This contribution charts the influence of French on English legal language in Europe. Its results, drawn mainly from the EUR-Lex archive, suggest that efforts to harmonise legislation in the EU often lead to the adoption of French loanwords - as in Middle English legal discourse. At the same time, English words lacking equivalents in Romance terminology tend to be replaced by new extended meanings of cognates of French terms. As this trend is unique to Europe, it is widening the distance between British and American legal nomenclature, which in turn increases the ambiguity of English texts used in non-European contexts.
English Legal Discourse and the French Continuum
KERMAS, Susan Annelie
2010-01-01
Abstract
This contribution charts the influence of French on English legal language in Europe. Its results, drawn mainly from the EUR-Lex archive, suggest that efforts to harmonise legislation in the EU often lead to the adoption of French loanwords - as in Middle English legal discourse. At the same time, English words lacking equivalents in Romance terminology tend to be replaced by new extended meanings of cognates of French terms. As this trend is unique to Europe, it is widening the distance between British and American legal nomenclature, which in turn increases the ambiguity of English texts used in non-European contexts.File in questo prodotto:
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