Stystic Classification of English Vocabulary

2. Special Literary Vocabulary 
Terms 
“All scientists are linguists to some extent. They are 
responsible for devising a consistent terminology, a skeleton 
language to talk about their subject-matter. Philologists and 
philosophers of speech are in the peculiar position of having 
to evolve a special language to talk about language itself”. 
This quotation makes clear one of the essential 
characteristics of a term, viz. Its highly conventional 
character. A term is generally very easily coined and easily 
accepted; and new coinages as easily replace out – dated 
ones. 
This sensitivity to alteration is mainly due to the necessity of 
reflecting different concepts and phenomena. One of the 
most characteristic features of a term is its direct relevance 
to the system or set of terms used in a particular science, 
discipline or art, i.e. to its nomenclature. 
When a term is used our mind immediately associates it with 
a certain nomenclature. A term is directly connected with the 
concept it denotes. A term, unlike other words, directs the 
mind to the essential quality of the thing, phenomenon or 
action as seen by the scientist in the light of his own 
conceptualization. 
Paper ID: SR20221100932
DOI: 10.21275/SR20221100932
1550 

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International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) 
ISSN: 2319-7064 
ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426 
Volume 9 Issue 2, February 2020 
www.ijsr.net
 
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
“A word is organically one with its meaning; likewise a term 
is one with a concept. Conceptualization leaves, as it were, 
language behind, although the words remain as (scientific or 
philosophical) term. Linguistically the difference is 
important in that terms are much more easily substitutable 
by other terms than are words by other words: it is easier to 
replace, say, the term phonology by phonemics (provided I 
make it clear what is meant), than to replace everyday words 
like table and chair by other words” 
Terms are mostly and predominantly used in special works 
dealing with the notions of some branch of science. 
Therefore it may be said that they belong to the style of 
language of science. But their use is not confined to this 
style. they may as well appear in other styles- in newspaper 
style, in publicist and practically in all other existing styles 
of language. But their function in this case changes. They do 
not always fulfill their basic function –and also by the fact 
that the writer himself is a physician and finds it natural that 
of bearing exact reference to a given concept. When used in 
the belles- letters style, for instance, a term may acquire a 
stylistic function and consequently become a (sporadical) 
SD. This happens when a term is used in such a way that 
two meanings are materialized simultaneously. 
The function of terms, if encountered in other styles, is 
either to indicate the technical peculiarities of the subject 
dealt with, or to make some reference to the occupation of a 
character whose language would naturally contain special 
words and expressions. In this connection it is interesting to 
analyse the stylistic effect of the medical terminology used 
by A.J.Cronin in his novel “The Citadel”. The frequent use 
of medical terms in the novel is explained by its subject- 
matter-the life of a physician–and also by the fact that the 
writer himself is a physician and finds it natural 
terminology.
The piling up of difficult and special terms hinders the 
reader‟s understanding of the text if he is not a specialist 
even when the writer strives to explain them. Moreover, 
such an accumulation of special terminology often suggests 
that the author is displaying his erudition. 
There is an interesting process going on in the development 
of any language. With the increase of general education and 
expansion of technique to satisfy the ever-growing needs 
and desires of mankind, many words that were once terms 
have gradually lost their quality as terms and have passed 
into the common literary or even neutral vocabulary. This 
process may be called “de-terminization”. Such words as 
„‟radio‟‟, „‟television‟ and the like have long been in 
common use and their terminological character is no longer 
evident. Brian Foster in his book “The Changing English 
Language ”writes:‟‟...science is one of the most powerful 
influences molding the English language into fresh shapes at 
the present time. Scientific writing is not highly esteemed 
for its elegance – one recalls the tale of the scientist who 
alluded to a certain domain of enquiry as a „virgin field 
pregnant with possibilities‟-but scientific jargon and modes 
of thought inevitably come to the fore in a society which 
equates civilization with chromium-plated bath taps. Nor 
does the process date from yesterday, for we have long been 
talking of people being „‟galvanized‟‟ into activity or going 
„full steam ahead‟, but, nowadays this tendency to prefer 
technical imagery is ever-increasing, so that science can 
truly be said to have „sparked off a chain-reaction‟ in the 
linguistic sphere‟‟ This quotation clearly shows how easily 
terms and terminological combinations become de- 
terminized. We hardly notice sometimes the terminological 
origin of the words we use. But such de-terminized which in 
their terminological function, thus assuming a twofold 
application, which is the feature required of a stylistic 
device. But when terms are used in their normal function as 
terms in a work of belles-letters, they are or ought to be 
easily understood from the context so that the desired effect 
in depicting the situation will be secured. Here is an example 
of a moderate use of special terminology bordering on 
common literary vocabulary.
“There was a long conversation-a long wait. His father came 
back to say it was doubtful whether they could make the 
loan. Eight per cent, then being secured, was a small rate of 
interest, considering its need. For ten per cent Mr. Kuzel 
might make a call-loan. Frank went back to his employer, 
whose commercial choler rose at the report‟‟. Such terms as 
„loan‟, ‟rate of interest‟, and phrase „to secure for money‟ 
are widely known financial terms which to the majority of 
the English and American reading public need no 
explanation. The terms used here do not bear any special 
meaning. Moreover, if they are not understood they may to 
some extent be neglected. It will suffice if the reader has a 
general idea, vague though it may be, of the actual meaning 
of the terms used. The main task of the writer in this passage 
is not to explain the process of a business negotiations, but 
to create the environment of a business atmosphere. In this 
example the terms retain their ordinary meaning though their 
function in the text is not exactly terminological. It is more 
nearly stylistic, in as much as here terms serve the purpose 
of characterizing the commercial spirit of the hero of the 
novel. However, they are not SDs because they fail to meet 
the main requirement of an SD. The following is an example 
where a term is used as an SD. 
“What a fool Rawdon Crawley has been‟‟ Clump replied 
“”to go and marry a governess. There was something about 
the girl too ”Green eyes, fair skin, pretty figure, famous 
frontal development, ‟‟ Squill remarked (W.M.Thackeray) 
The combination „frontal development‟ is terminological in 
character. But being preceded by the word „famous‟ used in 
the sense indicated by the Shorter Oxford Dictionary as „‟a 
strong expression of approval, excellent, capital the „‟whole 
expression assumes a specific stylistic function due to the 
fact that frontal development‟ is used both in its 
terminological aspect and in its logical meaning „the breast 
of a woman‟. Whenever the terms used in the belles-lettres 
style set the reader at odds with the text, we can register a 
stylistic effect caused either by a specific use of terms in 
their proper meanings or by a simultaneous realization of 
two meanings.