SOME OBSERVATIONS ON FRENCH TERMINOLOGICAL NEOLOGISMS CONTAINING CYBER-

Abstract

The article contains an analysis of 36 terminological neologisms proposed by the official terminology bank FranceTerme, containing cyber- either in the headword, or among its foreign equivalents. Three cases may arise if we compare English and French terms: (a) both terms contain cyber- (16 terms, e.g. cyberactiviste, cyberattaque, cybercriminalité), (b) cyber- is present in the French term, but it is absent in English (14 terms in which it replaces various English formants, e.g. cybercaméra, cyberconférence, cybermonnaie), and, finally, (c) cyber- is rendered differently in French (4 terms, diplomatie en ligne, dissident, -e en ligne, internaute, and mercatique électronique). Two terms containing cyber- have no English equivalents. Cyber- maintains its productivity in French terminology, even if there is no exact symmetry between the English and French terms and only 16 out of 36 terms correspond on this point in both languages.

Keywords: term; terminology; cyber; neology; FranceTerme.