«Lengoaia»: Terminology and Sociolinguistics
Translation: Kristin Addis
Abstract
This article, inspired by Juan Garzia's article «La pretension terminológica de la palabra 'lengoaia'» («The Terminological Pretension of the Word 'Lengoaia'»), published in Senez 35 (2008), sets out to demonstrate that — even for those who agree with Juan Garzia's opinion on the nonexistence of a purely terminological necessity to use the word «lengoaia» in Basque (English: language; French: langage; Spanish: lenguaje) in the field of computer science — the establishment of a lexicon is a multifaceted process in which both sociolinguistic aspects (quantitative, historical) and extralinguistic aspects (pragmatic ones) play a determining role.
The author begins with the recognition that «lengoaia» is in fact a term, in the sense that it stands apart from the common lexicon from the pragmatic point of view, that is, because of its use, because it is restricted to the discourse of a specialty, and because the term, which is considered to be the combination of form and content, is learned in academic and professional contexts. Nevertheless, it is noted that the same recognition would also hold true if, instead of «lengoaia», the word «hizkuntza» were used.
Next, the article examines the history of the use of the word «lengoaia» in the field of computer science — and outside of it — and shows that, in view of both quantitative and qualitative data, this word at present can hardly be considered archaic. The author describes the polemic that arose at the University of the Basque Country between the Basque Service and the faculty of the Department of Computer Science with respect to the use of the term, and reviews the criterion of the Royal Academy of the Basque Language, which states that at no time has it expressed any reservation concerning the use of «lengoaia» as a lexical unit in the language of a specialty. Likewise, the author notes the recent resolution of the Terminology Committee, which, taking into account the opinion of the Royal Academy of the Basque Language and the actual use of the term by specialists in the relevant field, and applying the sociolinguistic criterion, has decided that in the dictionary of office automation that can be consulted on Euskalterm (the Basque Public Terminology Bank), «lengoaia» should be maintained as the sole equivalent of «language/langage/lenguaje» in the field of computer science.
