Causes of denominative variation in terminology: A typology proposal

Freixa, Judit

doi:10.1075/term.12.1.04fre

Article published In: Terminology
Vol. 12:1 (2006) ► pp.51–77

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Causes of denominative variation in terminology

A typology proposal

Judit Freixa

Published online: 23 March 2006

https://doi.org/10.1075/term.12.1.04fre

This article offers a review of the causes of denominative variation in terminology observed by different authors, based on a classification of the areas that motivate variation and illustrated by examples of the most relevant types of variation in the present context. This analysis offers a typology of the causes and sub-causes of denominative variation in terminology. It is presented in five main sections: dialectal causes, related to different origins of authors; functional causes, related to different communicative registers; discursive causes, related to different stylistic and expressive needs of authors; interlinguistic causes, related to contact between languages; and cognitive causes, related to different conceptualisations and motivations.

Keywords: terminological variation, denominative variation, causes of variation

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