Zur linguistischen Fachsprache am Beispiel des Fachwortschatzes der deutschen Gegenwartsgrammatik
On the Specialised Language of Linguistics Using the Example of the Specialised Vocabulary of Contemporary German Grammar)

Summary/Abstract: Linguistics also uses its own specialised language with its own terminology. However, there have only been a few studies on this topic to date. This article aims to help close this gap. It takes as its starting point the questions of how specialised linguistic vocabulary originated, how it developed and what characteristics it has. It is important to realise that in the approximately 250-year history of modern linguistics, the most diverse theoretical directions, research personalities and other currents have led to a heterogeneous structure of linguistic terminology. The vocabulary of grammar writing will be analysed in more detail as an example from the various linguistic directions. To this end, after a brief theoretical introduction in which the relationship between concept and expression is reflected upon, two case studies are presented. The first examines the question of how terminology is handled in academic grammar textbooks. On the basis of three selected textbooks, similarities as well as idiosyncrasies will be identified. The second part of the study deals with the presentation of selected specialised terms in linguistic dictionaries. Here, too, it will be shown that a certain “basic vocabulary” exists, to which special terms and expressions are added in the various representations. Above all, however, the sources differ with regard to the explanation of the terms. The example of the main clause will show that although the definitions differ in details, certain basic features are addressed by almost all of them. The article concludes with an outlook on current attempts to standardise linguistic terminology and present it under homogeneous aspects. The essay is intended to help you make an initial assessment of the linguistic vocabulary of grammar writing and to apply conclusions in theory and practice.

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