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The Evolution of Ancient Legal Language: How Does Legal English Draw Inspiration from Latin and French?
Legal English, often referred to as legal terminology, is an English register used for legal writing. Compared with everyday spoken English, it differs in the use of specialized vocabulary, syntactic structures, and common phrases (such as legal doubles). Legal English has historically been the exclusive domain of lawyers from English-speaking countries, most of which are common law countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya and South Africa. However, with the dominance of Legal English in international business and its role as a legal language within the European Union, Legal English is now a global phenomenon.
Historical development
In prehistoric Britain, traditional common law was discussed in the local language. With waves of conquerors over the centuries, legal language and legal traditions changed. During the Romano-British period (after the conquest in AD 43), the legal tradition followed Roman law, whose legal language was Latin. After the Roman withdrawal from Britain around 410 and the Anglo-Saxon invasion, the dominant tradition shifted to Anglo-Saxon law, which was discussed in German (Old English) and written in Old English from about 600, the earliest An example is the Esselbuchter Law. After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Anglo-Norman French became the official language of English legal proceedings, a status that lasted for nearly 300 years until the Act of English Debates in 1362, after which French was still used in some forms Use continued for another 300 years, and Latin was used for written records for more than 650 years.
In legal proceedings, Anglo-Norman French evolved into Legal French, from which many words in modern legal English originate.
In 1362, the Act of Debates was enacted, stipulating that all legal proceedings must be in English (but recorded in Latin). This marked the beginning of formal legal English; French continued to be used in some forms into the 17th century, although its use gradually waned. From 1066, Latin was the language of official records and decrees until the Code of Judicial Procedure of 1730 replaced it with English. However, since only highly educated individuals were fluent in Latin, it did not become the language of legal debate or litigation. The influence of Latin can be seen in many words and phrases, such as ad hoc, de facto, de jure, bona fide, inter alia, and ultra vires, which are still used in legal writing today.
Style
In 2004, David Kristol proposed the stylistic influence of legal English. During the medieval period, lawyers often spoke a mixture of Latin, French, and English. To avoid ambiguity, lawyers often provide pairs of words from different languages. Sometimes, even if there is no ambiguity to resolve, these pairs of words simply give greater emphasis and turn into a stylistic habit. Characteristics of this legal style continue to this day.
The legal English food chain is a mix of Latin, French and English, often used to avoid uncertainty.
For example, "breaking and entering" (English/French), "fit and proper" (English/French), "lands and tenements" (English/French), and "will and testament" (English/Latin) Dual words abound. Today, words of French origin are used frequently in legal English because these words are usually more formal. In addition, the dramatic effect of legal English is also crucial: for example, a subpoena requiring a witness to appear in court often ends with the age-old threat "Fail not, at your peril". The formality of this type of language is very important to the person receiving the subpoena. , has a stronger effect than a simple "if you don't show up, we can arrest you." The legal language of the Middle Ages was a combination of Latin, French and English to avoid ambiguity. According to Walter Probert, beginning around the 20th century, judicial lawyers often manipulated language in order to more persuasively promote their political ideals.
Key Features
As mentioned above, legal English and standard English differ significantly in many aspects. The primary characteristics of these differences are as follows:
- Use of terminology: Legal English is similar to the language of other industries and contains a large number of terms that are unfamiliar to laypeople.
- Lack of punctuation: Early legal documents sometimes omitted all punctuation.
- Use of doublets and triplets: Language mixing in Legal English has resulted in a tendency to use two or three words to express a single legal concept.
- Unusual word order: Word order different from standard English can be seen in legal English.
- Unfamiliar pronoun forms: Words such as "the same", "the said", "the aforementioned" are not common in standard English.
- Use the noun suffixes "-er", "-or" and "-ee" endings: terms showing the relationship between the two parties, such as "employer" and "employee".
Education
Given the prevalence of English in international business relations, the international legal community has long believed that traditional English language training is insufficient to meet the needs of lawyers. The main reason is that such training usually ignores the specific needs of legal practice and the linguistic conventions of legal English as a unique branch. As a result, many non-native legal professionals and law students are increasingly seeking professional legal English training, which is now offered by law schools, language centres, small firms and legal language-focused podcasts. The British TOLES exam is a legal English training system for non-native speakers. The annual Global Legal Skills Conference also provides a forum for law professors and other professionals to exchange teaching methods and materials.
The evolution of Legal English and its influence from different languages can trigger in-depth thinking: In a globalized legal world, can language changes and integration continue to meet the needs of modern society?
