Cognitive Approaches to Specialist Languages

The Use of Framing to Conceptualize Specialized Terminology

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Amongst the L1 collocates in Table 3, there are a number of lexemes
which denote specific proteins, contributing to an increased technical
character of the vocabulary surrounding the lexical item protein. The left-
hand collocations can be roughly divided into the following four groups:

1. Food product containing protein (e.g., soy, carp, egg, milk, starch,
   peanut)


2. Types of proteins (e.g., lupine, myofibrillar, crude, sarcoplasmic,
   gluten)


3. Degree of protein content (e.g., high, low, total, granular,
   increased)


4. Condition of proteins (e.g., recovered, in-vitro)

The linguistic exemplifications of the above groupings depict a variation
of technical complexity. An understanding of specific types of proteins
(e.g., sarcoplasmic), as well as their condition (e.g., in-vitro) requires
specialized chemo-technical knowledge. Example (10) illustrates the
scientific terminology in the proximate linguistic environment of protein:

(10) The purpose of the research was to study the influence of storage time on

the acceptability of bread made with lupine protein isolate and brea gum

(FST 64.2).

Example 10 describes the effect of storage time on the edibility of a bread
type which includes specific dietary supplements. An understanding of the
outcome requires knowledge on the behavior of lupine protein isolate (a
plant-based protein separated from other ingredients) and brea gum (a tree-
based fluid). However, we can gain a general understanding of the
operationalization at stake by considering the main procedures involved in
the assessment of food products, such as manipulation of a product’s set-
up.
While the L1 collocates primarily describe the type of protein or the
connected food item, the right-hand collocates in Table 3 primarily
emphasize the reaction and condition of the protein after specific
manipulation:

1. Distribution of the protein (e.g., content, network, matrix,
   concentration)


2. Condition of the protein (e.g., solubility, digestibility, denaturation,
   aggregation, concentration, extractability, fraction, functionality)


3. Sub-product of protein (e.g. gel, concentrate, fat, starch, molecule)