Observatoire jurilinguistique sur les mots de la pandémie de covid-19. Étude plurilinguistique
Jurilinguistic Observatory on the Words of the Covid-19 Pandemic. A Multilingual Study

Summary/Abstract: This paper is based on a multilingual approach (Chinese, Romanian, English, French) of the new legal terminology created during the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach allowed us to identify the linguistic challenges which arise during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as several extra-linguistic consequences (legal, socio-political, psychological). The classification of terms allowed us to interpret them within contexts and thus observe how similar concepts may interact in such a dynamic, even chaotic, multilingual legal context, which is characterized by a multitude of ordinances, regulations and laws. For instance, terms such as “cas suspects”, “télétravail”, “isolement” are found in all four languages, but their meanings may differ from one language to another. Among the conclusions we reached, we can mention the phenomenon of re-specialization of medical and legal terms, as well as the re-pragmaticalization of certain common language items and an omnipresent neologization.

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