CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE USE OF FRAMING TO CONCEPTUALIZE
SPECIALIZED TERMINOLOGY
CATHERINE DIEDERICH
Introduction
There are two important principles which guide a cognitive linguistic
approach to meaning, namely a) meaning is encyclopedic and b) meaning
construction is context-dependent (Evans & Green, 2006). Consequently,
lexical meaning is modified and negotiated based on its associative
meaning and the usage context. In specialized contexts, this means that
word meanings adapt to the activities and communicative aims in the field
(Diederich 2015; Faber 2009). In food science, the professional domain
concerned primarily with the assessment of food products, language
functions as a means to a) objectify scientists’ assessments, b) reflect the
conceptualization of the specialized field, and finally c) serve as a tool for
achieving mutual understanding between interlocutors. In summary, this
means that the meaning of individual terminological units (i.e. lexical
items), are subject to the experiential context and the conceptualization of
the domain as a whole.
It has been suggested that Fillmore’s frame semantic theory lends itself
as a theoretical background to document and describe the vocabulary of
specified domains, as well as capture the relation between individual
terminological units (Diederich 2015, Faber 2012, Faber, Márguez Linares
and Vega Expósito 2005, Faber et al. 2006). This chapter sets the focus on
the field of sensory science, asking the question how and whether the
cognitive linguistic paradigm of frame semantics can contribute to a better
understanding of sensory vocabulary. The aim is to emphasize the use of
framing as a tool to provide a domain-specific of terminology. Further, this
paper wishes to shed light on the applicability of framing across specialized
domains. The empirical analysis draws on a corpus of scientific articles