THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF TERMINOLOGY AND TERMINOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: DEVELOPMENT, SPECIALIZATION AND INTERRELATION

Abstract

Terminology constitutes an important component of the lexical system of a language and develops in close connection with scientific, technological, economic, and social progress. As new areas of human activity emerge and existing disciplines become increasingly specialized, their terminological systems expand and differentiate into narrower fields. This article examines the theoretical foundations of terminology, focusing on the concept of the term, the development and specialization of terminological systems, and the relationship between terms and the conceptual systems of particular fields. The study employs descriptive, comparative, and system-based approaches to analyze the views of Uzbek and international scholars, including V. P. Danilenko, J. A. Muna, S. Usmonov, G. O. Vinokur, R. Doniyorov, N. Uluqov, M. E. Umarxо‘jayev, Ya. A. Klimovitskiy, and V. M. Leychik. The analysis demonstrates that a term is not merely a specialized lexical unit but an element of a structured conceptual and terminological system. The development of technology, specialization of labour, interdisciplinary integration, industrialization, and advances in linguistics contribute to the expansion and branching of terminology. The study also shows that terms may belong to different parts of speech and can function as important indicators of scientific and technological development. The findings support a system-oriented understanding of terminology in which individual terms acquire their precise meanings through their relationships with other concepts and terms within a particular domain.