Analysis of Term Definitions: In Search of Domain Genus-Species Structure of Terminology

Abstract

According to the traditional point of view, generic definition nominates the nearest generic concept for a defined expression (definiendum) and its specific features. This understanding implies that for any generic definition, you can specify one part of the defining expression (definiens) as a wording of the nearest generic concept (for a definiendum), and another part of the same expression – as naming specific difference/differences. However, in practice, parsing any arbitrary definiens into these parts is far from a trivial task. In this article a method of terminology definitions analysis is proposed in order to establish the definiens fragments that nominate the nearest generic concept (Genus Proximum) and its specific features (Differentia specifica). The idea of the most remote generic (for the defined) concept (Genus Remōtum) is introduced, which is opposite to the nearest generic concept (Genus Proximum) and which turns out to be very fruitful for the proposed analysis of generic definitions. The analysis and its results heavily depend on the semantics and syntax of the definiens. In particular, some defining expressions even in the form of substantive phrase do not nominate generic concepts and their specific characteristics, and in this sense, they are not generic definitions. Some definitions, assigned even to a single concept, on the contrary, can be interpreted as nominating several Genus Proximum concepts. Finally, it is demonstrated that the same generic definition can specify an entire hierarchy of generic concepts starting from the nearest generic concept (Genus Proximum) and ending with the most remote generic concept (Genus Remōtum).