Lexical Features of Legal English: Translation Issues
Lexical Features of Legal English: Translation Issues

-

Summary/Abstract: Since any technical language involves precision being associated with particular choices of vocabulary this paper focuses upon some lexical features of legal English (also known as legalese) that must be taken into account in the translation process. A legal translator needs a high level of attention to the adequate terminology used by the lawyers and other members of the legal community and to the complex syntax, very uncommon in plain English. Consequently legal texts prove to be dense and obscure since the legal system inherited by the English-speaking countries is based on tradition and has many features related not only to terminology but also to linguistic conventions. Under these circumstances the translatorʼs task is to make legal English understandable to a general target audience. The main purpose of this paper is to familiarize the Romanian BA students - now major in translation studies - with challenging legal terms and phrases that may help them to understand correctly and implicitly to translate accurately the legal documents. The emphasis is on the sale and purchase contracts and security agreements since they incorporate a terminology common to all legal writings.

• Details
• Contents