textual variant; variant reading
Refers to a part of a text that differs between manuscripts, editions, or versions. Common in philology, literary studies, and historical text comparison.
This manuscript contains several textual variants that differ from other editions.
The researchers compared the variant readings and attempted to reconstruct the original text.
It is thought that later textual variants arose during the copying process.
The researchers compared the textual variants across several manuscripts to estimate the original text.
This manuscript has textual variants in several places.
原文 is the original or base text used for comparison, while 異文 is a variant reading that departs from it.
Compound of 異 (i, 'different') and 文 (bun, 'text, writing'). The reading いぶん follows standard on'yomi. The term is used in classical and modern textual scholarship.