1．Some Pointers to the Linguistics of Legal English 1
1．Introduction:Legal English and the rise of English for professional purposes 1
2．The aims of the book 3
3．The leading features of legal English 4
4．'Legalese'and'The Plain English Campaign' 14
5．The classification of legal vocabulary 16
6．Some leading features of the morphology and syntax of legal English 18
2．Equivalence and Interpretation 23
1．The question of equivalence in translation studies 23
2．Judges and translators.Interpretation and construction.The elusiveness of meaning. 24
3．Lexical vagueness(Ⅰ).Definition,extension and intension 30
4．Lexical vagueness(Ⅱ).Denotation and connotation;register 32
5．Lexical vagueness(Ⅲ).Polysemy and the important of context 35
6．Lexical vagueness(Ⅳ).Homonymy 37
7．Vagueness in legal lexical units(Ⅴ).Synonyms,hyperonyms and hyponyms 38
8．Vagueness in legal lexical units(Ⅵ).Antonyms 40
9．Vagueness in legal lexical units(Ⅶ).False cognates or'false friends' 41
10．Figurative language:metaphors and buried metaphors 43
11．Syntactic ambiguity 44
3．Some Pointers to the English Legal System 47
1．Introduction.The translator and the legal background 47
2．The translator and the sources of English law 48
(a)Common Law 49
(b)Equity 50
(c)Statute law 52
3．The branches of English law.Jurisdiction and the court structure 52
4．The English Criminal Courts 58
5．The vocabulary of litigation 59
6．Common terms in litigations 63
7．The language of judges 66
8．The terms used in favourable judicial decisions 67
9．The terms used in unfavourable judicial decisions 71
4．Civil and Criminal Proceedings.Administrative Tribunals 77
1．Introduction 77
2．Civil proceedings 77
2.1 The new'Civil procedure rules' 79
2.2 The overriding objective 80
2.3 Unification of procedure 82
2.4 Allocation to track 84
3．Right of action,cause of action.Some basic terms 86
4．Criminal proceedings 89
4.1 Arrest and charge 90
4.2 Types of offences 91
4.3 The trial 93
5．Administrative,Industrial and Domestic Tribunals 95
5．Genres in the translation of legal English(Ⅰ) 101
1．Introduction.Legal genres in translation 101
2．The macrostructure of legal genres:university degrees and diplomas 103
3．Certificates 104
4．Statutes 105
5．Law reports 108
6．Judgements 112
7．Oral genres(Ⅰ).The examination of witnesses at the public hearing 116
8．Oral genres(Ⅱ).Counsels'closing speeches to the jury[jury summation].Judge's summing-up and charge to the jury 119
6．Genres in the translation of legal English(Ⅱ) 125
1．Contracts 126
2．Deeds and indentures 133
3．Insurance policies 136
4．Last will and testament 139
5．The power of attorney 144
6．The professional article 146
7．Legal English in popular fiction 149
7．Practical Problems in Translation Explained(Ⅰ) 153
1．Translation as problem-solving 153
2．Legal vocabulary(Ⅰ).The translation of purely technical vocabulary 154
2.1 Problems in the translation of one-word purely technical terms 154
2.2 Problems in the translation of multiple-word purely technical terms 157
3．Legal vocabulary(Ⅱ).The translation of semi-technical vocabulary 158
4．Legal vocabulary(Ⅲ)Problems in the translation of everyday vocabulary in legal English 162
5．The translation of functional vocabulary in legal English 165
6．Lexical resources in translation(Ⅰ).The collocations of legal English 167
7．Lexical resources in translation(Ⅱ).The semantic fields of legal English 170
8．Lexical traps for the translator:false cognates and unconscious calques 173
8．Practical Problems in Translation Explained(Ⅱ) 178
1．The translator at the crossroads:techniques of legal translation 178
2．Transposition 181
3．Expansion 183
4．Modulation 185
5．Modifiers 186
The complex noun phrase 186
Verb phrase modifiers.Adverbs 187
6．The syntax of legal English.Double conjunctions 188
7．Thematization.Syntactic peculiarities of individual languages 190
8．Textual coherence.Lexical repetition in English legal discourse.Synonyms 192
References 195
Index 197