Terminology service and terminology work

The Prime Minister’s Office provides a free terminology service offering advice on the use of government terms. Our terminology service can help you translate words like säännös (provision), valtioneuvoston ohjesääntö, (Government Rules of Procedure), pääministeri (Prime Minister) or valtioneuvosto (Government) into Swedish, English, French or Russian, for example.

You can get in touch with our terminology service via email at:

termineuvonta.vnk(at)gov.fi

Terminology work

Terminology work involves defining concepts in special fields, such as tax law or education policy, and agreeing on recommendations for equivalent terms in selected languages. Its purpose is to improve the quality of communication by ensuring that the same term is used for a specific concept in all circumstances.

In a government context, it helps public officials across administrative branches to better understand each other’s messages and assists translators in choosing the best terms for their translations.

The methods behind and results achieved by this work are further used in producing data systems such as patient registers and in developing development ontology-based search tools.

Example of the results of terminology work

Term in Finnish: virkasuhde
Term in Swedish: tjänsteförhållande
Term in English: public-service employment relationship

Definition: an employment relationship governed by public law, created when the person is appointed to a public office or to discharge another set of public duties

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