Translation, transposition, transformation, metábasis, transference... Different terms for the same concept?

Abstract

Most of the grammar studies on historical languages have contemplated the existence of substantivations, adjecti­val uses, etc., as mechanisms of transformation of several units of these languages and, at the same time, as proce­dures of linguístic creativity. Nevertheless, these transfomations not always have been justified of the same way, so we find a great heterogeneity in the terms (when there were any) as in the concepts to whích the used terms allu­ded. The authors who have preferred to name this mechanism have used transfer, transposition, transference, metá­basis, transformation, etc. This manifest terminological heterogeneity extends to the field of the concepts, and the field of the types of changes that can be found. Focusing our study, mainly, in the researches dedicated to the Spanish language, we wíll verify that the categorial change suffers from an unclear definition and applícatíon and this, as well, lead us to reflect on a much general question: the necessity to establish one theory of the language based on universal concepts capable, for that reason, of being used in the analysis of any particular language.