Terminų aiškinimas mokslo populiarinamuosiuose tekstuose
Explanation of terms in popular science texts

Summary/Abstract: Terms used in science popular texts addressed to the mass reader could fall into two groups: those that don’t need any additional explanation and those that might be misunderstood or not understood by the addressee without additional explanation. Common categorial concepts (e.g. hypothesis, method, law) equally important in all sciences and terms of separate sciences (e.g. names of sounds or parts of speech, etc.) that should be understood within one’s general knowledge don’t need any additional explanation. Terms of precise semantics and clear motivation aren’t explained exhaustively as well for the meaning of some compound or complex terms is revealed by the inner form of a term itself. In science popular texts, it is mostly focused on specific terms of separate sciences, i.e. it is looked for the ways to make the explanation of terms as simple and understandable as possible. In science popular texts, terms can be explained by defining them (1), by revealing their etymology (2), by presenting synonyms (3), expressive means of language such as metaphors and similes (4), or non-verbal means of expression (e.g. diagrams, schemes, pictures, etc.) (5). Terms are frequently explained not by one rather by several different ways of explaining. Ways of explaining terms in science popular texts are often analogous to those used in science texts, however, they may differ in means of linguistic expression. Selection of language means in science popular texts may depend on such non-linguistic factors as age of the addressee or composition of the material presented.

• Details
• Contents