Fachsprachen / Languages for Special Purposes. 1. Halbband

Die Reihe HANDBÜCHER ZUR SPRACH- UND KOMMUNIKATIONSWISSENSCHAFT erschließt einen Wissensbereich, der sowohl die allgemeine Linguistik und die speziellen, philologisch orientierten Sprachwissenschaften als auch diejenigen Wissenschaftsgebiete umfasst, die sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten aus der immer umfangreicher werdenden Forschung über die vielfältigen Erscheinungen des kommunikativen Handelns entwickelt haben. In der klassischen Disziplin der Sprachwissenschaft erscheint eine Zusammenfassung des Wissensstandes notwendig, um der im Wechsel der Theorien rasch voranschreitenden Forschung eine Bezugsbasis zu geben; in den neuen Wissenschaften können die Handbücher dem Forscher Übersicht geben und Orientierung verschaffen. Um diese Ziele zu erreichen, wird in der Handbuchreihe, was die Vollständigkeit in der Darstellung, die Explizitheit in der Begründung, die Verlässlichkeit in der Dokumentation von Daten und Ergebnissen und die Aktualität im Methodischenangeht, eine Stufe der Verwirklichung angestrebt, die mit den besten Handbuchkonzeptionen anderer Wissenschaftszweige vergleichbar ist. Alle Herausgeber, die der Reihe und diejenigen der einzelnen Bände, wie auch alle Autoren, die in den Handbüchern ein Thema bearbeiten, tragen dazu bei, dieses Ziel zu verwirklichen. Veröffentlichungssprachen sind Deutsch, Englisch und Französisch. Wenngleich als Hauptzweck der Handbuchreihe die angemessene Darstellung des derzeitigen Wissensstandes in den durch die jeweiligen Handbuchbände abgedeckten Ausschnitten der Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft zu gelten hat, so wird doch bei der Abgrenzung der wissenschaftlichen Bereiche, die jeweils in einem Handbuchband erschlossen werden sollen, keine starre Systematik vorausgesetzt. Die Reihe ist offen; die geschichtliche Entwicklung kann berücksichtigt werden. Diese Konzeption sowie die Notwendigkeit, dass zur gründlichen Vorbereitung jedes Bandes genügend Zeit zur Verfügung steht, führen dazu, dass die ganze Reihe in loser Erscheinungsfolge ihrer Bände vervollständigt werden kann. Jeder Band ist ein in sich abgeschlossenes Werk. Die Reihenfolge der Handbuchbände stellt keine Gewichtung der Bereiche dar, sondern hat sich durch die Art der Organisation ergeben: der Herausgeber der Reihe bemüht sich, eine Kollegin oder einen Kollegen für die Herausgabe eines Handbuchbandes zu gewinnen. Hat diese/r zugesagt, so ist sie/er in der Wahl der Mitherausgeber und bei der Einladung der Autoren vollkommen frei. Die Herausgeber eines Bandes planen einen Band inhaltlich unabhängig und werden dabei lediglich an bestimmte Prinzipien für den Aufbau und die Abfassung gebunden; nur wo es um die Abgrenzung zu anderen Bänden geht, ist der Reihenherausgeber inhaltlich beteiligt. Dabei wird davon ausgegangen, dass mit dieser Organisationsform der Hauptzweck dieser Handbuchreihe, nämlich die angemessene Darstellung des derzeitigen Problem- und Wissensstandes in den durch die jeweiligen Handbuchbände abgedeckten Teilbereichen, am besten verwirklicht werden kann.,Die Stärken der Fachsprachenforschung lagen bisher in der sorgfältigen quantitativen und qualitativen Analyse umfangreicher Materialkorpora sowie in den zahlreichen Versuchen, neue linguistische Theorien und Methoden auf ihren spezifischen Untersuchungsgegenstand anzuwenden. Kritik ist daran geübt worden, daß diese Forschung keine eigene Theorie und keine selbständigen Methoden entwickelt hat. Diese Einwände wurden im Handbuch berücksichtigt. Gleichzeitig verweist das Handbuch auf noch wenige erforschte Gebiete und eröffnet so zukünftige Forschungsperspektiven. All das und noch vieles andere führte zur Formulierung der folgenden Hauptaufgaben: Schaffung eines deutlichen Bewußtseins dafür, welche vergangenen und gegenwärtigen Forschungsaktivitäten trotz unterschiedlicher Ausgangspunkte und Zielsetzungen und trotz der äußerlichen Zugehörigkeit zu anderen Disziplinen als Beiträge zur Fachsprachenforschung aufzufassen sind. Vermittlung der Einsicht in die Notwendigkeit, daß die Fachsprachenforschung eine weitestgehend konsensfähige Theorie der Fachsprachen erarbeiten muß, aus der Methoden und Forschungsprogramme abgeleitet werden können. Repräsentative Darstellung des Forschungsgegenstandes ohne Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit, aber mit dem Ziel, theoretische Fragestellungen, Problemfelder und empirische Befunde so auszuwählen, daß vorsichtige Schlüsse vom dargestellten Teil auf das Ganze gezogen werden können. Verklammerung der Fachsprachenforschung und der Terminologiewissenschaft, auch mit Blick auf (inter-) kulturelle Spezifika. Bemühen, die einzelphilologischen Grenzen zu überschreiten. Kritische Einschätzung von Hypothesen, Methoden und ihrer Anwendung sowie der bisherigen Ergebnisse. Konzeptionelle und darstellerische Verbindung diachroner und synchroner Aspekte. Anregung, Konzeption und Perspektivierung künftiger Forschung. Unterbreitung von Angeboten für die Umsetzung in die Praxis, z.B. durch Vorschläge für die Optimierung fachlicher Kommunikation, für die Standardisierung von Terminologien und Fachtextsorten und durch Empfehlungen zu Zielen, Inhalten und Methoden der Fachsprachenausbildung. Beachtung interdisziplinärer Aspekte. Erschließung der für die Kenntnis der Fachsprachenforschung und für die sprachliche Handlungsfähigkeit im Fach wesentlichen Literatur. Dokumentation der für die Fachsprachenforschung und Terminologiewissenschaft wichtigen nationalen und internationalen Organisationen.,The subject of this Handbook is special languages. It deals with the following topics from various perspectives: their systematic constitution, their uses in oral and written (specialized) texts within the pragmatic framework of specialized (and non-specialized) communication, their lexicological arrangement in dictionaries and data banks and, finally, their investigation in the past and present. The reason for the emergence of special languages is generally sought in the specialization of human activities brought about by the division of labour, and by linguistic communication about these activities. Initially, special languages developed in connection with the acquisition of food and the satisfying of other basic needs, the manufacture and naming or description of tools and implements. In this early phase, special language is to an extent identical to specialized vocabulary and phraseology. It is possible to speak of crafts and their special languages as soon as people no longer satisfy only their own needs, but when whole social (professional) groups make their living primarily through specialized activities and through barter and trade. The need for specialized communication leads to the creation of special text types. With the rise of technology, the special languages of crafts are integrated into the modern special languages of technology. The decicive phase in this development was the Industrial Revolution (18th/19th centuries). Since then, a tremendous expansion of terminology has occurred in the special languages of technology, and the range of specialized text types has also considerably increased. The special languages of the natural sciences emerged after the abandonment of learned Latin (16th/17th centuries). In these sciences the great discoveries of the 19th century brought about an expansion of special language use. The same is true of the humanities and the social sciences from the end of the 19th century in the wake of the Enlightenment. In the case of the special languages of industry and commerce, the beginnings date back to the founding of the first branches of trading organizations (15th/16th centuries) and their usage expanded with the founding of classical national economics (18/19th centuries). Here there is a peculiar association with linguistics in Wirtschaftslinguistik (beginning of the 20the century). The beginnings of special-language research are to be found where experts and linguists examine the use of language as determined by subject matter. Important forerunners of special-language research, up to the middle of the 20th century, were functional stylistics with its investigations into scientific style, and terminology work with its attention to the standardization of specialized vocabularies. From the middle of the 20th century, profound changes took place in people‘s lives, especially in their working world, contributing to the expansion of special languages. This results from the enormous progress in technology, the globalization of trade and politica, the growth of science, culture, education and sport and the gigantic expansion of the mass media. It is therefore not surprising that special-language research since the mid 1960s has undergone remarkable development as evidenced by numerous scientific conferences and publications. If we consider the results of these effords, we gain the following impressions regarding the state of special-language research at the beginning of the 1990s, from which this Handbook proceeds: Many specialized vocabularies and terminologies have been well investigated regarding their origin and word formation. How do special languages satisfy the permanently increasing need of science and technology, of trade and politics, of production and consumption of names? Research in to the syntax of special languages has also come a relatively long way. That syntactic (and morphological) means further the compression of information? The description of specialized texts and the correlation of text-external and text-internal features brought about a new classification of specialized text types. What influence does the function of specialized text types have on the selection of linguistic means? The strenghts of special language research to date lay in the careful quantitative and qualitative analysis of extensive text corpora and in the numerous attempts to apply new linguistic theories and methods to its specific subject of research. Criticism has been raised, pointing out that this research has not developed its own theory and is lacking in autonomous methods. Theses objections were considered in the Handbook, as well as other areas which it has still to investigate more closely. All this led to the formulation of the following main tasks: The creation of a clear awareness of which past and present research activities, despite differing points of departure and aims and despite their superficial membership in other disciplines, can be conceived of as contributions to special-language research. The imparting of insight into the need to achieve a high degree of agreement on a theory of special languages, from which methods and research programmes can be derived. A description of the state of research which is as representative as possible without laying claim to exhaustiveness, but which has the goal of selecting problem areas and empirical findings in such as way that careful deductions can be made from the part described to the whole. The linking of special-language linguistics and terminology, with a consideration of (inter-)cultural specifics. An attempt to go beyond the boundaries of individual philologies. A critical evaluation of hypotheses, methods and their application, as well as findings to date. A conceptual and descriptive connection between diachronic and synchronic aspects of specialized language. The furthering of future research. The presentation of proposals for conversion into practice, e.g. suggestions for the optimization of specialized communication, for the standardization of terminologies and specialized text types and recommendations on the aims, contents and methods of training in special languages. The consideration of interdisciplinary aspects. Making available the literature which is important for a knowledge of special-language research and the ability to act linguistically in the subject. The documentation of those national and international organizations which are important for special-language research and terminology. The two volumes of the Handbook are the work of 222 authors - linguists, terminologists and experts - from 21 countries who submitted 276 articles in 29 chapters (cf. Contents). The readership of the Handbook is extensive, owing to its pronounced interdisciplinary nature. Whereas linguists and communication scientists may feel themselves to be directely addressed by the series title, the editors and authors have kept in mind the needs of experts in various areas of knowledge and activity, from whom a high degree of competence or at least an awareness of language is expected. The special languages of crafts, technology and science are explicitly thematized - those of crafts more strongly from a historical point of view and in dialectal context, those of technology and science because of the enormous significance of metallurgy, automotive engineering, electrical engineering and electronics, computer science, process engineering, mechanical engineering, plant engineering and telecommunication, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, jurisprudence, economics, ecology and other disciplines, in addition to specialized communication in firms, local authorities, government departments and other areas of contact between various grades of specialists and non-specialists. These readers can rely on the Handbook in research, teaching and practice; non-specialists will find the information they seek when they are confronted with various specialized subjects and their linguistic usage. Terminologists, translators and interpreters, (foreign) language teachers, documentarists and librarians have also voiced an urgent need for such a manual. The editors and authors have also written the Handbook for their colleagues, assistants, and students in special-language research and training as a sub-area of Applied linguistics.,This series of HANDBOOKS OF LINGUISTICS AND COMMUNICATION SCIENCE is ed to illuminate a field which not only includes general linguistics and the study of linguistics as applied to specific languages, but also covers those more recent areas which have developed from the increasing body of research into the manifold forms of communicative action and interaction. For "classic" linguistics there appears to be a need for a review of the state of the art which will provide a reference base for the rapid advances in research undertaken from a variety of theoretical standpoints, while in the more recent branches of communication science the handbooks will give researchers both an verview and orientation. To attain these objectives, the series will aim for a standard comparable to that of the leading handbooks in other disciplines, and to this end will strive for comprehensiveness, theoretical explicitness, reliable documentation of data and findings, and up-to-date methodology. The editors, both of the series and of the individual volumes, and the individual contributors, are committed to this aim. The languages of publication are English, German, and French. The main aim of the series is to provide an appropriate account of the state of the art in the various areas of linguistics and communication science covered by each of the various handbooks; however no inflexible pre-set limits will be imposed on the scope of each volume. The series is open-ended, and can thus take account of further developments in the field. This conception, coupled with the necessity of allowing adequate time for each volume to be prepared with the necessary care, means that there is no set time-table for the publication of the whole series. Each volume will be a self-contained work, complete in itself. The order in which the handbooks are published does not imply any rank ordering, but is determined by the way in which the series is organized; the editor of the whole series enlist a competent editor for each individual volume. Once the principal editor for a volume has been found, he or she then has a completely free hand in the choice of co-editors and contributors. The editors plan each volume independently of the others, being governed only by general formal principles. The series editor only intervene where questions of delineation between individual volumes are concerned. It is felt that this (modus operandi) is best suited to achieving the objectives of the series, namely to give a competent account of the present state of knowledge and of the perception of the problems in the area covered by each volume.