213 Lynne Bowker School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland Peering Through the Linguistic Keyhole: What Can Term Choice Tell Us About Knowledge Organization? Abstract: It has often been suggested that terms are not prone to variation. Moreover, many standardizing organizations and terminology textbooks take a prescriptive approach to term formation and use in which they disparage variation. However, we believe that variation is not due to arbitrariness or carelessness, but rather that i t is well-motivated and useful in expert discourse. We hypothesize that multidimensional classification is one of the detennining factors behind term choice and we present an empirical study of the influence of multidimensional classification on term use in which we examine variant tenus i n context in a one-million word corpus in the specialized sub ject field of optical scanning technology. 1. Introduction Humans have a long-established propensity for ordering things. Order helps us cope with the world around us. In many cases, imposing order entails prioritizing certain elements, and those things which are accorded the highest priority are generally the things Ihat «core first». This pattern of associating priorities with primary positions can be seen all around us: in the entertainment world, where the priority is entertaining the maximum number of people (and thereby making the maximum amount of profit!), the songs or movies that are the most popular achieve «number one» status on the charts or at the box office; on a list of things to do, the action which is considered the most urgent or important is often at «the top of the list»; when travelling, if comfort and good service are your top priority, then «first class» is the way to go. Given this predilection for putting important things «firs!», why then does it seem so unreasonable 10 accept that a similar situation might arise in the context of term formation and use? Terms are the lexical items used to describe concepts in highly specialized subject fields. Because terms are used in specialist communication, where there is an emphasis on clarity and precision, it is often thought that they are not prone to variation. However, in this paper, we will present the results of an empirical pilot study which indicate that term choice can and does vary, and that experts tend to apply the heuristic of «most important element first» when forming and using certain types of compound terms. Unlike many terminology researchers, who frown on terminological variation, often putting it down to sloppiness on the part of the expert, we support the views of Patrick (1993:270) and Strehlow (1983:32), who believe that experts formulate their expressions carefully to ensure that the information transmitted is as precise as possible. Our hypothesis thaI multidimensional classification is important to term formation takes root in our view that specialized discourse reveals subtle nuances by means of particular phrasal choices. I other words, we believe that term formation and use is the reflection, in language, of the mental processes involved in concept formation and association. Furthermore, if it can be shown that naming patters, such as those reflected in complex terms for example, are developed on the basis of the systematic selection of certain properties and characteristics for overt inclusion in Advances in Knowledge Organization, VoL6(1998)