Analysis of Some Korean Terminologies on the Reproductive Structures of Seed Plants in Plant Morphology

식물형태학에서 사용하는 종자식물의 생식구조에 관한 한글 용어의 분석

Some Korean terminologies on reproductive structures of seed plants in plant morphology, written incorrectly in many books, were analysed to propose accurately expressed terminologies. 31 books in areas such as general biology, plant biology, plant morphology, and biological dictionaries and glossaries were selected to analyse the accuracy of the terminologies for reproductive structures in gymnosperms, e.g., cone or strobilus, seed (or ovulate) cone and pollen cone, and conifer(s) or coniferous plants, and for flower structures in angiosperms, e.g., corolla, anther, filament, pistillate (or female) flower and staminate (or male) flower, apocarpous, and syncarpous. The definition and etymology of the terminologies were traced in 4 textbooks of plant anatomy and 2 dictionaries of biology and botany written in English. On the basis of the definition, etymology, and principles for terminology formation according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 704:2000), reasonably expressed Korean terminologies were proposed. All of the 8 terminologies examined in this study were included in the glossary of biological terminologies, published by the Korean Association of Biological Sciences in 2005, and designated as an editorial source for science and biology textbooks for middle and high schools by Ministry of Education in 2007. However, the only 1 of the 8 terminologies described in the glossary were consistent with the proposed expression in the present study. These inconsistencies indicated the need for a reassessment of this glossary of biological terminologies. The newly proposed terminologies would facilitate mutual understanding between teachers and students of plant biology.