Cover not available
Part of
Handbook of Terminology: Volume 2. Terminology in the Arab world
Edited by Abied Alsulaiman and Ahmed Allaithy
[Handbook of Terminology 2] 2019
► pp. 31–58

Chapter 2
Terminology standardization in the Arab world

The quest for a model of term evaluation

Standardization is a polysemous term. It refers at the same time to the standardization of terms used in scientific and technical fields as well as the process of elaborating standards (or norms) in industry and other economic sectors. In fact, most people immediately think about ISO standards when they hear the term standardization. However, an encyclopedia devoted to scientific, legal, Sufi and technical terminology aims primarily to standardize terms, and this is the focus of the present paper. Whether standardizing terminology itself or standardizing the principles and techniques of managing terminology the ultimate goal of the process is always quality control and assurance. In the Arab World, the standardization of the terminology belonging to a particular subject field, be it a science (such as chemistry, linguistics and physics), art (such as painting), doctrine (such as Marxism) or vocation (such air-traffic and agriculture), attracts more attention than the standardization of terminological principles and techniques or the elaboration of industrial standards. Indeed, whether in language academies, specialized periodicals or in conferences organized by language academies, the Bureau for the Coordination of arabization in the Arab World (BCAAW) or by universities, the terminological issues and problems in the Arab world are greatly discussed.This article discusses standardization particularly with respect to the Arab World and examines its motivations, core principles, and problems. It also outlines the various attempts that both specialized institutions and individuals have made to standardize Arabic terms (e.g. Lakhdar Ghazal 1977; Hamzaoui 1986a; Heliel 1987 and Darir 2004). The aim is to suggest guidelines that, with further elaboration, could serve as a comprehensive model for the standardization of terms not only in Arabic but also in other languages.
Keywords: Arabic terminology, standardization in the Arab world, standardization of Arabic scientific and technical terms, terminology standards an norms, ISO standards, models for the standardization
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: The problem
  • 2.Causes of the terminological problem
  • 3.Why standardization?
  • 4.Standardization or unification?
  • 5.Arabic efforts in the field of terminology standardization
  • 6.Involvement in International Standards Organizations
  • 7.General evaluation of terminological work in the Arab world
  • 8.A viable comprehensive model of term evaluation
    • A.Linguistic criteria
      • 1.Correct linguistic usage
    • B.Terminological criteria
      • 2.Economy, concision or morphological singularity of form
      • 3.Transparency and clarity
      • 4.Frequency or widespread use
      • 5.Unequivocalness
      • 6.Productivity and systematicness
      • 7.Consistency
    • C.Socio- and psycho-terminological criteria
      • C1.Psycho-terminological criteria.
      • 8.Familiarity
      • 9.Credibility and prestige
      • C2.Socio-terminological criteria.
      • 10.Snobbism, fashion and the role of established linguistic usage
      • 11.Lack of undesirable interference from the vernaculars
      • 12.Maximum distinctiveness
    • D.Aesthetic criteria
      • 13.Aesthetic considerations
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 29 January 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hot.2.03dar
References
Abid, Abdellatif, and Zouhaier Marrakechi
1988 “Present Situation of Terminological Activities in the Arab World.” TermNet News 21: 2–7.Google Scholar
Abou Abdou, Mohamed
1984 L’arabisation – et ses Problèmes. Rabat: IERA.Google Scholar
Al-Faṟhān, I.
1984 Al-Mawsimu al-Ṯaqāfī al-Ṯānī li-Mağmaᶜ Al-Luġa al-ᶜArabiyya al-‘Urduniy. Manshūrāat al-Majmaᶜ.Google Scholar
Al-Ḥamad, A. T.
1995 “Tawḥīd al-Muṣṭalaḥ al-ᶜArabi wa Subulu Našrihi.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 39: 169–184.Google Scholar
Al-Hilālī, S.
1988 “Tabāyun Muṣṭalaḥāt al-Maᶜāğim al-ᶜIlmiya wa ‘Aṯaruhu ᶜalā al-Taᶜrīb.” Al-Lissān Al-‛Arabī 30: 219–240.Google Scholar
1995 “Taṭwīru Manhağiyyati Waḍᶜ al-Muṣṭalaḥāt al-ᶜIlmiya.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 39: 59-86.Google Scholar
Al-Ḥur, A.
1994 Al-Muᶜğamāt wa al-Mağāmiᶜ Al-ᶜArabiya. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr Al-Arabi.Google Scholar
Al-Kasimi, Ali
1978 “Problems of Technical Terminology in Arabic Lexicography.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 16 (1): 15–24.Google Scholar
1980a “Al-Muṣṭalaḥiyya”. Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī, vol. 18, No. 1: 7-20.Google Scholar
1987a “Naḥwa Taṭwīri Bunūki al-Muṣṭalaḥāt.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 28: 77–83.Google Scholar
1989 “ ‘Iškāliyatu Tawḥīd al-Muṣṭalaḥ al-ᶜArabiy.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 32: 77–84.Google Scholar
Al-Khatib, A. M.
1983 “Manhağu Binā’ al-Muṣṭalaḥ al-ᶜIlmi al-ᶜArabi.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 20: 85–101.Google Scholar
Al-Khatib, A. Sh.
1982 Muᶜğam al-Muṣṭalaḥāt al-ᶜIlmiya wa al-Faniyya wa al-Falsafiya. Beirut: Maktabat Lubnān.Google Scholar
1992 “Alfāẓu al-Ḥaḍāra bayna al-ᶜĀmmī wa al-Faṣīḥ.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 36: 161–174.Google Scholar
1997 “Ḥawla Tawḥīd al-Muṣṭalaḥāt al-ᶜIlmiya.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 44: 9-32.Google Scholar
Al Khuli, Muhammad Ali
1982b Muᶜğam ᶜilm al- ‘Aṣwāt. Riad-Saudi Arabia: Matābiᶜ al-Farazdaq at-Tiğāriyya.Google Scholar
Al-Malā’ika, J. I.
1995 “Manhağiyyatu Waḍᶜi al-Muṣṭalaḥ wa Tawḥīdihi.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 39: 134–139.Google Scholar
Al-Ṭawīl, Fāris
1995 “Naḥwa Manhağiyatin Šāmila lil-ᶜAmal al-Muṣṭalaḥ̱i.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 39: 225–276.Google Scholar
Al-Zargān, M. A.
1996 “Al-Daᶜawāt al-Mubakkira ilā Tawḥīd al-Muṣṭalaḥ al-ᶜIlmi al-ᶜArabi.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 41: 69–73.Google Scholar
As-Sāmarrā’ī, I.
1982 Al-ᶜArabiya Tuwāğihu al-ᶜAṣr. Baghdad: Dār al-Jahid.Google Scholar
Ash-Shihābī, M.
1955 [1965] Al-Muṣṭalaḥāt al-ᶜIlmiyya wa al-Faniyya fi al-Luġa al-ᶜArabiyya fi al-Qadīmi wa al-Hadīṯ. Egypt.Google Scholar
Al-Shihābī, M.
1959 "Tawḥīdu al Muṣṭalaḥāt fī al-Bilād al-ᶜArabiyya". Mağallat al-Mağmaᶜ al-ᶜIlmi Al-ᶜArabi. Cairo-Egypt, 11: 157-161Google Scholar
At-Tūnjī, M. and Raji Al-‘Asmar
1993 Al-Muᶜğam al-Mufaṣṣal fi ᶜUlūm al-Luġa. Vol. 2 Appendix 2. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ᶜIlmiya.Google Scholar
Bakalla, et al.
1983 A Dictionary of Modern Linguistic Terms. Beirut: Librairie du Liban.Google Scholar
Chawqui Amin, Mohamed, and Ibrahim Al-Turzi
1989 Al-Qarārāt al-Mağmaᶜiya fi al-‘Alfāḍ wa al-’Asālīb. Mağmaᶜ al-Luġa al-Arabiya: Al-Hay’a al-ᶜāmma.Google Scholar
Cowan, J. Milton
(ed.) 1976 Hans Wehr A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. London: Harrap.Google Scholar
cOmar, A. M.
1989 “Al-Muṣṭalaḥ al-’Alsuniy wa Ḍabṭ al-Manhağiyya.” Alam Al-Fikr 20 (3): 5–24.Google Scholar
Darir, Hassane
1993 “The Unification of Arabic Scientific Terms: Linguistic Terms as an Example.” The Arabist, Budapest Studies in Arabic 6–7: 155–179.Google Scholar
2004 “The Unification of Arabic Scientific and Technical Terms: Linguistic Terms as an Example.” Unpublished dissertation, Forthcoming as “Towards a Model for Arabic Scientific and Technical Terms Standardization: Linguistics Terms as a Case Study.“
Encyclopædia Britannica
1998 Encyclopedia Universalis, s.v. “terminology.” CD-ROM, version 4.0. Google Scholar
Esber, Nabil
1998 “La Trans-Dénomination Terminologique en Arabe.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 45: 3-12.Google Scholar
Fassi Fehri, A.
1986 Al-Lisāniyāt wa al-Luġa al-ᶜArabiya. Casablanca: Dār Tūbqāl.Google Scholar
Felber, Helmut
1980b “International Standardization of Terminology: Theoretical and Methodological Aspects.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 23: 65–79.Google Scholar
Ghalafān, M.
1998a “Al-Muᶜğam al-Muwaḥḥad li-Muṣṭalaḥāt al-Lisāsiyāt.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 46: 146–163.Google Scholar
Goosse, André
1975 La Néologie Française Aujourd’hui: observations et réflexions. Paris: Conseil International de la Langue Française.Google Scholar
̱Hamād, A. A.
1983 ᶜAwāmilu al-Taṭṭawur Al-Luġawī. Beirut: Dār al-Andalus.Google Scholar
Hamzaoui, M. R.
1985 “Al-Manhajiyya al-ᶜArabiyya li Waḍᶜ al-Muṣṭalaḥāt.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 24: 41–51.Google Scholar
1986a Al-ᶜArabiyya wa al-Hadāṯa. Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami.Google Scholar
1986b Al-Manhağiya al-ᶜĀmma li Tarğamati al-Muṣṭalaḥāt wa-Tanmīṭihā. Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-'Islami.Google Scholar
Hamzaoui, M. R.
1988 Mağmaᶜu al-Luġati al-ᶜArabiyya bi-Dimašq. Dar at-Turki li-an-Nashr.Google Scholar
Haroun, Abdulslam N.
1990 Comprehensive Dictionary of Terms Approved by the Arabic Language Academy for Engineering and Technical Sciences. Cairo: El Sonna Book Shop.Google Scholar
Heliel, M. H.
1987a “Ḥawla al-Muṣṭalaḥ al-Lisāni wa Qāmūs al-Lisāniyāt.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 28: 29–75.Google Scholar
Heliel, Mohamed
1988c “A Proposed Course for Terminology Teaching and Training in the Arab World.” TermNet News 21: 12–16.Google Scholar
Ḥijāzī, M. F.
1993a Al-Baḥṯ al-Luġawi. Egypt: Maktabat Gharīb.Google Scholar
1993b Al-'Uṣul al-Luġawiyya li ᶜIlm Al-Muṣṭalaḥ. Egypt: Maktabat Gharīb.Google Scholar
Khalaf-Allah, Ahmed, and Mohamed Chawqui Amin
1963 Mağmaᶜ al-Luġa al-ᶜArabiyya fī Ṯalāṯīna ᶜĀman, vol. 3, Mağmūᶜat al-Qarārāt al-ᶜIlmiyyya. Egypt: Al-Hay'a al-ᶜĀmma.Google Scholar
Khalīfa, Abdelkarīm
1984 Al-Mawsimu al-Ṯaqāfi al-Ṯāni li-Mağmaᶜ Al-Luġa al-ᶜArabiyya al-‘Urduniy. Manshūrāat al-Majmaᶜ.Google Scholar
Lakhdar Ghazal, Ahmed
1977 Al-Manhağiyya al-ᶜĀmma li al-Taᶜrīb al-Muwākib. Rabat.Google Scholar
Messaoudi, L.
1997 “Al-Muṣṭalaḥ Al-Ṭibiy wa Taqāṭuᶜ al-Mağālāt.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 43: 34-39.Google Scholar
Mseddi, A.
1984 Qāmūs Al-Lisāniyāt. Tunisia: Ad-Dār al-ᶜArabiyya lil-Kitāb.Google Scholar
Pickett, Joseph P.
2000 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Salība, Jamīl
1953 "Taᶜribu al-iṣṭilāḥāt al ᶜilmiᶜyya". Mağallat al-Mağmaᶜ al-ᶜIlmi Al-ᶜArabi, Damascus-Syria, 28: 18-27Google Scholar
Samacna, J. H.
1993 “Al-Muṣṭalaḥiyya al-ᶜArabiyya al-Muᶜāṣira.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 37: 161–168.Google Scholar
1998 “Al-Ḥaraka al-Muᶜğamiyya bi-Maktab Tansīq at-Taᶜrīb.” Al-Lisān Al-‛Arabī 46: 40-55.Google Scholar
Sāra, Q.
1989b Al-Taᶜrīb: Ğuhūdun wa ‘Āfāq. Damascus-Beirut: Dar al-Hijra.Google Scholar