Nomenklature in the system of English medical terminography
The article is devoted to the issues of LSP (language for specific purposes) lexicography in the field of medicine. Medical nomenclatures (MN), created in the framework of English medical terminography (EMT), are in the focus of the study as one of the first original reference works of EMT. The methodology of the study is comprehensive and includes the following methods: an analytical review of the literature, a bibliographic method for compiling a list of medical nomenclatures; a descriptive method of lexicographic analysis to characterize the parameters and structure of MN; the method of typological analysis was used to develop the principles of MN classification; the comparative analysis to summarize and conclude the results of the investigation. The use of historical and typological approach enabled to conduct a detailed analysis of extralinguistic and linguistic characteristics of the MN. A brief historical background on the formation and development of English medical reference works is given. Such MN as anatomical (Terminologia Anatomica), dental (Dental Terminology), embryological (Terminologia Embryologica) and histological (Terminologia Histologica) nomenclatures were under the study. A typological classification of MN is made by considering methods and approaches for the representation and explication of medical term. The following parameters as field of terms, method of term representing, type of definition, number of languages were studied. The main functions of the MN were identified and described, namely, the collection, the standardization, the systematization of medical terms and medical knowledge transfer. The results of the lexicographic analysis show that MN are factual reference works and perform almost all the basic functions of terminographic dictionary guides, with the exception of explicatory one, with a description of grammatical and orthoepic characteristics, codification of the polysemy of medical term and an illustration of its use in medical discourse. The comparative analysis of histological, dental and embryological nomenclatures revealed that they do not have significant differences at the level of mega- and microstructures in comparison with the anatomical ones. The studied nomenclatures were created using termographic tools and principles which were first applied for anatomical nomenclatures. The place and the role of MN, as a factual reference work, in the system of English medical terminography is determined. Perspective directions of the further research are outlined in the frame of the comprehensive study of terminological lexicography as a factor of the global scientific and technical space formation in the field of medicine.