Multidimensionality and terminological variation in text editing

Abstract

Variation is a relatively new area of study in Terminology, as traditional approaches initially based on the univocity principle and represented concepts in static universal structures. This means that for a long time, neither term nor concept variations were considered as important and were largely ignored. Nevertheless, specialised domains are dynamic, and dynamism is an inevitable source of variation. The same reality can be perceived in dierent ways, giving rise to different conceptualisations, which in turn cause different denominations to emerge. This is known as multidimensionality. This study explores this phenomenon by analysing its impact on term and concept variation in the domain of text publishing and philology. As will be seen, term and concept variation, far from being unrelated, are the consequence of the convergent influence of multidimensionality, context and dynamism in this specialised domain.