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Chapter 4. Part-of-speech patterns in legal genres

Text-internal dynamics from a corpus-based perspective
  • Ruth Breeze
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Corpus-based Research on Variation in English Legal Discourse
This chapter is in the book Corpus-based Research on Variation in English Legal Discourse

Abstract

Four corpora constructed from different genre families in business law (academic texts, case law, legal documents, and legislation) are analysed in terms of key parts of speech. The differences between them show that legal academic writing and case law tend to follow patterns comparable to argumentative texts elsewhere, while documents and legislation show unusual patterns of cohesion and modality. These phenomena are related to the functional requirements of the genres in question, and to disciplinary conventions.

Abstract

Four corpora constructed from different genre families in business law (academic texts, case law, legal documents, and legislation) are analysed in terms of key parts of speech. The differences between them show that legal academic writing and case law tend to follow patterns comparable to argumentative texts elsewhere, while documents and legislation show unusual patterns of cohesion and modality. These phenomena are related to the functional requirements of the genres in question, and to disciplinary conventions.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer?” English legal discourse past and present 1
  5. Part I. Cross-genre and cross-linguistic variation
  6. Chapter 2. English and Italian land contracts 25
  7. Chapter 3. Conditionals in spoken courtroom and parliamentary discourse in English, French, and Spanish 51
  8. Chapter 4. Part-of-speech patterns in legal genres 79
  9. Chapter 5. A comparison of lexical bundles in spoken courtroom language across time, registers, and varieties 105
  10. Chapter 6. “It is not just a fact that the law requires this, but it is a reasonable fact” 123
  11. Part II. Diachronic variation
  12. Chapter 7. Are law reports an ‘agile’ or an ‘uptight’ register? 149
  13. Chapter 8. Interpersonality in legal written discourse 171
  14. Chapter 9. The evolution of a legal genre 201
  15. Chapter 10. The representation of citizens and monarchy in Acts of Parliament in 1800 to 2000 235
  16. Chapter 11. Drinking and crime 261
  17. Name index 287
  18. Subject index 291
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.91.04bre

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer?” English legal discourse past and present 1
  5. Part I. Cross-genre and cross-linguistic variation
  6. Chapter 2. English and Italian land contracts 25
  7. Chapter 3. Conditionals in spoken courtroom and parliamentary discourse in English, French, and Spanish 51
  8. Chapter 4. Part-of-speech patterns in legal genres 79
  9. Chapter 5. A comparison of lexical bundles in spoken courtroom language across time, registers, and varieties 105
  10. Chapter 6. “It is not just a fact that the law requires this, but it is a reasonable fact” 123
  11. Part II. Diachronic variation
  12. Chapter 7. Are law reports an ‘agile’ or an ‘uptight’ register? 149
  13. Chapter 8. Interpersonality in legal written discourse 171
  14. Chapter 9. The evolution of a legal genre 201
  15. Chapter 10. The representation of citizens and monarchy in Acts of Parliament in 1800 to 2000 235
  16. Chapter 11. Drinking and crime 261
  17. Name index 287
  18. Subject index 291
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