Systemic features of terminology

The article is devoted to one of the unsolved issues of terminology science, that is, systemic features of terms. The interest to this issue is motivated by the fact that this terms quality is associated with the arrangement of scientific knowledge. For this reason, research on systemic features of terminology is one of the ways of studying human thinking. Traditionally this issue was regarded referring to the terminology structure. The main criterion was the level of terminology arrangement. The concept of structure was associated with the lowest level of terms arrangement, while the system was regarded in connection with the highest level. Traditional views on systemic features of terminology turned out to be fruitless, since they were not verified by empirical analysis. In our research, we are aimed at developing the concept of systemic features by considering terminology within the methodological and cognitive aspects. The methodological aspect provides to research terminology referring not to objects, but to human activity as a medium for a term. Cognitive characteristics of a term are based on the natural development of a certain branch of knowledge. The data for the analysis was compiled by means of texts devoted to nanotechnology. The tasks for the empirical analysis were intended to discover general features of nano-terminology as the units of representation of special knowledge. The innovational character of nanoscience, connected with the man's ability to create artificial nano-objects, is reflected in terminology. In the article, we discuss the main systemic features of nano-terminology, such as fantasticity and iconism.