Terminology Guide

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A terminology guide (also Terminology Guide , Guide terminology , style Directive terminology , rules terminology ) contains rules for the formation and spelling of terminologies .

Examples of such linguistic rules are: How are compound words formed? When do you write terms with or without a hyphen? How do you deal with joints ?

Purpose of a terminology guide

The primary goal of a terminology guide is to establish a controlled language in companies. It enables companies to use precise and consistent terminology across all documents, departments, locations and languages. This improves the company-wide text quality and reduces editing and translation costs. Master data and knowledge management are also being improved, and the digital processing of text is also supported.

For terminologists, a guideline is the basis on which to build consistent terminology.

Content of a terminology guide

  • Rules for the correct entry of a term in terminology databases
  • Rules for general naming (e.g. avoidance of unwanted secondary meanings, economy of naming, etc.)
  • Rules for writing compound words with or without a hyphen
  • Spelling of company and product names

Application examples

A terminology guide can be part of an editorial guide or can serve as a guide for entering and maintaining master data .

There are also language test programs that automatically check compliance with the rules (laid down in the guidelines). This supports the author in writing controlled language by using e.g. B. Documents checked for compliance with the spelling of the company's internal technical terms.

Norms

The following standards and guidelines are relevant for creating a terminology guide:

  • Requirements of the German spelling council
  • DIN 2330 "Terms and designations · General principles"
  • DIN 2336 "Representation of entries in specialist dictionaries and terminology databases"
  • DIN 2340 "Short forms for designations and names"
  • DIN 5008 "Writing and design rules for word processing"

literature

  • German Terminology Day e. V. (Ed.): Terminology work - Best Practices 2.0 . 2nd Edition. Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-9812245-8-0 , pp. M2-4 - M2-5, M2-14 - M2-17 and module 3.
  • Petra Drewer, Klaus-Dirk Schmitz: Terminology Management • Basics - Methods - Tools . Springer Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-662-53314-7 , pp. 70-98.