Philippine Thesaurus on Civil Law:English-Filipino and Filipino-English

Master’s Thesis Defense Presentation22 February 2012

Jonas T. Sahagun

Examination Committee:Atty. Vyva Victoria M. Aguirre (Adviser)

Prof. Rosalie B. Faderon (Co-adviser)Dr. Jovy M. Peregrino

Prof. Kathleen Lourdes B ObilleProf. Grace Golfo

University of the Philippines DilimanSchool of Library and Information Studies

Philippine laws are all steadily increasing in number and are getting more diverse from day to day.

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The necessity to come up with tools to deliver organized legal information is very much apparent in libraries and the legal profession.

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The creation of a thesaurus which can be used for classifying legal documents and materials is the culmination of one of the activities in the practice of librarianship.

Thesaurus is the vocabulary of a controlled indexing language, formally organized so that the a priori relationships between concepts are made explicit (Aitchison & Clarke, 2004).

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Civil law is understood to be that branch of law governing the relationship of persons in respect of their personal and private interests (Vitug, 2006).

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“Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.” (Art. III, Civil Code of the Philippines)

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The question of understanding the law, which is written in a foreign language, arises for a majority of Filipinos.

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Therefore, this study aims to construct a controlled vocabulary on Philippine civil law with equivalent, associative, and hierarchical relationships of terms and translations in Filipino.

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1. What are the Philippine civil law terminologies which can be translated into Filipino?

2. What sources can be utilized to obtain appropriate Filipino translations?

3. What are the existing equivalent, associative, and hierarchical relationships?

4. Which of these terms best serve as standard index terms and lead-in or approach terms?

The construction of the Philippine Thesaurus on Civil Law, in English and Filipino, will serve:

1. As a vocabulary control device;

2. As a reference tool; and

3. To further strengthen and promote the use of the Filipino language in the legal profession.

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“Effective communication in any human context is improved by a common language that both parties understand” (Batty, 1959)

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According to Moys (2001), library users almost invariably approach the study of a subject of law in the context of the law of a particular jurisdiction.

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The legal terminologies collected were analyzed using the concept of natural and controlled language.

Combination of natural and controlled vocabulary, or hybrid system.

Thesaurus construction

The deductive or top-down approach.

Terms are identified and gathered from the literature and grouped into broad categories.

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Terms under the following areas:1. Persons;2. Family law;3. Property;4. Ownership;5. Obligations and contracts; and6. Other peripheral areas.

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The equivalent, associative, and hierarchical relationships:

• Broader Term;• Narrower Term;• Related Term;• Use; and• Use for

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BT Broader term / Mas malawak na termino

NT Narrower term / Mas limitadong termino

RT Related term / Kaugnay na termino

SN Scope note / Pagpapaliwanag ng sakop

USE Use / Gamitin

UF Use for / Gamitin para sa

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The degrees of equivalence and non-equivalence:

1. Exact equivalence;2. Inexact equivalence;3. Partial equivalence;4. Single-to-multiple equivalence; and5. Non-equivalence.

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1. Almario, V.S. (2010). UP Diksyonaryong Filipino. Quezon City : UP Sentro ng Wikang Filipino.

2. Commission on the Filipino Language. (1992). English-Tagalog Dictionary. Manila : Anvil.

3. Constantino, Ernesto. (1999). The Contemporary English-Filipino Dictionary. Quezon City : EAC Center for Philippine Languages.

4. English, Leo James. (1977). English-Tagalog Dictionary. Mandaluyong City : National Book Store.

5. Gaboy, Luciano Linsangan. (2008). Gabby’s Practical English-Pilipino Dictionary. Mandaluyong City : National Book Store.

6. Panganiban, J.V. (1973). Diksyunaryo-Tesauro: Pilipino-Ingles. Quezon City : Manlapaz.

7. Peralejo, Cezar C., Sr. (2004). English-Filipino Legal Dictionary. Quezon City : UP Sentro ng Wikang Filipino.

8. Santos, Vito C. and Santos, Luningning E. (1995). New Vicassan’s English-Pilipino Dictionary. Pasig City : Anvil.

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Advice of subject experts on legal terms and on Filipino language was sought to further validate the terms collected.

Advice of thesaurus construction expert was also sought in thesaurus construction in order to validate the initial output.

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The study resulted in two parts:

1. The Philippine Thesaurus on Civil Law in English, compiling a total of 433 terms consisting 361 preferred terms and 72 non-preferred terms; and

2. The Philippine Thesaurus on Civil Law in Filipino, compiling a total of 428 terms consisting of 361 preferred terms and 67 non-preferred terms.

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Sample display formats (English / Filipino)

CIVIL LAW / BATAS SIBIL SN Refers to the branch of law governing the relationship of persons in respect of

their personal and private interest. NT CONTRACT

ESTOPPELFAMILY LAWHUMAN RELATIONSOBLIGATIONOWNERSHIPPERSONPROPERTY

RT CIVIL CODECOMMERCIAL LAWCONSTITUTIONAL LAWCRIMINAL LAWREMEDIAL LAW

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BATAS SIBIL / CIVIL LAW SN Tumutukoy sa sangay ng batas

na nagtatakda sa ugnayan ng mga personal at pribadong kapakanan ng mga tao. NT ARI-ARIAN

BATAS NG PAMILYAESTOPELKONTRATAOBLIGASYONPAGMAMAY-ARIPAKIKIPAGKAPUWA-TAOPERSONA

RT BATAS KOMERSIYALBATAS KONSTITUSYONALBATAS KRIMINALBATAS REMEDYALKODIGO SIBIL

Concluding remarks

• Equivalent, associative, hierarchical relationships between and among terminologies were easily recognized.

• Translation tools are deemed exhaustive.

• Difficulties encountered during construction was the translation of technical and compound terms.

• The thesaurus is rather user-friendly.

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Recommendations

1. Continuous content building;

2. Testing for relevance and usability;

3. Development of an electronic Philippine Thesaurus on Civil Law; and

4. Development of the more general Philippine Legal Thesaurus.

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Thank you!