Normalization of terminology in the agri-food and gastronomy sector: The case of Porterval

Abstract

Academic institutions are at the service of the society that welcomes and promotes them. In Spain, the Valencian Community has a statutory institution with linguistic expertise in the language of the region (Valencian/Catalan): la Academia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL). This body, established in 2001, after an initial phase focused on the consolidation of grammatical and lexical norms, considered it necessary to create a terminology portal. Thus, 2016 saw the launch of the Porterval (Portal Terminologic Valencia), consulting software with the aim of creating a terminological database to account not only for general fields of knowledge, but also for terms for basic sectors of the Valencian economy, such as agrifood and gastronomy; the latter being especially connected to tourism, one of the most powerful economic areas in the region. In this regard, it should be noted that 11% of the specialized fields in Porterval are directly related to both sectors, without forgetting that, in addition, the lexicographic reference work for the AVL, the Diccionari Normatiu Valencia (DNV), also includes a large number of terms associated with agri-food and gastronomy. Our study analyses the operation and methodological aspects of Porterval, and considering the linguistic policy of the AVL, addresses issues related to the selection of certain lexical preferences over others (geosynonymy and formal variants).