, one of the most important tasks is the creation of widely accessible term databases. She noted that it is very important to strengthen and improve the qualifications of translators, as some translators have a very low level of Latvian language proficiency. Karlis Timmermanis, Ph.D. in Engineering, Riga Technical University, Chairman of the Energy Subcommission, said that the problem of harmonization of the conceptual system is faced when creating terms. According to him, when creating a national term, it is necessary to comply with the general 172 requirements for the creation of terms and to harmonize the new term with the equivalents in other languages. In Latvia, 5 translation and 2 explanatory dictionaries of cnergetics have been published, 7 international standards have been adopted. Mr. Timmerman noted that there is a lack of information about the work in this field in Lithuania, and raised the possibility of methodological cooperation between specialists from the Baltic countries. Specialists from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia could not only exchange information, but also jointly prepare multilingual dictionaries in their field, organize joint meetings of specialists and terminologues from the three countries. He proposed the creation of a National Terminology Centre to solve global strategic tasks. Speaking about terminology education, Timmermans emphasized that terminology courses should be provided in all higher and vocational schools, and the use of approved terms requires a government resolution. Konrad Fuhrmann, Head of the Translation Service of the European Commission Representation in Latvia, stressed the lack of competent translators for EU documents. He proposed the establishment of a common translation centre for the three Baltic countries in Riga. At the end of the seminar a declaration was adopted (published in this issue of Terminology). Albina AUKSORIŪTĖ Received 2003-11-06 Lithuanian Language Institute P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-2055 Vilnius E-mail [email protected] 173