PRODUCTIVE WAYS OF FORMATION
OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL TERMS
(IN ENGLISH, RUSSIAN AND TATAR
LANGUAGES)
Leila Aivazovna Nurgalieva
Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia.
Lucia Munirovna Ibatulina
Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia.
Venera Nakovna Khisamova
Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia.
E-mail: lucide@list.ru
Recepción: 05/08/2019 Aceptación: 09/09/2019 Publicación: 23/10/2019
Citación sugerida:
Nurgalieva, L.A., Ibatulina, L.M. y Khisamova, V.N. (2019). Productive ways of
formation of chemical and biological terms (in English, Russian and Tatar languages).
3C TIC. Cuadernos de desarrollo aplicados a las TIC. Edición Especial, Octubre 2019, 58-71. doi:
https://doi.org/10.17993/3ctic.2019.83-2.58-71
Suggested citation:
Nurgalieva, L.A., Ibatulina, L.M. & Khisamova, V.N. (2019). Productive ways of
formation of chemical and biological terms (in English, Russian and Tatar languages).
3C TIC. Cuadernos de desarrollo aplicados a las TIC. Special Issue, October 2019, 58-71. doi:
https://doi.org/10.17993/3ctic.2019.83-2.58-71
3C TIC. Cuadernos de desarrollo aplicados a las TIC. ISSN: 2254-6529
60
ABSTRACT
Terminology is one of the most important problems of modern linguistics.
The study of terminological systems of typologically dierent languages is of
great scientic interest. The article deals with the productive methods of word
formation in English, Russian and Tatar chemical and biological terminology
on the example of suxation, compounding, conversion and abbreviation. The
purpose of the present study is to identify the features of these methods in the
chemical and biological term systems of genetically unrelated and typologically
diverse languages. The general models of word formation typical for the
languages studied in this article are considered and presented.
KEYWORDS
Linguistics, Language, Words, Chemical terminology, Biological terminology,
Word formation, English, Russian, Tatar.
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1. INTRODUCTION
In the modern world scientic knowledge plays an important role in the
development of society. Due to the entry into global scientic and educational
sphere, it is necessary to know features of academic style in English which is
international language of scientic communication along with peculiarities of
language of science in native language.
The importance of the question is proved by works of many researchers.
Khuziahmetov and Valeev (2018) study peculiarities of bilingual learning of
English and Tatar languages and pointed out that “it becomes necessary to pay
special attention to the problem of the ability of students to eectively participate
in the intercultural communication and a productive solution to this issue is the
orientation toward bilingual education”.
Khisamova, Motygoullina and Moullagaliev (2015), consider “the process of
globalization and unication of the modern sciences into a new organized idea
of using results of one scientic area in some dierent researches. For example,
in revising the peculiarities of translating Anglo-American ction into the
Tatar language they can refer to the dierent layers of the linguistics, such as
comparative linguistics, typology, translation theory and the real modality”.
The research of terminology is among the most important problems of modern
linguistics. In this regard studying term systems of typologically diverse languages
is of great scientic interest.
Terminological vocabulary as a part of dictionary structure of language has
several properties. It is the most developing part of dictionary structure in
comparison with its other parts.
Study of terminology assumes not only consideration of terms and their functions,
but also the analysis of sources and ways of their production. It is on the material
of terminological vocabulary operation of laws of language, mainly of word-
formation, is most shown (Kozhanova et al., 2017; Kheirabadi & Mirzaei, 2019;
Barati et al., 2018; Kashisaz & Mobaraki, 2018).
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The science which deals with studying of terminology is called term study. The
contribution to development of this discipline was made by scientists Vinogradov,
Lott, Vinokur, Reformatsky, Budagov, Akhmanova, Piotrovsky and many others
(Reformatskii, 1967).
Studying of peculiarities of word formation in language of chemistry and biology
represents undoubted interest as the correct understanding of regularities of
modern terminological word formation helps to carry out the process of term
formation (Abilgaziyeva et al, 2018; Eslami & Ahmadi, 2019; Jabbari et al., 2019;
Nakhaee & Nasrabadi, 2019).
Now word formation in terminology is a source of many linguistic researches
devoted to various term systems on the basis of dierent languages.
2. METHODS
We understand as ways of word formation “receptions, methods of formation
of new words from any material units of language by creation between them the
word-formation relations” (Zakiev et al., 1995).
In this article we consider the most productive ways of formation of chemical
and biological terms in the English, Russian and Tatar languages. Dictionaries
of chemistry and biology in given languages are used in this article. The main
method of our research is comparative analysis.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
One of the most productive ways to form chemical and biological terms in the
English, Russian, and Tatar languages is axation.
There are several terms formed by suxation, that is, adding a sux to the stem
that is a morpheme which follows the root. Unlike prexation, which aects the
lexical-grammatical component of a word, suxation, as a rule, allows to create
words that relate to another part of speech or to another class of words.
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Let’s consider a group of suxes which new terms or words are formed from and
which fullls the role of a noun. In English, this group includes the suxes -er,
-or, -ent and -ant, which are used to form nouns denoting a person or mechanism
with a specic action: to activate - activator, to absorb - absorbent, to carry - carrier. The
same group includes the suxes -ion, -ation, -ment, -ure, -age, -ence, - ance, -ing, with
the help of which new terms are formed from verbs that express some concepts
of nouns: exposure, oxidation, reaction.
In the formation of chemical and biological terms that perform the role of a
noun in the Tatar language, the most productive suxes are: -лык/-лек, -гыч/-
геч (-кыч/-кеч), -чы/-че, -лы/-ле, -чан/-чән, -ма/-мә, -ла/-лә, -лаштыр/-ләштер.
The sux -лык/-лек is a word-forming formant in many Turkic languages. With
the help of this sux in Tatar chemical and biological terms from nouns are
formed, denoting the presence of quality, indicated by the manufacturing basis:
‘дымлылык’ – ‘humidity’, ‘сыеклык’ – ‘liquid’, ‘авырлык’ – ‘weight’, ‘җылылык’ –
‘heat’, ‘зурлык’ – ‘quantity’ etc.
The sux -лык, can join the borrowed chemical or biological terms and form such
words as: ‘активлык’ – ‘activity’ ‘валентлык’ ‘valence’, ‘изоморфлык’ ‘isomorphism’.
The sux -гыч/-геч, -кыч/-кеч is among the most productive in formation of
chemical and biological terms. It forms names of substances or medicines,
expresses value of adaptation, installation or the tool for the action. For
example: ‘алмаштыргыч’ – ‘substitute’, ‘беркеткеч’ – ‘xer’, ‘йоткыч’ – ‘absorbent’,
‘оксидлаштыргыч’ – ‘oxidant’, etc.
In Russian a productive sux for term formation is -ия. Such terms are
formed from stems of the borrowed nouns and meant branches of science:
химия, биология, биохимия; chemical and biological processes and phenomena:
автогамия, адаптация, аллотропия, дисперсия, диффузия, гомология, мезомерия. The
sux -ор is also productive. Nouns with this sux are names of technical devices,
apparatus: аспиратор, вентилятор, дистиллятор, конвертор, реактор and names
of substances, materials which carry out some actions: активатор, анализатор,
ингбитор, катализатор, репрессор, регулятор.
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The sux -ени- means action as the phenomenon leading to any result: беление,
брожение, бромирование, вальцевание, водопоглощение, галогенирование, давление.
The sux -ость in the terms formed from stems of descriptive adjectives
means properties: аффинность, вирулентность, газоустойчивость, матовость,
мелкопористость, мылкость, неоднородность, основность, пластичность,
продуктивность.
In works of many scientists compounding is mentioned as one of the most
important means of language. In the examined languages this way of a term
formation is one of old ways of creation of words which does not lose its
productivity. The compounding is an important source of language vocabulary
supplement. It is the process of composition of two or several stems in one
compound word.
There is certain relationship between components of a compounding in the studied
languages. It is coordinating or subordinating relationship. At the coordinating
relations all components of a compound word are equal in the structural and
semantic plan and make two structural-semantic centers. For example:
protein-ligand, enzyme-substrate;
винил-кушылма, атом-төш, балчык-бетон;
винил-соединение, глинобетон.
At the subordinating relations one component of the word is dominant and is
the structural and grammatical center which means that it denes belonging to a
certain lexical and grammatical category and a part of speech.
The subordinating relation is a main type of word connection in language.
There are the following types of compounding with the subordinating relation
of components: the attributive relation of components, the objective relation of
components and the adverbial relation of components.
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In chemical and biological terminology of the studied languages compound
words with the attributive relation of components prevail. The noun acts as the
second component in them, the noun, an adjective, a pronoun, a numeral or a
participle can be the rst components.
Saidasheva (2006) pointed out that there are models of compounding common
for English and Tatar. We found out that these models are also presented in
Russian language.
They are:
1. Noun + noun (N + N):
unit cell, radioactivity, wavelength, oxidation-reduction, activation energy’;
атом төше, балчык сөзгеч, аш тозы, вак бөртеклелек, вак тишеклеклек, энҗе
бөртеге;
аквасоединение, альфа-излучатель, газометр, гелеобразование, еж-рыба, жаба-
рыба.
2. Adjective + noun (A + N):
acid-base, amino-terminal, free-energy, supercooling;
калай кисәге, тимер бактерияләре, түбә калае;
железобетон.
3. Pronoun + noun (Pr + N):
nonelectrolyte;
үздиффузия, үзагач;
неэлектролит, самодиффузия.
4. Numeral + noun (Num + N):
rst-order reactions, two-component;
беркетү, беркислоталы, икеүзәкле бәйләнеш, икенигезле, өчнигезле кислоталар;
одноклеточные, двукисточник, двукрылатка, триостренник, триперстовые.
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5. Participle + noun (P + N):
boiling-point, branched-chain;
цинкланган тимер, чәчелүчәнлек.
Along with a suxation and a compounding, conversion in the studied languages
is a highly productive way of a term formation. Conversion is the word formation
process in which a word of one grammatical form becomes a word of another
grammatical form without any changes to spelling or pronunciation. Thus
conversion is a lexical and grammatical way of formation of new words. This
way of enrichment of terminology is applied in English and Russian, and in
Tatar languages.
In Tatar nouns, adjectives, adverbs, postpositions, particles, interjections and
conjunctions are formed by means of conversion. The most productive is
formation of nouns, adjectives, adverbs and postpositions (Zakiev et al., 1995).
In chemical terminology nouns denoting materials, metals, chemicals and their
types become adjectives (Zakieva, 2011):
Алтын – алтын ‘gold-golden’, көмеш – көмеш ‘silver – silvery’, энҗе – энҗе
‘pearl – pearly’.
As for English, the most productive is the model noun – verb. It is the only
productive way of formation of verbs from nouns:
fuel, n, – fuel, v
water n – water, v
heat, n – heat, v.
In Russian there are three types of conversion: substantivation, adjectivization
and adverbialization. Substantivation is transition of a word from the category
of adjectives in the category of nouns. Adjectivization is transition of words
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to the category of adjectives. As a rule, verbs and verbal forms (participles)
form conversion base for formation of this sort of adjectives: дрессированный,
опубликованный, закрытый etc.
Substantivation is characteristic feature for the language of biology. Such
adjectives as альбатросовые, баклановые, веерокрылые etc. became nouns.
There are many abbreviations in language of chemistry and biology in English,
Russian and Tatar. With the development of science many new terms in the
form of compound words and phrases which come to terminological contraction
appear.
There are various types of structural contractions. For the English, Russian and
Tatar languages the general are graphic and lexical types.
Graphic contraction is use of symbols, reduction of words and phrases in a written
language, at the same time in oral speech full forms are used. Symbols and signs
belong to examples of graphic abbreviation in chemistry and biology: C - Celsius
degree of temperature, температура, Цельсий градусында, температура по Цельсию; e.
g. - for example; h.б.ш. - hәм башка шушынды; d – density, плотность, тыгызлык; K -
temperature of Kelvin, температура по Кельвину, температура, Кельвинда.
Lexical abbreviations are formed by means of process of simultaneous contraction
and compounding. This way includes initial abbreviation. It is a way of word
formation by addition of the reduced initial letters or sounds of a phrase. This
contracted form is used also at pronunciation: ACFOR scale (Abundant Common
Frequent Occasional Rare), ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic hormone), DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid), KE (kinetic energy), RNA (ribonucleic acid), STP (standard temperature and pressure),
EFG (Epidermal Growth Factor); АТФ (аденозинтрифосфат), БАК (белок-активатор),
ЗПА (зона поляризующей активности); РНК (рибонуклеин кислотасы), ДНК
(дезоксирибонуклеин кислотасы), ХКС (халыкара классификация системасы).
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4. SUMMARY
Suxation is the most productive way of term formation in all three languages.
The suxes of noun formation with the same meaning occur in all of them.
In compounding many complex chemical and biological terms is formed by
addition of stems with the attributive relation of components where the rst
component is attribute of the second. This feature is characteristic for the English
and Russian languages, and for Tatar. As for conversion which is common for
all three languages in English rst place is taken by the noun – verb model, in
Russian noun – noun, and in Tatar highly productive model is noun – adjective.
Abbreviation along with compounding and conversion represents a productive
way of word formation. For the languages investigated in this article the general
are such types of contractions as graphic and lexical.
5. CONCLUSIONS
We studied suxation, compounding, conversion and abbreviation as the most
productive ways of a term formation and identied the features of these methods
of word formation in the chemical and biological term systems of three genetically
unrelated and typologically diverse languages. Suxation is the most productive
way of term formation in them. The general models of word composition typical
for the languages studied in this article are considered and presented. There are
dierences in models that are productive for each language in case of conversion.
In the presentation of the abbreviation we showed models which are common for
the English, Russian and Tatar languages.
6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work is performed according to the Russian Government Program of
Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University.
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