Basic Scientific Terminology

1. Basic Scientific Terminology CTL 3352 Scientific and Technical Translation Ivan Yeung

2. 0 Basic Terminology • 0.1 Concept • the mental representation of an object • the basic element of a knowledge system • 0.2 Term • the expression of an object in language • 0.3 Definition • the description of the concept

3. 0 Basic Terminology • 0.4 Technical Terms • A form of any given language that is used by people involved in a specialism and that has a set of expressions that are used in a different or more specific way than in the common language

4. 1 Technical Language vsCommon Language • 1.1 technical terms are largely derived from common language • friction, motor, heart, plant, bone… • 熱、寒、風、濕… • 1.2 technical terms are more specific and precise • The leaves were blown yellow by the autumn wind arriving early. • Chlorophyll, the chemical responsible for photosynthesis, is found in leaves.

5. 1 Technical Language vsCommon Language • 1.3 some technical terms are used metaphorically • Light bulb • Glühbirne (glow pear) • 電燈泡

6. 2 Technical Term Formation • New terms are invented when there’s “lexical gap” between the SL and TL • “Alzheimer’s disease ”【醫】阿爾茨海默病 • “cerebellum” 【解】小腦 • “melamine” 【化】三聚氰胺 • “barrier island” 【地】堰洲島 • “Hemiptera” 【動】半翅目 • “calculus” 【數】微積分 • “Miranda” 【天】天衛五

7. 2 Technical Term Formation • 2.1 combining of lexical terms in compounds • carbon, oxygen → carbon dioxide • 2.2 borrowing of foreign words • cardiovascular disease, penicillin • 2.3 abbreviation • AIDS, ECG, MRI, DEHP • 2.4 notation • ∫, ∑, ♂, ♀. ∆x, ln(x)

8. 3 Etymology of Technical Terms • 3.1 Etymology • the study of the origin and the histories of words • Food for thought • What are the most important source for building scientific terms?

9. 3 Etymology of Technical Terms • 3.2 Greek and Latin Roots • many scientific terms were derived from Greek or Latin roots • arthr (o) - G - joint – arthritis • cephal (o) - G - head – cephalopoda • mega - G - large, enlarged – megacolon • aqua – L – water – aquaculture • albo – L – white – albino

10. 3 Etymology of Technical Terms

11. 3 Etymology of Technical Terms

12. 3 Etymology of Technical Terms

13. 4 Guidelines for making technical terms • 4.1 The term must be well motivated** • literal meaning matches the concept as understood in the overall system of concepts • eg, television, melanocyte • 4.2 the term should be as short as possible without adversely affecting its clarity

14. 4 Guidelines for making technical terms • 4.3 the term should not be polysemous and should have no synonyms* • care should be taken when translating terms containing a polysemous morpheme • Subcranial 顱下 • Sublingual 舌下 • Subculture 次培養菌 • Subgallate 次沒食子酸 • Subexcite 亞興奮 • Subchronic 亞慢性 • Subluxation 不全脫臼 • subinflammation 輕炎

15. 4 Guidelines for making technical terms • 4.4 the term should be systematic • heart disease, lung disease, liver disease vs disease of the kidney • carbon monoxide 一氧化碳 • carbon dioxide 二氧化碳

16. 4 Guidelines for making technical terms • 4.5 the term should be productive of any necessary derivations • oxygen → 氧 / 氧氣 • oxidize → 氧化 • oxidizing agent → 氧化劑 • oxidation → 氧化作用 • plastics → 塑料 • plasticity → 可塑性 • plasticize → 塑化 • plasticizer → 塑化劑 • plasticization → 增塑作用 / 塑化作用

17. 4 Guidelines for making technical terms • 4.6 the term should be formed in accordance with the syntactic rules of the language • 清膽瀉火湯 • → Clear Gall-bladder and Drain Fire Decoction* • → Gallbladder-Clearing Fire-draining Decoction

18. 4 Guidelines for making technical terms • 4.7 the term should be internally logical • 帶下青 • → green leukorrhea * • → green vaginal discharge • 礦物類中藥 • mineral herbs * • mineral medicines

19. 5 Biological Terminology • 5.1 Biological Hierarchy • Kingdom ─ Animalia • Phylum ─ Arthropoda • Class ─ Insecta • Order ─ Diptera • Suborder ─ Nematocera • Family ─ Culicidae • Subfamily ─ Culicinae • Genus ─ Aedes • Species ─ A. albopictus

20. 5 Biological Terminology • 5.1 Biological Hierarchy • Kingdom ─ 動物界 • Phylum ─ 節肢動物門 • Class ─ 昆蟲綱 • Order ─ 雙翅目 • Suborder ─ 長角亞目 • Family ─ 蚊科 • Subfamily ─ 家蚊亞科 • Genus ─ 伊蚊屬 • Species ─ 白紋伊蚊

21. 5 Biological Terminology • Food for thought • What is the importance of scientific naming? • 5.2 Binomial Nomenclature • binomial nomenclature is a standard naming convention used by scientists when referring to organisms • the scientific name of each organism is the combination of two names • the genus and the species

22. Food for thought Why is scientific naming important? Consider: English common name: Many-banded Krait 中文(俗)名*：銀環蛇 / 銀腳帶 (港)、雨傘節 (台) Bungarus multicinctus multicinctus 5 Biological Terminology

23. English common name: Point-scaled Pit Viper / Chinese Habu / Taiwan Habu / Formosan Pit Viper 中文名稱：原矛頭蝮 / 烙鐵頭 (港)、龜殼花 (台) Protobothrops mucrosquamatus 5 Biological Terminology

24. 5 Biological Terminology • 5.2 Binomial Nomenclature • binomial nomenclature is a standard naming convention used by scientists when referring to organisms • the scientific name of each organism is the combination of two names • the genus and the species

25. 5.2 The Hierarchy of Biological World

26. 5.2 The Hierarchy of Biological World

27. 5 Biological Terminology • 5.2 Binomial Nomenclature • certain rules should be observed • the scientific name must be in Greek or Latin language • genetic name should come first and must begin with a capital letter • the same name should not be used for two or more species under the same genus • the scientific name must be either underlined or written in italics • the name of the author who first described the species should be written after the specific name • e.g. Homo sapiens Linnaeus

28. End • Take a break

29. The flu viruses are a large family, each possessing a mere 10 genes encoded in RNA. • 流感病毒族群龐大，成員眾多，每個病毒只具有 10 個由 RNA 編碼的基因。 • time for fun~ • All of the 16 known groups originate in water birds, especially ducks and gulls.

30. The virus is well adapted to their immune systems, and does not usually make them very sick. • 病毒對禽類的免疫系統適應良好，禽鳥通常不會病得太重。 • time for fun~ • This leaves the animals free to move around and spread the virus - just what it needs to persist.

31. But every now and then a bird flu virus jumps to an animal whose immune system it is not adapted to. • 但禽流感病毒可轉移至其他動物，而病毒並不適應這些動物的免疫系統。 • time for fun~ • In chickens, a forest bird originally and not a natural host, it causes a moderate disease but can readily mutate to a more severe strain.

32. Just such a strain of H5N1 flu, named after its surface proteins, has been rampaging through large chicken farms in east Asia. • 因表面蛋白* / 表面抗原得名的H5N1流感病毒株，就曾經橫掃東亞的大型養雞場。 • But flu is at its most deadly when it first makes the jump to people, having had no opportunity to adapt itself to our immune systems. • 當病毒初轉移至人體時，由於沒有機會適應人類的免疫系統，最為致命。

33. H5N1 has continued to infect humans as the outbreak in poultry has raged, with an apparently high fatality rate. • 當禽流感在家禽中傳播越演越烈之際，H5N1 病毒繼續感染人類，造成頗高的死亡率。 • time for fun~ • It has so far has been hard to contract, and has not spread readily between people.

34. time for fun~ • If this viral strain should acquire that ability, it could become a lethalpandemic - the name for an epidemic that spreads worldwide. • That is what happened in 1918, when a virulent flu strain appeared in humans and killed 50 million people within a few months.

35. There have also been two less catastrophic pandemics. The so-called "Asian" flu of 1957 caused between one and four million deaths, while 1968's "Hong Kong" flu - with about half the estimated deadliness of the Asian flu - caused one to two million deaths. • 此外，尚有兩次殺傷力較小的大流行。1957年，所謂的「亞洲型」流感導致一到四百萬人死亡；而1968年的「香港型」流感，造成的死亡人數為一到兩百萬，約為亞洲型流感估計的致死人數一半。

36. Both of these were human flu viruses which had recombined with bird flu viruses, rendering them unrecognisable to the human immune system. • 造成這兩次大流行的，都是和禽流感病毒重組的人類流感病毒，致使人類的免疫系統無從辨認它們。 • The 1957 strain was nearly released by accident in 2005. • 2005年，造成1957年大流行的病毒株險些意外地釋放出來。

37. Virologists generally agree that we are due for another pandemic. • 病毒學家一般相信，差不多是時候發生另一次大流行。 • 病毒學家普遍認為，另一次大流行將要來臨。 • A highly contagious virus with a 70% death rate is a terrifying prospect, particularly given the speed of modern international travel. • 一種具有高度接觸傳染性，能造成70%死亡率的病毒，加上現代化交通讓國際往來迅速，展望*相當可怕 / 發展堪虞。 • 一種具有高度接觸傳染性，發病死亡率高達70%的病毒，加上現代化交通讓國際往來迅速，發展趨勢堪憂。

38. Even if H5 does not trigger the next pandemic, its cousins H7 and H9 could. • 即使 H5 病毒沒引發下次的大流行，近似株 H7 或 H9 也可能會。 • H7 is present in the same region and also infected large numbers of Dutch people in an outbreak in 2003. • H7 病毒見於 / 分布於同一區域，在2003年的爆發中感染了大量的荷蘭人。

39. Some scientists are not willing to wait and see. They are trying to breed contagiousness into H5N1 to see if it is likely to happen. • 有些科學家不願意呆等，嘗試透過病毒雜交，看看能否給 H5N1 病毒引進感染力。* • 有些科學家不願意枯等，透過病毒雜交試驗，以找出H5N1 病毒感染力會否增加。

40. Others are breeding replicas of the 1918 virus - from samples recovered from victims - to see just what made it so deadly. • 其他科學家從病人樣本複殖1918 病毒株，以了解是甚麼因素讓病毒殺傷力這麼大。 • But some feel that those experiments, because of the potential for escape from the lab, put us at as much risk as the natural evolution of the virus. • 但有人認為，由於病毒有可能從實驗室外洩，這些實驗帶來的風險，大大超過病毒自然演化而產生的危機。

41. End • See you next week