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Secrets of Legal Documents: Why Do Ancient Legal Texts Omit Punctuation?
In the legal field, the accuracy of legal documents and terms is crucial. However, an interesting phenomenon caught our attention: many ancient legal texts do not contain punctuation. What kind of legal wisdom and historical background are hidden behind this phenomenon?
This lack of punctuation is not accidental, but reflects an extreme pursuit of accuracy in legal language.
In the ancient legal history of Britain, the development of law is full of the blending of different cultures. As early as AD 43, the conquest of the Roman Empire made Latin the official language of law at the time. With the Norman invasion, the mixed language of English and French began to appear in the law, and every step of this process was carving the appearance of subsequent legal documents.
Especially in the Middle Ages, legal experts often used a mixed language to express legal intentions in order to avoid ambiguity. This resulted in some vocabulary and structures being solidified in later legal texts, forming the current legal English style.
However, with the widespread use of punctuation marks, the format of ancient legal documents has chosen the opposite path. The reason why legal documents omit punctuation is not only to maintain the rigor of the language, but also because legal experts at the time were worried that the punctuation could be modified by future generations, thus tampering with the original legal meaning.
Thus, the punctuation-free form of legal language is actually a protection against legal integrity and tampering.
Current legal writing has gradually begun to pay attention to the use of punctuation marks to clearly express complex legal concepts and terms and ensure that readers can understand them accurately. However, unpunctuated texts remain a challenge for scholars and legal practitioners who study ancient legal texts. At the same time, this also inspired more exploration and research on the evolution of legal language.
Gradually, the use of bigrams and trigrams in legal writing is gradually recognized and accepted by everyone. These mixed language expressions form a unique style in modern law. The juxtaposition of words with the same or similar meaning, although they may appear redundant in everyday language, adds layer and emphasis to legal language.
Although the style and structure of legal documents have changed over time, their core remains the importance of inheriting and remembering legal history. This makes us wonder: In the evolution of legal instruments, is it necessary to maintain certain ancient language habits to protect the fundamental spirit of the law?
