Abstract

The present work forecasts semantic changes in specialized terms in the marine science domain using a corpus-based philological approach. Every field has words that change meaning, and in marine science, a highly specialized domain, such changes are significant. This work will identify and focus on a few shifts in marine science, their causes and consequences, and their implications for the science of discourse. Through a meticulously designed corpus of texts in marine science spanning several decades, the study sought to uncover changes in the terms and associated marine science terminology, which were broadening. This study isolates changes in specialized marine science terms and their meanings to identify their migration. New shifts in discourse that applied technology and new science, through multidisciplinary fields, altered the use of migrated terms. A change in the terms of discourse on marine science, making engineering terms for ecosystems and sustainability more prominent, demonstrates linguistic shifts in that discourse. The study employs specialized linguistic engineering to discuss marine science. The research also outlines implications for further examination of the paradigmatic transformations in marine science and their potential consequences for cross-disciplinary synergy, policymaking, and popular science communication. This work also addresses the evolution of language in response to the evolution of science and society. It brings to the forefront the cross-disciplinary reality of linguistics and marine science.

Keywords: Semantic shifts, Specialized terminology, Corpus-based study, Marine science, Philological approach, Scientific discourse, Interdisciplinary influence