Use of Loan Words in Legal Discourse
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Abstract
The object of the study was the lexis of foreign origin used in the legal discourse; i.e. terms most of which are international, or mere international words or loan words. The article aims at carrying out analysis of some major trends of the use of loan words in the legal discourse and conduct a research into foreign language words and word combinations used in the original language. The article is not aimed at giving a thorough evaluation of the use of loan words occurring in legal discourse from the point of view of the norms of the Lithuanian language. A serious problem – a question whether the use of loan words is inevitable and whether they can be replaced by ordinary words or terms of the native Lithuanian language – has been considered in the article.
Facts and samples of language have been collected from different articles on legal issues in the media. Other sources are as follows: documents in Lithuanian drafted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania from the period between 1995-2000. Some samples have been taken from lawyers’ radio or TV oral presentations or speeches made in courts, conferences, meetings, etc.
Analysis into loan words-related data suggests the following prevailing trends of using loan words in the legal discourse.
First, there is an increase in the frequency of use of well-known loan words, most of which are law terms (some of them were used in Lithuania before WWII). Second, many new loan words have come into existence; some of them are international terms of law but there are also loan words that have equivalents in Lithuanian with fully corresponding meaning.
The number of morphologically unadapted words or phrases of foreign languages is increasing. One group of foreign words or phrases used in the form they are used in source language have been taken from the classical languages, usually Latin; whereas the other group consists of words taken from the English language. A new trend is occurring where international words are replaced by other international words with identical or very close meaning and synonymic variation.
A prevalent trend is as follows: an increasing use of international terms and ordinary international words and growth in their significance; failure to grasp the meaning of loan words and in particular international words. The phenomenon of pleonasm has also been observed.
Facts and samples of language have been collected from different articles on legal issues in the media. Other sources are as follows: documents in Lithuanian drafted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania from the period between 1995-2000. Some samples have been taken from lawyers’ radio or TV oral presentations or speeches made in courts, conferences, meetings, etc.
Analysis into loan words-related data suggests the following prevailing trends of using loan words in the legal discourse.
First, there is an increase in the frequency of use of well-known loan words, most of which are law terms (some of them were used in Lithuania before WWII). Second, many new loan words have come into existence; some of them are international terms of law but there are also loan words that have equivalents in Lithuanian with fully corresponding meaning.
The number of morphologically unadapted words or phrases of foreign languages is increasing. One group of foreign words or phrases used in the form they are used in source language have been taken from the classical languages, usually Latin; whereas the other group consists of words taken from the English language. A new trend is occurring where international words are replaced by other international words with identical or very close meaning and synonymic variation.
A prevalent trend is as follows: an increasing use of international terms and ordinary international words and growth in their significance; failure to grasp the meaning of loan words and in particular international words. The phenomenon of pleonasm has also been observed.
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Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
