1. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

2. Military Terminology in the Estonian Language
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

3. How my topic fits into the conference theme?
Terminology and terms are an inseparable and integral part of any specialized language and specialty training as terms connect us to the objects in the real world.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

4. Military terminology in the Estonian language
During the Soviet occupation ( ), Estonia did not have any army or armed forces, and consequently there was no military terminology in the Estonian language.
Up to the beginning of the 1990s, military terminology was influenced mostly by the Russian language, while since then, military terminology has come mostly from English.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

5. Terminology confusion
concept clusters:
engagement area - killing zone
imitating other languages:
noncombatant – nonkombatant
translation loans:
tactical operation – taktikaline operatsioon
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

6. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
What is a term?
according to Cabré, concepts are mentally independent and exist before they are named, and it’s only through the standardization of terms that the concepts that mostly do not have a rigidly set border obtain artificially set limits (1999:42-43).
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

7. What are the main characteristics of a term?
transparency and clarity;
appropriateness;
linguistic economy;
monosemy or carrying one meaning;
preference of native language;
grammatical aspects - derivability and correctness.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

8. Transparency and clarity
Key element or key characteristics
of the concept it signifies:
deploy – siirma (transplant)
engagement – kokkupõrge (clash, crash, collision)
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

9. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
Appropriateness
simulation – simulatsioon
simulator – simulaator
The 1st meaning of the Estonian word simuleerima is to pretend
imitatsioon (copy, reproduction) or
matke (imitation, copy)
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

10. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
Linguistic economy
the term should be as short as possible; the more the term is used the shorter it should be.
sometimes Estonian is more economical than English: line of departure – lähtejoon
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

11. Monosemy or carrying one meaning
synonyms can take on different meanings over time:
capability: võime – (ability/capability), võimekus – (capability)
they are sometimes defined as having different meanings and as if designating different concepts.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

12. Preference for native language
mission – missioon, sõjaline operatsioon (military operation), or operatsioon, välisteenistus (service abroad), depending on the context also ülesanne (task) etc.
canalize - kanaliseerima vs sängitama, the borrowed term kanaliseerima should be preferred, as the 1st meaning of sängitama is to bury.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

13. Present terminology standardization 1
branch of the armed forces (navy, air force, land force) – põhiväeliik (main branch of the armed forces)
arm of service (artillery, signals etc.) – väeliik (branch of the armed forces)
branch of the armed forces (navy, air force, land force) – väeliik (branch of the armed forces)
arm of service – relvaliik (weapon type)
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

14. Present terminology standardization 2
Security and Defense Policy and Military Terminology Committee attached to the Ministry of Defence was established in 2003.
Terms are mostly based on the AAP-6 (Allied Administrative Publications)
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

15. Present terminology standardization 3
specific subject areas, word clusters or the concept systems by taking the English term and its definition and providing all existing Estonian equivalents.
then they fix the Estonian terms within each concept system considering close synonyms etc.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

16. Present terminology standardization 4
online Estonian-English bilingual dictionary called MILITERM
the Committee can cover and admit up to 1000 terms per year;
by the end of 2007 around 5000 terms with definitions were admitted;
includes mostly the strategic and operational level terms and almost no tactical level terms.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

17. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
Neoterms
psychological consolidation activities – psühholoogilised sõbrastamisvõtted (psychological friends - making measures)
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

18. Harmonization outside Committee
35 infantry tactics terms (defensive operations);
expert group of 20 officers with battalion or brigade level military training in English;
terms with definition in English, with all Estonian equivalents from specialized dictionaries (up to six);
for one English term, as many as nine different Estonian equivalents were given by 20 people.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

19. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
ENGAGEMENT (a tactical conflict, usually between opposing lower echelons maneuver forces; FM 1-02)
ESTONIAN
BACK-TRANSLATION
COMMENTS
lahingukontakt
combat contact
(10) based on def
lahing
battle, combat
(3) too general
kokkupõrge
clash, collision, conflict
(3) 1st meaning - traffic accidents, fight
kontakt
contact
(2) too general
tulekontakt
fire contact
(1) too precise, the term does not involve only fire support
did not answer (1)
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

20. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
ENGAGEMENT AREA an area where the commander intends to contain and destroy enemy forces with the massed effects of all available weapons and supporting systems FM 3-90
ESTONIAN
BACK-TRANSLATION
COMMENTS
hävitusala
destruction area
(17) short
löögiala
hitting area
(1)
kokkupõrkeala
collision/conflict area
(0)
lahinguala
area of operation
(1) too general
koondtuleala
concentrated fire area
(1) different meaning
lahingukontakti-ala
combat contact area
(0) based on prev. term, euphemistic, long
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

21. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
KEY TERRAIN any location or area the seizure or retention of which affords a marked advantage to either combatant; FM 3-90
ESTONIAN
BACK-TRANSLATION
COMMENTS
võtmeala
key area
(10) based on def, metaphor
võtmemaastik
key terrain
(7) direct translation
võtmekoht
key place
(3) too precise in meaning
oluline ala
important area
(0) are synonyms
oluline koht
important place
(0)
valitsev piirkond
dominant, governing region
(0) may create misconceptions
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

22. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
Conclusions
Cabré: harmonized terminology ensures a more efficient communication between specialists;
some members of the EDF advocate the use of English to ensure the mutual understanding at the international level;
sensitive attitude towards language issues.
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

23. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
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Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College

24. Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
TÄNAN TÄHELEPANU EEST
Athens, June 2008
Epp Leete – Estonian National Defence College