Chapter 3. Conditionals in spoken courtroom and parliamentary discourse in English, French, and Spanish
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Cristina Lastres-López
Abstract
This chapter explores if-conditionals in English, French and Spanish legal discourse, responding to the scarcity of cross-linguistic studies on conditionals in this genre. In particular, I examine conditionals in courtroom and parliamentary discourse on the basis of corpus evidence from various sources, proposing a cognitive-functional approach that looks at both prototypical and less prototypical uses of conditionality. The findings from the corpus analysis indicate that conditionals in legal discourse are primarily used to express canonical conditions but also function, to a lesser extent, as interpersonal and textual devices. Results also suggest that modal verbs, highly present in these constructions, have different uses depending on the function expressed by the clause.
Abstract
This chapter explores if-conditionals in English, French and Spanish legal discourse, responding to the scarcity of cross-linguistic studies on conditionals in this genre. In particular, I examine conditionals in courtroom and parliamentary discourse on the basis of corpus evidence from various sources, proposing a cognitive-functional approach that looks at both prototypical and less prototypical uses of conditionality. The findings from the corpus analysis indicate that conditionals in legal discourse are primarily used to express canonical conditions but also function, to a lesser extent, as interpersonal and textual devices. Results also suggest that modal verbs, highly present in these constructions, have different uses depending on the function expressed by the clause.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Chapter 1. “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer?” English legal discourse past and present 1
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Part I. Cross-genre and cross-linguistic variation
- Chapter 2. English and Italian land contracts 25
- Chapter 3. Conditionals in spoken courtroom and parliamentary discourse in English, French, and Spanish 51
- Chapter 4. Part-of-speech patterns in legal genres 79
- Chapter 5. A comparison of lexical bundles in spoken courtroom language across time, registers, and varieties 105
- Chapter 6. “It is not just a fact that the law requires this, but it is a reasonable fact” 123
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Part II. Diachronic variation
- Chapter 7. Are law reports an ‘agile’ or an ‘uptight’ register? 149
- Chapter 8. Interpersonality in legal written discourse 171
- Chapter 9. The evolution of a legal genre 201
- Chapter 10. The representation of citizens and monarchy in Acts of Parliament in 1800 to 2000 235
- Chapter 11. Drinking and crime 261
- Name index 287
- Subject index 291
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Chapter 1. “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer?” English legal discourse past and present 1
-
Part I. Cross-genre and cross-linguistic variation
- Chapter 2. English and Italian land contracts 25
- Chapter 3. Conditionals in spoken courtroom and parliamentary discourse in English, French, and Spanish 51
- Chapter 4. Part-of-speech patterns in legal genres 79
- Chapter 5. A comparison of lexical bundles in spoken courtroom language across time, registers, and varieties 105
- Chapter 6. “It is not just a fact that the law requires this, but it is a reasonable fact” 123
-
Part II. Diachronic variation
- Chapter 7. Are law reports an ‘agile’ or an ‘uptight’ register? 149
- Chapter 8. Interpersonality in legal written discourse 171
- Chapter 9. The evolution of a legal genre 201
- Chapter 10. The representation of citizens and monarchy in Acts of Parliament in 1800 to 2000 235
- Chapter 11. Drinking and crime 261
- Name index 287
- Subject index 291
