terminologiya

Terminologiya, or terminology, is the study and practice of terms used in a specific domain and the systems that organize them. It encompasses the description, creation, management, and standardization of terms and their definitions to ensure clear, consistent communication among specialists, translators, and users of information in a field.

Key concepts in terminologiya include terms (the actual words or phrases), concepts (the ideas they denote), and definitions that link terms to their meanings. Terminology also relies on concept systems that show relationships among terms, such as broader and narrower terms, related terms, and synonyms or variants. Handling polysemy and homonymy—where a term has multiple senses or shares form with other terms—is a central task.

Processes and tools in terminologiya involve term extraction from texts, term description, and the creation of termbases or glossaries. Terminology management may use controlled vocabularies and ontologies to connect terms with concepts, enabling better indexing, search, and multilingual translation. Modern practice often combines descriptive terminology (documenting actual usage) with prescriptive approaches (defining preferred terms).

Standards and institutions influence terminologiya. International bodies such as ISO publish standards on terminology work, including principles, methods, and data structures (for example ISO 704). Terminology resources support various activities, from technical writing and localization to knowledge management, library science, and research. Challenges include keeping terms up to date across languages and domains, aligning across disciplines, and balancing linguistic variation with the need for standardization.