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Linguists and lawyers

  • Douglas A. Kibbee
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History of Linguistics 2017
This chapter is in the book History of Linguistics 2017

Abstract

The first article of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “all men are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. It prohibits discrimination based on language, among other criteria, and defines a number of areas in which rights are guaranteed, including legal proceedings, education, elections, health care, commerce and the workplace. Each of these areas has a linguistic component, and every country addresses that linguistic component according to national traditions. After a brief history of the linguistic rights, the first part of this talk will focus on how the legal system in the United States treats those who do not speak English. In a second part we will examine issues within the English language itself, how the legal system uses prescriptive grammars and dictionaries to reach its decisions. While the examples presented will focus on the United States, the issues are universal and readers are encouraged to reflect on how the same issues are addressed in other national contexts.

Abstract

The first article of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “all men are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. It prohibits discrimination based on language, among other criteria, and defines a number of areas in which rights are guaranteed, including legal proceedings, education, elections, health care, commerce and the workplace. Each of these areas has a linguistic component, and every country addresses that linguistic component according to national traditions. After a brief history of the linguistic rights, the first part of this talk will focus on how the legal system in the United States treats those who do not speak English. In a second part we will examine issues within the English language itself, how the legal system uses prescriptive grammars and dictionaries to reach its decisions. While the examples presented will focus on the United States, the issues are universal and readers are encouraged to reflect on how the same issues are addressed in other national contexts.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. Foreword and acknowledgements ix
  4. Editors’ introduction xiii
  5. Part I. Notions
  6. Un essai d’histoire comparée de la grammatisation des langues romanes 3
  7. Linguistic description and language philosophy in Wilhelm von Humboldt’s North American grammars 21
  8. La phrase grammaticale moderne 35
  9. Wegener’s Wortsatz and the notion of sentence 49
  10. Why is it so hard to establish gestalt ideas within linguistics? 65
  11. Part II. Representations of language and reception of theories
  12. Klaproth, Balbi and the language atlas 81
  13. Nation and race in the twentieth century scientific discourse on Viking Age runestones 101
  14. L’homme dans la langue 113
  15. Saussure/Mallarmé 129
  16. Introducing and translating Otto Jespersen in China in the past 100 years 143
  17. On the reception and revivification of Cartesian linguistics 157
  18. Part III. Pedagogy, linguistic policy and codification
  19. Greek grammatical learning papyri 173
  20. The history of language learning and teaching (HoLLT) in the history of linguistics 189
  21. Sprache der Nähe vs. Sprache der Distanz and the nineteenth century codification of Modern Czech 205
  22. Linguists and lawyers 221
  23. Name index 237
  24. Subject index 241
  25. Name index 237
https://doi.org/10.1075/sihols.127.15kib

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. Foreword and acknowledgements ix
  4. Editors’ introduction xiii
  5. Part I. Notions
  6. Un essai d’histoire comparée de la grammatisation des langues romanes 3
  7. Linguistic description and language philosophy in Wilhelm von Humboldt’s North American grammars 21
  8. La phrase grammaticale moderne 35
  9. Wegener’s Wortsatz and the notion of sentence 49
  10. Why is it so hard to establish gestalt ideas within linguistics? 65
  11. Part II. Representations of language and reception of theories
  12. Klaproth, Balbi and the language atlas 81
  13. Nation and race in the twentieth century scientific discourse on Viking Age runestones 101
  14. L’homme dans la langue 113
  15. Saussure/Mallarmé 129
  16. Introducing and translating Otto Jespersen in China in the past 100 years 143
  17. On the reception and revivification of Cartesian linguistics 157
  18. Part III. Pedagogy, linguistic policy and codification
  19. Greek grammatical learning papyri 173
  20. The history of language learning and teaching (HoLLT) in the history of linguistics 189
  21. Sprache der Nähe vs. Sprache der Distanz and the nineteenth century codification of Modern Czech 205
  22. Linguists and lawyers 221
  23. Name index 237
  24. Subject index 241
  25. Name index 237
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