Influence of inner and outer means of formation on lexical variation (as exemplified in computer related terminology of Slavic languages)

The article gives a brief outline of a linguistic phenomenon known as terminological variance. Works on researches into outer and inner means of nomination are analised. The hypothesis that terminological variance may appear as a result of competition between lexical borrowings and loan translations is formulated. Examples from a number of Slavic languages prove the existence of synonymy and intralingual equivalence between PC-related terms that appeared through the ways mentioned above.