ISO 22745-11:2010(E)

7 Guidelines for the formulation of terms in English

7.1 General

The guidelines in Clause 7 apply to terms written in English. They shall be applied to a term in another language to the extent that they are consistent with the rules of grammar and the common usage of that language.

The guidelines in Clause 7 apply only to terms for classes.

Each term designating an OTD concept shall be a noun phrase without determiner.

EXAMPLE 1  The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

boom microphone

the boom microphone

knife switch

this knife switch

capacitor shield

that capacitor shield

acetone test tablets

ome acetone test tablets

density variability

vary the density

NOTE   A noun word is a special case of a noun phrase.

EXAMPLE 2  The noun word "wireway" is a compound word that is a noun phrase and is an acceptable term for a concept.

7.2 Basic terms

7.2.1 General

The basic term is:

An indefinite or nonlimiting word that is on the prohibited basic noun list (see 10.2) is not considered to establish a concept of a class. If the headword is one of these words, then the basic term must include a modifier.

NOTE   Each OTD maintains its own list of prohibited basic nouns.

EXAMPLE 1  The following are some examples of indefinite or nonlimiting words, which by themselves do not constitute basic terms:

EXAMPLE 2  For the term auxiliary power unit, the basic term is power unit.

7.2.2 Significance of the basic term

If a modifier is removed from a basic term, the resulting term no longer references the concept of a class. But if any modifier is added to a basic term, the resulting term references a specific concept, i.e., a specialization of the concept referenced by the basic term. Therefore, it is possible to construct a class hierarchy consisting of:

EXAMPLE   Figure 2 shows an example of an extract from such a hierarchy.


Example hierarchy extract

Figure 2 — Example hierarchy extract

NOTE 1  The construction and representation of class hierarchies is outside the scope of ISO 22745.

NOTE 2  There is no unique natural or canonical hierarchy. In general, it is possible to construct many different hierarchies from the same set of classes. For the example hierarchy shown in Figure 2, hospital ward chair could just as easily have been listed as a specialization of hospital furniture rarher than chair.

7.2.3 Use of the most specific word as a basic term

Only a noun word or a noun phrase which conveys the most specific basic concept of an item shall be used as a basic term.

EXAMPLE   The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable basic terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

chair

furniture

shoes

footwear

ink

writing fluid

7.2.4 Use of the preferred synonym

The basic term most commonly acceptable in technical or commercial practice shall be used when two or more basic terms are synonymous.

EXAMPLE   The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable basic terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

overshoes

arctics

dresser

bureau

7.2.5 Use of the singular form

The basic term shall be written in singular form, except as follows:

  1. when the only form of the name is plural;

    EXAMPLE 1  The following are allowable because the only form of the name is plural.

  2. when the nature of the item requires the plural form.

    EXAMPLE 2  The following are allowable because the item requires the plural form.

7.3 Modifiers

Modifiers shall be used according to the following preferences:

  1. modifiers indicating what an item is (its shape, structure, or form);

  2. modifiers indicating what an item does (its function);

  3. modifiers indicating the application of an item (what is it used for);

  4. modifiers indicating the location of an item (where is it used).

    EXAMPLE 1  "Aircraft" and "automotive" are modifiers that indicate the location of an item.

EXCEPTION A modifier shall not be added in order to conform with these rules if the addition of such a modifier would result in a term that would conflict with the term commonly used in industry. In this case, each term shall be delimited to indicate a unique concept of an item.

EXAMPLE 2  The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

dresser

article of bedroom furniture, the top of which is less than 40 in (101.6 cm) from the floor

NOTE It usually has full length drawers and a mirror.

household dresser

article of bedroom furniture, the top of which is less than 40 in (101.6 cm) from the floor

NOTE It usually has full length drawers and a mirror.

contact point dresser

flat, thin strip of flexible material, treated on both sides with a coating of the same abrasive grain

EXCLUDES burnishercontactdental hand and strip abrasive

dresser

flat, thin strip of flexible material, treated on both sides with a coating of the same abrasive grain

EXCLUDES burnishercontactdental hand and strip abrasive

pencil

handheld instrument used to write and draw, consisting of graphite bonded with a binder and supported in wood or a wrapper

EXCLUDES mechanical pencilmarking crayon

nonmechanical pencil

handheld instrument used to write and draw, consisting of graphite bonded with a binder and supported in wood or a wrapper

mechanical pencil

item for writing or other marking use in which the lead is replaceable

pencil

(to mean a mechanical or nonmechanical pencil)

The first modifier shall serve to narrow the area established by a basic term. For a multi-concept basic term, the type of characteristic expressed by the first modifier may vary for the different concepts.

A word directly qualifying a modifying word shall precede the word it qualifies, thereby forming a modifying phrase.

EXAMPLE 3  

The following rules apply to possessive modifiers.

  1. A possessive modifier for a noun in the singular form shall also be in the singular form.

    EXAMPLE 4  

  2. A possessive modifier for a noun having only the plural form will also be in the plural form.

    EXAMPLE 5  

Professional, trade, or occupational modifiers shall be used only when the item concept can be expressed more clearly.

EXAMPLE 6  The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

fixed open-end wrench

engineer's wrench

blacksmith's vise

leg vise

Material shall not be used as a modifier to a basic term or noun phrase since material is an item characteristic.

EXAMPLE 7  The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

metallic tube

brass tube

nonmetallic rod

hard rubber rod

7.4 Words and phrases

7.4.1 Homonyms

A word or phrase may designate more than one concept.

EXAMPLE 1  Concept 1:

dolphin

cluster of closely driven piles used as a fender for a dock or as a mooring or guide for boats

Concept 2:

dolphin

sea mammal of the family Delphinidae having a slender beaklike snout

EXAMPLE 2  Concept 1:

cap

small explosive device used to initiate the explosion of a larger explosive device

Concept 2:

cap

form of headgear having a close-fitting crown and having no brim

Concept 3:

cap

top for a bottle

Within this part of ISO 22745, "term" denotes a word or phrase associated with a specific concept.

EXAMPLE 3  In Example 2, the three meanings of the word "cap" would be associated with three different concepts and thus be considered three different terms.

7.4.2 Use of non-English words or phrases

The words and phrases making up a term shall be in English, except where a non-English word or phrase is considered to be more expressive than the English word or phrase and when the non-English word or phrase has received preferential use to the exclusion of its English equivalent.

EXAMPLE   The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

packsaddle

aparenjo

machete

heavy cutlass

7.4.3 Phrases containing Greek letters

Greek letters shall be spelled out in English.

EXAMPLE   The following is a pair of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

gamma ray detector

γ ray detector

NOTE   The term with the actual Greek letter (e.g., "γ ray detector") can be associated in the OTD with the same concept as the term with the Greek letter spelled out (e.g., "gamma ray detector"). In such a case, the term with the actual Greek letter is not marked in the OTD as conforming to this part of ISO 22745, and the two terms are considered synonyms (see 7.7).

7.4.4 Use of trademarked or copyrighted terms

A trademarked or copyrighted word or phrase shall not be used as part of a term except as applied to items controlled by the manufacturer who controls the trademark or copyright. Even in this situation, a trademarked or copyrighted name shall be used only when the technical name for the item is generally considered to be difficult to pronounce or spell.

EXAMPLE   The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable basic term or modifiers.

Acceptable Unacceptable

camera

kodak

refrigerator

frigidaire

decal

decalcomania

7.4.5 Use of capital letters

Only acronyms, proper nouns, words reflecting titles, and letters reflecting symbols shall be capitalized. Otherwise, a term shall be in lower case.

7.4.6 Use of abbreviations

A term shall not contain abbreviations, except as given by an entry in the OTD's allowable abbreviation list (see 10.3).

NOTE   Each OTD maintains its own list of allowable abbreviations.

Any abbreviation shall be unambiguous within the context of use.

EXCEPTION In the context of biology, conventional abbreviations shall be used in names of culture media and in mixtures used to prepare culture media.

EXAMPLE   The following are acceptable names of culture media and mixtures used to prepare culture media.

7.5 Syntactic rules

7.5.1 Use of hyphens, conjunctions, and prepositions

A hyphenated basic term or noun phrase shall be formed if a basic term or a modifier consists of a combination of the names applicable to two or more items. The applicable names shall be joined by a conjunction or preposition. The word "or" shall not be used as a conjunction. A slash ("/") shall not be used either.

EXAMPLE 1  The following are acceptable names that use hyphens, conjunctions, and prepositions.

Hyphens shall be used to link words in a phrase that forms a part of a term in order to avoid ambiguity.

EXAMPLE 2  landing-gear torque collar

7.5.2 Use of commas

Commas (,) shall be used when a basic term or modifier contains three or more principal components.

EXAMPLE 1  

EXCEPTION A comma shall not be used when an item name includes a preposition such as "with" in the item name.

EXAMPLE 2  

7.5.3 Use of parentheses

Parentheses shall not be used to enclose any portion of a term except in certain drugs and chemicals.

EXAMPLE   The following terms are acceptable:

n-(1-napthyl)-ethylenediamine dihydrochloride, analyzed reagent (2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl)trimethylammonium chloride n,n-dimethyl-n'(4-chlorophenyl)urea

7.5.4 Use of square brackets

Square brackets shall be used to enclose phrases within a term when necessary to avoid ambiguity.

EXAMPLE   modified adsorbed [[diphtheria and tetanus toxoids] and pertussis] vaccine

7.6 Terms for specific types of commodities

7.6.1 General

This clause contains guidelines for terms for specific types of commodities. These guidelines are not comprehensive and may be expanded in a later edition of this part of ISO 22745.

7.6.2 Terms for drugs and chemicals

A modifier shall be applied to the basic term for a drug or chemical where necessary to achieve differentiation between grades, qualities, or compositions.

Chemically significant symbols, when used in connection with chemicals, such as those for alpha, beta, dextro, gamma, inactive, levo, meta, ortho, para, and symmetrical, shall be written in lower-case letters a-, b-, d-, g-, i-, l-, m-, o-, p-, and sym. A set of such symbols is contained in the chemically significant symbol list (see 10.4).

NOTE 1  Each OTD maintains its own list of chemically significant symbols.

EXAMPLE 1  The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

a-naphthol, reagent

reagent a-naphthol

sym-dio-o-tolyl

SYM-DI-O-tolyl

thiourea, technical

thiourea technical

A modifier in the chemical grade modifier list (see 10.5) shall be used to indicate the appropriate grade or variation of a drug or chemical as applicable. Such a modifier shall be the last modifier in the term.

NOTE 2  Each OTD maintains its own list of chemical grade modifiers.

Position numerals included in chemical terms shall not be spelled out.

EXAMPLE 2  The following is a pair of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

2-mercaptoben-zothiazole, technical

two-mercapto benzothiazole, technical

When developing a term for an inorganic chemical, the cationic part of the basic term shall include suffixes such as -ic or -ous to indicate the valence state of the chemical where such chemical occurs in both forms.

7.6.3 Terms for dyes

The term for a dye having a color index number or a prototype number shall consist of the basic term "dye" modified by the name of the dye assigned to the index or prototype number.

EXAMPLE 1  

The term for a dye with no code number designation shall consist of the basic term "dye" followed by the color modifier of the using activity.

EXAMPLE 2  dark brown dye

The term for a dye mixture (mixture of two or more single dyes) shall consist of the basic term dye mix with a modifier indicating the color produced by the mixture.

EXAMPLE 3  seal brown dye mix

7.6.4 Names for mobile units

The basic term for a mobile unit equipped for a specific function shall indicate the function, not the mobile unit.

EXAMPLE 1  The following are pairs of acceptable and unacceptable terms.

Acceptable Unacceptable

decontaminating apparatus

decontaminating truck

machine shop

machine shop semitrailer

EXCEPTION Mobile units in which the specific function is the governing characteristics of the design may have the name of the mobile unit as the basic term.

EXAMPLE 2  The following terms are acceptable:

If the equipment contains mounted special equipment or apparatus necessary to perform a specific function, reflect this broad type of transport with one of the modifiers for mobile units.

EXAMPLE 3  The following terms are acceptable:

EXCEPTION Mobile units in which the specific function is the governing characteristic of the design.

EXAMPLE 4  The following terms are acceptable:

When the equipment design function requires some form of mobility, either vehicular mounted or self-propelled, one of the modifiers shall reflect the broad type of transport for which mounted or the source of mobility (prime mover) data.

EXAMPLE 5  The following terms are acceptable:

A term such as "semitrailer-mounted", "tractor-mounted", "truck-mounted", etc., when used as a modifier in the class name for a mobile unit, shall indicate that when the equipment is removed from the mounting, there remains a complete semitrailer, tractor, trailer, truck, or chassis. The term "self-propelled" shall indicate that the source of mobility (prime mover) is either:

When the equipment design is for a specific transport mounting but the transport is not a part of the item of supply, the name may reflect the type of transport.

EXAMPLE 6  The following term is acceptable:

truck-mounted welding shop equipment

The broad type of transport shall not be reflected in a class name for equipment that is not normally mobile, but that may be mounted on some form of vehicle.

NOTE   Pumps, compressors, and generator sets are examples of such equipment.

7.7 Synonyms

All terms associated with a concept shall be considered to be in synonymy.

EXAMPLE 1  The following are examples of synonyms.

A concept and its next higher assembly shall not be treated as synonyms.

EXAMPLE 2  The following synonyms are not allowed.

polarity indicator and test set subassemblies

A synonym shall not be generalized to the extent that it could be interpreted as applying to almost any concept.

EXAMPLE 3  modified meter is not allowed as a synonym of wattmeter because it is too broad.


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