Very often in explanatory dictionaries you can find a special mark next to the word - “special.”, Which means special. These word forms are not used universally, but refer only to professional or terminological vocabulary. What is this vocabulary and what are the rules for its use in modern speech? Learn from this article!
Special vocabulary: terms
There are two lexical categories, the words of which are used by people of a narrow circle: one profession, a field of science and technology. These are professionalism and terms.
Very often, next to a similar word, the scope of their use is also indicated, for example, physics, medicine, mathematics, etc. How to distinguish these special words?
Scientific terms are understood to mean words or phrases that name the various concepts of a particular scientific activity, or the production process or the sphere of art.
Each term is defined, that is, it has its own definition that helps to represent the essence of the subject or phenomenon called by it. Terms are the most accurate and at the same time simplified or concise description of the reality that it denotes. Moreover, each industry has its own terminological system.
Types of Terms
Scientific terms have several “layers”, that is, they differ in the type of sphere of use. All this is due to the characteristics of the object that this term refers to.
General scientific terms
The first layer is general scientific terms. They are needed in different fields of knowledge. These words always belong to the scientific style of speech and often overlap in different books, as they allow you to describe different areas of life and, accordingly, different scientific research.
Examples of terms:
- The professor conducted a physical experiment in the audience .
- Scientists have found an adequate approach to solving the problem.
- Is there an oxygen equivalent on other planets?
- It was difficult for graduate students to predict further events after a failed experiment.
- It was a hypothetical question!
- Russian science is progressing day by day.
- The reaction of this reagent to nitrogen was too violent.
All scientific terms in the examples are highlighted in a special font. As you can see, these words form the general conceptual fund of different fields of science and have the highest frequency of use.
Special terms
The second layer is special terms that reflect the concepts of certain scientific disciplines.
Examples of terms:
- The subject in this sentence is determined by the students incorrectly (this word refers to linguistics).
- Periodontitis is treated for a month with open channels of the tooth (this word refers to medicine).
- The devaluation also affected our currency (this word refers to the economy).
- We can see a supernova no earlier than next month (this word refers to astronomy).
- The injector flounders again (this word refers to the automotive industry).
- The bollards on the pier were free (this word refers to shipbuilding and navigation).
All these words are used in their discipline and concentrate in themselves the quintessence of any science. These are the most acceptable types of language expression that are convenient for a scientific language.
Pleonasm of Terms
Terms always carry a maximum of information, therefore they are irreplaceable, formulating the speaker’s thought extremely capaciously and accurately! However, excessive use or pleonasm of terminological vocabulary often ruins even the most interesting scientific work.
The degree of terminization of different scientific articles cannot be the same. Somewhere the terminological vocabulary of the Russian language is very frequent, but somewhere it will include only two or three examples. It depends on the style of presentation, as well as on who this text will be addressed to.
How many special words are allowed?
Sometimes the text of a scientific work is so overloaded with terms that it is not just difficult to read, but almost impossible even for specialists. Therefore, when writing scientific papers, it is better to adhere to the rule of the golden mean: there should be no more than 30-40% of terminological and professional vocabulary in the work. Just then it will be popular among a wide circle of readers, even those who are very far from the scientific fact described in it.
In addition, it is important to ensure that the terms used in scientific work are well known to a large circle of people, otherwise they will need to be explained all the time, and such work will turn into a solid “scientific” explanation.
Expansion of Terms
And, of course, it’s important not to create from a single speech a single pleonasm of scientific terminology, since it will be difficult for listeners to understand you, and the whole speech will seem boring and even meaningless. A frequent expansion of terms is associated with this - the transition from scientific vocabulary to everyday speech.
Like borrowings, the terms flood our ordinary everyday dialogue with new sentences and literally the dominance of “scientific.” It sounds very difficult and strange if all of a sudden teenagers try to artificially saturate their dialogue with similar words, replacing ordinary vocabulary with special words. Terms are needed not for replacement, but for designation and specificity. It is necessary to use them only when you cannot do without special words.
Using such words thoughtlessly, we run the risk of making our speech poor and our language too incomprehensible. Such congestion is often faced by first-year students, starting to attend lectures.
The lectures of professors who are too keen on and begin to literally retell the text of the textbook, as a rule, are incomprehensible, boring and have no result. Lectures of enthusiasts of their subject, who have made many discoveries in his field, are usually very simple and written in almost spoken language. These scientists talk about the important, but so simple that any student can understand them, and not only understand, but also put into practice the knowledge gained.
Special vocabulary: professionalism
Professionalism can include all words and expressions that are associated with a specific production or activity. These word forms, as well as many terms, have not become commonly used. Professionalisms function as semi-official words without a scientific character, in contrast to the terms.
In any profession, such verbal forms are known only to narrow specialists, as they indicate the various stages of production, unofficial names of tools, as well as manufactured products or raw materials. In addition, professionalism, like terminological vocabulary, is found in sports, medicine, in the speech of hunters, fishermen, divers, etc.
For instance:
- The lurid ending in this book is publishing professionalism. Indicates graphic decoration at the end of the book. In ordinary speech, the ending is simply the end of the work.
- Held mawash him in the head - sports professionalism. In karate, a shin kick to the head area.
- The yacht swung with a strong gust of wind - sports professionalism from the sphere of yachting. It means she showed her keel - the bottom of the yacht, that is, she turned over.
- The Pushkinists staged a literary evening - philological professionalism. Means people who have devoted their scientific activity to the work of A.S. Pushkin.
Professional vocabulary, unlike terminology, can have an expressive color and go into the category of jargon. And also to become a common word, such as, for example, the formerly former word professionalism.
Thus, vocabulary and vocabulary is a special layer of the Russian language, which includes words and expressions related to a particular area of use. It can be associated with science, as in the case of terms, and with activities, production or hobbies, as in professionalism.