Units of specialized knowledge*
“A unit of specialized knowledge (SKU) is a unit that represents
specialized knowledge at the content level, and communicates it
at the linguistic level by using different level units that reflect
the structure of knowledge in which the SKU is organized
within its field.
“Specialized knowledge units are cognitive units, because they
represent and set specialized knowledge.
“At the linguistic level, they are linguistic units because they are
formed within a linguistic system and are integrated to it.
“At the social level, they are considered to be communicative
units, because they ensure the transfer of knowledge in given
situations.”
* IULA GROUP IULATERM 2011 universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona
Units of specialized knowledge*
Only some main aspects are going to be introduced here as
regards the classification of SKUs.
At the linguistic level, most SKUs are related to terminological
units.
At the knowledge level, they can be classified according to:
a) their content: simple or complex
b) their centrality within the structure: central or peripheral
c) their autonomy: autonomous or dependant
d) the concepts they represent: entities, properties, relationships
or events.
Units of specialized knowledge*
As regards the system to which they belong, the units related to
the linguistic level may be
natural language units (such as centrifugation, cultivate,
genetically etc.) or
Belong to an artificial system (H2O, agrobacterium)
“As to their internal structure, units of specialized knowledge
may coincide at the linguistic level
with morphemes (-itis, -ic),
with simplex, derived or compound lexical units (hepatitis,
autonomous, coagulate, etc.),
with lexicalized or co-occurring phrases (like multiple sclerosis,
DNA enlargement)
with sentences, though rarely (we hereby affix our hand and
seal, an example from legal language)”
Units of specialized knowledge*
According to their grammatical category, SKUs may
relate to units which belong to one of the following
grammatical categories :
noun, verb, adjective and adverb. Nouns are the most
representative category.
Steps to create terminological records
1. Check available information
2. Transfer information into a computer file
3. Complete datafield, including:
- Morphological and syntactical information
- Selection of context from corpus
- Usage notes (if appropriate)
- Related terms (linguistic and conceptual)
- Full definition (either existing or to be written)
- Source for information
- Foreign language equivalents
- Reference to term records of other languages
Steps to create terminological records
Term number, date of compilation, name of compiler,
pointers to other records complete the term record.
The data collected can vary according to the range and
purposes of the database. It ensues that there may be
several definitions, subject field indications, notes, etc.
n.b. One full terminological record for each language
(SL and TL)
Units of specialized knowledge*
According to their grammatical category, SKUs may
relate to units which belong to one of the following
grammatical categories :
noun, verb, adjective and adverb. Nouns are the most
representative category.