Revisiting Polysemy in Terminology

Page 415-424
Author Marie-Claude L’Homme
Title Revisiting Polysemy in Terminology
Abstract For many, the success of specialized communication is achieved when it is devoid of ambiguity. However, polysemy is quite common in specialized corpora and needs to be managed when compiling domain-specific resources. In this paper, we show that polysemy affects many lexical items in specialized texts and review specific cases of polysemy, some of which are seldom discussed in terminology literature. We also show how different types of polysemy can be handled in terminological resources. Methods include: 1. accounting for meaning distinctions using well known tests in lexical semantics; 2. representing links and differences between meanings with lexical relations and labelled argument structures. We also explain how Frame Semantics (Fillmore (1982) and the methodology used in the FrameNet project (Ruppenhofer et al. 2016) can provide a broader perspective on meaning distinctions in specialized fields. Methods are applied to examples found in the English versions of two terminological dictionaries in the fields of computing and the environment.
Session Terminology and Terminography
Keywords terminology; polysemy; predicative units; alternation; terminological resource; semantic frame
BibTex 
@inproceedings{ELX2020_2021-043,
address = {Alexandroupolis},
title = {Revisiting {Polysemy} in {Terminology}},
isbn = {978-618-85138-1-5},
url = {https://www.euralex.org/elx_proceedings/Euralex2020-2021/EURALEX2020-2021_Vol1-p415-424.pdf},
language = {en},
booktitle = {Lexicography for {Inclusion}: {Proceedings} of the 19th {EURALEX} {International} {Congress}, 7-9 {September} 2021, {Alexandroupolis}, {Vol}. 1},
publisher = {Democritus University of Thrace},
author = {L’Homme, Marie-Claude},
editor = {Gavriilidou, Zoe and Mitsiaki, Maria and Fliatouras, Asimakis},
year = {2020},
pages = {415--424},}
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