Chapter 11Stylistics of Legal English修改后Word格式文档下载.docx
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Chapter 11Stylistics of Legal English修改后Word格式文档下载.docx
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3.1LexicalLevel
3.2SyntacticLevel
3.3Rhetoricallevel
3.4Discoursallevel
5.Summary
AsafunctionalvarietyofEnglish,legalEnglishdisplaysmanydistinctstylisticfeatureswhichdistinguishitfromliteraryworksanddailyspeech.
ThischapteraimstodealwiththestylisticfeaturesoflegalEnglishatthelevelsoflexis,syntax,rhetoric,anddiscoursestructureinlightofthetheoriesofmodernlinguistics.
AsummaryofthelinguisticfeaturesoflegalEnglishwillfirstofallbesuppliedsothatthereaderwillbeabletohaveabetterunderstandingofthestylisticfeaturesoflegalEnglish.
1.1Definitionof“legalEnglish”,“legalEnglishStyle”and“LegalEnglishStylistics”
LegalEnglishisalsoreferredtoas“Englishof/forthelaws”or“Englishforthelegalprofession”.Thewriterofthischapterpreferstheterm“legalEnglish”toothersforitisageneralnamewhichismoreinclusive.ThistermisalsousedbynativespeakersofEnglish.Mcarthur(2001:
348)juxtaposestheentryLEGALUSAGEwithLegalEnglishwhenhenotesthatlegalusageis“theregisterofthelegalprofession.”Inhiseyes,“thetermcoverstheformulasandstylesofbothcourtsoflawinallEnglish-speakingcountriesandsuchdocumentsascontractsandwrits.”
ThenwhatislegalEnglish?
Inmyopinion,itcanbedefinedatleastfromthefollowingthreeperspectives,namely,variety,style,andlanguage.
Firstly,fromthevariantpointofview,legalEnglishisonekindofvariantofEnglishlikeEnglishforscienceandtechnology,medicalEnglish,commercialEnglish,financialEnglish,advertisingEnglishandsoon.
Secondly,fromthestylisticangle,legalEnglishisonekindofEnglishstylewhichisusedinlegalconceptsorlitigationornon-litigationaffairsbypeopleespeciallytheworkersinthelegalprofession.
Thirdly,someexpertsemphasizethatlegallanguageisakindoflanguage:
1)LegalEnglishisthelanguagewhichpossessesthelegalprofessionalfeaturesbasedonthecommonEnglish,formedandusedintheactivitiesoflegislationandjudicature(ZhangXinhong,2002);
2)Mellinkoff(1963:
3-4),theauthorityoftheAmericanLegalInstitute,holdsthatlegalEnglishreferstotheEnglishlanguageoflaw.
LegalEnglishisatypeoflegallanguage,afrontiersciencepartiallyoverlapping(?
)linguisticsandthescienceoflaw.LikeEnglishforscienceandtechnology,medicalEnglish,commercialEnglish,financialEnglish,andadvertisingEnglish,legalEnglishistheproductofconstructionofthelegalsystemsincethereformandimplementationofopen-doorpolicy.
ThestyleoflegalEnglishisviewedasthesetoffeaturesofEnglishlanguageoflawthatmakethelegalEnglishusersdistinctive—thebasisoftheirpersonallinguisticidentity.AndstylisticsoflegalEnglishreferstothestudyofstyleoflegalEnglish.
1.2ImportanceofLearningLegalEnglishStyleandLegalEnglishStylistics
WithitsentryintotheWTO,Chinainvolvesitselfintheworld’seconomymoreprofoundlyandwidely.Inthecontemporaryhighlylegalizedsociety,lawsarecloselyrelatedwithpeople’seconomicactivities.WhileoverseasinvestorsinChinaneedtolearnaboutChina’slaws,andtoconformtotheinternationalbusinesspractice,weChinesealsoneedtolearnaboutothercountries’laws.
ToknowtheknowledgeoflegalEnglishcanmakethosewhoarefondoflegalEnglishorworkersofthelegalprofessionsuchaslawyers,judgesandtranslatorseasiertoreadandunderstandthelawsinEnglish.
Moreover,underthecurrentcircumstances,thetranslationoflegaldocumentsalsobecomesincreasinglyimportant.Reasonably,adeepunderstandingofthestyleoflegallanguagewillbeveryhelpfulfordoinglawtranslation.
ItisreallytruethatmuchofthedifficultythatlawyershavewhilecommunicatingwithpeoplewhodonotmajorinLawisnotsimplyanissueofsocialandphysicalworld.Forinstance,inthelegallanguage,“justice”doesnothavethesamemeaningastheeverydaycommonsense.Furthermore,therearearangeofprocessesandinstitutionsthatareuniquetothelegalsystem,soreferringtothemrequiresaspecialistlanguage.
SocomparedwiththecommonEnglish,inmyopinion,legalEnglishhasitsownfeaturesasfollows.
2.1PreciseandAccurate
Legalexpertshavelongacknowledgedthat“…languageisnotmerelyaninstrumentwhichwecancontrolatwill;
itcontrolsus.”PrecisionisofspecialimportanceforlegalEnglish.Opposingthemselvesto“theinherentvaguenessoflanguage,lawyersmakemanyattemptsatprecisionofexpression.”(Mellinkoff,1963)
LegalEnglishhasoperatedduringalonghistorywiththepurposeofstipulatingtheobligationsandrangesfromgovernmentalaffairstopersonalconducts.Sothelawyersandthelawmakersmustbemorepreciseinhiswritingthanalmostanyoneelse.Forthelawyers,theyshouldexpecttheirworktobereadingoodfaithtoavoidtheloopholesinthecontractpeoplelookforandthewronginterpretationofthestatute.Forthelawmakers,theyshouldsetforththelegislationideologyandthespecificlawsinpreciselegallanguagesothatthejudicialofficersandallthecitizenscanlearnascitizensofastatewhatrightstheyenjoyandwhatobligationstheyshallassume,andwhatmaybeincurredoncethelawisviolated.Infact,itisthesameforbothofthem,thatis,anywordorsentencethatisliabletocauseambiguityistobeavoided.
Therefore,itisvitalforthelawyersandthelawmakerstomakethelegaldocumentshighlyeffectivewithinalimitedformsoastoavoideverypossibleambiguityandmisunderstandingintheinterpretationofthelaw.Theessenceofeverylegaldocumentshouldbedefinitelypreciseandclear.Itcanbesaidthatprecisionandaccuracyisthesoulandlifeoflegallanguage.
2.2FormalandAuthoritative
AccordingtoMartinJoosinhisbookTheFiveClocks,languagecanbeclassifiedintofivedifferentstyles:
thefrozenstyle,theformalstyle,theconsultativestyle,thecasualstyleandtheintimatestyle.Thefrozenstylereferstothemostformalstyle,commonlyusedinverysolemncircumstancesuchaslegaldocumentsandreligiousritualswhereastheintimatestyleistheleastformalone,frequentlyadoptedincommunicationsbetweenfamilymembersortheclosestpeople.Therestthreestylesarebetweenthetwolimitswiththeirformalitydroppinggradually.
Allthelegaldocumentssharethesameaim,ifany:
tostipulaterightsandobligationsrespectivelyofthepartiesthereto.UnliketheotherstylesofEnglishasthemeansofcommunication,legaldocumentsarethetooltobeutilizedtoinformthereceptorsandthereceptorsare,tosomeextent,passiveintheprocessofcommunication.
LegalEnglishisthemostformalinallEnglishstyles.Inotherwords,itisthemostformalwrittenEnglishinallEnglishfunctionalstyles,evenallEnglishstyles.(HouWeirui,1988:
297,319)Sofarasformalityisconcerned,legaldocumentsareofthemostformalstyle.
2.3ConciseandExplicit
Concisenessisparticularlyimportantforlawyers.Morethanmostwriterstheymustsayexactlywhattheymean,nomoreandnoless;
everyadditionalwordisonemorepotentialsourceofambiguity.Thepurposeoflegalwritingistoconveyinformationaccuratelyandefficiently.“Omitneedlesswords”isoneofthefundamentalprinciplesofcomposition.
2.4Normal(Isnormativebetter?
)andStandard
SincelegalEnglishisthemostformalinallEnglishfunctionalstyles,evenallEnglishstyles(HouWeirui,1988:
297),formalandauthoritativeflavoriskeptinrespecttochoiceofwords,phrases,andsentencepatterns.Descriptivemodifiers,slang,vulgarism,aswellasloosesentencesarerarelyresortedto.Anacceptednormativeformat,arrangedwithnumberedarticlesandclauses,isformatofthelegaldocument,whichhasbeenpolishedbythedraftsmanandcheckedtimeandagainbytheusersofthedocument.Inthiswaythevagueandambiguouspartsarealleliminated.Lawuserscaneasilyunderstandwhatrightsandobligationsthereare,andhavenotroublefollowinguptheformattosolvetheproblemsifany.
Ifweclaimthatlegallanguageisdistinctivefromotherkindsofdiscourse,itslexiconmightbethefirstfactortobeconsidered.
3.1.1UseofSolemn,Standard,andWrittenWords
Considerthefollowingtwoexamplesfirst:
(1)Thislawispromulgatedwiththepurposeofregulatinginsuranceactivities,protectingthelegitimaterightsandinterestsofthepartiesinvolved,strengtheningsupervisionandregulationoftheinsuranceindustryandpromotingitshealthydevelopment.(为了规范保险活动,保护保险活动当事人的合法权益,加强对保险业的监督管理,促进保险事业的健康发展,制定本法)
(2)ThisLawisformulatedforthepurposeofstandardizingnegotiableinstrumentactsprotectingthelegalrightsofpartiesconcernedinnegotiableinstrumentactivities,maintainingthesocialistmarketeconomy.(为了规范票据行为,保障票据活动中当事人的合法权益,维护社会经济秩序,促进社会主义市场经济的发展,制订本法。
)
Intheabovetwoexamples,“promulgate”,“formulate”,“standardize”,“maintain”,and“promote”areveryformalwrittenlanguageandthereisnomodificationandexaggeration.Inaddition,theprepositionalphrasessuchas“inaccordancewith”,“inconsistencywith”,and“incompliancewith”,thoughnotformal(?
),areoftenusedinlegaldocuments,whereas“accordingto”,“beconsistentwith”,and“complywith”occurincommonEnglish.
3.1.2FrequentUseofLoanwordsandOldandMiddleEnglish
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