Terminology work in the Irish language Evaluation criteria

Differences Context Approaches Results Evaluation criteria?

Context Sociopolitical and economic factors –Language of the poor and marginalised –Low status –English for progress and emigration –Domain loss, lack of domain cultivation /gain /expansion, domain renouncement –Little or no terminological corpus material

Liberty for ¾ of island brought Effort to revive and sustain Irish as national language Irish-medium education Necessity for technical terminology for school curricula and exams

Approaches Committees and subcommittees established to coordinate and approve terms Priorities identified for domain conquest –Science, maths, biology, geography Domains identified for domain reconquest –Trades, crafts; later flora and fauna, literature, sailing

Dissemination Bilingual glossaries published, updated, revised, expanded No definitions: terms come through English – all speak English, know or can research terms in English Material input in online databases Terminological advice service to public Talks given in universities and other venues

Domain conquest and expansion: approaches Find native words, prefixes etc Adapt native words Import scientific terms: transliterate from Greek & Latin Devised principles for term formation and transliteration Focus on secondary school curricula mainly – terms for textbooks Traditional link with university in west where some 3rd level courses taught – professors on subcommittees

Domain reconquest Solicited lists of native terms from teachers and others in Gaeltacht (= Irish-speaking area) Collected from folklore material in archives of Folklore Commission Subcommittees formed to review, revise, expand Compiled and edited lists for publication Some included in general purpose dictionaries Specialized terminology lists and dictionaries published

Some examples Flora and fauna –Birds (éin) Magpie (snag breac) –Azure-winged magpie Cyanopica cyanea (snag breac gormghlas) –Bats (ialtóga) Long-eared bat Plecotus auritus (ialtóg chluasach) –Dragonflies (snathaidí móra) –Keeled skimmer Orthetrum coerulescens (scimire na sruthlán)

Cultivating new domains Computing and IT –First dictionary compiled by Science Subcommittee during 1980´s –Revisited in 1990´s with revisions and additional terms –Published as book, CD and online –At beginning of Microsoft localization project 90% of terms already published –Irish users tend not to use IT terms in English

Results Instead of extracting terms from corpora, corpus material contains terms provided by Terminology Committee Published as special-purpose lists or dictionaries (20+) Miscellaneous terminology arising from stream of enquiries from the public –Some technical, some jargon, some translation or grammar problems –Tag miscellaneous terms with general domain fields: Biol., Lit., IT etc

Other sources Media –Liaise with us Legislation –Access to our sources but devise their own terms

Evaluation criteria for term devisers Concept-oriented Natural Identifiable Easy to use Easy to remember Grammatically uncomplicated Coordinated within field, across fields Accessible in sources

User evaluation Identify user groups –Teachers and students –Translators and editors –Media –Specialists –General public

Feedback Teachers/students say technical terms too difficult –Underlying problem: language registers, language levels, technical terms difficult in all languages English disguises semantic relations Translators/editors happy resources are available Media use resources, may simplify Specialists liaise with us and support the work voluntarily with generosity and good will General public –Those who acquire Irish as second language accept –Many native speakers cynical, prefer English terms to devised terms, use caveats such as As the new Irish calls it

Challenges To meet demands To maintain transparence To raise public awareness about terminology as universal phenomenon –Relating to language registers –Relating to language rights