Evolution from SARS to COVID-19: Technical and Humanistic Nature of Scientific Terminology from the Evolutionary Theory of Meaning

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2020.04.006

Abstract

Abstract:

Based on the evolutionary theory of meaning proposed by Halliday & Matthiessen (1999), this paper looks into the terms employed by both scientists and news media correspondents to designate the unknown virus including SARS, TARS, PARS, CARS etc. and eventually COVID-19 proclaimed by WHO. It is argued that the evolutionary process of the term COVID-19 represents on the one hand the difficulty man experiences when learning about the unknown elements as well as the impact of language system on human epistemology on the other. The second order nature of texts, the grammatical metaphor theory and the dialogic nature of discourse construction emphasized in systemic linguistics, therefore, well illustrate the ways by which scientific terms are ideologically loaded and it is safely concluded that scientific terminology is both technical and humanistic in nature.

CLC Number:

YAN Shiqing. Evolution from SARS to COVID-19: Technical and Humanistic Nature of Scientific Terminology from the Evolutionary Theory of Meaning[J]. Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies, 2020, 20(4): 55-65.

Figures/Tables 3

References 14

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