Eksplicitinė terminų sinonimija nemoksliniame sveikatos diskurse

100 Asta Mitkevičienė Explicit synonymy of terms nemoksliniame sveikatos diskurse doi.org/10.35321/term28-05 Explicit synonymy of terms nemoksliniame sveikatos diskurse ASTA MITKEVIČIENĖ Institute of Lithuanian Language ORCID id: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5508-1555 ANNOTATION The article examines the synonymy of terms expressed in metalinguistic comments. In the hope of identifying more diverse types of synonyms, it was decided to study synonyms not in scientific texts but in texts for the general public. The main source of the research is the texts of educational health websites from the online textbook Lithuanian Web 2014 (ltTenTen14). The aim of the study was to determine the nature of explicit synonymy and to distinguish problematic cases. A lot of attention is paid to the selection of synonyms. KEY WORDS: terms, synonym selection, explicit synonyms, functional synonyms, text, communication situation. ABSTRACT The article addresses the synonymy in terminology expressed by metalinguistic comments. To identify more varied types of synonyms, it was decided to study the synonyms in the texts intended for the general public rather than scientific texts. The main source of the study is the part of web corpus Lithuanian Web 2014 (ltTenTen14) compiled from texts taken from educational health websites. The study intended to reveal the character of explicit synonymy, to distinguish the most problematic cases. Considerable attention is paid to the questions of the selection of synonyms. KEYWORDS: terms, selection of synonyms, explicit synonyms, functional synonyms, corpus, communicative situation. One of the most difficult stages in the study of synonyms is the selection of representative data. One possible way is to search for specific synonyms based on a pre-known set of synonyms, e.g. selected from term dictionaries or electronic term databases (term banks, 101Terminologija | 2021 | 28 baz), list. The main advantage of this method is that it is not necessary to decide each time whether specific language units are synonyms and in general whether they are terms. Another way is to look for unforeseen synonyms. In this case, either the texts must be read in full, or to restrict explicitly to the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the reikšta terminų sinonimija. Sinoniminiai terminai, kaip žinoma, tekste texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts of the texts. Explicit synonymy of terms is relevant and deserves a deeper look not only because of its applicable value, but also because it reflects the addressee’s conscious attitude to the relationship of terms and is not simply a consequence of negligence or carelessness, which occurs in other cases of synonymy (more broadly – variation). The purpose of this article is to discuss the explicit synonymy of terms in non-artistic discourse. The study aimed to determine the nature of such synonymy, to distinguish problematic cases. The source of the study is the Lithuanian language online textbook ltTenTen14, which contains over 778 million words. This textbook is compiled from web texts from the SpiderLing spider search in April 2014 and is available to Sketch Engine users (Kilgarriff et al. 2014)1. The study did not use the entire textbook, but only a part of it – texts of health-themed websites (more on this in the next section). Why did we study unselected scientific texts – the traditional source of term research, the natural environment of terms? It is known that the choice of terms is determined not only by cognitive and linguistic, but also by communicative factors. Modern terminology recognizes that a single concept can have as many linguistic forms as there are different communication situations that require different linguistic expressions (Sager 1990: 58). Thus, it was expected to find a more diverse type of synonyms in the heterogeneous Internet texts, which are probably not typical for scientific texts. SELECTION OF SYNONYMS There is not much written about the selection of synonyms according to metalinguistic markers in Lithuanian terminology. This textbook belongs to the TenTen textbook family, which includes more than 40 online textbooks in different languages, compiled according to the same criteria. For more information, see https://www.sketchengine.eu/documentation/tentencorpora/. 102 Asta Mitkevičienė Explicit synonymy of terms, which states that in nemoksliniame sveikatos diskurse Lithuanian physics textbooks synonyms are explicitly marked with defining verbs (vadinti, sakyti) with adjective words (dar), a distinguishing conjunction or, synonyms are presented in brackets (sometimes with the corrective reference t. y.) (Stankevičienė 2013: 136–137). In the monograph on automatic recognition and definition of Lithuanian language terms it is mentioned that synonymy in a text can be determined according to the model method (x is also called y – x is also called y) (Bielinskienė et al. 2015: 71), but there is no more information about the informative contexts of Lithuanian language with synonyms. In the textbook of Lithuanian scientific language CorALit (nine million words, texts from 1999–2009) an attempt was made to search for synonymous terms by entering the beginning of the word vadinam and sakom. The last search returned only 26 lines, and in them sakom* does not link synonyms. The so-called* concordance is much larger (778 lines) and more informative, so we automatically searched for lines with still, otherwise, also, and then additionally reviewed the left collocates. It has been found that the following metalinguistic comments signal about synonyms: [otherwise] still called* sometimes [still] called* often / more often / most often [still] called* shortly / shorter called* or called* (noun form) Thus, after checking in the scientific textbook that the participant called, -a with the appropriate adverbs or conjunction really signals about synonymous terms, paprastai vadinam* we went on to the internet textbook. A simple search in the Internet textbook ltTenTen14 for nazam* gave more than 232 thousand lines of concordance. Then, the word frequency data by websites (data category “text types”) was reviewed. It was noted that in the top ten (tenth place) was the health-themed website sveikaszmogus.lt (hereinafter – SZ) (1 921 use cases), in the thirty – and sveikas.lt (hereinafter – SV) (30th place, 1 064 use cases), and in the hundred there are more websites of this theme, most of them – for the general public, educational nature. This became an incentive to study textbook data from health and medical websites for the general public. The search was limited only to the texts of the two websites mentioned above (hereinafter referred to as the health subtextbook) – the so-called* frequency in them was sufficient for the study (almost 3,000 lines), and the texts were addressed to a fairly large audience. 103Terminology | 2021 | 28 similar2. Next, in the so-called* concordance of health subtexts, automatically filtered strings, in which within three positions from the search word is recorded also, otherwise, also, often, briefly, usually, or, later, the left context is reviewed. Metalinguistic comments linking synonyms were thus identified (see Table 1). These comments either mark the name alone*), or indicate the difference between the names (style, frequency, etc.). This correlates with the functions of metalinguistic commentaries identified by Kazimieras Župerka – to establish variants of expression and to describe variant linguistic expression (see alternatyvus, papildomas sąvokos įvardijimas (populiariausias modelis dar Župerka 2012: 130–142). In addition, the lines containing the participle forms of the participant's name, -a, were automatically sorted, and each of those lines was then reviewed. Although the search for synonyms by vadinamasis, -oji is successful, the same noun participant does not seem to be a direct marker of synonyms. From the analyzed data it is clear that synonyms in such lines can be identified by brackets, commas, hyphens, as well as other synonym markers (or otherwise), rather than the spoken form of the participant, e.g.: so-called abdominal (abdominal) type obesity SV; the undesirable, so-called side effects of SG; so-called fish smell syndrome, or trimethylaminuria SZ. However, this type of example is used for this article because it also contains an explicit synonymy of terms. The metalinguistic commentaries listed in the table are connected to each other, so various combinations of them are used, e.g., still otherwise called, often popularly called, etc., especially often they include still. Unlike the scientific language textbook CorALit, the health subtextbook did not find synonyms linked by the model short / shorter named*. Only a few formal synonym indicators have been discussed here, and some, it is necessary to add, are not exclusively synonym indicators. Among other facts of usage that are not relevant to this study, where spoken metalinguistic comments signal not about synonymous terms (for example, it is possible to achieve such a deep hypnosis, also called somnambulism, that SG), it is important that the research material also indicates terms that name different concepts. However, they should be considered at least contextual synonyms, e.g.: 2 It should be added that these sites do not only write about medicine, but also about psychology, sports, nutrition, healthy lifestyle, etc. This also determines the corresponding terminology. It is also important for the topic of the study that the texts quote or recount oral language, and its characteristics have an influence on the use of terms, such as the use of shorter forms of terms, etc. In addition, at least some of the texts may be translated. 104 Asta Mitkevičienė Explicit synonymy of terms nemoksliniame sveikatos diskurse Because of its ability to reduce the amount of free radicals, vitamin [vitamin C – aut. past.] is also called antioxidant SŽ; <...> some patients may develop inflammation of the lungs (called interstitial pulmonary pneumonia), blood in the urine, severe itching of the skin, swelling of the face, lips, mouth or throat which may cause difficulty breathing and swallowing, abdominal pain SV. Table 1. Metalinguistic comments indicating synonymy of terms with named* MeTAkAlBINIS kOMeNTARu MeTAkAlBINIu kOMeNTARAS IŠREIŠKIAMA SKIRTyBė dar vadinam* taip pat vadinam* kitaip vadinam* arba vadinam* vadinam* įvairiai [named* (noun form)] scientifically / by scientists named* – style (scientific usage) medically / in medicine named* style (scientific, professional usage3) by doctors named* popular named* in society named* popularly named* named* simply style (general, informal, popular named* usage4) by people sometimes named* frequency often named* often named* in paprastai vadinam* the world named* place5 elsewhere named* here named* 3 K. Župerka found that metalinguistic commentaries of professional language are most often presented in medical language (Župerka 2007: 63). 4 In discussing the metalinguistic commentaries of folk language, K. Župerka states that “commentaries with verb-named forms most often comment on so-called folk terms, traditional and newer, among the latter – and jargon” (Župerka 2012: 188). 5 Only isolated cases were found. 105Terminology | 2021 | 28 Taigi, kitas, daug sudėtingesnis, tyrimo etapas – atskirti tikruosius sinonimus from contextual synonyms. As the study was conducted on an individual basis, the assistance of health science professionals was not teko dalykinės informacijos ieškoti įvairiuose žinynuose. Išsamiausias meavailable. Thus, the Dictionary of Medical Terms (MedZ) was published more than 40 years ago, and the Medical Encyclopedia (MedE) – 30 years ago. Of course, they contain synonyms that are no longer used, and there are no terms relevant to the research, no new concepts. The electronic Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia (VLEe) proved to be useful for the research topic, as well as terms articles on the website ligos.lt, ICD-10-AM, Google search and other sources (as already mentioned, the research material contains not only medical terms). However, it was not always possible to determine whether the selected samples were synonyms, so a quantitative analysis of synonyms was not carried out6. Thus, in summary, it should be emphasized that when identifying synonyms (even explicit ones), it is necessary to answer the following questions: · Are both lexical units terms? · Are the terms systematic synonyms? THE NATURE OF THE SYNONYM In the health subtextbook, explicit synonyms, as could be expected, perform information (didactic) and / or explanatory functions. The synonym is indicated as an alternative, additional designation of the term (a), as well as as a clearer, by internal form more understandable or better known term to the addressee (b), e.g. : a) adrenaline, also called epinephrine SV; Constipation, also known as obstipated bowel movement; Forer’s effect, also known as Barnum’s effect; SV of extrauterine (so-called ectopic) pregnancy; Liposuction, also called lipoplastic or liposculpture SŽ; color therapy, also called chromotherapy SŽ; (b) acetylsalicylic acid (commonly known as aspirin) IU; Air Flow method (also known as soda spray) SŽ; fructose, also known as fruit sugar SŽ; Vaginal candidiasis (also called thrush) SV; the so-called abdominal (abdominal) type of obesity SŽ, etc. 6 References do not always treat the relationship of terms equally. For example, the international term immunoglobulins is listed as a synonym for antibodies in the VLEe, but they are not synonyms in the Explanatory Dictionary of Immunology and Allergology (EDIA) (see immunoglobulins "glycoprotein molecules performing the functions of antibodies"). 106 Asta Mitkevičienė Explicit synonymy of terms nemoksliniame sveikatos diskurse Of course, in many cases, it is not possible to say strictly that the purpose of a synonym is interpretation, because a synonym may be used not to explain, but simply to say another name of the concept, cf. Stein-Leventhal syndrome, also known as polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS, etc. When the second term appears clearer than the first, an interpretation can be discerned7. As can be seen from the examples presented, not only synonyms that form opposition by origin are explicitly linked, but also so-called motivational synonyms that name the same concept according to different characteristics (more Mitkevičienė 2020: 11–12). As is known, terms in usage can be abbreviated by elliptic, replaced by hyperonyms or other terms of broader meaning, paraphrased. They can also be extended when they seem not quite clear, especially in non-scientific language (Kazimieras Gaivenis mentions the latter, almost unresearched case (Gaivenis 2014: 122)). The peculiarities and tendencies of the usage of terms have an influence on the fact that terms of imprecise form are associated as synonyms in the health subtextbook. For example, in the example type 2 diabetes is also called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NINCD) SV the first term is abbreviated by omitting the spot diabetic (see type 2 diabetes mellitus ICD-10-AM), or in the example so-called mumps (mumps) SZ the second term is used without the spot epidemic (see mumps, mumps epidemic ICD-10-AM, VLEe). And the opposite example is the process of separation (also called separation) SZ8, where the first term is a word-extended process. Synonyms with metalinguistic commentary reflect the real use of terms in non-artistic discourse, where systemic and contextual synonymy intertwine, e.g.: cytological cervical smear, otherwise known as PAP test SV; cytological examination, also known as a Pap test SZ; PAP test. This examination is also called oncocytological or cytological cervical smear SZ. From the form of the terms alone, i.e. based on the linguistic expression criterion, it is possible to try to infer which synonyms do not have the same semantic volume. Of course, textual characteristics do not always explain the ambiguity of expression, errors, and when the text is translated – the influence of the original language. 7 Ona Petrėnienė has found that synonyms in popular science texts are most often used to clarify international terms (Petrėnienė 2003: 48). 8 Context: “Of course, minų įvairavimą – ne visi terminai yra nusistovėję. Taip pat neatmestinas the process of separation (also called separation) begins much earlier than in adolescence or when the child grows up.” 107Terminology | 2021 | 28 The research material explicitly relates terms and their perphrases. Perphrase – is “descriptive designation of the real name” (Language), “change of a word or its form by a descriptive word combination or other construction, denoting characteristic features of the relevant thing (fenomenon) or describing it figuratively” (LKE). Because periphrases can be used to explain terms that are not always clear and understandable to the reader (Pikčilingis 1975: 231), they are useful for non-academic discourse. Maria Teresa Cabré argues that the less specialized discourse on the formal level is distinguished by the abundance of periphrases (quoted from Freixa 2006: 58). It can be used to identify different types of hormones, e.g. : Estrogens, also known as the female attractiveness hormones SŽ; endorphins – the so-called happiness hormones; cortisol (so-called stress hormone) SG, etc. The term is derived from the more commonly used and broadly accepted term of hormone. After reviewing the cited lipopeptides, estrogens – like steroids, i.e., a closer terminų apibrėžtis VLEe, matysime, kad endorfinai apibrėžiami kaip pohyperonym. From the analyzed data it is obvious that the same periphrase is sometimes used for different terms, e.g.: hepatitis A, also known as “dirty hand disease” SZ; dysentery is also called the disease of dirty hands SŽ and others, so the same periphrase becomes a kind of hyperonym of those terms. The perphrases mentioned here can only be regarded as contextual synonyms and, of course, do not perform term functions. It is difficult to imagine a subjective text written without terms, using only such periphrases instead of them. If we take into account the criterion of permanence, although “permanent, frequently used periphrases turn into phraseologisms and supplement the lines of systematic synonyms” (Župerka 2001: 35), but in terminology such periphrases should first of all go as terms (be terminologised)9. Returning to the names of hormones, VLEe as a synonym of somatotropin is presented growth hormone, so such a synonym could be considered as a systemic synonym (see human growth hormone, which is also called somatropin (= somatotropin) SV), at least in non-scientific discourse. FUNCTIONAL SYNONYMS The terminologist Judit Freixa, having analysed in detail the reasons for the naming terminological variation, distinguished five groups of reasons, of which 9 were the following: 1. 108 Asta Mitkevičienė The explicit synonymy of terms is one of functional nemoksliniame sveikatos diskurse reasons (different communicational registers) (Freixa 2006). The functional pragmatic synonymy is particularly typical of the field of medicine. As can be seen from Table 1, some synonyms in the research material are linked as belonging to different communication situations, styles or registers10 – general or informal usage (expressed by words popularly, folkly, etc.) and scientific or specialist usage (scientific, medical, doctors, etc.), e.g. : (a) acetylsalicylic acid (commonly known as aspirin) SV (acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin, 2-acetoxybenzenecarboxylic acid LELe); soft tissue (pulp) inside the tooth root canal, popularly called the "nerve" SZ; sepsis (popularly known as blood infection) SZ (sepsis, blood infection VLEe); light-curing composites, popularly called helium seals SŽ and others. ; (b) bee pollen, scientifically referred to as propolis SZ (propolis VLEe); pediculosis (so scientifically called lice) SZ (pediculosis, lice VLEe); peritoneal inflammation. Medically, it is called peritonitis SZ; Constipation, doctors call it obstipatie SŽ (constipation, obstipatie VLEe) and others.11 Of course, synonyms of different communication situations are also said without metalinguistic comments oriented to the situation of use, e.g. : Diuretics, <...> (therefore sometimes referred to as “diuretics”) DG (diuretics, diuretics VLEe); SV of extrauterine (so-called ectopic) pregnancy (ectopic pregnancy, VLEe); Probiotics, so-called "good" bacteria SV, etc. The results of the study show that international terms are of course considered more scientific. The question arises – can synonyms of popular usage also be considered synonyms of terms in scientific communication? 10 The term register is particularly ambiguous (see Miliūnaitė 2009: 25 and the literature cited there). Translation theoretician Lionginas Pažūsis writes that “when we talk about the ‘register’ to which a word belongs, we have in mind certain conditions or speech situations that determine the choice of language means, including lexical units”, and refers to five registers: the familiar, informal, neutral, formal and higher (Pažūsis 2014: 293). 11 Pabrėžtina, kad gydytojų (praktikų) vartojamus terminus ir mokslinėje literatūroje (mokslininkų) vartojamus terms should be examined separately, as they belong to different communication situations. Although, as written in foreign terminology, the so-called diastractic variation in terminology is often limited to the opposition of the discourse of specialists (doctoral students) and the discourse of non-specialists (popularization), it is suggested to take into account the differences in terminology used by experts in the same field, such as researchers and practitioners (Picton, Dury 2017). However, no differences were found in the study material.