Tradition and Change in Legal English: Verbal Constructions in Prescriptive Texts

In this volume the author examines verbal constructions in prescriptive legal texts written in English.Modal auxiliaries such as shall, may and must are analysed, as well as indicative tenses such as the present simple, and also non-finite constructions such as the -ing form and -ed participles. Results are based on specially compiled corpora of prescriptive texts coming from a wide range of English-speaking countries and also international organizations such as the European Union and the UN. The author also analyses the nature, extent and impact of the calls for change in legal language coming from the Plain Language Movement. Although legal language tends to be depicted as being highly conservative and unchanging, the author shows that in certain parts of the English-speaking world a minor revolution would appear to be taking place, while in other parts there is greater resistance to change.Tradition and Change in Legal English: Verbal Constructions in Prescriptive Texts 2nd Edition is written by Christopher Williams and published by Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften. ISBNs for Tradition and Change in Legal English are 9783035103175, 3035103178 and the print ISBNs are 9783039114443, 3039114441.