Is legal discourse really “outside the ravages of time”?
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Paula Rodríguez-Puente
Abstract
This study explores word-based nominalizations between 1535 and 2021 in legal decisions. Nominalizations and the passive are usually proscribed in contemporary legal drafting manuals. Recent research has shown that there has been a notable reduction in the use of the passive, probably aided by campaigns promoting a plainer language accessible to the general public. However, nominalizations have received scarce attention in the literature to date. The data here show that nominalizations, especially those formed with Romance suffixes, tend to increase in frequency and productivity over time in legal decisions, probably acting as a compensation for the decrease in the use of the passive voice, or motivated by a general increase in the nominal density of legal decisions.
Abstract
This study explores word-based nominalizations between 1535 and 2021 in legal decisions. Nominalizations and the passive are usually proscribed in contemporary legal drafting manuals. Recent research has shown that there has been a notable reduction in the use of the passive, probably aided by campaigns promoting a plainer language accessible to the general public. However, nominalizations have received scarce attention in the literature to date. The data here show that nominalizations, especially those formed with Romance suffixes, tend to increase in frequency and productivity over time in legal decisions, probably acting as a compensation for the decrease in the use of the passive voice, or motivated by a general increase in the nominal density of legal decisions.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Pragmatics and prescriptivism
- Researching understatement in the history of English 10
- The rise and fall of sentence-internal capitalization in English 33
- Gender, genre, and prescriptivism 60
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Part II. Political, legal and medical text types
- A manipulative technique in a congressional debate 86
- Is legal discourse really “outside the ravages of time”? 101
- Duties, offices, and conduct 129
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Part III. The language of late modern letters
- Changing styles of letter-writing? 154
- “No criticism or remarks & pray burn it as fast as you read it” 180
- Filled-in petition forms and hand-drafted petitions to the Foundling Hospital 198
- “Quhen I am begun to write I really knou not what to say” 225
- Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Pragmatics and prescriptivism
- Researching understatement in the history of English 10
- The rise and fall of sentence-internal capitalization in English 33
- Gender, genre, and prescriptivism 60
-
Part II. Political, legal and medical text types
- A manipulative technique in a congressional debate 86
- Is legal discourse really “outside the ravages of time”? 101
- Duties, offices, and conduct 129
-
Part III. The language of late modern letters
- Changing styles of letter-writing? 154
- “No criticism or remarks & pray burn it as fast as you read it” 180
- Filled-in petition forms and hand-drafted petitions to the Foundling Hospital 198
- “Quhen I am begun to write I really knou not what to say” 225
- Index 251
