Short-period evolution in EU legal texts: old and new terms, old and new concepts

Abstract

Due to the ever-changing legal landscape of the European Union, the terminology used in EU documents is subject to constant formal and conceptual evolution. In this paper, a bilingual (Italian and English) corpus of equally authentic EU legal texts covering a time span of fifteen years (1998-2012) and concerning the legal area of victims of crime is analysed from a diachronic perspective. The aim is to discuss the terminological changes observed in the corpus in the light of the classification of evolution phenomena proposed by Tartier (2003) and Picton (2011). In order to examine both formal and conceptual terminological evolution, the distinction between genotypes and phenotypes introduced by Sacco (1991) is applied to the terms identified in the corpus and the underlying concepts. The analysis of the EU corpus shows that the three categories proposed by Tartier (appearance, disappearance and stability) and the first three (novelty and obsolescence, implantation of terms and concepts, and centrality) of the four categories proposed by Picton for the terminology of space technologies also apply to the terms of the examined legal area.

Terminologie outillée et diachronie : éléments de réflexion autour d’une réconciliation

“…Néanmoins, la fin des années 1990 a marqué le début d'une dynamique différente où nombre de travaux ont alors pris la forme de véritables plaidoyers en faveur de sa prise en compte (notamment Dury 1997 ;Dury 2013 ;Dury & Picton 2008 ;Humbley 2011 ;Møller 1994 ;Van der Yeught 2009). Dans cette continuité, depuis les années 2000, de plus en plus de travaux et recherches voient le jour, autour de la question de la diachronie en langues de spécialité (Banks 2012 ;Candel & Gaudin 2006 ;Charpy 2011 ;Dury 2013 ;Lafrance 2016 ;Magnet 2000 ;Peruzzo 2013 ;Picton 2009 ;Picton 2014 ;Wozniak 2015, pour n'en citer que quelques-uns).…”

Several Purposes With One Course – The Challenge of Teaching Terminology as Part of a Practical Translator Training Programme

“…Over time it has become clear that the phenomena of variation and evolution need to be dealt with. Variation can occur vertically, due to the existence of various, differing registers, or horizontally within one register, due to various, differing expressive purposes or preferences (Peruzzo, 2013). Peruzzo adds that the evolution of a knowledge domain can also lead to diachronic changes in terminology.…”