Terminology and gender sensitivity: A corpus-based study of the LSP of infertility

Abstract

Although the subject of gender sensitivity has been under investigation for some time in language for general purposes (LGP), this subject has not been explored in any great detail in the context of language for special purposes (LSP). There are numerous guidelines available for term formation, but the issue of gender sensitivity is not typically addressed by these guidelines. This article presents a corpus-based study of the terminology of the subject field of infertility, with a view to establishing the nature and degree of gender insensitivity currently present in that subject field and recommending extensions to term formation and usage guidelines to make them more gender-sensitive.