Abstract
We trace the origin of the term splicing in its two new metaphorical usages in biotechnology: mRNA splicing. and gene splicing. The mRNA splicing case illustrates how a natural process that was there ever since life started can remain hidden to human cognition until it can be made visible thanks to technology. The creative usage of repetitive metaphorization in the English language results in a motivated term for this process.
We show how it is possible to study the history and the sociocultural situatedness of terms by tracing them in the textual archives of human experience. We concentrate on the polysemy of splicing through a historical, diachronic, semantic and discourse analytic linguistic analysis.
In trying to gain more insight into the mechanisms behind lexicalization and neology creation we interpret the use of the term splicing in the life sciences taking into account the metaphorical models discussed in Temmerman (2000, 2002, 2008) (DNA is information, coding, a language, the book of life, a map, a film, software).
The second research question concerns multilingual communication on highly scientific matters. We look for asymmetries between English and French and Dutch, using the splicing case and come to the conclusion that translators and compilers of bilingual terminological resources will have to distinguish between universal "encapsulated" meaning or ontology in LSP (Gómez González-Jover 2006) and the linguistic, cultural and creative dynamics of a community of language users.
We show how it is possible to study the history and the sociocultural situatedness of terms by tracing them in the textual archives of human experience. We concentrate on the polysemy of splicing through a historical, diachronic, semantic and discourse analytic linguistic analysis.
In trying to gain more insight into the mechanisms behind lexicalization and neology creation we interpret the use of the term splicing in the life sciences taking into account the metaphorical models discussed in Temmerman (2000, 2002, 2008) (DNA is information, coding, a language, the book of life, a map, a film, software).
The second research question concerns multilingual communication on highly scientific matters. We look for asymmetries between English and French and Dutch, using the splicing case and come to the conclusion that translators and compilers of bilingual terminological resources will have to distinguish between universal "encapsulated" meaning or ontology in LSP (Gómez González-Jover 2006) and the linguistic, cultural and creative dynamics of a community of language users.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Actes Colloque: Traduire la diversité Univeristé de Liège |
Publisher | Université de Liège |
Number of pages | 12 |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |
Event | Finds and Results from the Swedish Cyprus Expedition: A Gender Perspective at the Medelhavsmuseet - Stockholm, Sweden Duration: 21 Sep 2009 → 25 Sep 2009 |
Conference
Conference | Finds and Results from the Swedish Cyprus Expedition: A Gender Perspective at the Medelhavsmuseet |
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Country/Territory | Sweden |
City | Stockholm |
Period | 21/09/09 → 25/09/09 |
Keywords
- contrastive linguistics
- historical semantics
- metaphor
- sociocultural situatedness