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Linguatech

DUBUC, Robert, 1997, XIV-198 p.
Adapted by Elaine KENNEDY,
with the collaboration of Catherine A. Bowman,
Andy Lauriston and Shirley Ledrew.
Broché, 13,5 x 21 cm,
ISBN 978-2-920342-30-9, 24,95 $

Contents

Robert Dubuc,
adapted by Elaine Kennedy
Terminology: A Practical Approach
Terminology: A Practical Approach is intended primarily for students of terminology and translation.

This book takes a practical approach to terminology: it treats special language as living language used by people in real-life situations to communicate with one another. It describes natural language in all its diversity and disorder, and the challenges inherent in studying it.

This work is also practical in the approach it takes to terminological research. After defining terminology as we know it today, establishing it as an independent discipline, and laying down the fundamental principles that govern the practice, the book guides the reader through the stages of term and suject-field research, outlining methods of terminological analysis and parameters for recording terminological data. It points up the importance of using original-language documentation, delves into the role of standardization in English terminology, and discusses the use of new computerized applications in the field.

The practical sections are punctuated by more theoretical sections, which examine the nature of the relationship between term and concept, describe time-honored methods of definition, provide a typology of synonyms, and define the processes of term formation in modern English.

This English version of Robert Dubuc’s Manuel pratique de terminologie is very much an adaptation. There are two main reasons for this. First, the use of original-language documentation is a fundamental principle in terminology, so a textbook on the subject could hardly be a translation. Second, many aspects of terminological work are different in English. Most of the chapters have been researched in English-language sources–when possible–published primarily in the United States and Great Britain, and included in the bibliographies. All of the chapters cover, by and large, the same material as the original French, but the ideas have been organized and discussed as they are presented and treated in English sources.
This new English manual, aimed primarily at terminology and translation students, seeks to maintain the simple style and broad accessibility of the original. The adaptation respects Mr. Dubuc’s practical approach to terminology, practical in terms of both theoretical vision and research methodology. Given the few terminology manuals in the English language, this is a welcome contribution to the field of terminology.
NELIDA CHAN

The English version is in fact an excellent adaptation rather than a translation, in which Elaine Kennedy has not simply found English-language exemples to substitute for the French, but also recast the whole layout of the book to facilitate access to English-speaking students.
JOHN HUMBLEY, Meta

Robert Dubuc headed Radio-Canada’s Comité de linguistique for close to 30 years. While teaching translation and terminology at the Université de Montréal from 1969 to 1995, he developed a practical approach to education based on concrete examples and contextual application. Robert Dubuc is an honorary member of the Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes du Québec and participated in Office de la langue française’s Commission de terminologie for many years. In June 1997, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Ottawa. In 2001, he received the Mérite de la langue française from the Office québécois de la langue française.

Elaine Kennedy is a Certified Terminologist with a BA in English Literature and an MA in Translation. She has studied and worked with Robert Dubuc, taught terminology and written various articles on the subject.
Books by Robert Dubuc
Au plaisir des mots
En français dans le texte
Manuel pratique de terminologie
Une grammaire pour écrire – Essai de grammaire stylistique
Vocabulaire bilingue de la publicité

See also:
A Practical Guide to Bilingual Revision by Brenda M. Hosington (Thaon) and Paul A. Horguelin
Manuel pratique de terminologie de Robert Dubuc
La terminologie au Canada – Histoire d’une profession de Jean Delisle