A. Sliesaravičius, J. Lazauskas, V. Stanys, St. Keinys, G. Klimovienė. DICTIONARY OF TERMS FOR THE SELECTION AND SEED PRODUCTION OF AGRICULTURAL PLANTS – DICTIONARY OF AGRICULTURAL TERMS FOR PLANT BREADING AND SEED PRODUCTION – СЛОВАРЬ ТЕРМИНОВ ПО СЕЛЕКЦИИ И СЕМЕНОВОДСТВУ СЕЛЬСКОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННЫХ РАСТЕНИЙ Vilnius, 2010, 337 p.

JOLANTA GAIVENYTĖ-BUTLER

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

Over the past two decades, the publication of Lithuanian terminology dictionaries has grown substantially. Among the more than 300 dictionaries published during this period are a genetics dictionary, several dictionaries of biology, botany, and crop production (mostly school-level), as well as plant-name dictionaries and an agricultural encyclopedia; however, there had been no separate dictionary of plant breeding and seed production. In 2010, the collective work prepared by a team of authors, Dictionary of Terms for the Selection and Seed Production of Agricultural Plants, was published, filling this gap in Lithuanian terminography. As stated in the dictionary’s preface, “selection is a rapidly developing field of science, closely associated with the application of new methods in genetics and biotechnology. Its terms are most often coined in foreign countries and published in English, Russian, German, and other languages. For many new terms, we have no Lithuanian equivalents or explanations, <...>” (p. 5).

The dictionary contains about 3,000 of the most frequently used Lithuanian terms in plant breeding and seed production, botany and biotechnology, cytology, and genetics, as well as the names of genera, species, and cultivars of cultivated food and forage plants developed in Lithuania, their Lithuanian explanations, and English and Russian equivalents. The compilers gathered terms from educational

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and scholarly publications, and from dictionaries and encyclopedias published in Lithuania and abroad. The bibliography includes the laws of the Republic of Lithuania on plant seed production and the protection of plant varieties; the preface also cites as sources of terms the laws of the Republic of Lithuania on national plant genetic resources and genetically modified organisms. The dictionary includes plant varieties developed by Lithuanian breeders, entered in the List of Plant Varieties Suitable for Cultivation in Lithuania or described in scholarly publications.

The publication was prepared by a working group established at the Lithuanian University of Agriculture: Prof. Habil. Dr. Algirdas Sliesaravičius, Habil. Dr. Juozas Lazauskas, Prof. Habil. Dr. Vidmantas Stanys, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Stasys Keinys, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Giedrė Klimovienė (director: Prof. Habil. Dr. Algirdas Sliesaravičius).

The dictionary is intended primarily for agricultural specialists, biologists, and teachers and students at higher education and vocational schools, but anyone interested in plants may also find interesting information in it. The fact that such a terminology dictionary was needed by researchers and practitioners in this field is demonstrated not only by the support of the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language, but also by that of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, the teaching farm of the Lithuanian University of Agriculture, and several private companies—UAB Agrolitpa, UAB Dotnuvos projektai, UAB Analytical solutions, UAB Biotecha.

The publication meets all the structural requirements for terminology dictionaries. It consists of a main bilingual explanatory section and separate indexes of Lithuanian, English, and Russian terms. It includes a preface, a description of its structure (somewhat unusually titled dictionary arrangement), and a list of sources used. A glance through the dictionary makes it easy to see the compilers’ effort to ensure a wide range of search options and provide as much information as possible. Separate indexes are provided not only for English and Russian terms, but also for Lithuanian ones. The alphabet of each language is included alongside its index. Lithuanian terms are marked for stress both in the main dictionary section and in the index. A somewhat different, but search-friendly, arrangement has been chosen for the indexes of each language. Lithuanian terms are arranged alphabetically by the first word, while English and Russian terms are arranged alphabetically by the headword. Page numbers are given alongside the terms.

The selection of terms in the Dictionary of Terms for the Selection and Seed Production of Agricultural Plants is fairly well considered. There are only a few terms whose usefulness is questionable. It is debatable whether the synonyms klėtis and svirnas needed to be included in the dictionary, especially since no modern seed or grain storage facilities are discussed.

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The term javapjūtė has been included, although the dictionary’s defined term pjūtis (the time when cereals and other plants are cut) would seem to suffice. A specific term or a more detailed explanation would be desirable for the terms indukcija (the triggering of a process by external forces) and segmentas (a part of a structure (chromosome)). The definition of Genetinės inžinerijos distinguishes three types—genų, chromosomų ir genominė inžinerija—but only the first two types are included and explained as separate head terms; genominės inžinerijos is absent from the dictionary. The definition of Taksono lists the taxonomic units rūšis, gentis, šeima, eilė ir tipas. The dictionary includes and explains the terms rūšis, gentis ir šeima as head terms, but not eilės ir tipo. The five-word term genetinių augalų išteklių duomenų bazė seems unnecessary, since the definition gives no particularly distinctive characteristics of such a database. The dictionary’s explanation of genetinių augalų išteklių would probably suffice. The dictionary includes the compound terms genetinių augalų išteklių išsaugojimas ex situ, genetinių augalų išteklių išsaugojimas in situ ir genetinių augalų išteklių išsaugojimas inter situ. The Latin term in situ is also included and explained separately (as are in vitro ir in vivo), but inter situ ir ex situ are not.

Although terminology dictionaries most often include nouns and phrases with a noun as their main component, the editors of this publication have included many, as they themselves write in the preface, “important adjectives and verbs in the language of these sciences” (p. 5). This choice seems justified when the aim is to explain similar-sounding adjectives, for example, vegetacinis ir vegetatyvinis, but there are very few such cases. It is hardly appropriate to include adjectives and verbs in a dictionary when nouns of similar meaning are listed alongside them. The dictionary explains what akuotas is and describes the wheat variety ‘Akuotuotieji’; it also includes the adjective akuotuotas. The adjective agaminis is explained alongside the term agamija; the adjective vaisingas is listed alongside vaisingumo; the verb jarovizuoti appears immediately after jarovizacijos; and the verb atseti is explained after atselio. The selection of some verbs and verbal nouns seems inconsistent. In some cases the authors chose verbs and did not include the corresponding nouns in the dictionary, for example, atsijoti, identifikuoti, persodinti, pražysti, prigyti; in other cases, they included nouns but not verbs, for example, atsodinimas, skiepijimas, prisitaikymas, genėjimas. The dictionary includes iškiepis ir iškiepyti, but skiepas ir skiepijimas.

The editors of the reviewed dictionary chose an alphabetical, nest-based arrangement for the terms in the main section and followed it consistently. Single-word terms are listed alphabetically, while compound terms whose main component is a single-word term are grouped under that term’s entry. Compound terms whose main component is not included as a separate head term are listed alphabetically by their first word.

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are grouped under the entry for the single-word term. Compound terms whose main component is not included as a separate head term are listed alphabetically by the first word. This arrangement can sometimes make it unclear which term to choose as a head term. There are cases where, in an effort to find a single-word head term that unites multi-word terms, general scientific terms or words that can hardly be considered terms are unnecessarily included and explained in specialized dictionaries of this kind. The editors of this dictionary have avoided this shortcoming, and their chosen system for grouping terms seems logical and well considered.

In their explanation of the dictionary’s structure, the editors write that “the dictionary is normative, with some commonly used but non-recommended terms included” (p. 7). Indeed, quite a number of such terms are presented along with their corrections, and they will undoubtedly be useful to specialists and students in this field. The question, however, is why the editors explain the abbreviation ntk. in the description of the dictionary’s structure with the word neteikiamas. In the Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodyne and terminology dictionaries in various fields, this abbreviation usually marks neteiktinus terms that may be included in a dictionary with a note that they are unsuitable for use, that is, neteiktini.

Although the Žemės ūkio augalų selekcijos ir sėklininkystės terminų žodynas is called normative, its efforts to standardize terminology are cautious. The first thing that stands out is the abundance of synonyms. The wealth of synonyms in this dictionary seems, on the one hand, to reflect the editors’ attempt to Lithuanianize the international terminology of this field and, on the other, their desire to retain international terms that have apparently become established in specialists’ usage.

The chosen arrangement of synonyms is questionable. As is customary in terminology dictionaries, synonyms in this dictionary are linked by the cross-reference žr., which directs the reader to a more correct or more frequent term. The synonym is then repeated after a comma alongside this preferred term. Editors of terminology dictionaries generally opt for a simpler way of presenting synonyms: if a head term has a synonym, the terms grouped under its entry are listed only with the preferred term. The method chosen by the editors of the Žemės ūkio augalų selekcijos ir sėklininkystės terminų žodyno—repeating less-preferred terms alongside the main term and its specific terms—greatly expands the entries and creates the impression that there are considerably more terms. A head-term entry expands even further when not only the main component of the head term but also its specific terms have synonyms. For example, the entry for heterozė explains four types of heterosis: monogeninė, prisitaikomoji, repro-

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inductive and somatic. The term heterosis has the synonym hybrid vigour, while the qualifying element adaptive has the synonym adaptative. Alongside the term adaptive heterosis is a string of synonyms—adaptive hybrid vigour, adaptative heterosis, adaptative hybrid vigour—and the term entry is further expanded by three more separately listed synonyms with the reference “see.” In the dictionary under discussion, this entry occupies more than half a page and contains twelve synonymous terms, although only five concepts are explained. The entry for the term dominance is similar. Since the term dominance has the synonym predominance, and the qualifying element apical has the synonym top, the term apical dominance is also supplied with the synonyms top predominance, apical predominance, and apical dominance. It seems that this chosen arrangement is not very convenient even for the compilers themselves, since it is not always followed. For example, alongside the term germ is the synonym embryo; alongside codon – triplet; and alongside trial – experiment. But qualifying terms are listed only with the main elements germ, codon, trial. The presentation of terms containing abbreviations also varies (the dictionary’s explanation of its structure does not discuss abbreviations). In this dictionary, abbreviations are placed alongside the main term as synonyms and also listed separately in alphabetical order with the reference “see,” for example, DNA see deoxyribonucleic acid, RNA see ribonucleic acid. Compound terms whose element is the abbreviation DNA or RNA are not linked by cross-references to the terms deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid; for example, the dictionary contains only transfer RNA, RNA polymerase, DNA fingerprints, DNA polymorphism, DNA duplex.

There are synonym series consisting of three terms (alelis, alelomorfas, alelinis genas; genas modifikatorius, vyravimo modifikatorius, dominavimo modifikatorius; apvaisinimas in vitro, apvaisinimas mėgintuvėlyje, dirbtinis apvaisinimas; vėj d ulka, anemofilija, anemogamija; genomo biblioteka, genų biblioteka, DNR biblioteka; fenologinis tarpsnis, fenologinė fazė, fenofazė) or even four terms (genas inhibitorius, epistazinis genas, slopinantysis genas, genas supresorius; branduolio sultys, kariolimfa, karioplazma, nukleoplazma). Some of these terms have the same number of equivalents in other languages, but others have only one equivalent listed, for example, geno modifikatorius and geno inhibitorius. Some synonyms differ considerably, for example, judrieji genomo elementai, judrieji genai, transpozonai; alelių serija, daugybinis alelizmas; ląstelės ciklas, mitozės ciklas; epistazė, epistazinė genų sąveika, inhibicija. Sometimes both synonyms seem rather unsuccessful, for example, tester is ir veislė analizatorė.

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There are quite a few international terms presented as synonyms and apparently used as such by specialists, for example, amphigony and amphigenesis, allotetraploid and amphidiploid, acrocentric chromosomes and telocentric chromosomes, jarovization and vernalization, diheterozygote and dihybrid, diplonema and diplotene, codon and triplet.

Alongside the international terms, Lithuanian equivalents are proposed, for example, deletion, loss; photoperiod, day length; phototropism, light orientation; heterophylly, leaf diversity; heterocarpy, fruit diversity; hypostatic gene, suppressed gene; embryogenesis, embryo development; crossing-over, crossover.

Sometimes preference is given to the Lithuanian term, for example, upper cotyledon, epicotyl; inversion, inversion; protein, protein; community, cyanosis; outcrossing, outbreeding; appearance, habit; inbreeding, inbreeding; generation, generation; cross-pollination, allomixis; budding, blastogenesis; self-fertilization, autogamy; recessive allele, recessive allele; lower cotyledon, hypocotyl; greenhouse, inspekt; sun-loving plant, heliophyte; fertility, fertility; wind-pollination, anemophily; dominance, dominance; tip, apex.

The synonymy of some terms seems questionable. The terms lethal gene and death gene are given as synonyms, yet the separate entries genetic death and genetic lethality refer to different things, while no synonymous term containing the element death is given for effective lethal stage. Only selective medium is included, even though selective system has selection system as a synonym. The abundant and varied synonymy in this dictionary suggests that Lithuanian terms in this field are included in the dictionary more often than they are used in specialists’ speech.

The value of this publication is enhanced by the fact that it is not only a translation dictionary but also an explanatory dictionary. In their account of the dictionary’s structure, the authors write that it “usually provides a concise Lithuanian explanation of the term” (p. 8). A few particularly terse definitions were encountered that could probably have been expanded, for example, plant material – “plants or their parts”; biology – “life sciences,” botany – “the science of plants (a branch of biology)”; non-repetitive genes – “genes that do not repeat.” Perhaps the definition of hybrid viability (“the ability of hybrids to survive”) should be expanded, since hybrid inviability is defined more precisely (“the inability of hybrids to survive until the reproductive period”).

The concise approach mentioned in the preface is departed from somewhat in descriptions of plants; for example, detailed explanations are given of how spice and medicinal plants are propagated and what they are used for.

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The definitions in this dictionary convey the essence of the concepts well and identify their distinguishing features; they are clear and linguistically correct. Some definitions could be refined. The genetic plant resources database is presumably not a way and means of accumulating, systematizing, storing, and using genetic plant resources, but rather of accumulating, systematizing, storing, and using information about such resources. Earliness would be better defined as a property rather than an action (“early plant maturation”), and regrowth as an action rather than as a plant’s ability (“the ability of cut or grazed plants to grow again”). The compilers avoid the word develop, replacing it with unfurl, although this sometimes seems rather odd: jarovization – “ensuring the unfurling of plants”; luxuriant growth – “rapid, intensive plant growth, unfurling”; depression – “the inhibition of plant growth and unfurling.” The use of the feminine gender in the definition of asymmetrical bivalent should probably be regarded as a proofreading error: “a bivalent composed of two homologous chromosomes with different centromere locations.” The sweet cherry cultivar ‘Jurga’ is described somewhat oddly as producing fruit with a “cartilaginous texture,” while the pear cultivar ‘Aluona’ is described as a cultivar whose “fruit is convenient to transport.” The definition of modern cultivar (“a cultivar created by a breeder within a formal system”) does not really make clear what makes such a cultivar modern. Plant classification is defined in terms of taxic units. Might it be better to use the term taxonomic units (the definition of taxon includes taxonomic categories; see also Dictionary of Ecology Terms (2008))? Garden strawberry is defined as “a plant cultivated by humans.” If it is cultivated, it is already clear that it is by humans. Other plants in this dictionary are defined not as human-cultivated, but as garden or field plants. Buckwheat would be better defined not as a plant used for food, but as a plant whose grains are used for food.

Descriptions of plant cultivars use the singular in some places and the plural in others: ‘Augūnė’ and ‘Birutė’ are alfalfa cultivars, but ‘Žydrūnė’ is an alfalfa cultivar; ‘Almiai,’ ‘Audriai,’ ‘Kamaniai,’ and ‘Vakarai’ are black currant cultivars, but ‘Dringiai’ is a black currant cultivar; ‘Arimaičiai’ and ‘Vyliai’ are red clover cultivars, ‘Kaita’ is a perennial ryegrass cultivar, ‘Veja’ is a perennial ryegrass cultivar, ‘Žiedė’ is a common bentgrass cultivar, but ‘Giedriai’ is a spring vetch cultivar, ‘Velenis’ is a timothy cultivar; ‘Vėžačiai’ is a fodder turnip cultivar, ‘Žaliukai’ is a field pea cultivar, but ‘Žara’ is a radish cultivar, ‘Auksė’ is a millet cultivar, and ‘Kamuoliai 2’ is a beet cultivar.

There are rather many terms in parentheses in the definitions. Most often, the parentheses contain a word explaining a term mentioned in the definition, or a synonym.

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The first case is justified, since such information may be useful. For example, recessivity – “the interaction of allelic genes in which the action of one (recessive) gene is masked by another (dominant)”; multiple alleles – “several alleles of one gene, <...> originating from one and the same chromosome site (locus).” In the second case, the information provided should be considered redundant. The use of synonyms in definitions unnecessarily lengthens them and sometimes causes confusion. Since terms in parentheses used in definitions are generally also listed as headwords, any reasonably perceptive reader could easily find them in the dictionary if necessary. For example, homeologous chromosomes are defined as chromosomes “characterized by partial conjugation (pairing).” The synonym pairing can be found next to the headword conjugation. The term collection nursery is defined as “a nursery in which a collection of initial breeding material is grown.” In this dictionary, the term collection, set is listed first, with the other form given as a synonym, although this choice seems questionable. Plant collection is a common term, as is also shown by the specific term collection nursery. Sometimes such parentheses create the impression of synonymy (especially for non-specialists) where none exists, for example, allelism – “the pairing of alternative (contrasting) traits of an organism.” Given the order in which the authors chose to present synonyms, one might assume that the terms alternative trait and contrasting trait are listed as synonyms; however, the dictionary does not include the term alternative trait.

Sometimes the definitions run counter to the authors’ attempt to give preference to a particular term, and inconsistencies occur in them. The dictionary contains definitions that use a term other than the preferred one, instead using its synonym. For example, the Lithuanian terms descriptor and stage are listed first, while their international equivalents label and phase are given as synonyms; yet the definition of plant passport uses the term label, while the definition of chromatography uses phase. Acrosyndesis is defined as “incomplete pairing (conjugation) of two chromosomes during meiosis,” although the dictionary lists conjugation first, with pairing given as a synonym after conjugation. There are instances where synonyms are used interchangeably in definitions. Gametocyte is defined as “a cell that differentiates into sex cells (gametes),” although the dictionary gives preference to the term gamete. Sex cell and its synonym, gamete, given in parentheses, appear in successive definitions of gametangium, gametocide, gametocyte, gametogamy, gametogenesis; but in the definition of gametoclone we find only gamete, whereas that of gametoplasts gives only sex cells.

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Synonyms, their presentation, and their use in definitions are the main issues that could be discussed with the editors of the publication. Overall, the terms listed in the dictionary seem well organized and carefully marked for stress. There are few questionable terms. Variety plasticity (a variety’s ability to yield consistently under different growing conditions) seems to have been modeled on equivalents in other languages; compare English flexibility of variety and Russian пластичность сорта. Complementary gene would probably be preferable to complementary gene. There are compound terms with variant formations, for example, three adjectives are listed one after another: monomorphic, single-seeded, and monogenic. The specific components of the terms permanent heterochromatin, primary plants seem somewhat unusual.

The dictionary has been carefully prepared for publication and is of high printing quality. The only cause for hesitation is the use of an uppercase initial letter for the headword. Had the editors chosen the usual practice of writing headwords with a lowercase initial, plant variety names would have been easier to spot in the dictionary text.

The doubts expressed and the minor shortcomings noted do not diminish the value of the publication. It meets the requirements for terminology dictionaries. The dictionary has been approved by the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language, and this publication deserves such a quality endorsement.

Received 2010-12-27

Jolanta Gaivenytė-Butler Lietuvių kalbos institutas P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius E. paštas [email protected]

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