The quality of the terminology used in a specialist text determines to a large extent the quality of the text itself, whether it be the original or a translation. Terminology is therefore very important for effective communication and knowledge transfer.
Pandemic terminology
One of the many challenges that COVID-19 poses is linguistic. The pandemic has seen new terms coined and older ones dusted down for reuse. The Terminology Section has responded by recording a wide range of terms related to COVID-19 in TERMDAT. The TERMDAT entries, in five languages, are regularly updated and offer information on what the various terms mean and how they should be used. You can also find them in the PDF glossary below.
Empfehlungen für die Terminologiearbeit (2018)
Die «Empfehlungen für die Terminologiearbeit» der Konferenz der Übersetzungsdienste europäischer Staaten (KÜDES) wurden von der Sektion Terminologie der Zentralen Sprachdienste der Bundeskanzlei im Auftrag der KÜDES vollständig überarbeitet und erweitert. Als knappe, praxisnahe und übersichtliche Einführung in die Methoden der Terminologiearbeit gelten die «KÜDES-Empfehlungen» in den entsprechenden Fachkreisen seit langem als Standardwerk. Die deutschsprachige, dritte Ausgabe von 2018 berücksichtigt neue Aspekte, wie z. B. die Synergien zwischen Terminologie und Contentmanagement, Terminologie und Wissensmanagement sowie Terminologie und Künstlicher Intelligenz. Ein neues Kapitel ist der informatikgestützten Terminologiearbeit gewidmet und befasst sich mit der maschinellen Termextraktion und der Datenverarbeitung bis hin zur Darstellung von Begriffsbeziehungen in Mind- oder Content-Maps. In zahlreichen Fussnoten und einer ausführlichen Bibliografie wird auf die aktuellsten einschlägigen Publikationen sowie die wichtigsten Fachverbände und Datenbanken im deutschsprachigen Raum verwiesen.
Die Publikation kann als PDF-Datei heruntergeladen werden.
TERMDAT Guide – instructions for making entries in TERMDAT
The Guide contains instructions on how to make entries in TERMDAT, the Federal Administration’s terminology database. It also offers extensive information on the theoretical and practical aspects of terminology work. The Guide is available in German, French and Italian.
This publication is available to download:
100 ANGLICISMS
… 100 stories (2015)
The one hundred Anglicisms in this publication include both colloquial words and more specialist terms taken from a variety of fields such as computing, transport and business. They have been chosen for their linguistic, historical and terminological interest, as well as for their popularity. The choice of Anglicisms was influenced by the book’s multilingual nature: some of the Anglicisms are used only in one non-English language (e.g. free press in Italian); some are false Anglicisms, i.e. created in a non-English-speaking country and not used in English, even though they sound English (e.g. smoking), while others have found their way into each of the languages (e.g. coach).
Written in five languages, the main objective of this book is to entertain its readers, while at the same time raising awareness of the richness of their own and of other languages.
The terminology collection is also contained in TERMDAT.
ABC of political rights (2012)
This glossary contains 135 terms in five languages (DE-FR-IT-RM-EN). The terms presented here are grouped into nine main themes. Each term entry is referenced to a single index number and all index numbers are listed in the index. This enables the user to find equivalent terms and corresponding definitions in all five languages quickly and easily.
This publication replaces the 2003 brochure entitled “Get to Grips with political rights?”.
This publication is available to download as a pdf document :
or as an ePaper
This publication can be ordered in print from the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (FOBL). Catalogue title: ABC of political rights 2011, Art.-Nr. 104.810
The terminology collection is also contained in TERMDAT.
Get to grips with GEVER? (2011)
This useful glossary contains fifty basic terms in four languages (DE-FR-IT-EN). The terms presented here relate to archiving and electronic records and process management (GEVER).
This publication is available to download:
You may also order this publication by contacting Federal Chancellery’s Terminology Section directly:
The terminology collection is also contained in TERMDAT.
Selected technical terms from the field of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) / ICT TERM (2005)
The dictionary contains around 700 selected technical ICT terms without definitions. The terms are listed alphabetically in separated tables in four languages (DE, FR, IT, EN).
This publication is available to download:
The terminology collection is also contained in TERMDAT.
Flood Protection Dictionary (2003)
This collaborative work produced by the Federal Office for Water and Geology (FOWG) and the Terminology Section of the Federal Chancellery contains 835 quadrilingual entries (DE, FR, IT, EN) on various specialised fields relating to flood protection. An enclosed CD-ROM offers additional search options.
The terminology collection is also contained in TERMDAT.
Terminology of Swiss Drugs Policy (2002)
This trilingual glossary (DE, FR, IT) was produced in collaboration with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
The terminology collection is also contained in TERMDAT.
Terminology of Official Cadastral Surveying (1999)
The trilingual glossary (DE, FR, IT) contains around 2400 entries of common technical terms in the field of official cadastral surveying. Each term is indexed by language and corresponds to a numbered entry in the dictionary.
The terminology collection is also contained in TERMDAT.
Land Register Terminology (1995)
The trilingual dictionary (DE, FR, IT) contains over 600 entries on land register and property law terminology.
The publication can be ordered from the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (FOBL).
Catalogue title: Terminology of Official Cadastral Surveying, Termdat 2, Art. No. 104.002
The terminology collection is also contained in TERMDAT.
Further information
