Development and Peculiarities of Electric Vehicle Terms Standardization in French Language

Sakharov Yurii Aleksandrovich PhD in Philology Associate professor of the chair «Russian and foreign languages», Russian University of Transport 127994, GSP-4, Russia, Moscow, Obraztsova str., 9, building 9 amursky@riseup.net Other publications by this author

The problem of standardization of terminological units included in the emerging terminological systems (including electric vehicles) is relevant for modern terminology. The analysis of the standardization process of such terminological systems is important for establishing linguistic and extra-linguistic factors that influence the selection and formation of terminological units. These terms will later be added to dictionaries and glossaries, and then will be widely used in professional communication.

There are a number of definitions proposed by researchers and professional associations describing terminology and related concepts. Terminology is a set of words and phrases that denote the concepts of a certain field of knowledge. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) defines terminology as a set of lexical units or specialized terms that are used in some scientific field and provide clarity and ease of communication and understanding ^{[13, p. 126]}. According to V.M. Leychik, terminologies are spontaneously formed as the branch of knowledge to which they belong develops and represent a set of lexical units (which are not always terms). A terminosystem is a consciously constructed or ordered set of logically, linguistically or otherwise interrelated terms that can be part of a certain terminology ^{[5, p. 111]}. S.V. Grinev-Grinevich calls terminosystems a stage in the development of terminology, at which an unordered set of pretermines forming terminology passes into a structured set of terms as a result of activity on ordering and unification ^{[7, p. 418]}.

The most common unit of terminology and term system can be considered a term. The term refers to a word or phrase that denotes precisely defined concepts, objects, phenomena. The properties of terms include accuracy, consistency, unambiguity within the term system ^{[14, p. 478]}.

The transport industry is actively developing nowadays, being at the junction of many sciences and technologies.  New terminological systems of transport are actively being formed at the moment (unmanned transport, high-speed transportation, sustainable development, electric vehicle construction, etc.). The core of transport terminology includes interdisciplinary terms that relate to a variety of related scientific disciplines ^{[15, p. 32]}. It often happens that the same concept can be denoted by different terms. Hence, there are concerns that the quality of scientific interaction, the level of professional communication, the degree of effectiveness of methodological approaches and the introduction of new technologies may be reduced ^{[16, p. 40]}. Regulatory, design, and other types of technical documentation include a single terminology that does not allow for discrepancies. All this determines the importance of purposeful activities to transform and bring transport terminology into an appropriate form, and issues of standardization of terminology are given great attention both in Russia and abroad.

The regulatory requirements imposed on the term contribute to the streamlining of terminology. These requirements have been developed not only by linguists (language norm), but also by international organizations, state and industry committees, working groups (standards).

The objective of the article is to establish the features of standardization of the emerging term system of electric vehicle construction, as well as to determine the role of international and national associations, technical committees, industry associations and researchers in purposeful activities for standardization of terminology.

The first electric cars in Europe appeared in 1900, when F. Porsche designed the electric car "La Jamais Contente" and set a land speed record of 105.9 km / h. Further development of electric vehicles slowed down due to economic and technological difficulties in the 1920s, which gradually began to be solved in the second half of the XX century. together with the advent of technological innovations. At the moment, the leading companies mass-producing electric cars in France are Renault, Peugeot and Citroen.

The 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) set a goal for the world community to gradually reduce the consumption of hydrocarbons. One of the steps towards the implementation of the points of the concluded agreements is the development of alternative modes of transportation. The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy of France has submitted an initiative to the Government of the Republic, according to which it is proposed to allocate compensation to car owners who have decided to replace a vehicle aged 13 or more with an electric car or a car with a hybrid engine. The initiative is aimed at gradually updating the consumer fleet and reducing the level of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. It is assumed that from 2040 it will be prohibited to sell vehicles with gasoline or diesel engines in the country. According to analysts, by 2040, sales of electric vehicles in Europe will account for 67% of total sales. In 2017, the number of electric vehicles globally ranged from 0.2 to 1% ^{[12, p. 102]}.

The listed industrial, political and economic prerequisites point to the intensive development of electric vehicle terminology in the XXI century. to form an appropriate terminosystem.

Standardization is an important stage in the development of terminology systems. It can be considered part of the work on the unification of terminology (the creation of a common terminology presented in the languages of different countries). In her article G.B. Pashayeva ^{[6, p. 138]} comes to the conclusion that the unification of terminology occurs due to its ordering (bringing terminology to a single form or system), standardization (fixation in standards) and harmonization (ensuring comparability of elements of national and international terminological systems).

Standardization includes activities for the selection, analysis and elimination of shortcomings of terminological vocabulary, consolidation of the use of certain terms in standards and in information systems. This activity has a positive effect on the harmonization of industry terminology at the national and international levels.

The path of a term from the stage of terminology ordering to the stage of its unification includes the selection of terms for the formation of a terminological system (preparation of terminological dictionaries, reference books, glossaries and thesauri); development of a model of a terminological system with all its subsections, which will include selected terms; standardization of terminology through the analysis of terminological units and their logical, grammatical, derivational and other harmonization of terminology by comparing the terminological systems of different national languages, borrowing the necessary terms, developing agreements on the use of equivalent, unambiguous terms for naming certain concepts, objects, phenomena; unification of terminology by developing a common language containing all the necessary terms of a certain field of knowledge for the equivalent transfer of the meaning of terminological units in national languages. Each of these steps reduces the likelihood of synonymy in terms. Comparison of the listed items with the classification of terminological units according to the degree of their normalization by S.V. Grinev ^{[5, p. 140]} allows us to obtain the following result:

The term obtained at the last stage, which should enter the emerging term system of the electric vehicle industry, will be able to accurately name the concept, object or phenomenon in the regulatory and technical documentation and meet the requirements for it.

Researchers draw attention to the fact that practical terminological activity is conducted in two directions – optimization (selection of optimal terms and establishment of their meanings in order to adequately reflect objects, phenomena and concepts) and normalization (fixing optimal terms in dictionaries, glossaries, industry standards and other regulatory documents) ^{[1, p. 22]}. The result of this activity can be called the unification of terms and term systems.

The terminology of the automotive industry, as well as the term system of the electric vehicle industry separately, is in the process of standardization and unification. The complexity of the process consists in eliminating discrepancies in the meaning of terms and preventing the creation of redundant terms for the same subject, phenomenon or concept. Despite the predominance and leading role of the English language, to which science and technology are subject, researchers note that French is more widely represented in French educational and scientific institutions than English. The technical sphere is less affected by Anglicisms due to the status of French as an official language in international associations and the fact that morphemes of Greek and Latin are often used to form new terms. This, in turn, facilitates the dissemination of the created terms among the languages of the Romance group ^{[3, p. 46]}.

Standardization of the term system of the electric vehicle industry is carried out at several levels: international, national, sectoral and linguistic. These levels can also be correlated with the stages highlighted above, since the activity taking place at each of them for the transformation of terminosystems can be installed on them.

The international level of standardization includes the conclusion of agreements between various members of associations aimed at solving the problems of standardization of terms (the level of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The purpose of terminological activity at this level is to integrate knowledge, achievements of science and technology, to bring to unity the theoretical and methodological basis of science of the participating countries of these associations.

The beginning of purposeful standardization activities can be considered June 22, 1926, when the French Association for Standardization (L'Association fran?aise de normalisation, AFNOR) was established. On February 23, 1947, the International Organization for Standardization was established, which today unites 165 countries, including France. Within the framework of ISO, working groups and technical committees (TC) are formed, which form standards in various areas of activity. Along with other countries, France participates in the work of the ISO/TC 37 technical committee. The purpose of its creation can be considered the development of principles and methods for working with industry terminology. For example, today there are a number of standards regulating the work with terminological vocabulary, which can also be attributed to the electric vehicle industry: ISO 704:2009-11, Travail terminologique – Principles et m?thode; ISO 1087-1:2000, Travaux terminologiques – Vocabulary – Partie 1 : Th?orie et application; ISO 23185:2009, Crit?res d'?valuation comparative des ressources terminologiques – Concepts, principles et exigences d'ordre g?n?ral, etc.

Similar international institutions that are engaged in standardization and bringing transport terminology to a single form can be called the European Committee for Standardization (Le Comit? europ?en de normalisation, CEN), which unites standardization organizations in European countries in order to develop common standards ^{[8, p. 127]}.

The resulting documents are not only standards, but also special reference books and glossaries, thesauruses, regulations, collections of industry rules, official directives, etc. These documents regulate the process of selection, ordering of terms and unification, lexicographic work, use of terms in information systems, etc.

The national level of standardization of the term system of the electric vehicle industry affects the development of a unified terminology for use within the country within the framework of language policy or existing regulatory approaches.

By the end of the XX century, there were more than 20 thousand terminological standards in the world, among which national standards prevailed ^{[1, p. 22]}.

The activity of bodies at the state level in the field of standardization of transport terminology can be considered primarily normative (legislative). It is partly based on the established language norm and recommendations of state specialized commissions and linguists. This approach can be combined (combining different participants in the standardization process).

Purposeful activity on standardization of transport terminology in the French Republic has been carried out since the middle of the XX century, when simultaneously with the development of science and technology in the French language there began to be an increase in the number of vocabulary borrowed from other languages, which intensified in the 1960s. So, in 1962, the president of the French Republic Sh. de Gaulle demanded to exclude foreign borrowings in terminology if possible to use the French term ^{[2, p. 188]}. Meanwhile, special attention to the problems of the French language appeared in 1794, during the era of the Great French Revolution, when a law was passed prescribing the use of exclusively literary French throughout France ^{[1, p. 24]}.

Researchers point to the "language dirigisme" in French politics, which is expressed in the active intervention of state bodies in solving language problems (excessive borrowing, protection of the French language and promotion of its popularization).

The French Academy is engaged in the activities of rationing, clearing the language of excessive lexical elements and Anglicisms, and conducting lexicographic activities in order to streamline lexical material (including transport terms). Subsequently, the French Government adopted a number of regulatory legal acts and laws. One of the first was Decree No. 72-19 of January 7, 1972 on the enrichment of the French language, which ordered ministries to create terminology commissions. The commissions had to accept or reject new terms, select their equivalents in French, and form lists of terms.

The Law of Ba-Lauriol, adopted in 1975, prescribed to prohibit the use of foreign terms in the presence of a French term. Decree No. 96-602 established the Main Commission on Terminology and Neologisms in 1996. Since 2015 It became known as the Commission for the Enrichment of the French Language (La Commission d'enrichissement de la langue fran?aise) ^{[11, p. 237]}. The tasks of the Commission include the development of the use of the French language in scientific works, technical activities, and its dissemination through the proposal of new terms and expressions. The Commission is subordinate to the Prime Minister, and its members include representatives of the General Directorate for French Language and Languages of France (La d?l?gation g?n?rale ? la langue fran?aise et aux langues de France), Permanent Secretary of the French Academy, President of the French Association for Standardization (AFNOR), participants from various ministries and others. The Commission reviews the lists of new terms on a monthly basis, based on the reports of the ministerial commissions. The consideration takes into account their need to designate a concept, object or phenomenon, compliance with the language system and its levels, etc. After the approval of the terms, they are published in the "Official Gazette" (Journal Officiel), in official bulletins and on the website of the French Ministry of Culture in the section Franceterme, after which they receive a priority character of use. 200 to 350 new terms are published annually. The General Directorate for the French Language and Languages of France regularly publishes thematic collections of terms. A selection of terms from the "Official Gazette" is also published in the brochures "Des mots et des autos" issued by the Committee of the French Automotive Industry (Le Comit? des Constructeurs Fran?ais d'Automobiles). For example, fr. la antiblocage de s?curit? – English anti-lock braking system – rus. anti–lock system; fr. le d'flecteur – English spoiler - rus. spoiler; fr. le feux de d?tresse – English hazard warning lights – Russian emergency alarm lights.

In order to implement the French language enrichment program, there are 19 expert groups under the ministries, which include industry specialists (responsible for content), linguists (editing) and citizens (use in speech). Expert groups deal with the latest terminology in the sectors within the competence of the ministries: automotive industry, environment and sustainable development, etc. ^{[2, p. 195]}. The tasks of the experts include identifying new concepts in the professional environment, in oral and written forms of communication, in appeals received from officials, specialists, translators, etc. Expert groups collect information with the support of linguists from the laboratory "LDI" (Lexiques, Dictionnaires, Informatique) at the Universities of Paris XIII and Cergy-Pontoise and the "Scientific Center for Terminology and Translation" (Le Centre de recherche en terminologie et traduction). Partners from French translation associations also participate in the work of the groups: terminologists and translators of the General Directorate for Translation (La Direction G?n?rale de la Traduction) at the European Commission, working with the IATE database of terms; with partners in normalizing activities in other francophone countries (for example, with the Translation Bureau under the Government of Canada (Le Bureau de la traduction du gouvernement canadien) and with the Quebec Office of the French Language (L'Office qu?b?cois de la langue fran?aise) ^{[9, p. 238]}.

The result of a purposeful state policy in the field of language in France has formed a solid legislative framework for the regulation of the French language, as well as a network of organizations that ensure its implementation and contribute to the enrichment of the linguistic composition.

The processes of internationalization of terms launched at the international level can be continued in the creation of languages existing at the national level for special purposes. Intensive language policy of the state can lead to the formation of languages of this type. The terminological units included in the language can be formed using morphemes of the source language and international elements, usually from Latin and Greek, or can be borrowed from other languages (for example, English with subsequent assimilation). The meaning of the terms, as a rule, is consistent with the normative documents of the international level for the implementation of professional communication. For example, ISO standards about terms that comply with AFNOR standards.

The industry level of standardization of the term system is associated with the development of glossaries for use in the electric vehicle industry.

At this level, the work of professional translators and specialists competent in the field of terminology translation is of great importance.

As noted earlier, the activity of translating terminology in French is strictly regulated and conducted in accordance with French legislation. In order to improve the quality of translation activities, strengthen cooperation, promote scientific exchange, form industry standards and develop internal and external professional relations, professional translation associations were formed in France. Thus, in 1947, the Association of Translators of France (La Soci?t? fran?aise des traducteurs) was created, and in 1953 – the International Federation of Translators (La F?d?ration internationale des traducteurs). When translating scientific and technical literature, the translator needs not only to know the translation technique, but also to take into account regulatory documents and terms approved for use ^{[4, p. 521]}. To do this, some automakers publish multilingual glossaries and technical documentation that translators use when translating.

Automakers issue their own terminological glossaries, taking into account the terms fixed at the previous level. In order to improve the quality of training and dissemination of knowledge in 1998, the authors J. Flatley, J. Grossier, A. Longevial released a bilingual (French and English) "Glossaire de terminologie technique automobile" for Renault cars, ordered alphabetically and representing a terminological system constructed according to a logical principle (from the whole to the particular): fr. le redresseur – English rectifier – Russian rectifier; fr. le pont redresseur – English rectifier bridge – Russian diode bridge; fr. l e moteur – English engine – Russian engine; fr. l'acyclisme moteur – English engine acyclism – Russian acyclic engine.

The linguistic level of standardization affects the conduct of scientific research of terminology aimed at describing and systematizing terminological units of a certain field of knowledge.

The second half of the XX century was associated with the scientific and technological revolution taking place in European countries, involving the active development of science and the emergence of new industries. At the same time, against the background of the energy crises of the 1970s and the increase in fuel prices, there was interest in electric vehicles. The emergence of the need to create a new terminology was soon supplemented by the requirement of its ordering and unification. Normalizing activities against the background of growing international integration at this time becomes important. At this time, scientific schools with their own approaches to the development of theoretical problems of terminology were emerging: Austrian-German, French-Canadian, Russian and Czech schools ^{[5, p. 114]}.

The problems of terminology are considered in the works of A. Rey (the relationship between language, culture and knowledge), J. Dubois (semantics of the term), P. Auger, R. Dubuc, L. Gilbert (neologization), L. Hespin (sociotherminology), J. Rey-Debov (lexicography), F. Gaudin (morphology of the term), etc. ^{[7, p. 421]}.

According to P. Auger, there are three directions in terminology studies: linguistic, translation, and aimed at standardization and systematization of terms ^{[7, p. 419]}. At the end of the XX century, terminology became an independent science, and the study of terminology elements and term systems is conducted in cognitive, pragmatic, linguoculturological, communicative and other aspects.

The emergence of new technologies in the middle of the XX century . contributed to the emergence of associations of terminologists. The French Society for Terminology regularly organizes events that address the problems of using terminology. Numerous works of researchers are devoted to the principles of selection and description of terms, the peculiarities of combining them into a term system, etc. The European Commission in 2001 created the European Terminology Association (EAFT), in which 54 terminology organizations participate.

Such associations as the Organization for the Dissemination of the Business French Language (Les Actions pour promouvoir le fran?ais des affaires, APFA), which has been operating since 1984, and is working to collect and systematize terminological units in order to then send them for consideration to the General Directorate for the French Language and Languages of France, contribute to the expansion of the terminological system.

These associations, as well as individual linguists, participate in the work on the inventory of terms. It includes the selection of terms, their lexicographic processing, description of characteristics (word-formation, grammatical, etc.), ordering (compilation of lists of terms).

As the role of electronic information systems in the regulatory activities of the enterprise increases, the selected preferred and acceptable terms can be included in electronic dictionaries, glossaries, term banks (Euroterbank, Uniterm, Termium, Termsciences, Ecolexicon, etc.) ^{[10, p. 128]}. For example, approved equivalent terms from Euroterbank: fr. le v ? hicule ? ? mission z ? ro – Eng. zero emission vehicle – rus. environmentally friendly vehicle; fr. l e v ? hicule autonome – Eng. self-driving vehicle – rus. car with automatic driving system; fr. le circuit d'alimentation – Eng. fuel system – rus. fuel system.

Currently, thesauruses are also gaining popularity for technical industries, which contribute to solving the problem of modeling the term system, and solving the problems of automated translation of a term by a fixed equivalent in a translated language.

Thus, the activity of streamlining the composition of the terminological systems of various industries (including the transport industry) is under the control of state bodies and organizations, and specially formed bodies and working groups. Their work helps to accelerate the dissemination of knowledge by streamlining terminology and monitoring its use in documentation. The process of standardization of the term system can be illustrated by the following diagram:

Fig. 1. Generalized scheme of standardization of the term system of electric vehicle construction in France.

 The classification of the stages of standardization of electric vehicle terminology and practices applied at different levels allows us to judge that standardization activities at the national level have the greatest coherence of actions. This optimization and rationing activity, carried out by the largest number of different participants, serves as a transfer link between the industry and international levels. The creation of a term system that meets all the requirements is impossible without the implementation of optimization activities: the creation or selection of a term, analysis of its form and content. Despite France's strict language policy and great attention to terminology, the activities of linguists and terminologists are of great importance at each level of standardization. In this regard, it is advisable to take into account the organizational and regulatory features of the standardization of terms used at different levels. This will help to ensure the compatibility and uniformity of the applied methods for the development of the term system of the electric vehicle industry, which will have a positive impact on the standardization of its terms.