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Terminology and terminography work in Slovenia

This article explores the position and use of the Slovenian language in Slovenia, including its historical significance, official status, and challenges faced in the modern context. It discusses the importance of terminology and terminography work in various fields and the country's efforts to promote the use of Slovenian in government, education, and culture.

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Terminology and terminography work in Slovenia

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  1. Terminology and terminography work in Slovenia MARJETA HUMARFran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language,The Scientific Research Centre SASA Ljubljana metahu@zrc-sazu.si

  2. Warm greetings from Slovenia!

  3. Slovenia: • Until 1918 part of the Habsburg Monarchy, from 1918 to 1941 part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, from 1945 to 1991 one of the six republics of communist Yugoslavia, • An independent country since 1991, • A democratic, law-governed, welfare state with a republican form of government, • Member of NATO, and member of the EU since 1 May 2004,

  4. Capital city: Ljubljana, • Just over 2 million inhabitants, • Official language: Slovenian.

  5. Slovenian joined the ranks of privileged languages at two critical moments: • In the 16th century, it was the 12th language that the Bible was translated into. • It is one of the smallest languages that the “Bible of the modern age” has been translated into: the Windows operating system and programs written for it.

  6. The position of Slovenian in the former Yugoslavia: • Under the constitution Slovenian had equal status with other languages of Yugoslavia (Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian); • In practice, however, it was not equal; • Serbo-Croatian was used in federal, military, and diplomatic institutions.

  7. The position of Slovenian in independent Slovenia is defined by: • The constitution: “The official language in Slovenia is Slovenian. In those municipalities where Italian or Hungarian national communities reside, Italian or Hungarian shall also be official languages.”

  8. The use of Slovenian is defined in further detail by: • The Public Use of the Slovenian Language Act (adopted 2004); • The Resolution on a National Program for Language Policy (adopted 2007); • and various other acts.

  9. The Resolution on a National Program for Language Policy2007–2011 foresees:

  10. Carrying out synchronic and diachronic language research; • Revival and harmonization of the work of terminological groups, especially in natural science, technical fields, economics, management, and the military, as well as research on translation processes and strategies, hyperlinking, and development and accessibility of terminological databases.

  11. The actual position of the language following independence and democratization:

  12. Slovenian is the de facto national language; • It is also used in nation-building areas: the military, customs and diplomacy; • The use of Slovenian in information and communication technology and in mobile telephony;

  13. Increasing interest in learning Slovenian as a foreign language; • Following EU accession: for the first time in history, Slovenian is being used as one of the official languages of a major international organization.

  14. Less positive aspects of the new position of the language: • Following independence, the Slovenian state did not carry out a coordinated language policy;

  15. Altered relations: democratization, the information society, globalization, European integration processes; • Due to EU directives, certain legal provisions on the preferential use of Slovenian in particular official or public spoken circumstances have been removed (e.g., free movement of goods and persons, science, and higher education).

  16. Advantages: • A historically developed feeling of Slovenian as a national symbol and cultural value; • The general recognition of Slovenian as a core element of Slovenian national identity; • The complete development of modern literary Slovenian;

  17. The constitutionally defined status of Slovenian as the official language of an independent state and recognized status as one of the official languages of the EU; • The existence of legal and executive regulations on the public use of Slovenian in education (as a language of instruction and curriculum subject), public services (healthcare, postal services, etc.), the media ...

  18. A high level and variety of cultural events in Slovenian; • A network of research, development, and educational institutions dedicated to Slovenian; • A Division for the Slovenian Language at the Ministry of Culture, offering an opportunity for institutional harmonization of language policy activities.

  19. Disadvantages: • Slovenia’s geopolitical circumstances are very demanding regarding the preservation and undisturbed development of Slovenian; • Demographically, the Slovenian linguistic community is relatively weak (2 million);

  20. Pressure on Slovenian in exercising the principles of free movement of goods, services, persons, and capital in the EU; • A lack of Slovenian textbooks in higher education;

  21. The belief in higher education that Slovenian as a language of instruction represents a barrier to students and professors from abroad, and that it must be replaced by English as a foreign language; • The mass use of untranslated foreign-language proper names (names of institutions, events, works of art, etc.) and the selection of foreign names for Slovenian businesses, bars ...

  22. Attention to Slovenian and its terminology As a small nation, Slovenians have also continued to exist because we have cultivated our language and Slovenian terminology. The first terminological dictionary was published in 19th century.

  23. Since independence in the 1990s there have appeared: • Translating and translated dictionaries necessary for new social and political circumstances: banking, stock exchange, economics, finance, computer science, business, insurance, law, military;

  24. Explanatory or translating dictionaries for established fields of knowledge: automobiles, gemology, library science, military, pharmacy, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, clothing technology, metallurgy, the oil industry;

  25. Explanatory or translating dictionaries for new fields of knowledge: nuclear engineering, computer science, information technology, the Internet; • Most often translated from English and/or with English equivalents.

  26. Alongside political changes, the past fifteen years have seen major changes affecting the language:

  27. Much new terminology is arising because of political openness and globalization; • New terminology is most often English; • Slovenian sciences are joining (or hope to join) international science; • The principle of supply and demand affects language use in the sciences.

  28. For the first time in Slovenian history the question has appeared: • Should Slovenian terminology continue to be developed, or should it be adapted to globalization through the use of English in the sciences?

  29. Majority response: • The terminology should be Slovenian. • The language of instruction at Slovenian universities is and should remain Slovenian, except for foreign language instruction.

  30. Minority response: • Slovenian science can receive global recognition only through English.

  31. The use of English is also supported by science policy: • Academic conferences often take place only in English, • Researchers earn more points by publishing in English, • At the faculties there are rarely lectures about Slovenian terminology, but regularly about English terminology, • Some academic journals are published only in English.

  32. The following deal with terminology and terminography:

  33. The Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language of the Scientific Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, • The Slovenian Standards Institute, • The Office for European Affairs, • The Government Translation Office, • Faculties, professional organizations, individuals, etc.

  34. Achievements of The Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language: • Every year we publish at least one normative explanatory dictionary of technical terms with foreign-language equivalents, • We have produced the Slovar.Red 2.1 program for processing dictionary material,

  35. We have produced the Konkord program for collection of material; • Approximately 200 external associates in various technical fields work on our terminological committees; • We are training research assistants for terminology work; • We cooperate with the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, ministries, faculties, societies, and professional organizations;

  36. We participate in academic and professional meetings in Slovenia and abroad; • We organize terminological conferences; • We are designing a corpus of technical texts in the Nova beseda online corpus; • We cooperate with Slovenians in cross-border areas; • We respond to questions from the public and carry out other tasks.

  37. Our basic principle for terminological and terminographic work:

  38. A profession with an organized naming system is able to transmit its knowledge and develop new findings.

  39. Characteristics of dictionaries of The Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language:

  40. They are produced based on excerpts from Slovenian works and therefore they express the spirit and culture of the Slovenian nation; • The dictionaries are produced by committees; • Top experts in a given field and linguists cooperate in the committees; • At the time of production, the expressions are introduced directly into applied use: in lectures, articles, etc.

  41. The Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language is currently working on the following explanatory dictionaries:

  42. A general technical dictionary, botany, spatial planning, pharmacy; • Theater, art history; • Law, legal history, expressions in EU legal acts; • Apiculture, Skiing, Military; • Information technology and computer science.

  43. Future tasks in Slovenian terminology and terminography: • Shaping consciousness of the importance of one’s native language; • Ongoing Slovenianization of foreign expressions; • Producing a publicly accessible electronic corpus of technical texts;

  44. Producing explanatory normative dictionaries; • Producing at least bilingual and multilingual dictionaries for new fields of knowledge; • Producing manuals for terminological and terminographic work;

  45. Publishing lexicographic works in various formats; • Publication of recommended terminology on the web enables its immediate use; • Training experts for developing nomenclature and technical texts at all educational levels; • Securing greater financial support from the state for terminological work.

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