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)