Comparative Legilinguistics
Not a member yet
428 research outputs found
Sort by
Book Review: Alcaraz, E., & Hughes, B. (2002). Legal Translation Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-900650-57-2
No full textThis review critically examines Legal Translation Explained (2002) by Enrique Alcaraz and Brian Hughes, a seminal work in the field of legal translation. The book offers a comprehensive integration of linguistic, legal, and translational perspectives, positioning the translator as a bicultural and bilingual mediator. Structured around genre-based and functionalist principles, the book explores legal language, translation equivalence, legal systems, and text typologies, while providing practical strategies for addressing terminological, stylistic, and procedural challenges. This review analyzes the book’s contribution to legal translation pedagogy and theory, highlighting its alignment with key frameworks such as Skopos theory, functional equivalence, and intercultural legal communication. The enduring relevance of the book is also evaluated in light of recent developments in legal translation studies. Ultimately, the review argues that Alcaraz and Hughes’s work remains an indispensable resource for both scholars and practitioners seeking to navigate the complexities of legal-linguistic mediation
Grammatische Merkmale der deutschen und arabischen Rechtssprache – eine kontrastive Studie am Beispiel der verwaltungsgerichtlichen Urteile in Deutschland und Ägypten [Grammatical characteristics of German and Arabic legal language – a contrastive study on the example of administrative court judgments in Germany and Egypt]
No full textDie vorliegende kontrastive Arbeit befasst sich mit der Grammatik der Rechtssprache in deutschen und arabischen verwaltungsgerichtlichen Urteilen. Anhand einer Auswahl aktueller Urteile von mehreren Verwaltungsgerichten in Deutschland und Ägypten werden Satzarten, Gebrauch des Verbs sowie auch Kondensationsformen wie z.B. Nominalisierung und Attributivreihungen untersucht. Aus der Untersuchung ergibt sich eine Reihe von bemerkenswerten Paralleltendenzen in beiden Rechtssystemen. Es dominieren lange hypotaktische Satzkonstruktionen, die meist schwer überschaubar sind. Die Komplexität in der Satzstruktur ist jedoch nicht in allen Teilen der verwaltungsgerichtlichen Urteile in den beiden Sprachen gleich. Gemeinsam ist den beiden Rechtssprachen ebenso die Tendenz zum komprierten Stil. In den Satzkonstruktionen werden oft viele komplexe Nominalformen eingebettet, die zur Ersetzung von Nebensätzen dienen. Die beiden Rechtssprachen unterscheiden sich aber im Hinblick auf den Gebrauch der Konnektoren, der Aktiv-/Passivformen und Modalitätsausdrücke sowie auch der Zeitformen.This contrastive study deals with the legal grammar of German and Arabic administrative court judgments. On the basis of a selection of recent judgments of several administrative courts in Germany and Egypt, sentence types, use of the verb as well as condensation forms such as nominalization and attribute series are examined. The study reveals a number of notable parallel trends in both legal systems. Long hypotactic sentence constructions dominate, which are usually difficult to understand. However, the complexity of the sentence structure is not the same in all parts of the administrative court judgments of the two languages. The two legal languages also have in common the tendency towards a compact style. Many complex nominal forms are often embedded in sentence constructions, which serve to replace subordinate clauses. However, the two legal languages differ with regard to the use of connectors, active/passive forms and modality expressions as well as tense forms
Cracking the code of change in EU legal discourse: signifying practices shaping inclusion for vulnerable in the digital age
Get PDFThe initiative of the Clear Writing Movement (Kimble 1992), targeting the democratization of communication by simplifying legal documents, has influenced the presentation of law globally. By uniting diverse philosophies of Plain Language and Easy-to-Read under the broad umbrella of text clarity and accessibility (Maaß 2020), this movement has particularly influenced the European Union’s linguistic policy (Foley 2002; Nerelius 2014; Seracini 2019). Notwithstanding this progress and the accelerated shift towards digital transformation during the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Union’s efforts to enhance its communication for vulnerable groups (European Union 2013) remains under-examined. This research, leveraging corpus linguistics and multimodal analysis, aims to systematically uncover foundational values and thematic clusters embedded in EU legal and policy documents related to the social inclusion and rights of vulnerable populations. It explores how these are dynamically communicated through easy-to-understand multimedia resources produced by Inclusion Europe and the European Commission (Bernabé 2020). Findings underscore the pivotal role of digital technology in revolutionizing the creation and interpretation of legal documents, reflecting the European Union’s proactive efforts to forge new avenues for multimodal legal communication marked by innovative signifying practices. The research concludes by emphasizing the socio-semiotic and context-specific dimensions of legal discourse. Far from being merely universal and abstract, it can be adapted and reshaped to reflect societal and political stances on regulated issues. This can foster a sense of belonging, empowerment, and inclusivity within vulnerable communities, while also nurturing broader societal cooperation and understanding.DECIFRARE IL CAMBIAMENTO NEL LINGUAGGIO GIURIDICO DELL’UE: PRATICHE SIGNIFICATIVE PER UN INCLUSIONE DIGITALE DELLE PERSONE VULNERABILI
Sinopsi: Il Movimento globale per la Scrittura Chiara (Kimble 1992), incentrato sulla democratizzazione della comunicazione attraverso la semplificazione dei testi giuridici, ha significativamente influenzato la politica linguistica dell’Unione Europea (Foley 2002; Nerelius 2014; Seracini 2019). Attraverso l’utilizzo di metodi di linguistica dei corpora e di analisi multimodale, questo studio intende esplorare come i documenti giuridici istituzionali dell’UE, rivolti alle popolazioni vulnerabili (Unione Europea 2013), vengano trasformati in materiali facilmente accessibili e comprensibili attraverso l’adozione del Linguaggio Semplice (Maaß 2020). La ricerca mette in luce il ruolo cruciale della tecnologia digitale e gli sforzi proattivi dell’UE nell’innovare la comunicazione legale visuale, evidenziando una nicchia specifica non ancora pienamente esplorata: l’analisi della comunicazione multimodale del discorso giuridico. Tale esplorazione offre nuove prospettive sulle dinamiche socio-semiotiche e sul contesto specifico della comunicazione istituzionale, proponendo nuove vie per rafforzare l’inclusione e promuovere una cooperazione sociale più ampia. Emergono l’importanza di adattare e plasmare l’articolazione del diritto per rispondere efficacemente alle esigenze delle comunità vulnerabili e la necessità di un continuo impegno nella ricerca per sviluppare strategie comunicative che siano al contempo inclusive, precise e capaci di preservare l’integrità del linguaggio legale, nel rispetto dei valori fondamentali dell’Unione Europea
Students in the third space: constructions of knowledge of foreign law in legal translations from German into Danish
Get PDFIn this paper, I want to investigate the variations in the translations produced by a group of students translating the same source text. The aim of the study is to investigate the degree to which it is possible to empirically find traces of Third Space characteristics of legal translation of court decisions between Danish and German. A corpus of 22 translations is investigated for patterns followed by the students, with a special view to assessing the degree to which they choose similar renderings of the source text elements. A central result of the empirical study is that there is a considerable degree of variation across the studied translation students and that a general distinction between strategies guarding source text complexity in content and form, on the one hand, and strategies making the rendering of the source text in the target text culture more accessible for target text readers
Simultaneous interpretation in interpreter-mediated remote legal proceedings: some observations from a forum theatre study
Get PDFThis article concerns the findings of a study into participant responses to remote interpreter-mediated court proceedings using Welsh-English simultaneous interpretation. The study employs the forum theatre techniques of Augusto Boal, to explore how counsel, witnesses, mock-jurors and interpreters participate in hearings conducted remotely. The study was conducted in 2022, when the early difficulties of conducting hearings remotely because of the Covid pandemic had been resolved, and legal systems were considering how remote hearings could operate in the future.
This article concerns the findings of a study into participant responses to remote interpreter-mediated court proceedings using Welsh-English simultaneous interpretation. The study employs the forum theatre techniques of Augusto Boal, to explore how counsel, witnesses, mock-jurors and interpreters participate in hearings conducted remotely. The study was conducted in 2022, when the early difficulties of conducting hearings remotely because of the Covid pandemic had been resolved, and legal systems were considering how remote hearings could operate in the future.
La langue de communication et le droit à un procès équitable au Cameroun
Get PDFThis paper deals with the incidence of communication channels treatment during court proceedings in a multilingual context like Cameroon. On the one hand, I will defend on the one hand the idea according to which the unbalanced treatment enshrined in the constitution, which confers preferential treatment to the so-called official, but imported languages and a marginal role to other local languages termed as national as well as other means of expression, affects the communication before courtrooms. The use of the former is reserved for an elitist minority group while that of the latter for a majority illiterate group. On the other hand, there has been an effort on the part of the state to curb this discrimination through the linguistic assistance. But still, there are challenges that confirm the legitimate fears of litigants, better lay-litigants of violation of their rights of access to justice and fair trial at large. The paper then suggests to the State to enhance the promotion of national languages, to emphasize on the training of judicial personnel and public awareness.Cet article analyse l’enjeu du traitement réservé aux canaux de communication utilisés devant les tribunaux dans un pays multilingue comme le Cameroun. D’une part, je défendrai l’idée selon laquelle le traitement déséquilibré consacré par la constitution, qui confère un régime de faveur aux langues importées, dites officielles, et un rôle marginal aux autres langues locales, dites nationales ainsi qu’aux autres moyens d’expression, crée un problème de communication devant les tribunaux. L’usage des premières est réservé à une classe élitiste minoritaire tandis que celui des secondes à une classe analphabète majoritaire. D’autre part et partant de cette « discrimination », je présenterai des éléments d’analyse confirmant les craintes légitimes que les justiciables, mieux les justiciables profanes, peuvent avoir du fait de l’utilisation d’une langue marginale ou de la non maitrise d’une langue ou d’autres moyens, de la violation de leurs droits d’accès à la justice et à un procès équitable en général.Cet article analyse l’enjeu du traitement réservé aux canaux de communication utilisés devant les tribunaux dans un pays multilingue comme le Cameroun. D’une part, je défendrai l’idée selon laquelle le traitement déséquilibré consacré par la constitution, qui confère un régime de faveur aux langues importées, dites officielles, et un rôle marginal aux autres langues locales, dites nationales ainsi qu’aux autres moyens d’expression, crée un problème de communication devant les tribunaux. L’usage des premières est réservé à une classe élitiste minoritaire tandis que celui des secondes à une classe analphabète majoritaire. D’autre part, l’Etat a fait un effort considérable pour limiter cette « discrimination » en recourant à la technique d’assistance juridique. Mais il demeure qu’il subsiste des barrières légitimant les craintes des justiciables, mieux les justiciables profanes de la violation de leurs droits d’accès à la justice et à un procès équitable en général. L’article recommande à l’Etat de promouvoir les langues nationales, de généraliser la formation et le recyclage du personnel judiciaire et de sensibiliser le public
The effective usage of corpora in legalese studies (on the example of the fiducie)
Get PDF If we consider corpus linguistics as the study of a language through its samples, we should give credit to its contribution to the advancement of various sub-fields of linguistics: lexicography, translation studies, applied linguistics, diachronic studies and contrastive linguistics. The latter can be regarded as a special case of a linguistic typology that is distinguished from other types of typological approaches by a small sample size and a high degree of granularity (Gast 2011: 2-3). Nowadays, corpus-based contrastive studies can be treated as a growing research area that focuses on two or more languages. The present paper makes an attempt to discuss the usefulness of the specialized combined parallel-comparable corpus while dealing with legalese. The effectiveness is presented on the example of the legal institution fiducie. The methodology of research comprises the comparative analysis as well as the corpus-based analysis of the terms related to the fiducie-s presented in three varieties of French: France’s, Canadian and Luxembourgish. The carried out research reveals the juridical-semantic differences and the problematics of the verbal realization of the concepts related to three fiducie-s. These hinder a proper interpretation and complicate the process of translation. The major solution is found through the specification of meaning by renaming
LA TRADUZIONE COME CATALIZZATORE DI CHIAREZZA NEI TESTI NORMATIVI A PARTIRE DA UN’ANALISI COMPARATIVA DELLA SINTASSI IN VARIETÀ DI ITALIANO LEGISLATIVO
Get PDFTranslation is often considered as an ally of plain legal language. This corpus-based study sets out to provide empirical support for this hypothesis by comparing different varieties of legislative Italian used in a monolingual context (Italy) and in two multilingual settings (Switzerland and the European Union). The investigation relies primarily on a quantitative analysis of syntax informed by natural language processing (NLP) methods. The results suggest that translated legislation features shorter sentences, fewer nominalizations, an underuse of the passive voice, fewer non-finite clauses, less deep syntactic trees, shorter dependency links, and a preference for the SVO order with an explicit subject. Among the two multilingual contexts, Swiss legislation shows a slightly higher level of accessibility compared to EU directives. A complementary analysis using readability metrics confirms these trends. Nevertheless, in addition to the translation process in multilingual contexts, other latent external variables may have a (hardly quantifiable) impact on the level of accessibility, such as institutional language policies, legal traditions, drafting guidelines, and training programs for translators and language experts.La traduzione è spesso considerata come un’alleata della chiarezza linguistica dei testi giuridici. Questo studio basato su corpora intende fornire una validazione empirica di questa ipotesi, comparando le varietà di italiano legislativo in uso in un contesto monolingue (Italia) e all’interno di due sistemi multilingui dove l’italiano è lingua ufficiale (Svizzera e Unione europea). La ricerca si basa primariamente su un’analisi quantitativa della sintassi condotta mediante strumenti di trattamento automatico del linguaggio (TAL). I risultati mostrano che la legislazione tradotta si caratterizza per frasi più brevi, un minor ricorso alla nominalizzazione, al passivo e alle subordinate implicite, alberi sintattici meno profondi, relazioni di dipendenza più brevi e una preferenza per l’ordine SVO con soggetto esplicito. Tra i due contesti multilingui, la legislazione svizzera presenta un livello di accessibilità leggermente superiore rispetto alle direttive UE. Un’analisi complementare condotta mediante metriche di leggibilità conferma queste tendenze. Tuttavia, oltre al processo di traduzione tipico dei contesti multilingui, altre variabili esterne latenti possono avere un influsso (difficilmente quantificabile) sul livello di accessibilità, quali politiche linguistiche in campo istituzionale, tradizioni giuridiche, linee guida redazionali, attività formative per traduttori ed esperti linguistici
De la protection de l’environnement dans les Constitutions Algeriennes [Ochrona środowiska w algierskich Konstytucjach]
No full textSince its independence in 1962, Algeria has undergone significant political and environmental transformations. Despite the challenges of post-independence reconstruction, environmental concerns have gradually found their place within the foundational documents of the nation, including charters and constitutions. Although the constitution of 1963 remained silent on environmental matters, indicative of a historical lack of emphasis, pivotal shifts occurred from 1976 onward, marked by the introduction of environmental policies geared toward nature preservation. National charters of 1976 and 1986, as well as the constitutions of 1976, 1989, 1996, 2008, 2016, and notably that of 2020, have all propelled measures for environmental protection. These foundational texts unequivocally underscore the urgency of safeguarding nature in the face of climate disruption and the imperative of immediate action. These legislative developments, substantial and transformative, have elevated the status of the environment within the Algerian legislative and legal framework, signifying a reconciliation between Algeria, its cultural values, history, and international commitments.
In this context, a critical inquiry has meticulously examined the integration of environmental and climatic concerns within various Algerian constitutions and legal texts. Findings underscore the significance attributed to nature protection within these documents, while underscoring the necessity for more effective on-ground implementation. Despite notable advancements since independence, characterized by the emergence of environmental policies and the integration of environmental discourse into foundational texts, Algeria must still exert considerable efforts to materialize these laws and genuinely preserve its natural landscape.Depuis son indépendance en 1962, l’Algérie a subi des transformations politiques et environnementales. Malgré les obstacles de la reconstruction, la préoccupation environnementale s’est graduellement inscrite dans les textes fondamentaux du pays, notamment les chartes et les constitutions. Même si la constitution de 1963 était muette sur l’environnement, révélant un manque d’attention à l’époque ; mais depuis 1976, des évolutions significatives ont surgi, avec l’implémentation de politiques environnementales axées sur la préservation de la nature. Les chartes nationales de 1976 et 1986, ainsi que les constitutions de 1976, 1989, 1996, 2008, 2016 et particulièrement celle de 2020, ont toutes impulsé des mesures pour la protection de l’environnement. Ces textes fondamentaux sont sans équivoque quant à l’urgence de préserver la nature face au dérèglement climatique et à la nécessité d’une action immédiate. Ces évolutions législatives, notables et révolutionnaires, ont élevé le statut de l’environnement dans le cadre législatif et juridique algérien, témoignant d’une harmonie retrouvée entre l’Algérie, ses valeurs culturelles, son histoire et ses engagements internationaux.
Dans ce contexte, une lecture critique a scruté la prise en charge de l’environnement et du climat dans les diverses constitutions et textes juridiques algériens. Les résultats mettent en avant l’importance attribuée à la protection de la nature dans ces documents, tout en soulignant le besoin d’une mise en œuvre plus efficace sur le terrain. Malgré les progrès notables depuis l’indépendance, avec l’émergence de politiques environnementales et l’intégration de la question environnementale dans les textes fondamentaux, l’Algérie doit encore déployer d’importants efforts pour concrétiser ces lois et véritablement préserver la nature sur son territoire.Od momentu uzyskania niepodległości w 1962 roku Algieria przeszła znaczące przemiany polityczne i środowiskowe. Pomimo wyzwań związanych z odbudową po okresie niepodległości, troska o środowisko stopniowo znalazła swoje miejsce w ustawach tego kraju, w tym w statutach i konstytucjach. Chociaż konstytucja z 1963 roku pozostała milcząca w kwestiach środowiskowych, co wskazuje na historyczny brak uwagi, od 1976 roku zaczęły się istotne zmiany, związane z wprowadzeniem polityk środowiskowych mających na celu ochronę przyrody. Krajowe statuty z 1976 i 1986 roku, a także konstytucje z lat 1976, 1989, 1996, 2008, 2016, a zwłaszcza z 2020 roku wprowadziły środki na rzecz ochrony środowiska. Owe ustawy zasadnicze jednoznacznie podkreślają pilną potrzebę ochrony przyrody w obliczu zmian klimatycznych i konieczność natychmiastowego działania. Te istotne i przełomowe zmiany w ustawodawstwie podniosły status środowiska w algierskim systemie ustawodawczym i prawodawczym, sygnalizując pojednanie Algierii z jej wartościami kulturowymi, historią i międzynarodowymi zobowiązaniami.
W tym kontekście przeprowadzono krytyczną analizę integracji kwestii środowiskowych i klimatycznych w różnych konstytucjach i aktach prawnych Algierii. Wyniki podkreślają istotność przypisaną ochronie przyrody w tych dokumentach, jednocześnie wskazując na konieczność bardziej skutecznej implementacji na miejscu. Pomimo znaczących postępów od uzyskania niepodległości, charakteryzujących się pojawieniem się polityk środowiskowych i włączeniem dyskursu ekologicznego do ustaw zasadniczych, Algieria nadal musi włożyć znaczne wysiłki w celu zrealizowania tych praw i rzeczywistej ochrony swojego krajobrazu naturalnego
Structural types of sentences in Kosovo police communication centers
Get PDFIn this paper it will be analyzed grammatical and dialectal aspect of structural sentences of Albanian language used in six Kosovo Police Communication Centers. This paper includes: types of sentences used in Communication Centers separately; enhancing sentences, declarative sentences, declarative-exclamatory sentences and declarative-imperative; imperative sentences; - affirmative and negative sentences. All sections of this paper are illustrated with tables and charts, including number of used sentences and percentage of usage, to present the current situation of use of structural types of sentences in the Kosovo Police Communication Centers. Based on the results from six Communication Centers, which we have analyzed and treated separately, we have come to conclusions of the analysis of the grammatical and dialectal aspects. In Kosovo Police Communication Centers, within the category of declarative sentences, we find positive and negative sentences, which are formed by positive and negative particles, as: Poziiv (Positive), Negativ (Negative), Negativ niher (Negative for now), Po (Yes), Jo (No), veç çka po vrehet n’pamje t’jashtme (only what can be seen from outside), etc. In six Kosovo Police Communication Centers, the affirmative sentences are mainly formed through affirmative particles, as: pozitiv (positive), pranim (copy), po, po – po (yes, yeas – yes), u ba (done), ani faleminderit (OK thank you), n’rregull (alright), e kjart osht n’rregull (it’s clear alright), u kry (done), etc