Variations in terminology: Application to the management of risks related to language use in the workplace

The study of variation in terminology came to the fore over the last fifteen years in connection with advances in textual terminology. This new approach to terminology could be a way of improving the management of risk related to language use in the workplace and to contribute to the definition of a “linguistics of the workplace”. As a theoretical field of study, linguistics has hardly found any application in the workplace. Two of its applied branches, however, Sociolinguistics and Natural Language Processing (NLP) are relevant. Both deal with lexical phenomena, — i.e. terminology — sociolinguistics taking into account very subtle inter-individual variations and NLP being more interested in stability in the use. So, taking into account variations in building terminologies could be a means of considering both description and prescription, use and norm. This approach to terminology, which has been made possible thanks to NLP and Knowledge Engineering could be a way of meeting needs in the workplace concerning risk management related to language use.