Engleska i hrvatska terminologija projektiranja, izrade i sastavljanja tiskanih pločica

Marko Miletić¹, Ivana Jurković¹, Robert Jolić¹

mmiletic@vtsbj.hr, ijurkovic@vtsbj.hr
¹Visoka tehnička škola u Bjelovaru, Trg Eugena Kvaternika 4, Bjelovar, Hrvatska

Sažetak

Tiskane pločice ključni su elementi svakog elektroničkog uređaja. Iz tog razloga te slijedom činjenice da je ovo područje tehnologije podložno ubrzanome razvoju, pojavili su se brojni novi nazivi. Većina literature, softverskih alata te priručnika napisani su na engleskome jeziku. Literatura na hrvatskome jeziku nije brojna, a nazivi u njoj često se nedosljedno koriste. Cilj je ovoga rada pružiti uvid u trenutačno stanje engleske i hrvatske terminologije projektiranja, izrade i sastavljanja tiskanih pločica. Predloženi hrvatski nazivi analizirani su i odabrani na temelju usklađenosti s normom hrvatskoga standardnog jezika te prihvaćenim terminološkim načelima.
Ključne riječi: terminologija, terminološka načela, tiskana pločica, projektiranje tiskanih pločica, izrada tiskanih pločica

English and Croatian Terminology of PCB Design, Production and Assembling

Abstract

Printed circuit boards are essential elements of every electronic device. Due to this and the fact that this area of technology has been experiencing rapid development, many new terms have emerged. The majority of literature sources, software tools and software manuals are written in English. Literature written in Croatian is relatively scarce and the use of terminology in it may be referred to as being inconsistent. This paper provides an insight into the current state of English and Croatian terminology of PCB design, production and assembling. The suggested Croatian terms were analyzed and selected based on the norm of the Croatian standard language and the accepted terminological principles.
Keywords: terminology, terminological principles, PCB, PCB design, PCB production

1. Introduction

Printed circuit board (PCB) is essential for the operation of every electronic device, as it represents the point of connection between all of its vital components. Printed circuit boards consist of non-conductive substrate, conductive layers, special-purpose layers and soldiered components [1]. The purpose of non-conductive substrate is providing mechanical support and thermal conduction. Conductive layers provide electrical connectivity and are usually made of thin copper foil. There are several special-purpose layers that serve various purposes, such as protective layers or description layers. Regarding the soldering technology, components may be divided into two basic groups: THT (through-hole technology) and SMT (surface-mount technology) components. This technology has influenced the rapid development of electronics and information technology, as it has allowed for faster production of electronic assemblies and increased the reliability of their operation. Rapid development has resulted in emergence of many new terms both in English and especially in Croatian language. The majority of literature in this field is written in English, while literature in Croatian is relatively scarce. Due to this reason, as in many other fields, English has influenced Croatian terminology of PCB design, production and assembling. In Croatian language this has resulted in occurrence of calques and completely unadapted English terms, which are connected with many terminological problems.

2. Overview of the existing status within the terminological system

As opposed to the area of IT [2] and similar to the terminology CAD technology [3], the terminology of PCB design, production and assembling is marked by the coexistence of synonymous terms, not only in Croatian, but also in the English language. Thus, in English there are synonymous terms one-sided PCB and single-sided PCB, while some English terms have several Croatian counterparts, e.g. printed circuit board may appear in the Croatian terminology as tiskana pločica, štampana pločica, tiskana ploča, elektronička pločica, elektronička ploča, PCB. In such situations it may be difficult to select the term whose structure reflects the terminological system and is adapted to the norm of the Croatian standard language.

2.1. Corpus and analyzed terms

The analyzed corpus involves professional literature (journal articles, university textbooks, books, translated books) and web sources. As the analyzed terms belong to the Croatian standard language, the analysis did not include forums, blogs and similar web sources that contain terms that do not follow the norm of the Croatian standard language. Technical dictionaries were used as well, but not many terms were found in them.
In the scope of analysis 29 terms characteristic for the area of PCB design, production and assembling were selected, compared and analyzed from the aspect of being part of the English and Croatian terminological system.

2.2. Linguistic analysis of PCB terminology

The majority of literature related to the PCB design, production and assembling is written in the English language. There are much fewer sources written in Croatian, which is due to the rapid development of this area and the fact that English has become a global lingua franca in many professional and scientific areas. Software tools and manuals are usually produced by foreign companies. Thus, they are mostly written in English.
English terms may be divided into three basic groups:

1. one-word terms (e.g. via, track)
2. multiple-word terms (e.g. printed circuit board, stop mask)
3. acronyms (PCB, SMT)

Croatian terms in the area of PCB design, production and assembling may be divided into two basic groups:

1. one-word terms (e.g. vod, film, jetkanje)
2. multiple-word terms (e.g. tiskana pločica, zaštitni lak).

Acronyms used in Croatian were not created by means of Croatian word formation, but were imported into Croatian from English. There have not been found confirmed acronyms formed by means of Croatian word formation. Furthermore, acronyms in the terminology of PCB design, production and assembling are scarce.

3. Results

Table 1 contains 29 terms that are characteristic for the terminology of PCB design, production and assembling. The analysis comprises four categories: English term, confirmed Croatian terms, suggested Croatian term and definition. The authors’ selection of the suggested term is based on the accepted terminological principles [4].

Table 1. Terminological analysis of the terminology of PCB design, production and assembling

4. Discussion

The analysis of the corpus has shown that both in English as well as in Croatian the terminology of PCB design, production and assembling has not been systemized to a full extent, especially in Croatian where many synonymous terms co-exist, which is not a desirable situation in any terminological system [5]. The suggested term was selected among the co-existing synonymous terms based on the terminological principles. In cases where no Croatian term had been found within the corpus, the authors suggested the term that reflects its meaning as determined by the definition. An example for this is the term ratsnest. In such cases it may be observed that in terminological research a close cooperation between linguists and experts in the field of technology is essential.

5. Conclusion

This research involved 29 prototypical terms used in the area of designing, producing and assembling printed circuit boards. The terms were analyzed for the purpose of offering an insight into the issues due to which it may be concluded that this terminology is still inconsistently used, as well as for the purpose of presenting a potential solution to these issues. The confirmed terms were analyzed according to the accepted terminological principles and the norm of the Croatian standard language. Whether or not the terms suggested by the authors will be incorporated and used consistently depends on many factors. The suggested terms may also serve for the purpose of further discussion oriented toward the systematization of the terminology of PCB design, production and assembling. 

6. References

1. Kranjc, A.: Tehnologija proizvodnje tiskanih pločica, Svijet elektronike, Vol. 5 (1998) 27-32
2. Halonja, A.; Mihaljević, M.: Nazivlje bežičnih računalnih mreža, Rasprave Instituta za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje, Vol. 32 (2006) 87-108
3. Jurković, I.; Hršak, B.; Badrov T.: The Terminology of CAD Synchronous Technology, Technical Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (2013) 116-121
4. Hudeček, L.; Mihaljević, M.; Hrvatski terminološki priručnik, Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje, Zagreb, 2009.
5. Babić, S.: Tvorba riječi u hrvatskom književnom jeziku, HAZU, Zagreb, 1991.