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ce, whence, whensoever等。事实上,许多上述词语可在现代英语中找到替代词或相应的表达方式,使行文更加清晰易懂。例如: hereinabove→a-bove; hereinunder→below; hereofore→before, up to this time;herewith→enclosed; aforementioned→previously mentioned;aforesaid→above; behoove→to be necessary; foregoing→forthese reasons; forthwith→immediately; hitherto→until thistime, up to now; pursuant to→under or according to; thence→from there, from that place, time or source, for that reason;thenceforth→from that time on, after that; to wit→namely;whence→from where; whensoever→whenever, etc.

(2)外来语(foreign word)的融入与消失法律英语中出现较多的外来语为拉丁文和法语。由于许多拉丁词语都能在现代英语中找到对等词,拉丁词语正逐渐被人们所熟悉的英语词语所替代。例如: arguendo→for the sake of argument; et a.l→andothers; infra→below; inter alia→among other things; per curi-am→by the court; seriatim→in turn, serially, one after anoth-er; sui generic→unique; supra→above; viz.→namely or thatis to say然而,因为一些拉丁语已为律师、法官所熟悉,仍然在法律文书中具有一定的生命力。例如: ad hoc; ad litem; bonafide; caveat emptor; de novo; dicta; ex parte; gratis; in limine;mens rea; per se; postmortem; quoyum; scintilla; stare deci-sis; supersedeas等。法律英语中还有不少词汇来源于法语词。而且相当一部分已为人们所接受,这样的词有: assault; defendant; heir;larceny; mortgage; plaintif;f pleadings; tort; reprieve; verdict.其它一些过去在法律英语中存在的法语词也渐渐被简明化英语所替代。如: alien→to convey or to transfer; cestuique trust→beneficiary; cy-pres→as near as possible ; enventre sa mere→in its mother 's womb; en vie→alive; femecovert→married woman; feme sole→single woman; save→ex-cept; seisin→possession or ownership,但象estoppel; laches;voir dire等依然存在。

(3)专业术语的保留和行话在正式行文中慎用法律术语是用于表达法律概念,指称和反映法律领域特有或与法律相关事物的现象和本质属性的法律行业专门用语,法律用语具有法定的语义,与通用语有一定的重叠,它们表达的概念也是不同的。法律术语用语特定的语境,如果用通用语来替代,原来的含义改变,严肃性也会降低。法律术语代表的是完整的法律概念。根据DavidMellinkoff的观点,专业术语即“a technicalwordwith a specificmeaning”[4](具有特定含义的专业化词汇).在The Dictionary ofModern LegalUsage中,术语被定义为:“words having specific, precise signi-fications in a given specialty.”(在特定专业中具有特定、准确含义的词汇)[5]。因此,这类术语有确切的含义和适用范围,不能被其他词汇所代替或引申。例如:“certiorari”意指上级等法院向下级法院发出命令,要求下级法院呈送特定案件的诉讼文件。此外,在法律界还有一些“行话”,如:“adhesion con-trast”,“attractive nuisance”,“Blackacre”,“case atbar”,“case-in chief”;“clean hands”,“cloud on title”,“court below”,“horse case”等。这类词语在法界人士中使用频繁且易于交流,在行外人眼中却生僻难懂,在正式行文中应避免使用。总之,法律英语的简明化已是一种不可逆转的趋势,但如何在简化中尽量保留法律语言的风格仍是一个值得探讨的课题。

 

参考文献:

[1] RobertW. Benson& Joan B. Kessler, Legalese v. Plain English: An EmpiricalStudy ofPersuasion and Credibility inAppell本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。