Abstract
The literature has long explored the Web as corpus for language research and practice. However, little has been written on the Web as a legal language resource. This paper is aimed at exploring the Web as a tool which can provide answers to legal language queries. In this respect, it will show how Google advanced search and the WebCorp Web concordancer can shed light on legal language and bring recurrent patterns to the surface. To this aim, a few issues will be addressed touching upon the query search syntax, the choice of the best translation candidates, the extraction of frequent collocations, the noticing of high recurrences, etc. Considering the shortcomings and the advantages of Google advanced search and of the WebCorp Web concordancer, the paper findings will argue that the Web as corpus can be a reliable legal language resource as long as a selection of tools are used, and the query syntax is accurate.
References
Altay, A. 2002. Difficulties encountered in the translation of legal texts: The case of Turkey. Translation Journal 6(4). https://www.translationjournal.net/journal/22legal.htm (accessed 13 March 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Andrades Moreno, A. 2013. Internet como fuente para la compilación de corpus jurídicos. [The internet as a source to compile legal corpora]. Enlaces 15. 1–15.Search in Google Scholar
Austermühl, F. 2001. Electronic tools for translators. Manchester & Northampton, MA: St Jerome.Search in Google Scholar
Buendía-Castro, M. & C. I. López-Rodríguez. 2013. The Web for corpus and the Web as corpus in translator training. New Voices in Translation Studies 10. 54–71.Search in Google Scholar
Carter, R. A. & M. J. McCarthy. 2006. Cambridge grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Cheng, L., M. Gong & J. Li. 2017. Conceptualizing cultural discrepancies in legal translation: A case-based study. Semitoica 216. 131–149.10.1515/sem-2015-0083Search in Google Scholar
Cheng, L., J. Pei & M. Danesi. 2019. A sociosemiotic interpretation of cybersecurity in U.S. Legislative discourse. Social semiotics. Social Semiotics 29(3). 319–335.10.1080/10350330.2019.1587843Search in Google Scholar
Enríquez Raído, V. 2014. Translation and web searching. New York & London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203798034Search in Google Scholar
Ferraresi, A. 2009. Google and beyond: Web-as-corpus methodologies for translators. Revista Tradumàtica 7. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3335/aa343cb5218f3a12eaf8f556e7c03f44d285.pdf (accessed 13 March 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Fletcher, W. H. 2007. Concordancing the Web: Promise and problems, tools and techniques. In M. Hundt, N. Nesselhauf & C. Biewer (eds.), Corpus linguistics and the Web, 25–46. Amsterdam: Rodopi.10.1163/9789401203791_004Search in Google Scholar
Gallego-Hernández, D. 2015. The use of corpora as translation resources: A study based on a survey of Spanish professional translators. Perspectives 23(3). 375–391.10.1080/0907676X.2014.964269Search in Google Scholar
Gatto, M. 2008. From body to Web: An introduction to Web as corpus. Roma: Laterza.Search in Google Scholar
Gatto, M. 2011. The ‘body’ and the ‘web’: The web as corpus ten years on. ICAME Journal 35. 35–58. http://clu.uni.no/icame/ij35/Maristella_Gatto.pdf (accessed 13 March 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Gatto, M. 2014. Web as corpus: Theory and practice. London: Bloomsbury.Search in Google Scholar
Giampieri, P. 2016. A critical comparative analysis of online tools for legal translations. The Italian Law Journal 2(2). 445–461.Search in Google Scholar
Giampieri, P. 2017. Legal English per avvocati e traduttori. [Legal English for lawyers and translators]. Milan: Giuffrè.Search in Google Scholar
Giampieri, P. 2018a. Online parallel and comparable corpora for legal translations. Altre Modernità 20. 227–252.Search in Google Scholar
Giampieri, P. 2018b. The web as corpus and online corpora for legal translations. Comparative Legilinguistics 33. 35–55.10.14746/cl.2018.33.2Search in Google Scholar
Jensen, V, B. Mousten & A. L. Laursen. 2012. Electronic corpora as translation tools: A solution in practice. Communication & Language at Work 1(1). 21–33.10.7146/claw.v1i1.7236Search in Google Scholar
Kehoe, A. & A. Renouf. 2002. WebCorp: Applying the Web to linguistics and linguistics to the Web. Proceedings of the WWW 2002 Conference. Hawaii: Honolulu, 7–11 May 2002.Search in Google Scholar
Kilgarriff, A. 2001. Web as corpus. Proceedings of the Corpus Linguistics Conference (CL 2001). University Centre for Computer Research on Language Technical Paper. 13, Special Issue, Lancaster University, 342–344. https://www.kilgarriff.co.uk/Publications/2003-KilgGrefenstette-WACIntro.pdf (accessed 13 March 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Kilgarriff, A. 2007. Googleology is bad science. Computational Linguistics 33(1). 147–151.10.1162/coli.2007.33.1.147Search in Google Scholar
Krüger, R. 2012. Working with corpora in the translation classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 4. 505–525.10.14746/ssllt.2012.2.4.4Search in Google Scholar
Lüdeling, A., S. Evert & M. Baroni. 2007. Using Web data for linguistic purposes. In M. Hundt, N. Nesselhauf & C. Biewer (eds.), Corpus linguistics and the Web, 7–24. Amsterdam: Rodopi.10.1163/9789401203791_003Search in Google Scholar
O’Keeffe, A. & M. McCarthy. 2010. The Routledge handbook of corpus linguistics. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Renouf, A. & J. Sinclair. 1991. Collocational frameworks in English. In K. Aijmer & B. Altenberg (eds.), English corpus linguistics: Studies in honour of Jan Svartvik, 128–144. London: Longman.Search in Google Scholar
Sánchez-Gijón, P. 2009. Developing documentation skills to build do-ityourself corpora in the specialised translation course. In A. Beeby, I. Rodríguez & P. Sánchez-Gijón (eds.), Corpus use and translating. Corpus use for learning to translate and learning corpus use to translate, 109–127. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/btl.82.08sanSearch in Google Scholar
Sun, Y. & L. Cheng. 2017. Linguistic variation and legal representation in legislative discourse: A corpus-based multi-dimensional study. International Journal of Legal Discourse 2(2). 315–339.10.1515/ijld-2017-0017Search in Google Scholar
Tiersma, P. M. & L. M. Solan. 2012. The Oxford handbook of language and law. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199572120.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Vigier Moreno, F. J. 2016. Teaching the use of ad hoc corpora. Language and Law/Linguagem E Direito 3(1). 100–119.Search in Google Scholar
Zanettin, F. 2009. Corpus-based translation activities for language learners. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 3(2). 209–224.10.1080/1750399X.2009.10798789Search in Google Scholar
Online Resources
Collins Thesaurus: https://www.collinsdictionary.comSearch in Google Scholar
Hoepli dictionary http://dizionari.repubblica.itSearch in Google Scholar
SOAS Library Research Guide. Understanding UK case law. August 2012. https://www.soas.ac.uk/library/subjects/law/research/file70250.pdfSearch in Google Scholar
© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- research-article
- #MeToo: A tentacular movement of positionality and legal powers
- Framing terminology in legal translation
- Meaning construction and judicial identification: Difficulties and countermeasures of criminal regulation of illegal fundraising behavior on online P2P lending platforms
- Features of the language of law: A comparative study of Polish, English and Indonesian legal texts
- When is she a woman?: Gendered subject forming language in TRAP laws
- The Web as a legal language resource
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- research-article
- #MeToo: A tentacular movement of positionality and legal powers
- Framing terminology in legal translation
- Meaning construction and judicial identification: Difficulties and countermeasures of criminal regulation of illegal fundraising behavior on online P2P lending platforms
- Features of the language of law: A comparative study of Polish, English and Indonesian legal texts
- When is she a woman?: Gendered subject forming language in TRAP laws
- The Web as a legal language resource