On Defining the Notion of Prototerm

Abstract

The article analyzes the prototerm, its distinguishing features and role in creating the vocabulary of industrial terminologies. Three periods of knowledge development – prescientific, protoscientific and scientific – and their corresponding cognition types – naïve, naïve-scientific, or handicraft, and scientific – are identified. It requires considering the role of special vocabulary as a marker allowing one to determine the specific cognitive features of a man who lived at a given period. Prototerms mark the emergence of terminologies. The criteria of distinguishing between the term and the prototerm are the absence of scientific definition and the difference in the psychological functioning level. The prototerm reflects the handicraft cognitive type and the features of phenomena interdependence. The emergence of handicraft is indicative of the second stage of mankind development – environmental reconsidering. The prototerminological period is the period when the differentiation of object functions occurs and professional vocabulary appears. Then a great number of lexemes emerge as a result of semantic ways of nomination, narrowing and applying worldbuilding means. The differentiating features allowing to draw a distinguishing line between a prototerm and a preterm are listed. The characteristics of the prototerminological period of industry branch development of European counties and Russia are described. Examples proving the native origin of national core terminological lexemes are provided. Two periods of terminology formation from the cognitive perspective are identified: naïve and recognized specialization. Specialization of common language lexemes serves as a marker of mankind becoming aware of the relationship between notions and their interdependence. The notions are detailed through establishing the features of homogeneous notions. Multiple notional syncretism is considered as the process reflecting the vagueness of word meanings. Prototerm origin sources are listed: common language, dialectal lexemes, as well as the way of their creating: metaphor, metonymy and specialization. The objectives of prototerm research are enumerated.