1. Terminological Database Model for EU Law Terminology
Maja Lončar
VIII EUROPEAN TERMINOLOGY SUMMIT
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, LUXEMBOURG 15 NOV 2016
I would like to thank the president and all other members of the jury who recognised this work. I am specially proud of the fact that this work is written in Croatian and that, obviously, was not an obstacle for getting the award.
Inspiration for the thesis came from two years of hard work as a terminologist on project “Croatian Terms for Concepts of EU Law” within Croatian national terminology database (Struna)
I am very grateful for the opportunity to present the thesis at this distinguished home since there isn’t a more suitable place to do that considering the subject of the thesis.

2. Parts of the thesis theoretical part: sign models and legal concepts
particularities of the EU law terminology
for more see Bratanić & Lončar (2015) in: Šarčević (ed), “Language and Culture in EU Law: Multidisciplinary Perspectives”
database model for EU law terminology
The thesis itself consists of three major parts.
In the first, theoretical part, I examine sign models and legal concepts.
In the second part, I describe the unique features of EU law terminology. Based on the analysis of EU legal terminology entered into the Struna database, the specifics of terminology of this subject field is described and classified into three groups, depending on what they refer to (designations, concepts, or concept relations). Since this is an award address I will not go through specific examples of phenomena I studied. For all of those interested into this subject you can find some of them described in one chapter of Susan Šarčević book.
In the last part, a model of terminological base for EU law terminology is proposed.

3. Sign models semiotic triangle (Ogden & Richards 1923) concept object
designation
So, the first part discusses different sign models.
From the very beginning until nowadays, the semiotic triangle has remained the only widely accepted sign model in the terminology theory.
Back in 1923, Ogden and Richards proposed triangle of reference as a model of how linguistic symbols are related to the objects they represent. Although some authors have proposed some different models, none of them has left a larger impact in terminology theory.

4. Concept definitions
“unit of thought constituted through abstraction on the basis of properties common to a set of objects”
(ISO 1087:1990)
“unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics” (ISO :2000)
characteristic: “abstraction of a property of an object or of a set of objects”
By accepting this model, we implicitly accept the definition of the concept that is created by abstraction of properties of objects, neglecting completely the fact that the concepts can arise as constructions, and therefore, precede the objects they refer to.
Concepts are often defined as "mental abstractions corresponding to objects". Aligned to that, in the ISO standard 1087 concept was defined as a “unit of thought constituted through abstraction on the basis of properties common to a set of objects”
In the ISO standard concept is defined as a “unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics” and the characteristic is defined as “abstraction of a property of an object or of a set of objects”
so by deductive reasoning, this definition of concept also presupposes the existence of an object to the formation of the concept

5. Semiotic triangle vs. legal concepts
“legal concepts are formed by abstraction of the general features from a large number of instances” (Sandrini 1996)
semiotic triangle does not work in the direction of the language or thoughts to the referent (Myking 1997)
Majority of the concepts in other subject fields refer to material objects and phenomena; and they are actually formed by abstraction. This is not the case with the legal concepts.
Some authors tried to fit the legal concepts into this theory while ignoring the fact that such a definition does not match the legal reality.
The problem is, what Myking observed, that the model of the semiotic triangle does not work in the direction of the language or thoughts to the referent, and is not in accordance with the theoretical approaches that allow for the possibility that referents can be created in language,

6. Law, language & reality
“if the legislator, in a new law, describes a legal phenomenon otherwise than in an earlier law, then the legal reality changes: law only exists in human language” (Brækhus 1956)
what Brækhus noticed in the example of law back in 1956 when he wrote
“if the legislator, in a new law, describes a legal phenomenon otherwise than in an earlier law, then the legal reality changes: law only exists in human language”
The fact that in law there is a specific relationship between language and reality is the main reason why that subject field of terminology is so special.

7. Legal concepts & objects
specific relationship among the legal concepts and objects:
“inversion”: we first construct concepts, and then objects may be generated
some ideas remain on the concept level, and are never “objectified”: for some legal concepts objects do not exist at all
From this fact arises the specific relationship among the legal concepts and objects. In law, we often have "inversion": we first construct concepts, and then objects may be generated. Some ideas, however, remain on the concept level, and are never „objectified“: for some legal concepts objects do not exist at all.

8. Characteristics of legal concepts
Picht (2012):
most legal concepts are constructions, not abstractions
legal concepts are open for interpretation in legal practice and theory
concepts change by negotiation and agreement, not by scientific cognition
the life cycle of a legal concept is determined by societal changes, not necessarily by scientific cognition and research
the need for constant maintenance
Hence, most legal concepts are constructions, not abstractions. As such, legal concepts are open for interpretation in legal practice and theory.
Another fact is that legal concepts change by negotiation and agreement, not by scientific cognition. So the life cycle of a legal concept is determined by changes in society, not necessarily by scientific cognition and research.
For all these reasons, it is obvious that the constant maintenance is necessary. Working with legal terminology is actually a never-ending story: EU legislation changes daily (with every issue of Official Journal of the European Union).

9. Designations synonyms false synonyms homonyms
inappropriate terms due to the impact of the source language
obsolete terms that are deep-rooted
appellations
abbreviations
short forms of terms
various protected designations
In the next part of the thesis, specifics of EU law terminology have been described and classified into three groups, depending on what they refer to (designations, concepts, or concept relations).
As I already said this is not the time, nor the place to go into details.
I will just mention that at the term level, the following phenomena are described: synonyms, false synonyms, homonyms, inappropriate terms due to the impact of the source language, obsolete terms that are deep-rooted, appellations, abbreviations, short forms of terms, various protected designations

10. Source: Joint practical guide of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission for persons involved in the drafting of legislation within the Community institutions, 2003
As you already heard yesterday, Joint practical guide is quite clear:
terms must be prescriptive and terminological variation, that can be functional in other subject fields, in legal terminology is not desirable.
Synonymy is not welcomed, because it can lead to pseudodivergence: that is, when different terms are used for the same concept people eventually give different meanings to these terms, although they refer to the same concept.

11. Another (opposite) phenomenon that I have not found described is what I call false synonymy. False friends refer to the terms in different languages, and false synonyms refer to the terms in a same language. That is, terms that are synonymous in general language, may designate different concepts in special language.
An example from IATE is: own resources and own income. That information, that may be crucial to the translators, is usually stored as unstructured data in the category of note.

12. Legal definition
definition, as a data category for the description of concepts, has a particularly important function in terminology work
legal definition as a special category of definition
need for specific definition data categories: “obsolete” definition, “future” definition
Characteristics of EU law terminology, that occur at the concept level, are primarily related to the definition.
Definition, as a data category for the description of concepts, has a particularly important function in terminology work (and often determines its overall quality and efficiency).
It has long been recognized that, due to the nature of legal concepts, the legal definition is a special category of definition that cannot fit into the traditional definition formats.
New types of definitions have been introduced that are specific for legal terminology: “obsolete” definition, “current” definition, “future” definition.

13. Definition types
sometimes we know in advance that the definition of a certain concept will change
example: qualified majority
until 31 October 2014: at least 255 votes in favour representing a majority of the members
from 1 November 2014: at least 72% of the members of the Council, representing Member States comprising at least 65% of the population of the Union
between 1 November 2014 and 31 March 2017: a member of the Council may request that it be adopted in accordance with the qualified majority as defined before 1 November 2014
Sometimes we know exactly since when and until when the definition of a certain concept is valid. I took as an example the concept of a qualified majority that had one definition until the end of October 2014, and another one from November first 2014, and there is a transitional period with both possibilities.
As I said, in legal terminology, there is actually a need for specific definition data categories that I refer to as „obsolete definition“ and „future definition“. That information is, again, usually stored as unstructured data in the category of note.

14. Concept relations hierarchical relations (generic or partitive)
associative relations
importance of diachrony needs to be formalized not only as a specific category for an individual concept, but also in terms of relations among different concepts: one concept can be obsolete in relation to another concept
example: co-decision procedure → ordinary legislative procedure
At the concept relations level, relations relevant to the subject field of EU law are described. Concept relations are often neglected in terminography practice. Terminology work is often focused only on a specific concept within a terminological entry and one rarely takes into account that the concept is in different types of relation with other concepts in the system
Relations that should be introduced in a terminological database to adequately represent the existing relationships are determined.
It is emphasized that the importance of diachrony needs to be formalized not only as a specific category for an individual concept, but also in terms of relations among different concepts. That is the reason why a new category "obsolete concept" has been introduced to indicate relationship between existing and deprecated or replaced concepts.
It is extremely important to keep these “obsolete concepts” in termbase, because they are necessary for understanding the subject field (which is usually not the case with other subject fields).

15. Database model
development of termbase model consists of two steps (according to standard ISO 16642:2003)
data category selection from broader set of data categories (ISO 12620:1999 or ISOcat)
representation of selected data categories in XML format
based on the results of the research, a model of terminological base for legal terminology of the European Union is proposed and represented in TBX (TermBase eXchange) format
The last part of the thesis is development of termbase model for EU law terminology.
It consists of two steps. The first one is selection of necessary data categories from a broader set of data categories (namely ISOcat)
Required data categories should be selected from ISOcat if they exist there, and if it is necessary, a category that is not in the ISOcat can be added. The second step is representation of selected data categories in XML format.
This is not presentation-friendly part of the thesis, so I will just finish with conclusion that based on the results of the research, a model of terminological base for legal terminology of the European Union is proposed and represented in TBX format.

16. Antun Patrik Halonja (1971-2016)
In the end, I would like to dedicate this award to the loving memory of colleague, roommate, and dear friend of mine who supported me during of process of writing this thesis: Antun Patrik Halonja ( )

17. Thank you!
In the end, I would like to dedicate this award to the loving memory of collegue, roomate, and dear friend of mine who supported me during of process of writing this thesis: Antun Patrik Halonja ( )