Reasons of Synonymous Expression in the Terminology of Astrology

Abstract

    Synonyms of terms is one of the most widely discussed topics of terminology. As illustrated by empirical studies, it can be both a research object and a certain aspect of research. When addressing one or another field of the use of terms from this perspective, the level of the spread of synonyms is often identified as the factor showing the stage of development in which the terminology of a particular sphere actually is: still developing, advanced or perhaps more or less settled. This article, which is also an empirical study, focuses on the reasons of synonymy, which have so far received far less attention from the researchers specializing in the synonyms of terms. By discussing the typical and atypical cases of synonymous expression in the terminology of astrology, the article investigates to what extent they can be explained by the set of reasons specified in terminological works and how much the given set of reasons could be revised and supplemented on the basis of the terminology of this particular field.