Contribution to the vocabulary of computer science in English

As most study domain informatics encompasses a large set of specific vocabulary that was accumulated as the field grew from diverse horizons, without always carrying deep reflection on the terminology as a whole.

This project aims to gather ideas on that matter and to propose coordinated terminology which hopefully better highlight some conceptual connections through use of common morphs.

As clarity is a key aspect of this endeavor, opaque terms like acronyms are excluded from relevant proposals. From a practical point of view, proposals will also have to limit to 3 syllables maximum, though infrequently used concepts could also be presented with synonyms a bit longer.

Connectivity

The notion of connectivity is one of the founding block for any discourse about information shape and transformation. As a notion, it’s akin to adjacency, affinity, association, bond, closeness, compactness, conjunction, contiguity, joint, link, nearness, neighbourhood, nexus, proximity, relation, tie-in, togetherness, vicinity, on which stands any kind of conceptual scheme as arrangement, array, chain, collection, knot, graph, sequence, structure, order, mesh, network, region, set succession, string, tree, trie, web, zone and so on.

A morph to bind them all

One morph already in use that can serve as holder of this notion semantic is -aps-, present in synapse.

ℹ️ According to Wiktionary, the latter term was Introduced by neurophysiologist Charles Scott Sherrington, as a borrowing from Ancient Greek súnapsis/σύναψις: conjunction, from sunáptō/συνάπτω: to clasp. with latter morphe coming from háptō/ἅπτω: to join. That can be compared to Latin coniugātiō combining, connecting; conjugation, which in its grammatical sense is a calque of Ancient Greek suzugíā/συζυγίᾱ : union, junction, pair, coupling, conjunction, conjugation. The later coming from σύζυγος/sýzygos: yoked together, paired, which juxtapose su(n)/συ(ν): together and zugós/ζυγός: yoke, pair, itself supposed from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *yewg- to join, to tie together, to yoke. This links it to an other descendant of this PIE root zeúgnūmĭ/ζεύγνῡμῐ: to join or link together, which itself gives zeugma in contemporary English.

From this morph, many terms can be derived to lexically connect in phenomenological feats some of these notions sharing a common conceptual ground. As a start, let’s take three of the most frequently used terms in informatics: graph, tree and abstract syntax tree. The latter order presents them from the most generic to the most specific notion, each relying on the precedent as underlying foundation.

🔍 Graph are not part of the most fundamental structure such as set or category. Actually a graph is generally defined somehow like a pair of two sets, one presenting vertices/nodes and the other being edges which link vertices two by two.

Graph

🎯 The term graph itself is already present with assuredly well established use in the field, and its both short and is not even an acronym. So it might be tempting to not even bother looking at any other morph to start from. However at semantic level, graph is rather tied to visual themes, when the core topic at hand is connection.

With these information kept in attention, it’s trivial to bridge -aps- to an edge set, which as far as lexicology is concerned will be enough to allusively imply its vertex set companion. One possibility is to simultaneously maintain a strong lexical link with graph with a term like grapse.

🕸️ That also makes it closer to the German verb grapschen: to grab, which also inflect to grapsche, and is related to the English term grasp and its allomorphe graps to grip; to take hold, to understand, to take advantage of something, and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ-: to take, seize, rake.

The main downside being gr- lakes any direct interpretation in term of synchronic prefix in English, though it could always be diachronically attached to *ǵʰer-: to enclose, thus grapse could diachronically be interperted as an enclosing of junctures.

For those who appreciate dendrological analogies like tree, grapse also provides a term that is close to grape, but then should better be linked to its French root where grappe stands for raceme or racemoid which make it closer to the notion of cluster.

Tree

🔍 Trees in grapse(/graph) theory are undirected graph in which any two vertices are connected by exactly one path, or equivalently a connected acyclic undirected graph. However in informatics trees more frequently refer to a data structure which also defines a single entry vertex, and which might actually be directed/oriented.

With that perspective given on the notions of tree, a term like elusive panapsoid allows to render rather aptly its elusive polysemy. Indeed pan- stands for more than a decade kinds of comprehensiveness, while -oid can stands for resembling; having the likeness of or of, pertaining to, related to. So panapsoid could be interpreted as something pertaining to all connection between related elements taken as a whole.

Abstract syntax tree

As for an abstract syntax tree, first putting apart -aps-, a possible synonym is pantaxicon, literally an image of the order as a whole.

An other Greek root commonly used to mean order in English is kósmos/κόσμος, though cosmo- usually rather stands for universe, which in that context could be attached to the universe of discourse. And the suffix -ance or -ence can help to infuse the sense of a state carrier, a situation holder. It’s worth mentionning here that the term essence is related to the process of abstracting the inherent nature of a thing or idea.

Thus a cosmapsence can be interpreted as a state bearer for connections existing in the universe of discourse. With an apherese it can be shrinked to a more elusive apsence. The latter is obviously lexcally close to absence, which links it all the more with the notion of abstractness through the evocation of the abs- prefix.

Or alternatively an apsery can be interpreted collection of connections, as the -ery suffix can imply, and could be viewed as an apherese of a longer term carrying more precisely the intended meaning such as taxiconapsery or cosmotaxiconapsery meaning collection of connections pertaining to the image of the order in the universe of discourse. Let’s note however that the lexical proximity of asper might induce an undesired harsh evocation.