Specialist Vocabulary
237mechanisms relevant to the formation of English specialist vocabulary, as
emphasized by (Baugh and Cable 2002):
“The same method [i.e. compounding] may be employed in forming words
from elements derived from Latin and Greek. The large classical element
already [present] in the English vocabulary makes such formations seem
quite congenial to the language, and this method has long been a favorite
source of scientific terms”^9 (Baugh and Cable 2002: 285).Last, but not least, in conclusion of the foregoing overview of the
major onomasiological phenomena instrumental in developing specialist
terminology in English, lexical semantic change must be addressed –
which shall be done with reference to the computer hardware and software
terminology in English in the following section.
Semantic change as an onomasiological possibility
applicable to English computer terminology
Semantic innovation may be generally claimed to constitute, in fact, one of
the four main possibilities of finding names for new concepts, as posited
by Grzega (2002: 2). According to him, apart from deciding to use an
already existing word in a new sense, language users may also (or instead)
choose – as outlined in the previous sections of this chapter – to “borrow
an already existing word with the same meaning from another dialect or
language” (i.e. use a loan-word), “form a new word from already existing
material” (i.e. resort to word-formation), “coin an entirely new lexical
item” or, logically enough, apply a combination of these four possibilities
(ibid.).^10
The power of lexical semantic change as an onomasiological
phenomenon – found both in general and specialist language registers –
derives from the fact that language users would rather not change the
vocabulary they use. “Speakers do not intend to change the vocabulary of
their language [...]. They sometimes just innovate using a trope that makes
communication more efficient”, as Koch (2008: 109) rightly observes.
This assertion is also applicable to semantic innovation approached from
an onomasiological perspective – “[which] takes its starting-point in a
(^9) Emphasis mine.
(^10) Similarly, in the words of Geeraerts (2002: 32–33), new concepts may be
lexically expressed in a language “through the use of loan words, or through the
productive coining of a neologism, or through the semasiological expansion of an
existing word, or through whatever onomasiological process”.