Abstract
This paper concerns the specialised use of written English and German in texts relating to contract law. It is based on corpora of original texts and examines specifically the way in which obligation is expressed in the two languages. The text types on which the present analysis is based are contracts and judgements.
Highlights
The relatively large number of publications on legal language shows that there is a growing interest in this special domain
There are several issues which are of importance when examining legal language
Other researchers are concerned with the role of legal language in society (Buße 1992), and especially with the linguistic sources of inequity (Bhatia 1993, Gibbons 1994, Kniffka 1990)
Summary
The relatively large number of publications on legal language shows that there is a growing interest in this special domain. Of particular interest for the expression of obligation, it is striking that shall is the most frequently used modal verb and seventh most frequent word form overall in the English contracts, whereas it is ranked only as number 156 in the analysed judgements and is not found at all among the 200 most frequent word forms in the Birmingham Corpus.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: HERMES - Journal of Language and Communication in Business
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
