LUNG VENTILATORS, RESPIRATORS, AND FACE MASKS: THE DENOMINATIVE AND CONCEPTUAL VARIATION IN THE MEDICAL DEVICES SUB-AREA DURING COVID-19

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the denominative and conceptual variation in the terminology of medical devices. The analysis focuses on three devices directly involved in COVID-19 prevention and therapy: face masks, respirators, and lung ventilators. The aim is to investigate the uses of selected terms in technical publications in the area, such as ABNT standards and manuals from manufacturers of these products (specialized speech) and in publications aimed at the general public. The theoretical foundation is based on denominative and conceptual terminological variation research (such as those by CABRÉ, 1999; KOSTINA, 2000; FAULSTICH, 2001; FREIXA, 2002, 2006, 2013) and textual accessibility and plain language (FINATTO, 2020; FISCHER, 2020). We created two corpora to conduct the research: the first consists of user manuals and ABNT standards; the second consists of digital texts broadcasted by Brazilian journalistic media companies from March 2020 to June 2021. The analysis of the occurrences of denominative and conceptual variation in the different corpora proved a lack of homogeneity in the denomination of these medical devices. Although medical devices are a restricted area that is strictly regulated and found to be in the process of standardization, the occurrence of variation is usual, both denominative and conceptual, and this aspect is intensified by the process of disseminating science.

Keywords:
terminology; medical devices; terminological variation