<p>The concept of equivalence has for many years attracted attention of researchers in variousdisciplines: from mathematics to philosophy to translation theory to terminology. This thesisintends to survey the concept of equivalence in three subject fields all of which focus onlanguages and communication, namely: translation theory, lexicography and terminology. Thepurpose of the paper is twofold: to investigate the theoretical grounds of equivalence in thesethree disciplines and to survey the methods and practices of establishing equivalence inmultilingual terminology work. The results of the theoretical investigation are summed up onthe basis of the terminological concept analysis. Four concepts systems are structured andpresented in the form of concept diagrams (two for translation theory, one for lexicography andone for terminology). The concept systems give an overview of the current understanding ofequivalence in the three subject fields and expose the relations between equivalence and anumber of related concepts. The central theoretical question of the thesis whether equivalencecould be considered the same concept in all three disciplines is answered on the basis of theresults of the terminological concept analysis. The empirical investigation is carried out in theform of case studies in the frame of multilingual terminology work. It focuses on the problemsof establishing equivalence, of determining the degree of equivalence as well as on the methodsand practices of presenting equivalents in various terminological resources.</p>

La terminologie, telle quelle se pratique au Québec depuis une cinquantaine d'années, s'inscrit dans un projet d'aménagement linguistique qui vise à faire du français la langue d'utilisation commune sur le territoire québécois. La mise en œuvre de ce projet a été confiée à l'Office québécois de la langue française. Dans le cadre de la présente thèse, nous évaluons l'influence de l'aménagement linguistique sur l'orientation des travaux de terminologie à l'Office québécois de la langue française de 1961 à 2004. Notre objectif principal est de montrer que le projet d'aménagement linguistique a engendré une intense activité terminologique à la suite de l'adoption de diverses lois linguistiques au cours des cinquante dernières années. Plus précisément, nous analysons l'impact de ces lois sur le développement de la pratique de la terminologie. Pour ce faire, nous avons proposé six périodes qui caractérisent les travaux de terminologie de l'Office québécois de la langue française de 1961 à 2004. À l'intérieur de ces six périodes, nous analysons les mandats que les lois linguistiques ont confiés à l'Office et leurs répercussions sur l'orientation de ses travaux terminologiques. À l'instar de la problématique que nous avons esquissée au début de cette thèse, les résultats de notre recherche révèlent que la pratique de la terminologie est liée au projet de société que le Québec s'est donné pour assurer la défense du français sur son territoire. En outre, l'adoption des lois linguistiques a favorisé le développement de la pratique de la terminologie. Cette pratique a évolué en fonction des différents mandats confiés à l'Office québécois de la langue française qui a mis au point une méthodologie de travail en terminologie. C'est dans le cadre de l'aménagement linguistique que la terminologie s'est développée au Québec et qu'elle est devenue l'instrument clé de la mise en œuvre du projet d'aménagement linguistique québécois. / Terminology, as practiced in Québec for the past fifty years, has been part of a language-planning project to make French the common language of communication throughout the province. The implementation of the project was entrusted to the Office québécois de la langue française. This thesis looks at how language planning and policies have influenced the practice of the terminology at the Office québécois de la langue française from 1961 to 2004. The main objective is to demonstrate that the language-planning project generated intense terminology activity as a result of the language laws adopted over the past fifty years. The analysis focuses more specifically on the impact of this legislation on the development of the practice of terminology. Six periods are identified for the purpose of characterizing the terminology work done by the Office québécois de la langue française from 1961 to 2004. For each of the six periods, the legislated mandates of the Office and their repercussions on its terminology operations are analyzed. Like the situation described at the beginning of this thesis, the research findings show the links between the practice of terminology and Québec’s social policy in defence of the French language. In fact, the language legislation fostered developments in the practice of the terminology. This practice and the terminology work method developed by the Office québécois de la langue française were honed according to the various mandates assigned to the Office. Québec’s language policy provided a framework in which terminology developed and became a key instrument for the province’s language-planning project.

The concept of equivalence has for many years attracted attention of researchers in variousdisciplines: from mathematics to philosophy to translation theory to terminology. This thesisintends to survey the concept of equivalence in three subject fields all of which focus onlanguages and communication, namely: translation theory, lexicography and terminology. Thepurpose of the paper is twofold: to investigate the theoretical grounds of equivalence in thesethree disciplines and to survey the methods and practices of establishing equivalence inmultilingual terminology work. The results of the theoretical investigation are summed up onthe basis of the terminological concept analysis. Four concepts systems are structured andpresented in the form of concept diagrams (two for translation theory, one for lexicography andone for terminology). The concept systems give an overview of the current understanding ofequivalence in the three subject fields and expose the relations between equivalence and anumber of related concepts. The central theoretical question of the thesis whether equivalencecould be considered the same concept in all three disciplines is answered on the basis of theresults of the terminological concept analysis. The empirical investigation is carried out in theform of case studies in the frame of multilingual terminology work. It focuses on the problemsof establishing equivalence, of determining the degree of equivalence as well as on the methodsand practices of presenting equivalents in various terminological resources.