le
while the other(s) fossilize, fall out of use and are
finally forgotten (see Table 2).
Other words which originally shared a common
semantic field gradually adopt different ranges of
meaning within that semantic field until they crease
to be synonyms (see Table 3).
English obsolete | in use coexisting another
language
Remote | Fern- German
Remote Sensing | erkundung :
Sensing Sensora- Teledetecciôn Spanish
miento Percepciôn remota
remoto
Workstation(s/en) German
Work(ing) Workingstation(s/en)
Station
Arbeitsstation
Gray scale Escala de grises Spanish
Tonal scale Escala tonal
Step wedge Valores de gris
Tonos de gris
Cluster Spanish
Nube de puntos
Cluster Grupo homogéneo
Cluster German
Kluster
Punktwolke
Range Marcas de alcance Portug.
marks Marcas de intervalo
Table 2
Examples of Temporary Synonyms (by obsolescence)
English Former Present Another
Synonyms Meaning Language
Scanning | Barrido Scanning Nature Spanish
Muestreo i Scanning a picture or image
Procesamiento | Mechanical, electrical, com-
de datos putational or any-other
transformation of data from
Data | one form into another
processing | Tratamiento Systematic manipulation of Spanish
de datos data by means of a computer
so as to obtain information
Table 3
Examples of Temporary Synonyms (by divergence)
4 Photogrammetry and Remo-
te Sensing
„Remote Sensing“ was first used in American
English during the early 60's in the context
of military reconnaissance systems. Specialists of
different nationalities picked it up and used it as
a borrowed expression in their own language for
many years. In the early 70's Prof. Schwidefsky
coined the German equivalent ,Fernerkundung“, a
creation which was generally accepted and soon
made its way into the German technical vocabulary.
The corresponding term in other languages was
created and, so to say, ,promoted“ by administrative
and governmental agencies at latest with the
foundation or renaming of the respective National
Societies of Photogrammetry: ,Société Française de
Photogrammétrie et Remote Sensing“? Unthinkable!
337
And in almost every language we would arrive to
the same conclusion. Thus, many equivalents for
» Remote Sensing“ flourished in an attempt to mirror
the semnatic content of the expression:
Fernerkundung (German)
Télédétection (French)
Teledetecçäo (Europ. Portuguese)
Sensoreamento Remoto (Bras. Port.)
Teledetección (Spanish)
Percepción Remota (Spanish)
Taverzekeles (Ungarian)
,Remote Sensing^ was rejected or only reluctantly
accepted by very few languages. Spanish linguists
rejected the proposed ,Sensoramiento Remoto^ in
favour of 'Teledetección or Percepcion Remota.
»Photogrammetry* however, entered the vocabulary
of almost every language without difficulty and was
easily adapted. Why is it that these two lexical items
arose so different reactions?
5 Towards a Common Termi-
nology
There will probably be general assent to the
proposition that a common terminology would
contribute considerably to the understanding among
scientists all over the world. But he who asents
often sees in such a statement nothing more than a
platitudinous admission of translation difficulties on
the one hand or an intent to subvert the efforts of
those who try to preserve the purity of a particular
language on the other. To see only thus far is to miss
the point, to be blind to one of the important nodes
of interconnection between language, culture, science
and technology.
Scientists in the Middle Ages communicated in Latin.
Nowadays they mostly communicate in English but
Latin still impregnates very much scientific language
and an ever growing tendency towards using words
of Latin origin in learned speech is evident, not only
in English but also in other languages. Therefore, a
return to the sources when seeking for a new word
or expression seems an interesting approach, worthy
to be taken into account: scientific-technological
language should not be tied to any nationality
but contribute universally to the straightforward
transference of knowledge.
Faced with the necessity of expressing new words or
concepts, those who translate technical and scientific
texts resort to different approaches:
a. They try to find words in the target language (the
language into which the text is to be translated) that
mirror the semantic content of the original
bit octeto (Spanish - Spain)
computer ordenador (Spanish - Spain)