INTRODUCTION 2
CHAPTER 1.Definition and origin of the word "term" 4
CHAPTER 2. Anglo-saxon law system 6
2.1. Statutory Law and Common Law 6
2.2 The origin of the Common Law 7
2.2.1 Formation of the Anglo-American legal system 8
CHAPTER 3. English legal terminology 10
3.1. Latin borrowings in Anglo-Saxon law terminology 11
3.3. French borrowings in Anglo-Saxon Law terminology 13
3.4 The terminology of English origin. 16
3.5. Comparative analysis of the lexical structure of English and American legal terminology 18
3.6. Conceptualization of legal terms in different fields of the law: Transparent terminological approach 20
CONCLUSION 23
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..............24
Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….25
INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, the interest of linguists and specialists in different spheres of science and technology sharply increased to the problems of the private-sector terminological systems, due to the increasing flow of scientific and technical information, process integration, docking Sciences, strengthening processes of terminological creation. The last factor is particularly important for the law terminology because of creation and adoption of the recent proliferation of new laws.
The problems of terminology are also often discussed in connection with the growing automation of information processes, application of computers with aim of creating the banks, which would contain the terminological data or special kind of automated dictionaries. The development of such dictionaries and databases is impossible without standardization and unification of terminology and examining the linguistic problems of terminology, identifying features of the occurrence of modern terminology in each specific area of science. It causes the need of deep studies and further development of methodological aspects of terminological linguistic structure" .1
Nowadays there is no doubt that for the correct and scientifically grounded solution of terminological problems there is need of studying the terminology according to the acceptance of its natural and logical existence in the system of popular language.
Giving an urgency attention to the actuality of applying to the problems of terminology, we state the purpose of this study as examining the structure of the terminological aspect of English language and Anglo-Saxon law system in particular.
The tasks, which are faced in this study to achieve the aim, mentioned recently, can be identified as following:
1) to consider different approaches to the definition of terminological phrases;
2) to analyze the features and identify the types of relationships between parts of terminological phrases;
3) to analyze the use of simple, one-word terms in Anglo-Saxon law system.
The sources, which I used to complete this research are articles and monographs, dedicated to different areas of law, which are listed at the end of the work, as well as dictionaries.3
The importance of learning terms and terminological phrases is undeniable in the conditions of the modern world, because of terminology being the link between the various areas of knowledge, on the one hand, and on the other hand, it facilitates the more clear separation of different concepts. Due to the rapid scientific and technological progress, it seems necessary to pay more attention to various terminological sciences. Terminology is not static; it constantly evolves, expands its borders. Relevance of the topic, chosen for the proposed study is defined by the fact that the law terminology is considered to be one of the most important between different terminological industries. It’s necessary to admit, that the law terminology is widely used not only in circumstances of professional lawyers, but also in other areas of verbal communication, so there is a great demand of learning it for special purposes.
Law terminology is an unique object of study since being characterized by a large variety of spheres of application compared to other terms systems. According to the Commission on the genres of legal texts (UK), the amount of times, when the legal terms were used in the text, which didn’t have anything common with the legal text, was about seventy. Such a variety of genres can be explained by the multiplicity of law sources which apply to the English legal terminology and the development of common law family.
Later there would be given some features of Anglo-saxon law system for us to better understand the purpose of using terms in legal process.
We have established that legal linguistics promotes legal research. Equally, it can be useful in general linguistic theory. One of these questions concerns the limits of variation of natural languages and languages for special purposes. As for legal language, it is legal linguists that can answer this question. Legal linguistics can also be useful in other matters. A good example is the following question, presented by Swedish linguist Fred Karlsson: What are the principles of language change? Legal linguists can shed new light on this question. At the same time, they can examine how the language of judges and officials influences the development of ordinary language or the domain of use of different languages in society. This last question is closely linked to the position of languages under threat throughout the world – a question much debated by linguists3.
CHAPTER 1. Definition and origin of the word "term"
The word "term" comes from the Latin «terminus» (boundary limit). Linguists give different definitions of this concept.
For example, professor A. Alimov in his book defines term as “unambiguous words, lacking expressivity”1. M. Glushko claims that the term is a word or a phrase to express concepts and notation subjects, having clear semantic boundaries and therefore unambiguous within relevant taxonomy.2
There are such characteristics, marked as the main features of the term in Linguistic Dictionary: consistency; presence of definitions (for most of the terms); lack of expression; stylistic neutrality.
Traditionally, the main requirement for a term is unambiguity. In terms we see the most accurate, concentrated and economical determination of scientific or technical ideas. Unlike the majority of lexical items, the terms denote precisely defined concepts, objects, phenomena; as an ideal - unambiguous word or phrase, lacking synonyms, often of foreign origin; among them those whose values are historically limited. In general, all terms can be divided in two types: general scientific and general technical terms; special (nomenclature) terms. On this condition there is need of having more detailed look of nomenclature terms, law terms in particular.
Legal terms - verbal designations of terms used in describing the content of the law (other normative legal document); words (phrase), which are used in the legislation, generic names of legal concepts with precise and definite meaning, and different semantic uniqueness, functional stability.
Legal terminology helps the accurate and clear formations of legal regulations, also achieving the maximum brevity of the law procedures and texts. Law terminology is the base of law document, its main semantic foundation, occupying its insignificant volume.
An important feature of legal terms as a way of professional communication is their close relationship with philosophy and ideology of the ruling class, with different political and legal theories, scientific trends, and legal experience. For example, from the jurisprudence of the Middle Ages we borrowed such terms as “feudal” and “feudalism”, which became the designation of the type of certain socio-economic formation.
Stanislaw Gozdz-Roszkowski in his work, dedicated to the approach of law terminology claims4:
“Legal definitions refer to words signifying the concepts in law as the language of law – belonging to the group of specialized languages – consists of technical or legal terms, as well as non-technical terms from ordinary language Numerous terms used in legal discourse derive their general meaning from ordinary language.”
The main fund of the legal terminology contains in the most important pieces of legislation. They define terminological standards and are guided for lawmaking body and publishing regulations. Constitution is the fundamental source of legal terms.
Consistency or internal consistency, conditioned by the logic of the law is an important feature of legal terminology. Legal terms constitute a complex organic system and are interconnected in a variety of links. It is believed that for the convenience of analysis, legal lexicon can be divided into classes according to the method of nomination concepts (terms and professionalism). Another parameter is the membership of a particular branch of law that gives grounds for classifying the tokens to the class vocabulary of general or sectorial law terms (industry value terms can be adequately understood only in the subsystem relevant areas of law). The third parameter is the classification of special vocabulary is the selection of realities which became toponymes, appellative and phraseology:
Old Baily - Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court, street name in London, where it is situated;
Miranda warning - the official announcement to the suspect of his rights under the name of the famous anthroponomy lawsuit "Miranda v. Arizona" (1966);
Pocket veto - «pocket veto" indirect veto U.S. President appellative (appellative noun).
Classification base for supplies to a particular class of the term, by the method of nomination and allocation type realities is relevant for the description of terminology systems of one language, and for contrastive studies.
CHAPTER 2. Anglo-saxon law system
While preparing material for this study I came to the conclusion that there is need of giving detailed description of Anglo-Saxon Law System. The reflection of stages of Anglo-Saxon law system historical development can help our better understanding of most important aspects of legal terms use in the different spheres of law. But before we delve into the history of the origins and development of the law in countries with Anglo-Saxon Law System, let us have a look at the theoretical component of the law itself.
Law is, generally, a system of rules which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, although the term "law" has no universally accepted definition. Laws can be made by legislatures through legislation (resulting in statutes), the executive through decrees and regulations, or judges through binding precedents (normally in common law jurisdictions). Private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including (in some jurisdictions) arbitration agreements that exclude the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution (written or unwritten) and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people. 2.1. Statutory Law and Common Law
There are two primary sources for laws: common law and statutory law. Statutory law consists of the set of laws passed by legislators. While this sounds simple and straightforward, it is really quite complicated. Legislators in every state PSs laws directed at controlling the same behavior.
Law organizes political authority in the scale of particular country or the whole world; it is also an expression of thou and interests of society gets its visual external confirmation and is secured in contracts and law documents.
Law is provided by apparatus of compulsion and control, and this is one of the main principles which characterize the state - the presence of public authorities. Law, like the stated, appeared because of the need of governing the state.
All legal systems deal with the same basic issues, but jurisdictions categorize and identify its legal subjects in different ways. A common distinction is that between "public law" (a term related closely to the state, and including constitutional, administrative and criminal law), and "private law" (which covers contract, tort and property). In civil law systems, contract and tort fall under a general law of obligations, while trusts law is dealt with under statutory regimes or international conventions. International, constitutional and administrative law, criminal law, contract, tort, property law and trusts are regarded as the "traditional core subjects", although there are many further disciplines. 2.2 The origin of the Common Law
The question of the origin of the law still remains controversial. Some scientists suppose law to originate at the same period as the state was emerged. Others believe it had already existed in primitive times. According to their opinion, the role of legal documents was played by simple rules or traditions. But both of these theories will always remain just assumptions because of absence of any proof. Law arises as a specific set of legal rules and related legal relationship in the history of the company for the same reasons and conditions as the state. First normative generalizations have been decorated in the laws of King Hammurabi, the laws of Manu, the Law 12 tables. Later in the course of further development of the society the national legal system begins to develop with regard to the nature, temperament and other characteristics of the population of the country.
Law came as a class phenomenon; it is an expression of the will of the economically dominant class. Major causes of the occurrence of the law were economic, political, social, even spiritual reasons, as with the emergence of private property occurred the stratification of society into classes, between which the fierce was struggling. Some scientists and offer to articulate clear reasons for the origin of law:
- Necessity of establishing a uniform procedure. - Necessity of maintaining it. - Registration of commodity-money relations
Law provides a rich source of scholarly inquiry into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis and sociology. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness, and justice. There is an old saying that 'all are equal before the law. The author Anatole France said in 1894, "In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread." Writing in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle declared, "The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual."
2.2.1 Formation of the Anglo-American legal system
The English legal system has a rich and informative history of its development, in which stood a separate, very large legal family, who received the title now - the common law system. This family currently includes all legal systems, with few exceptions of some the English-speaking countries. The common law was established in England after the Norman Conquest, later it was largely influenced by the formation and development of the legal systems of the countries that were politically associated with Britain. The common law of England has had a decisive impact on the development of the legal system of the United States, which now is very different from the legal system of modern Britain, but is included with her family in the common law. The common law has had a great influence on the formation of modern legal systems of India, Pakistan and several African countries. It should be noted that the English common law is not the law of Great Britain, it applies in England and Wales and Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man are not subject to English law.
English law has developed an autonomous way, connections with the continental Europe have had a negligible impact on it. Reception of Roman law in Europe has not affected English law. Historic date in the development of English law was year 1066, when the Normans conquered England.
Historic features of the formation of the common law played a decisive role in the fact that English law knows no division in the public and private, they excluded reception concepts, categories of Roman law. English national jurisprudence has developed many categories of the common law, not known to countries of continental Europe. The development of the legal system of England was greatly influenced by the formation and operation of equity in the greater role played by (passing through the Lord Chancellor) treatment of the citizens seeking fair judgment to the king - the source of justice and mercy. The principles applied by the Lord Chancellor, were borrowed from the canon law and Roman law, which helped to overcome many of the outdated rules of the common law and make fair decisions5.
At the beginning of the XVII century a compromise was reached between the courts of common law and the courts of the Lord Chancellor. English law incorporates the common law and the law of justice, which make additions or amendments to the common law. In this sense we can speak of the dualistic structure of the English law. Currently, the right to justice is interpreted by the English courts as an integral part of English law
As it has already been mentioned, the source of English law is the judicial practice. Courts do not only apply, but also produce legal norms. First of all, it refers to the activities of the High Courts (High Courts of Justice), in the moment - the Supreme Court, which consists of the High Court, the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal). High Courts in England have more authority and power. Judicial precedent, as a rule, only creates decisions of High Courts. Decisions of other courts may serve as an example, but they do not serve as binding precedent. Important source of English law as well as the legal documents serves an act of parliament and various regulations. In the XX century in England there was the development of legislation, the role of law in the regulation of the economic, social spheres of society had grown. The judicial power monitored the application of the laws. In our time, the law is not a "minor" form of judicial practice of law. Litigation and law are the main sources of English law.
Custom, doctrine and intelligence play an important role in the legal life of England. These subsidiary sources of law are used for filling the gaps in the current law. The common law in England is characterized as an expression of the mind. The common law has spread around the world and has become one of the largest legal systems. The common law has spread around the world and has become one of the largest legal systems. In each country to which it is common law, it has established itself as a national law, experienced the impact of a number of factors. In this sense, the common law serves as a model, which became the national legal system, with all its new features and peculiarities. There is quite interesting example of United States, which illustrates this theory. The English Common Law came into America with the first English settlers in in the XVII century.
CHAPTER 3. English legal terminology
Legal language can be divided into sub-genres, particularly according to the various sub-groups of lawyers. This is explained by the fact that the language of each sub-group of lawyers to some degree possesses particular characteristics (vocabulary, style). This is notably so as to the language of legal authors, legislators (laws and regulations), judges, and administrators, as well as advocates.
The division of legal language into sub-genres is a relative matter. Here, the traditions of the country concerned play an important part. For example, in continental Europe one can refer to notarial language. The reason is simple. In these countries – notably Latin countries – private-law documents have been drawn up, for a thousand years, by a separate body: the notarial profession. A notary is a lawyer who can be styled part official, part advocate. The long traditions of the notarial college explain the specific characteristics of their language.
The language of legal authors is characterized by greater freedom than the other sub-genres of legal language. At the same time, legal authors employ a good deal of scholarly vocabulary, notably Latin terms and sayings. Courtroom language is especially formal, often archaic. It often has a categorical character, in that judges use unreserved declarations and peremptory orders. In certain countries, such as France, courtroom language is also laconic when it comes to reasoning of judges.
By contrast, detailed argumentation, along with an abundance of rhetoric, typifies the language of counsel. In certain domains of legal language, notably in judgments, highly complex sentence construction was formerly used – in some countries, that still remains the case today. Finally, texts of whatever genre of legal language understandably include many legal terms.
Besides, legal language can be divided into sub-genres on the basis of branches of law. The main distinguishing criterion then becomes the specialist terminology of each branch. It goes without saying that a large part of the legal terminology of the various branches of the law is universal. However, that is not true of terminology overall. Criminal law, for example, contains scores of terms that are almost never used in texts on the law of property or constitutional law. Equally, in some branches of the law legal terminology is mixed with non-legal technical terminology: for example, criminal law involves psychiatric terminology, while land law involves surveys, and tax law involves accountancy. Old English legal terminology was presented by a rather complicated system of the terms, which was laid down in the laws of the Anglo-Saxon kings. It is possible to allocate the separate groups of terms, for example, a group of terms, which were used in cases, connected with cash and property fines:
- bot (compensation to an injured party);
- half-leod (compensation to a killed person);
- wer-geld (property of man’s family taken like compensation for an offence);
- leod-geld (compensation which was paid to the king and a family of the killed person as the compensation for a death).
In addition to terms, which meant fines and were connected with fines, there also can be highlighted terms, connected with the meaning of crimes:
- weg worte (robbery);
- fore-steal (robbery attended by homicide) Later came the terms that reflected the new legal ideas of protection of public order are not using certain rules, but only by force of arms:
- bryce (protection frominfraction);
- frith (right of protection given to people within certain precincts, e.g. church frith).
There were other groups of terms. 3.1. Latin borrowings in Anglo-Saxon law terminology
Since the 1050, new English laws were being developed on the basis of the norms of the code of Justinian, called the corpus juris. The influence of Latin was significant. The law terminology lost a close connection with the General language. It was "high-tech" and understandable only to the initiated ones. Instead of terms, designating certain legal traditions and customs, appeared nominees, indicating universal, artificially created rules, obligatory for all members of society, forced executable and, therefore, was the law.
Legal terminology was separated from the common language. Words that have fallen to the legal sphere from everyday communication, gradually receiving its own sense, understandable only to professionals of law in the definition. Unlike words, designating legal concepts that were familiar to all members of the Anglo-Saxon community, coming from the Latin word gained professional specialization, i.e. the scope of such words was originally already the scope of the General lexicon
Although English law was further developing autonomic, there is still a large number of direct Latin borrowings in English legal terminology. The analysis of the material showed that up to the present time in this terminology has survived quite a large number of direct Latin borrowing, which indicates the importance of legal concepts introduced in English law from Roman law, for example:
- mens rea (one of the necessary elements of some crimes);
- actus reus ;
- ad valorem;
- habeas corpus;
- obiter dictum;
But Latin elements also appear as such in modern legal languages. Modern texts contain direct Latin quotations: terms, other expressions, and maxims. This is partly a matter of rhetoric: Latin is used as a stylistic tool; an aesthetic medium. This is often explained by the need to impress the reader. Thus, by using Latin expressions and maxims, a lawyer sets out to show his professional competence in front of the uninitiated, or his colleagues. According to Ernst Kramer, Latin expressions and maxims form part of the “beloved folklore” of lawyers – folklore that law students rapidly make their own, even if Latin no longer forms part of subjects taught. Learning to use Latin expressions and maxims forms part of the socializing process of future lawyers. However, these expressions and maxims often fulfil a more important function. They are used to convince the reader or listener of the content of the legal order or to explain a legal concept. Moreover, Latin maxims have a mnemonic importance, thanks to their often rhythmic character.
Some countries use the quotations quite often. This is especially true of the common law countries: English and American judgments and other documents contain expressions such as erga omnes [‘in regard to all’,‘universally binding’], inter alia [‘amongst other things’], assumpsit [‘he undertook’;in connection with an action for failure to carry out a contractual obligation], mens rea [‘guilty intent’, lit. ‘blameworthy state of mind’], per diem [‘by the day’;referring, i.a., to a fi xed daily rate of remuneration], per stirpes [‘per branch / stirps’;in the matter of rights of succession], stare decisis [‘to stand by decisions’; expresses the rule of precedent], subpoena [‘under penalty of’; name given to a summons compelling an individual to appear before a court to give testimony], and so on.
Examples include non compos mentis (Vermont Statutes: 18 V.S.A 106, § 5163), mens rea (US Court of Appeals for the 9 th Circuit: USA v. Sablan 94–10533), perstirpes (Alaska Statutes 13.12.709; Kansas Court of Appeals in re Estate of Winslow 74,6663; various model wills), stare decisis (Alaska Supreme Court: Thomas v. Anchorage Equal Rights Commission 12/10/2994, sp – 5850). It is clear that Latin expressions and maxims appearing in legal documents (e.g., judgments) cause difficulties from the lay standpoint but often also from that of lawyers. That is why the authorities and language specialists from various countries have been determined to limit the use of Latin in judgments.
Our research shows that part of legal Latin is of international character. This is particularly visible within the civil-law legal family. Undoubtedly, the heritage of the European jus commune explains this observation. Until the end of the 18th century, legal science in continental Europe was supranational. Legal scholars of the countries of this region studied and developed, in Latin, a common legal system, independently of State borders.
Additionally, a partial coherence – though to a lesser extent – exists between the common law countries and the civil law countries: one-fourth of the Latin expressions and maxims in German-language dictionaries were found in common law dictionaries. We have to remember that England, in spite of its native positive law, was never completely left out of the common legal science of continental Europe. This common science had an influence in England, notably through the agency of Canon law and the lex mercatoria. For that reason, a large part of Western legal thought is common to both the civil law countries and the common law countries. Expressions and maxims belonging to this common heritage can be used in any Western legal culture. On the other hand, till the middle of the 20th century continental legal thinking had a fairly strong influence on the United States.
Nowadays, we should also recall the convergence of common law and continental law, by virtue of the activities of the European Union and the universal reception of legal institutions developed in the United States. This implies that legal Latin is crossing the boundaries of legal families more easily than previously[Picture 1]
3.3. French borrowings in Anglo-Saxon Law terminology
The Norman conquest was another important factor that finally changed all Anglo-Saxon law, and with it the language of his service. The new language of the ruling class, ancient French, completely replaced the Anglo-Saxon language in the official sphere. The Anglo-Saxon legal terms, surviving after the first flow of direct Latin borrowings were almost completely replaced by obsolete French counterparts, for example, urheil and adfulturum - ordeal and compugation, etc. In modern English legal terminology there are French borrowings as:
- carte blanche;
- droit;
- autrefois acquit;
- rapprochement;
Legal French maintains close relations with other Romance legal languages, as much through linguistic affinity as through the common legal heritage.
In medieval Europe, two factors apt to unify the law stood out: the Canon law of the Church and the secular jus commune, based on Roman law codified in the Byzantine Empire and taught in the universities. These were supranational systems of law. Apart from Germany, the Romance countries formed the core of a uniform culture of Canon law and jus commune. This is why the basis of legal thinking and the manner of systematising the legal order remain essentially the same in these countries. Later, the cultural dominance of France and the fact that French law might serve as a model abroad, combined to reinforce this uniformity. As we have seen, the French Civil Code (1804) provided a model or blueprint in various countries of the world. In some countries or some regions, it was even implemented as such, or virtually so.
It is important to claim that the French language became the conductor of the mediated Latin borrowings, referring to basic concepts of case law, for example:
- justice;
- accuse;
- cause;
- jury;
- plead;
- heritage;
- marriage;
- prison;
- your felony.
Mediated Latin borrowing outlined the legal concepts and institutions that already rethought within the Western legal tradition, forcibly introduced by the Norman legal culture, and became the basis of English common system. Among these mediated Latin borrowings which came into English from ancient French, the greatest interest is the term trespass, which brought into English law a completely new concept of "damage someone else 's property", on the basis of which was created a system of property rights protection, one of the laws that makes up the triptych of the greatest values of Western man, and hence the subsystem of terms denoting such concepts. All modern English and American civil law is built on trespass.
In addition to the direct and indirect Latin borrowings, part of the English legal terminology included a large number of templates from Latin, because after the publication of Edward III 's order of the maintenance of all court cases in English and settle of the English as the national language, all legal documents were translated from Latin to English, for example:
- legal aid – in forma pauperis;
- facts of crime – corpus delicti;
- beyond powers – ultra vires;
- donation gift – donation mortis causa;
- lawsuit – lis;
- law of the place where the crime occurred – lex loci delicti;
- after the event – ex post facto;
- invoice – pro forma;
- full bench – en bane
As part of the English legal terminology, there is a composite of the combined terms, one of which is a direct Latin borrowing, and the other English term or assimilated borrowings, for example:
- pro forma letter;
- ad valorem duty;
- writ of habeas corpus;
- action in rem;
- guardian ad litem
A sufficiently large number of such terms in English legal terminology appeared due to the brevity of the received term as translation of the Latin part of the English language would have made terms too complex and less accurate. In addition, there are a fairly large number of terms - internationalisms in English law terminology. These include the terms of Greco-Latin origin, for example:
- prostitution;
- doctrine;
- precedent;
To sum up, we can conclude that legal French language and the legal languages of other Romance countries are quite close to one another. First of all, a large part of the legal terminology, both in France and the other Romance countries, comes from the Latin of Roman and medieval legal science. Further, many French legal terms were adopted in other Romance countries: this essentially involves variants of the same word-stems from Latin. Secondly, the conceptual system that these terms express is built on a common base: the legal order is understood and systematised in the same way in all Romance countries. For this reason, the similarity in appearance of legal terms in these countries is not in general misleading: all variants of the same word-stem express the same concept. Naturally, exceptions to this rule exist, some of them significant.
3.4 The terminology of English origin.
The presence of such a number of internationalisms in the composition of English legal terminology suggests that the trend towards the internationalization of most legal terms and concepts really exists. Within this trend, there is also the emergence of internationalisms of English origin, for example:
- lock out;
- warrant;
- good will and other.
The conceptual system of English law was created under the operation of specific historical circumstances. At the same time, the development of legal English was strongly influenced by two languages: Latin and French (see below). All of this is still in evidence today: the characteristics of modern legal English are basically explained by the country’s legal and linguistic history – a highly original history. On this basis, it is possible to understand why the modes of expression of legal English differ from those of the legal languages of continental Europe. This knowledge also enables avoidance of mistakes and misunderstandings: because of the peculiar history of English law, apparently identical terms can refer to totally divergent concepts in England and in continental Europe. On the other hand, English law contains many concepts that do not appear at all elsewhere and that are therefore incomprehensible for a foreigner.
Talking about English law terminology, you can’t help mentioning the synonymy in it. It is considered that the terminology can be only absolute synonymy. It is the result of a "clash" in the terminological system of borrowing and the terms formed on the basis of the native language or maimed, for example, mercy killing - euthanasia, seizure - forfeiture, deceit, false representation, etc. Sometimes absolute synonyms differ only in syntax, for example, Natural Law is a Law of nature, Substantial law - Law of substance, etc.
One of the sources of synonymy in English legal terminology are euphemisms, which are observed in education terms with the meaning of the crimes (killing - deprivation of life - blood), or when the mention of one of the words is avoided since ancient times, for example, death penalty - capital punishment, capital case, capital offence, capital sentence.
In English legal terminology there is special mark for absolute synonyms, which have appeared in "collision" of the terminology with the existing terms and nominees, which have fallen into the terminology of the professional slang (hijacking - air piracy, white knight - potential merger partner), because such features of the case of the legal system shows the bigger part of the ‘real life democracy’ compared with ‘codified democracy on the paper’. The presence in English legal terminology several terms denoting the concept of "action": "action", "complaint", "claim", "plea", "lawsuit" can be a perfect example for such case. But not all of them are absolute synonyms. The terms "suit", "lawsuit", "action" and "plea" are absolute synonyms. The term "complaint" is a doublet of the term "claim". However, to speak of absolute synonymy of the terms "suit" ("lawsuit"), "plea", "action", "complaint", "claim" is not possible. Thus , according to the definition in A Dictionary of Law, for example, the term "action" is used in the following meaning: "A proceeding in which a party pursues a legal right in a civil court 1. While the term "suit" "... is commonly used for any court proceedings although originally it denoted a suit in equity as opposed to an action at law". So, these definitions point to the fact that the denotation of the term "suit" is much wider than the values of the other terms denoting the word "claim", so these terms are ideographic, not absolute synonyms.
As antonymy in legal terminology, it is possible to say that it is quite limited and is often associated with the opposition between legal and illegal, what is the legal semantic universal (legal - illegal, legality - lawlessness).
3.5. Comparative analysis of the lexical structure of English and American legal terminology
The comparative analysis of the lexical structure of English and American legal terminology has allowed to identify as many similarities as differences. Largely this was due to differences in the classification of crimes. Initially, the classification of crimes in the English and American legal terminology coincided. All crimes were classified as "felonies" (a felony is a criminal offense), misdemeanours (misdemeanor - category of the least dangerous crimes, bordering on administrative offences), "treasons" (adultery) with the generic term "crime". Under the old classification "your felony" was subdivided into: your felony at common law; capital your felony (felony punishable by death); statutory your felony (felony statutory law).
"Misdemeanour" consisted of two classes:
1) misdemeanour at common law;
2) high misdemeanour (state misdemeanor).
In accordance with the old classification micropole, presented by the generic term "your felony", was nominated "treason" and "sedition" (incitement). This classification of crimes existed in English and American law since the late nineteenth century, However, in 1967, a new classification in English legal terminology based on the allocation of the direct object of the crime was introduced. In English legal terminology generic term for this taxonomic structure was the term "offence" (crime, offence). The term "crime" was to denote concepts, previously expressed by the terms "your felony and misdemeanour". Instead of the terms "your felony", "misdemeanour" and "treason" are compound terms, formed on the basis of the term "crime" with various distributors limited prepositional constructions: crime - crime against the state; crime against justice; crime against religion; crime against reputation; crime against security; crime against morality.
Crimes against reputation include:1) libel (a defamatory statement made in permanent form, such as writing, pictures, of film)1;
2) defamation, the publication of an untrue statement about a person that tends to lower his reputation in the opinion of right-thinking members of the community or to make them shun or avoid him)2;
3) slander (a defamatory statement made by such means as spoken words or gestures, i.e. not in permanent form)3;
In the modern American legal terminology preserved old, borrowed from English law classification, which combines the concepts expressed by the terms of your felony and a misdemeanor.
Generic term in American taxonomy unlike the English term is crime, not offence.
The term criminal offences includes:
1) offences against persons (e.g., murder, manslaughter);
2) offences against habitation and occupation (e.g., burglary, arson);
3) offences against property (e.g., larceny);
4) offences against morality and decency (e.g., adultery);
5) offences against public order and government (e.g., treason).
In addition, there is a classifying crimes by severity in American legal system. According to them, the term crime has specific nominees, which are differentiated using alphabetic indexes A, B, C, for example, A your felony; B your felony; (C your felony and A misdemeanour; (B misdemeanour; C misdemeanour.
Also, it is a good idea to mention appropriating terms, the presence of which in the English and American legal terminology is explained by the fact that the legal system in such countries as Great Britain and USA is based on the precedent.
3.6. Conceptualization of legal terms in different fields of the law: Transparent terminological approach
Researchers often use subject-specific terminology in order to facilitate communication within a given field of law. Difficulties may arise when they must use scientific information that does not belong to their field. The transfer of information from one subject area to another is restricted by the technical vocabulary used in the particular field. If this is so, what happens when lawyers in one field of law use terms from another? Is the concept in question couched in the same term within another field of law as well? The process of conceptualizing one and the same legal term in different legal fields does not always proceed smoothly. As will be illustrated in this paper, the problem of conceptualizing legal terms in different fields of law calls for a transparent terminological approach. While it is true that legal concepts cannot be fully conveyed by terminology, a transparent terminological approach can contribute to the understanding of these concepts and facilitate their use in legal comparisons, thus making such an approach a condition sine qua non of legal translation.
In order to analyze the process of conceptualizing one and the same legal term in different legal fields, the following questions will be addressed: Which terms belong to a specific field of law? How should 'interdisciplinary ' concepts be classified? How can polysemous terms and synonyms best be treated? Delimitation of a specific field of law includes establishing conceptual and terminological limits. This is a difficult task because certain concepts can belong to more than one field of law, such as the principle of subsidiarity. Concepts used in more than one field of law are referred to here as interdisciplinary concepts. It is argued that although certain interdisciplinary concepts are expressed by the same term, their conceptualization may differ from one legal field to another. A combined terminological approach should be used to resolve conceptualization and classification difficulties. Such an approach is essential when classifying problematic concepts and translating US legal texts and finally, providing translation equivalents in the target language.
The problem of classification and conceptualization has received increasing attention not only in the field of terminology and ontology, but in legal translation as well. Within terminology, Felber distinguishes three types of concept classification: Begriffsklassifikation, Themenklassifikation and Gegenstandsklassifikation, Themenklassifikation, or classification according to the topic, serves for documentation purposes and is applied in the library science, whereas in Begriffsklassifikation, or classification according to the concept, concepts correspond ontologically to the object On the other hand, in Gegenstandsklassifikation, or classification according to the subject, concepts represent encyclopaedic concepts and correspond to the entire object.
Especially problematic are legal terms which are used in several legal fields, but convey diverging concepts. Sandrini rightly asserts that the solution to such problematic terms lies in disambiguating them by indicating the legal field in which the concept conveyed by the term in question is used.
Delimitation of the object of description involves the description of the relevant lexical units and their meaning within a specialised domain. Terminological work has traditionally focused on the organization of concepts and lexical units in a specialised domain, in which each term represents one concept and each concept is denoted by one term. Identifying a specific field of law and which terms belong to that field includes establishing both terminological and conceptual limits.
These units are particular to the domain they belong to, and have a highly specific meaning and only one conceptual referent (i.e., units with an ‘encapsulated meaning’). In general, technical terms can be found in specialized dictionaries, glossaries, and scientific and technical texts. Such technical terms are said to belong to a specialised language or a sublanguage. A sublanguage covers a special subject field and its most prototypical usage is in communication between experts in the field.
In the twelfth century a legal concept was spread, which confirmed existence of the law since prehistorically times and further development of it. This concept differs from the concept of Roman law, which considered the law to be a creation of the political authorities. Case model law is based on the developing collective opinion of the judges in certain cases. This legal model seems to be more personalized compared to a codified model. When taking the origin of the terminological nomination of certain doctrines, laws and regulations we often call it after the lawyer or judge who helped its development. The recent studies showed that such terms are more common in American legal terminology, than in English.
Propraline terms reflect national and cultural features of the US legal system, which, unlike the legal system in the UK, are based not only on precedent, but also on constitutional law. The names of Affairs, which became the basis for amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and therefore, to change certain legal principles, has acquired the status of terms, for example, Furman v. Georgia (William Henry Furman v. State of Georgia, (1972) was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, that came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was decided in 1976).
Quite a large number of direct Latin borrowings, French analogues in Anglo-Saxon legal terms, the crippled, from Latin, of a compound of combined terms, one of which is a direct Latin borrowing, and the other English term or assimilated borrowings has survived in Anglo-saxon law terminology. In addition, there is a fairly large number of terms-internationalisms, among which are internationalisms of English origin in English terminology. Synonymy in English legal terminology presents absolute synonyms, doublets and terms that are not absolute synonyms. Antonyms are quite limited.
Despite the fact that the legal system in the UK and USA is based on the precedent, there are many differences in the lexical structure of English and American legal terminology. In many ways the reasons for this were such factors as: 1) the difference in the classification of crimes; 2) the US legal system, based not only on precedent, but also on constitutional law.
CONCLUSION The knowledge of English language became a prerequisite of successful professional activity of the specialist in any industry. There is no exception for the field of the law. Moreover, the Anglo-American legal system, which was developed as a result of centuries-long evolution of a clear and coherent system of law terminology, has established a strong correspondence between legal reality and the terms expressing them.
The studies of English law terminology has a great value not only in theoretical, but also in practical terms. It is due to the acute shortage of textbooks and dictionaries for the specialist, the nature of the work which is associated with the use of English legal terminology. There is the urgent need of training, who will be able to translate legal texts of different genres in written and oral form accurately. Without special textbooks and dictionaries such a task is difficult to fulfill, because at the present time, students are offered the benefits of legal translation, containing the translated equivalents of certain terms and terminological phrases out of touch with the integral termination time. Although the studying of English legal terminology is impossible without acquaintance with their Ukrainian equivalents, there is no aim to find out the differences between two legal systems. And this is the problem to solve for the new generation of interpreters, who will be honored to deal with the law terminology.
Peculiarities of legal doctrine affect the use of terminology, therefore, the adequate understanding of terms is possible only after the study of relationships within each terminological system, and after studying some inter-correlation terms. It is necessary to emphasize once again that the object of investigation in this case is not just separate terms, but the corresponding terminology of the field.
As the above paragraphs show, dominant legal cultures have always influenced other legal cultures and their terminologies. On the other hand, however, every legal culture has developed to some extent autonomously. Common law and civil law are a clear example of this: the first was born in the royal courts of England, while the second was shaped in the European Universities. Even linked legal systems, such as those of Continental Europe, enjoy relative autonomy. Likewise, languages – ordinary as well as legal – always develop in a partly independent way.
Analyses of this type would complete the general information of a legal-cultural character set out in this work. These analyses could improve the chances of avoiding mistakes and misunderstandings in the comprehension and translation of legal texts. By the same token, they should have more general importance. BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARNIO, A. (1984), ‘On the Sources of Law. A Justificatory Point of View’,
Rechtstheorie (1984), p. 393–401.
On the Semantic Ambiguity of Legal Interpretation, in Dialectic of
Law and Reality. (Helsinki: Faculty of Law, 1999, Forum Iuris), pp. 17–24.
AHMAD, N. (1997), ‘Analysis of linguistic competence of the ESP learners’, in
Journal of Research – Humanities (Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan), 14
(1997).
C.GODDARD ‘Comparative legal linguists’ (2008) A ITCHISON , J. (1995), Linguistics. A Dictionary of Law. Sixth edition. Edited by Elizabeth A. Martin, Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2006. – p. 11. A Dictionary of Law. Sixth edition. Edited by Elizabeth A. Martin, Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2006. – p. 314. A Dictionary of Law. Sixth edition. Edited by Elizabeth A. Martin, Jonathan Law. OxfordUniversityPress, 2006. – p. 154.
SENEZ, D. (1998), ‘The Machine Translation Help Desk and the Post-Editing Service’, (1998), p. 289–295.
SALMI -TOLONEN , T. (1994), English Legislative Language in National and
Supranational Context. European Community Law English from the Syntactic,
Discursive and Pragmatic Perspective (Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto, 1994)
Alimov V.V. ‘The theory of interpretation’ (1967), p. 70
REMY , D. ‘Légistique. L’art de faire les lois’ (‘Draft of legislation. The art of making laws”) (1994) p. 200-212
FORESTER , J. G. (1998), ‘The Language of the law’, Litigation 41 (1998): p. 41 –62. www.Wikipedia.org
Bibliography: ARNIO, A. (1984), ‘On the Sources of Law. A Justificatory Point of View’, Rechtstheorie (1984), p AHMAD, N. (1997), ‘Analysis of linguistic competence of the ESP learners’, in Journal of Research – Humanities (Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan), 14 (1997). C.GODDARD ‘Comparative legal linguists’ (2008) A ITCHISON , J A Dictionary of Law. Sixth edition. Edited by Elizabeth A. Martin, Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2006. – p. 11. A Dictionary of Law. Sixth edition. Edited by Elizabeth A. Martin, Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2006. – p. 314. A Dictionary of Law. Sixth edition. Edited by Elizabeth A. Martin, Jonathan Law. OxfordUniversityPress, 2006. – p. 154. SENEZ, D. (1998), ‘The Machine Translation Help Desk and the Post-Editing Service’, (1998), p. 289–295. SALMI -TOLONEN , T. (1994), English Legislative Language in National and Supranational Context Discursive and Pragmatic Perspective (Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto, 1994) Alimov V.V REMY , D. ‘Légistique. L’art de faire les lois’ (‘Draft of legislation. The art of making laws”) (1994) p. 200-212 FORESTER , J
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