term

This article deals with the issues of the terminological system formation as a set of professional knowledge terms on the example of English customs activities. The terminology of this fi eld of knowledge plays a key role in the formation of a professional language. It is possible to use diff erent approaches in the study of the problems of systematization and classifi cation of lexical units. Firstly, the composition of the customs dictionary should be considered as a unique, integral structure, including separate components – thematic groups of terms.

The article investigates such semantic phenomena as ambisemy and eurisemy, and how they are implemented in definitions of English IT-terms and lexical meanings of those determinologised lexical units. The research data is based on both English professional dictionaries and general English online dictionaries.

The article studies the semiotic character of an IT-term and sheds the light on its binary structure. The relationship between the signifier and the signified helps understand the correlation between the form and content of a term. The ideal term is supposed to possess one-to-one correspondence between the signifier and the signified. When this correspondence is violated and becomes asymmetric, polysemy and homonymy may occur.

The article considers the main issues of defining the exact term: factors facilitating the exactness and factors preventing the precise definition of the term. The author researches the main scientific methods used to specify the meaning of a term unit.

The article studies the function of IT-nomens in mass-media. Differentiation of terms and nomens is of the outmost importance in the study of terminology in general and IT-terminology in particular. Mutual intervention of various aspects of social activity also causes the exchange of their terminological units.

The article deals with the problem of sociogenic factors’ influence on shaping of linguistic pictures of the world from the historical point of view with the example of the pictures of the world of law and jurisprudence in languages possessing different structural properties. Special attention is paid to one of the disputable issues of terminological studies – manifestation of cultural identity of terms.