Journal: Lexis - Journal in English Lexicology
Issue: Lexical Circulations between Specialised Discourse and General Language
Call Deadline: 31-Oct-2025

Lexis – Journal in English Lexicology, a Scopus-indexed journal, will publish its 27th issue in 2026. It will be edited by Evgueniya Lyu (Université Grenoble Alpes, France), Caroline Peynaud (Université Grenoble Alpes, France) and Inesa Sahakyan (Université Grenoble Alpes, France) and will deal with the topic “Lexical Circulations between Specialised Discourse and General Language”

CFP in English: https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/9823
AAC in French: https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/9821

Lexical Circulations between Specialised Discourse and General Language

Terms, i.e. designations of concepts within fields of activity or knowledge where they bear specific meanings, are by definition part of specialised lexicon (Woodrow [2018: 43]). For a long time, they were considered the sole markers distinguishing specialised discourse from general language (Kocourek [1991]; Lerat [1995]), assuming that such a distinction can be made at all (Cabré [2002]; Resche [2001a]). According to the classical terminology theory, a term belongs to a domain within which it maintains a bi-univocity relationship with the concept it denotes. Yet, in many cases, this assumption does not hold up when one examines the actual behaviour of terms in discourse.

Some types of specialised discourse, such as those in the social sciences (history, psychology, or sociology), make limited use of terms that are distinct from general language. Sub-technical and semi-technical vocabulary, for instance, refers to general-language words “commonly used in the discipline” (Woodrow [2018: 43]), though they are not necessarily identified as true terms. Conversely, some discourses include terms without being specialised themselves. Media discourse, for example, frequently draws on terminology from various specialised domains, such as medicine or economics, depending on current events, without necessarily adopting the characteristics of specialised discourse (Resche [2001a]). In addition, a number of terms circulate into general language, especially through determinologisation, a process whereby terms enter general usage, sometimes with slight shifts in meaning (Meyer & Mackintosh [2000]). Conversely, some may emerge from general language through processes, such as “dictionarisation,” which reflects the need to bridge general and specialised languages through glossaries and dictionaries (Van der Yeught [2019]). Terms are, therefore, not static units: they move across discourses, shift in meaning, and travel from specialised language into general usage, or from one domain to another. This movement raises the question of the often-blurred boundary between general and specialised languages. This issue seeks to explore these various forms of lexical circulation, both across specialised domains and between specialised discourse and general language, along with the impact of such exchanges on the degree of term specialisation, particularly from a terminological or discourse analysis perspective.

Translation and interpreting offer rich ground for examining how specialised vocabulary circulates between domains and between specialised and general languages. Translation decisions often require balancing fidelity to specialised meaning with the level of specialisation appropriate to the target audience or discursive context. These dynamics are even more acute in interpreting where real-time constraints further complicate lexical choices: interpreters must instantly recognise a term and assess the appropriate level of technicality to convey. Hence, the challenge in translation or interpreting is not only the selection of equivalent terms, but also the contextual appropriateness of the lexical items used. As Cabré [1999] and Gile [2009] emphasise, mastering terminology is not enough: translators and interpreters must also be attuned to shifts in meaning, reformulations, and lexical ambiguities that may arise as terms move between general and specialised discourse.
This issue welcomes contributions that explore lexical issues related to the circulation of terms between specialised and general discourse in translation and interpreting. Topics may include reterminologisation, whereby a term returns from general usage to its original or a new specialised field (Resche [2001b: 130]), as well as polysemy management, lexical adaptation in multilingual contexts, boundaries between lexicology and terminology, the evolution of terminologies, and strategies for translating technical terms (borrowings, calques, functional equivalents). Contributors may also address the oral/written divide, machine translation and AI-based tools for handling specialised vocabulary (Ganet, Kübler & Kloppmann-Lambert [2024]), and translator and interpreter training in managing specialised vocabulary.

As for the teaching and learning of specialised vocabulary, while there is broad consensus on the need for lexical mastery, several pedagogical factors must be considered. Nation’s [2001] classification of vocabulary by degree of “technicalness” is particularly helpful for reflecting on how vocabulary circulates between general and specialised discourse. This classification raises several pedagogical and didactic questions. The first concerns when to introduce specialised vocabulary into curricula. According to Basturkmen [2006], cited in Coxhead [2013], two approaches exist: either introduce specialised vocabulary at the beginning of instruction or wait until learners have developed sufficient general vocabulary. A second issue concerns the type of vocabulary to prioritise: should the focus be on general vocabulary, on cross-disciplinary academic vocabulary, or on strictly specialised terminology (Dudley-Evans & St John [2012])? A third concern involves general-language words that take on specialised meanings in specific contexts, and how best to teach them.

Once these parameters are taken into account, the question arises of how to teach this vocabulary. In her introduction to Lexis issue 18 on vocabulary teaching and learning, Hilton [2021] highlights the pedagogical uncertainty in France around vocabulary instruction and the near-total lack of robust methodology. This gap underscores the continued relevance of Nation’s [2001] framework, which identifies four strands of vocabulary learning activities: (1) meaning-focused input, (2) meaning-focused output, (3) language-focused learning, and (4) fluency development. Language-focused learning, which includes explicit teaching of lexical features (meaning, spelling, pronunciation), remains central in current practice. In this context, learners may engage in tasks, such as compiling word lists, creating glossaries, consulting databases and corpora, or completing exercises (e.g., matching, gap-fill, classification tasks).

For this issue of Lexis, we welcome submissions on, but not limited to, the following themes:

Axis 1: Specialised Discourse Analysis and Specialised Vocabulary
- corpora and databases: tools for the lexicological analysis of specialised discourses
- neologisms and neonyms: identification and analysis
- the role of metaphors and analogies in building specialised vocabulary
- diachronic approaches: emergence of specialised varieties, dictionarisation, evolution or obsolescence of terms
- vocabulary as a communicative strategy: intentional opacity (jargon, slang)

Axis 2: Translation and Interpreting
- terminology and lexicology: boundaries and overlaps
- machine translation and specialised lexicon management
- strategies for translating and interpreting specialised vocabulary (borrowing, calque, adaptation, etc.)
- training translators and interpreters to handle specialised vocabulary

Axis 3: Teaching and Learning Specialised Vocabulary in LANSAD and/or LEA
- types of vocabulary to teach in specialised varieties of English
- pedagogical approaches to teaching specialised vocabulary
- relevance of teaching specialised vocabulary through translation

For a complete list of references, please visit the journal website.

How to Submit:
Please clearly indicate the title of the paper and include an abstract between 3,000 and 6,000 characters (including spaces) as well as a list of relevant key-words and references. All abstract and paper submissions will be anonymously peer-reviewed (double-blind peer reviewing) by an international scientific committee composed of specialists in their fields. Papers will be written preferably in English or occasionally in French.
Manuscripts may be rejected, accepted subject to revision, or accepted as such. There is no limit to the number of pages.
Submissions (abstracts and articles, in Word document) will be submitted via the journal’s submission platform. If you encounter any problem, please send a message to Lexis.

Deadlines:
July 2025: Call for papers
October 31 2025: Deadline for submitting abstracts to Lexis via the journal’s submission platform
January 2026: Evaluation Committee’s decisions notified to authors
May 30 2026: Deadline for submitting papers via the journal’s submission platform (Guidelines for submitting articles: https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/1000
May and June 2026: Proofreading of papers by the Evaluation committee
July to September 2026: Authors’ corrections
September 30 2026: Deadline for sending in final versions of papers

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
Morphology
Semantics
Text/Corpus Linguistics
Translation

Subject Language(s): English (eng)