From terminologies to recurrent constructions: a study of specialized languages

Abstract

Objective: To report researches carried out by the TEXTQUIM/TEXTECC project between 2002 and 2010 about Brazilian Portuguese scientific discourse in Chemistry and Pediatrics. Methodology: By using Corpus Linguistics, we observed: a) causality expressed by verbs and connectors; b) patterns of collocation with recurrent terminologies. As translations from English into Portuguese are common, we contrasted original texts and compared data with French texts. Results: The findings show higher frequency of causal connectors than causal verbs, low frequency of PORQUE and CAUSAR, recurrent associations around typical terminologies in Brazilian texts and influence of translations from English in the causal patterns observed in the Portuguese texts. Publications were produced, as well as presentations and free on-line tools for public access of our corpora. These resources are available at www.ufrgs.br/textquim. Received: 22-01-10 / Accepted: 09-04-10 How to reference this article: Bocorny Finatto, M. J.; Evers, A.; De Oliveira, C. M. & Alencar Silva, M. C. (2010). From terminologies to recurrent constructions: a study of specialized languages. Íkala, 15(2), pp.223-258.

Keywords

• Specialized Languages
• conventionality
• discourse
• textual structure.