Glossary: Electronic Data Processing

Barry J. Edwards was a librarian with the Metro Toronto Library.

The continuing struggle for French language rights in Canada serves as a constant reminder that many unilingual English speakers look with distrust, if not disdain, on the concept underlying the issue of national unity. Yet, the increased visibility of the French language in all aspects of the daily life of even the most hard-bitten Anglophone does not alone justify the need for more and more reference tools of the sort under review here. More importantly, such specialized terminological guides permit bilingual Canadians to keep abreast of the rapidly changing vocabulary of both official languages.

These eleven mini-glossaries have been developed and published by the Translation Bureau of the Secretary of State “to facilitate communication in English and French within the Federal Public Service and to make more generally accessible terminology that has been documented in reliable sources.” In most cases, a panel of experts within a certain area of specialization has compiled a selective listing of key words, together with accepted equivalents in the other official language. All terms are arranged in a single alphabetical sequence with English entries in blue type and French in black.

While generally limited to fewer than 30 pages each, three of the most useful glossaries are accordingly more substantial: Hotel Industry (38p.), Social Services (43p.), and Postsecondary Education (48p.). The latter is particularly valuable for its list of equivalents of academic degrees from B.A. (Baccalauréat ès arts) to Th.M. (Maitrise en théologie). These mini-guides are obviously no substitute for comprehensive general dictionaries, or for complete lexicons on such topical areas of study as data processing, management, finance, economics, or records management. They have the distinct advantage, however, of easy-to-use format and highly current terminology. The topicality of terminology is reflected in the inclusion here of such relatively new concepts as “block parent” (parent-secours); “extra-billing” (surfacturation; dépassement d’honoraires); or “bilingual differential” (prime de bilinguisme).

The trend set by the Office de la langue francaise in Quebec in raising the standards of written French and in ridding the language of unwelcome anglicisms is carried over here. Nonetheless, the desire to create acceptable French equivalents of commonly used English terms has resulted on occasion in such imprecise concoctions as “halte-garderie” for “drop-in day-care centre”; “avantage sociaux” for “fringe benefits”; “note de passage” for “pass mark”; or “point d’equilibre” for “break-even point.” Even a genuine French word like “résumé,” now a mainstay in English, is eschewed in preference to “curriculum vitae” and “notice biographique.” Notwithstanding such minor quibbles, and the brevity of these glossaries, they will no doubt prove of immeasurable value to translators, teachers, students, and civil servants. Recommended for all libraries.