3. The functions of terminology

As an intersectional and multidisciplinary science, terminology is located at the crossroads of a large number of subdisciplines of linguistics (semantics or differential lexicology, among others), but it is not their preserve. In L. Guilbert's words, ‘‘the essential aim of the terminological lexicon is not the language itself’’. In fact, terminology is closely linked to an activity carried out within the field of knowledge and thus it is inseparable from its social context and its obvious applications.

Terminology can only be understood in relation to special languages and communication and addresses a variety of purposes, all of which are related to communication and information. There is, consequently, a wide range of approaches to the theory and practice of terminology. We can, however, establish a series of basic assumptions shared by all approaches. We first need to identify four different points of view which in turn lead to different focuses for terminological work and applications:

a. For linguists, terminology is a part of the lexicon defined by subject matter and pragmatic usage;

b. For subject field specialists, terminology is the formal reflection of the conceptual organization of a special subject and a necessary medium of expression and professional communication;

c. For end-users (either direct or intermediary) terminology is a set of useful, practical communication units which are assessed according to criteria of economy, precision, and suitability;

d. For language planners, terminology is an area of a language requiring intervention in order to reaffirm its usefulness and survival and to ensure its continuity as a means of expression through modernization.

Mindful of these four points of view, we can now identify two major user groups of terminology: users of terminology for direct communication or communication through intermediaries, and terminologists, who write glossaries, facilitate communication, or mediate in some other way. According to the needs of these two groups, terminology can be said to have two dimensions which are closely related: a communicative dimension and a linguistic dimension. For the first group, terminology is a tool for communication. For the second, it is the target of their work.

Users

Two main groups of people use terminology as a communicative tool: direct users, and intermediaries who use terminology to facilitate communication for other users.

The direct users of terminology are the specialists in each subject field. For them, terminology is a necessary tool for communication and an important element for conceptualizing their own subject matter. This two-fold function that terminology has for them accounts for their interest in standardization as a process for determining the definition of concepts and fixing the corresponding names. Specialists use terminology regardless of whether a term is appropriate within a particular linguistic system or not. Their communicative needs start from the knowledge of the concept and from the need to communicate it; their interest in terminology focuses on concepts and how they can be named clearly and unambiguously.

Terminology is primarily the business and the responsibility of several groups of specialists. Terminologists, with their working methods and knowledge, are merely technical aids in a multidisciplinary field.

Terminology intermediaries are language professionals like translators, technical writers, and interpreters who need terminology to carry out their profession of facilitating communication. They need glossaries and specialized dictionaries because they assist in technical writing or in translating a text from one language to another.

Terminologists

Terminologists, terminographers and neologists, language planners and information scientists must be both specialists in language, information and documentation and in an appropriate subject field. Their work consists of compilation, description, processing and creation of terms.