On the Linguistic Features of Legal English and Its Translation

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【Abstract】In this paper， the author is going to put the focus on the linguistic features of legal english and its translation in the hope that the analysis and suggestions can offer laymen something useful.

【Key Word】Linguistic Features of LegalTranslation

As we all know， the law is playing an important role in modern society. Laws are enacted to maintain peace and order. Without the law we cannot imagine what our life and society would be. But what is legal language？ In China， there is not any consistency in the notion of legal language， and wehavegot over ten expressions. In the author'sopinion， legal language， a subsystem of language， is a system of signs to express legal concepts and ideas.

In this paper， the author is going to put the focus on the linguistic features of legal English and its translation in the hope that the analysis and suggestions can offer laymen something useful.

1The Linguistic Features of Legal EnglishWords

It is well known that vocabulary plays a very important role in language study because it is the essence of a language. In order to understand and translate legal English well， it is necessary to learn legal English terms well.

According to my study， legal English words have the following basic characteristics： special use of common words， formal words， professional terms， archaism and loanwords. They will be introduced separately here.

1.1Special use of common words

As can be seen in law documents， many words which are common in daily life have special legal meanings in the context of law.

For example， the common word "conduct"means"behavior"in law，"action" means "law suit"，"serve" means"deliver legal papers"， "party" means "person contracting or litigating"， etc. How can these common words with legal meaning be distinguished？ In the author's opinion， there are two methods： one is to accumulate more common words with legal meaning and the other one is to distinguish them in the context.

1.2Frequent employment of archaic words and phrases

Archaisms remain very few in the modern English， but in the legal English， in order to render the legal documents highly formal and dignified， lawyers often employ words and phrases that are unique to this variety. We find words like "herein， hereto， hereon， heretofore， thereafter， thereinafter， whereon"and phrases like "in witness whereof， legally seized and possessed of， upon his official bond"， etc， all of which are either unique to legalEnglish or endowed with a strong legal flavor. Other archaism-looking words such as：（its） duly （authorized officer）， （My commission） expires （at ...）， （we hereby） attest （to our belief） are also used in legal English.

In the above contract， the archaic words "herein"， "hereon"， and "therein" areused， adding to the formal and solemn feeling of the legal text.

1.3Extensive use of loanwords

A large part of legal vocabulary originates from Frenchand Latin. For example，“plea”（抗辩），“plaintiff”（原告），“defendant”（被告），“verdict”（裁决），“warrant”（追捕证，搜查证），“judge”（审判员），etc. are all French， while “quorum”（法定人数），“de fact fort”（事实上的侵权行为），“proviso”（限制性条款），“alibi”（不在犯罪现场），and so on are all Latin.These words and phrases constitute an important part of legal vocabularyand function to make the legal text more typical of formal legal style and more distinguished from any other Englishfor special purposes.

2Translation of legal English

Limited by the author's knowledge and her research， in this part， the author will make a brief analysis of the basic principles of legal English translation： accuracy， conciseness， solemnity， and stringency

2.1 Accuracy

The theories of translation and other research results in literature， science and technology have been very rich in our country. But the translation of a very formal legal language is still in its initial stage. Because of the professionalism and the special nature of legal language， the research results of other language translation are not fully applicable to the translation of laws. Legal translation needs the theory of its own professional characteristics to guide practice. The basic requirement for translation of any type is being accurate， and that for legal translation is no exception.

Let's have a look at the following example：

“陪审团宣告被告谋杀罪不成立。” （The jury acquitted the respondent of the charge of murder.）

In this sentence， the word“被告” should be translated as“the accused”，but not“respondent”. Because“respondent” means defendant in a civil case， especially，in a divorce one），while“the accused” means the person charged in a criminal case。

2.2Solemnity

The solemn law requires solemn style and solemn professional translation！ The law shows manifest will of the groups who are in charge of the state power. It is a vivid kind of policy-type authority. In order to maintain solemnity， the wording and phrasing of laws and regulations should be accurate. Do not do as literary works which always use magnificent literary flourishes and the rich modifiers， and it is also impossible to use the analogy， the exaggeration and the tactful expression in legal language， not to say any dialects.

Now look at the followingexample：

This law is promulgated with the purpose of regulating insurance activities， protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved， strengthening supervision and regulation of the insurance industry and promoting its healthy development.（为了规范保险活动，保护保险活动当事人的合法权益，加强对保险业的监督管理，促进保险事业的健康发展，制定本法）

We can see from the above examples： the words：“promulgate， formulate， etc are all formal words. And there are no modifiersor exaggerations in these two sentences.

2.3Stringency

The "stringency" in legal translation refers to the maximum reproduction of all the legal information from the original， without omissions， additions and ambiguous information， so that the readers will not have any misunderstanding and confusion and the linguistic characteristics of the legal texts can be well maintained.

Legal documents provide for rights and obligations with legal consequences， so the translators should make faithful translations to the original， because even a little inaccuracy will cause bad consequences. In translation of legal documents， literal approach is mainly used， but the indirect translation is not ruled out. It should be noted here that the literal translation is similar in form and the meanings are also similar to the original text. For example， if "moral person（法人）”is translated as “有道德的人”，it is not a literal translation， but a translation mistake.