Significations lexicales et notionnelles dans les domaines de spécialité
Many studies have come to oppose designation and predication within speech. Boisson et al. (1994) note that of "these two moments, [.....], designation is conceptually first ", which could explain why terminology and the making of specialised dictionaries are essentially dedicated to naming, which one could consider, in a certain way, as a lexicalized instance of designation. There are numerous specialised names, represented by simple or complex nominal terminological syntagms, that contain predicative lexical units, or that seem to be reduced to them. In the present article, we shall reflect on the presence of predicative lexical units within terminological syntagms in the language of biomedicine. First, we shall describe the current state of the problem as raised by the definitions of these units, such as those found in a number of specialised English and French dictionaries. We shall demonstrate, through examples, that these definitions are often vague or ambiguous. If, at best, they account for a lexical signification, they are not sufficient to precisely distinguish specialised notions. Thus, the consequence is a major difficulty when trying to establish equivalences in another language. Second, we shall look at the necessary lexical elements, within a terminological syntagm, in relation to the linguistic representation of a notion allowing for the establishment of an interlinguistic equivalent. In light of the results of this analysis, we shall conclude with a number of propositions intended to distinguish the signification of terms and that of lexical units.
actant term lexical unit predicate lexical signification notional signification equivalence