HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF TERMS: TRADITIONAL IRRIGATION VOCABULARY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN TERMINOLOGY

Abstract

This article examines the historical formation and modernization of irrigation-related terminology. It discusses traditional and early irrigation terms (e.g., canal/ditch systems, dams, embankments, water diversion structures) by focusing on their semantic and functional features, the stages of terminologization, and normalization. The paper also analyzes the emergence and consolidation of modern terms in the 20th–21st centuries driven by technological and scientific progress (drainage, collector, land reclamation, filtration, mineralization, drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, laser land leveling, GIS/SCADA, etc.). Key mechanisms of borrowing, word-formation patterns, and meaning changes (narrowing/extension, variation, synonymy) are identified. The study proposes a historical-layer classification of irrigation terminology and outlines practical implications for standardization and sector-specific lexicography.