Basic Scientific Terminology

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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 vs Common 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 vs Common 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
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
Numerals Latin prefix Greek prefix 1 uni mono 6 sex(t) / se hex 2 bi / duo di /dy 7 sept hept 3 tri 8 oct 4 quadri / quart tetra 9 nonus / nona ennea 5 quint penta 10 dec(a) / de dec(a)

11 3 Etymology of Technical Terms
Color Latin Greek Black Atr-, nigr- Melan-, melano- Blue Cerule- Cyano- Green Virid-, viridi- Chloro- Red Rubi-, rubr- Erythro- Scarlet Coccin- White Alb-, candid- Leuco- Yellow Flav-, lute- Xantho-

12 3 Etymology of Technical Terms
Suffixes of common organic compounds -al 醛 -one 酮 -ane 烷 -ose 糖 -ase 酶 -oyl 醯 / 酰 -ene 烯 -yl 基 (一價基) -diene 二烯 -ylene 亞基 (二價基) -ol 醇 -yne 炔 -diol 二醇

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 5 Biological Terminology
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

23 5 Biological Terminology
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

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
Kingdom 界 Animalia 動物界 Phylum 門 Chordata 脊索動物門 Class 綱 Aves 鳥綱 Order 目 Coraciiformes 佛法僧目 Family 科 Alcedinidae 翡翠科 Genus 屬 Alcedo 翠鳥屬 Species 種 A. atthis 翠鳥

26 5.2 The Hierarchy of Biological World
Kingdom 界 Animalia 動物界 Phylum 門 Chordata 脊索動物門 Class 綱 Actinopterygii 幅鰭魚綱 Order 目 Lepisosteiformes 雀鱔目 Family 科 Lepisosteidae 雀鱔科 Genus 屬 Atractosteus 大雀鱔屬 Species 種 A. spatula 大雀鱔

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 已知的 16 個病毒種群，全都源自水鳥，尤以雁鴨類和鷗類最為重要。
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. 已知的 16 個病毒種群，全都源自水鳥，尤以雁鴨類和鷗類最為重要。

30 病禽可自由往來，傳播病毒，這正是病毒賴以持續的條件。
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. 病禽可自由往來，傳播病毒，這正是病毒賴以持續的條件。

31 在雞，一種樹林鳥，原來不是禽流感病毒的自然寄主。病毒引起雞的中度疾病*，但能輕易突變成為猛烈的品系。
But every now and then a bird flu virus jumps to an animal whose immune system it is not adapted to. 但禽流感病毒有時可轉移至其他動物，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. 在雞，一種樹林鳥，原來不是禽流感病毒的自然寄主。病毒引起雞的中度疾病*，但能輕易突變成為猛烈的品系。 雞本為林鳥，並非禽流感病毒的天然宿主。病毒在雞隻引起的疾病溫和，但能迅速突變成為猛烈的病毒株。

32 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。
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. 當流感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 到目前為止，人類不會輕易罹患禽流感，人與人之間的傳播亦不容易發生。
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. 到目前為止，人類不會輕易罹患禽流感，人與人之間的傳播亦不容易發生。

34 假如病毒獲得在人類之間傳播的能力，可以造成致命的全球大流行。
time for fun~ If this viral strain should acquire that ability, it could become a lethal pandemic - the name for an epidemic that spreads worldwide. 假如病毒獲得在人類之間傳播的能力，可以造成致命的全球大流行。 That is what happened in 1918, when a virulent flu strain appeared in humans and killed 50 million people within a few months. 1918 年就發生了一次這樣的大流行，致病力強大的病毒株在短短數月內讓五千萬人喪命。

35 There have also been two less catastrophic pandemics
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」流感導致一至四百萬人死亡；而1968年的「香港型」流感，造成的死亡人數為一至兩百萬，約為亞洲型流感的估計致死人數一半。

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 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。*
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，不遜於病毒自然演化而產生的危機。

41 End See you next week