Лекторка докладно проаналізувала разом з учасниками удосконалення мови права, а саме:
- 1. Pronouns: вживання займенників в юридичній англійській мові.
- 2. Adjectives: прикметники в текстах правничого спрямування.
- 3. Collective nouns: збірні іменники – перелік та граматичні аспекти.
- 4. Uncountable nouns: незлічувані іменники в юридичних текстах.
- 5. Negatives: утворення заперечень за допомогою префіксів.
- 6. Практичні завдання за темою заходу.
У рамках характеристики удосконалення мови права акцентовано на наступному:
1. Pronouns: вживання займенників в юридичній англійській мові
- A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun to indicate someone or something already mentioned or known.
- Pronouns are used to avoid repeated use of a noun. They are usually used to refer back to the last used noun.
- For example, I, you, this, that.
Legal drafters have traditionally avoided using personal pronouns such as he, she, we, they, instead replacing them with formulations such as the said, the aforesaid, or the same.
The reason for this is a fear of ambiguity in cases where it is unclear to which noun the pronoun might refer if a number of parties are mentioned in the document.
The modern trend is to use pronouns where possible, as their use makes documentation less formal and intimidating. However, their use is inappropriate where the aim of the drafter is to impress the reader with the seriousness of the obligations being undertaken.
For example, ‘you must pay the sum of £100 per month to me’ is easier for a layperson to understand than ‘the Tenant must pay the sum of £100 per month to the Landlord’.
Sexist language:
A good work around is to use the plural possessive form, their. The Oxford English Dictionary sanctions the use of this form to refer to ‘belonging or associated with a person whose sex is not specified’. In this way, the writer can avoid using sexist language. For example: Every competent lawyer must ensure that their legal knowledge is kept up to date.
2. Adjectives: прикметники в текстах правничого спрямування
An adjective is a word used to describe a noun or make its meaning clearer (e.g. excellent, as in ‘an excellent horse’).
Some words in the English language have the ability to change parts of speech.
For example, the word principal, often used in legal English, can be used as an adjective (‘the principal sum’) or as a noun (‘the principal instructs the agent’).
- Some adjectives are described as incomparable adjectives, meaning that they describe something that can only be absolute.
- Such adjectives cannot be qualified by words like most, more, less, very, quite or largely.
For example, if a provision in a contract is void it cannot be ‘largely void’ or ‘more void’ – it is simply void.
3. Collectivenouns: збірні іменники – перелік та граматичні аспекти
A collective noun is one that refers to a group of people or things (e.g. jury, government, committee).
Such nouns can be used with either a singular verb (‘the jury was made up of people from many different backgrounds’) or a plural verb (‘the jury are all in the court now’).
In general, it is better to use the singular when referring to collective nouns.
The exception to this is where the plural is used to indicate that one is referring not primarily to the group but to all the individual members of the group (e.g. ‘the staff were unhappy with the changes that had been proposed’).
Here is a short list of collective nouns found in legal English:
- board (e.g. of directors)
- class
- club
- committee
- staff
- team
- union
- the Cabinet
- the public
- company
- government
- group
- jury
- majority
- nation
- parliament
- party (i.e. a body of persons)
4. Uncountable nouns: незлічувані іменники в юридичних текстах
Some nouns in English are uncountable. In other words, they are not used with a or an and do not have plural forms. For example, the word information, as in the phrase I need some information.
In order to refer to a particular number of an uncountable noun, especially one, you can join the noun to a word that is itself countable, or use a countable synonym instead.
In legal English, when using uncountable nouns, we do not use the indefinite article “a” or “an.” However, you can quantify them using phrases like “a piece of,” “some,” or “a lot of.“
Example: “The plaintiff presented a piece of evidence.“ Example: “The defendant provided some advice.”
5. Negatives: утворення заперечень за допомогою префіксів
Negatives are formed in English by using prefixes. The most common of these are un-, in-, il-, im-, ir-, non-and anti-.
Here are some common negative forms often used in legal English: unlawful, unfamiliar, impractical, illegal, unfair.
The prefix dis- is often used in a slightly different way to the prefixes listed above. It is not usually a direct negation but generally indicates dissent. For example, ‘we disagree’.
Note also that there are some words in English, which look like negatives but are in fact synonyms. For example, flammable and inflammable both mean easily set on fire.
Here are some common negative forms often used in legal English:
- injustice
- impartiality
- inequitable
- unwritten
- impracticable
- unconstitutional
- illicit
- unlawful
- unfamiliar
- impractical
- illegal
- unfair
- invalid
- independent
Example: Non- or un-?
The prefixes non- and un- both mean ‘not’ but they tend to be used in slightly different ways.
Non- is more neutral in meaning, while un- means an opposite and thus often suggests a particular bias or standpoint.
For example, unnatural means that something is not natural in a bad way, whereas non-natural simply means ‘not natural’.
As a consequence, where there is a genuine choice about which prefix to use, non- is preferred in legal writing (e.g. non-statutory instead of unstatutory).
6. Adverbs
- An adverb is a word that modifies or qualifies a verb (e.g. walk slowly), an adjective (e.g. really small) or another adverb (e.g. very quietly).
- Most adverbs consist of an adjective + the ending -ly.
There are a number of words that act both as adjectives and as adverbs, to which the suffix -ly cannot be added.
- alone
- early
- enough
- far
- fast
- further
- little
- long
- low
- much
- still
- straight
Example: Only
Only, when used as an adverb, has four meanings:
- It can be used to mean ‘nothing or no one else but’ (‘only qualified lawyers are able to draft these documents’).
- It can also be used to mean ‘with the negative result that’ (‘he turned, only to find his path was blocked’).
- A further meaning is ‘no longer ago than’ (‘it was only on Thursday that the document arrived’).
- Lastly, it can mean ‘not until’ (‘we can finalise the contract only when the document arrives’).
Example: Specially or especially?
Although especially and specially can both mean ‘particularly’, they are not exactly the same.
Especially also means ‘in particular, chiefly’, as in ‘he distrusted them all, especially Karen’.
Specially also means ‘for a special purpose’ as in ‘the machine was specially built for this job’.
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