Legal translation, a Special Language Made on Purpose

Posted: Jul 17, 2010 |Comments: 0 | Views: 116 |

Legal translations are understood as the translation of legal (technical) materials from one language to another. Due to a variety of unique complexities, the legal language is a difficult to understand for laypersons. Legal language contains extensive specific terminology, whether it concerns English legal translation, Spanish legal translation, French legal translation, German legal translation, Japanese legal translation, or any other language combination.

Legal translators must have extensive knowledge of terminology in the English legal language and the corresponding foreign language. Legal translation services involve diligent and accurate legal documents translation. To achieve the best possible translation quality, you need to choose  legal translators who are fully trained and experienced in this specialized subject matter.

During the Middle Ages, legal documents were historically made as a solid block of script whose long lines stretched from margin to margin. There were no indentations or spacing to indicate the limits of paragraphs or the relation between them. It was common for draftsmen to compose an entire document in the form of one single sentence. Another characteristic of English legal texts is the absence of punctuation. These factors make legal texts much more difficult to read. Punctuation also helps with the logical comprehension of the content, and anyone who has ever read legal texts will attest that they are quite difficult to comprehend.


Legal texts were historically meant to be read in silence, not to be spoken out loud. The relative absence of punctuation was intentional since legal texts were supposed to be scrutinized in silence. Medieval scholars considered the use of punctuation to be superfluous as the meaning of the sentence was supposed to become evident from its grammatical structure.

The English legal lexicon contains many Latinisms (Latin terms) because historically the Roman Catholic Church exerted a lot of power in Europe and Latin was considered the language of learning and literature. In addition to Latinisms, the existence of French terms within the English legal language is also apparent because after the Norman Conquest in 1066, the language of the invaders gained an undeniable position in the legal sphere of England, introducing a wealth of French legal terminology.

The English legal lexicon contains a great number of archaic legal terms but this touch of archaism is intentional. This tendency towards the use of archaic words adds a flavor of formality to the document. Some lawyers prefer to use old-fashioned terms instead of modern ones; for example, they use "imbibe" as an alternative of "drink", "inquire" rather than "ask", "peruse" instead of "read", "forthwith" as a substitution of "right away" or "at once" and so on.

The conservative use of archaic legal terminology has created a lexicon that is widely understood among experts. Many archaic words have acquired an authoritative interpretation over the years and altering them would be risky. Accordingly, this ongoing use of old-fashioned diction is a matter of convenience and tradition.

Despite the fact that the archaic touch within the legal language might be useful for the experts, its functionality within the wider community is debatable. Certain outdated terms and constructions are truly a hindrance to better understanding, and they make the legal language inaccessible for a regular reader. The unique complexity of legal translations makes it even more important to select a competent legal translation service for the translation of legal documents.

Questions and Answers

Ask
200 Characters left
Rate this Article
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 0 vote(s)
    Feedback
    Print
    Re-Publish
    Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/copyright-articles/legal-translation-a-special-language-made-on-purpose-2846035.html

    Article Tags:

    legal translations

    ,

    english legal translation

    ,

    spanish legal translation

    ,

    french legal translation

    ,

    german legal translation

    ,

    japanese legal translation

    ,

    legal translation services

    ,

    translation of legal documents

    Translation must take into account constraints that include context, the rules of grammar of the two languages, their writing conventions, and their idioms. A common misconception is that there exists a simple word-for-word correspondence between any two languages, and that translation is a straightforward mechanical process. A word-for-word translation does not take into account context, grammar, conventions, and idioms.

    By: pntgloball Business> Customer Servicel Jun 26, 2008

    Currently we can serve all your translation needs not only in English, Dutch, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, but more than +140 languages. We also offer localization, interpretation, transcription, book translations, large projects and audiovisual translation services.

    By: comtranslationl Business> Online Businessl Feb 06, 2012

    We are the leaders in outsourcing services in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas services in Web Development, Outsourcing Services, Mobile Application Development Services, Translation Services and Medical Transcription.

    By: Kathy Wilsonl Business> Outsourcingl Nov 15, 2011

    It's easy to forget that Turkey is not the only country with a significant population of native Turks or Turkish speakers, or that there is a need at all for for Turkish to English translation service. However, Turkish is a native language in countries other than just the Republic of Turkey, such as neighboring countries like Cyprus, where 19% of the population is Turkish. Greece and Bulgaria have sizable and significant populations who speak native Turkish, as well as Macedonia, Azerbaijan,

    By: Jeff Qwertyl Education> Languagesl Oct 14, 2010
    Ram Ji

    Translation is conversion of written works, documents, data or useful information from one language to another.

    By: Ram Jil Education> Languagesl Jul 07, 2011

    Copyright registration with copyright.co.uk is the quick, effectual and low cost method to protect your work from violation and mistreatment.

    By: copyrightukl Law> Copyrightl May 29, 2012
    cripsar

    Many people are wary of their uploaded picture in the internet whether their picture is illegally used by anyone or not. For them, an easy solution is to use watermark in their picture.

    By: cripsarl Law> Copyrightl May 19, 2012
    Jaggy

    Fort Bend non-compete attorney can even give you advice in case a company sue you for breaching any non-compete clause.

    By: Jaggyl Law> Copyrightl May 17, 2012

    When you or someone you know suffers an injury one of the first steps is to hire an experienced attorney. Brain injuries can be particularly complex. This article provides good information that will assist you during what will be a very challenging process.

    By: Kristy Turnerl Law> Copyrightl May 16, 2012
    Andrew J Zammit

    With discussions on ACTA slowly reaching a point, a group of MEP's known as the European Pirate Party recently also issued their stance in regard to the trade agreement.

    By: Andrew J Zammitl Law> Copyrightl May 15, 2012

    Uralic family of languages consists of around three dozen languages. Read this article to understand about three Uralic languages- Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian and learn why it is important to approach experts for accurate translations....

    By: Albert Carterl Business> Small Businessl May 14, 2012

    Indo-Aryan languages are spoken by around 900 million people worldwide. Read this article to know about few of the Indo-Aryan languages in detail and why it is important to get good quality language translations of these languages in order to conduct successful business in South Asia....

    By: Albert Carterl Business> Small Businessl Apr 12, 2012

    There is a huge demand for Gujarati translations. Read this article to understand about the characteristics of Gujarati language and learn why it is important to get Gujarati translations done from experts only....

    By: Albert Carterl Business> Small Businessl Jan 24, 2012

    Thailand has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. A growing number of companies are expanding their businesses in Thailand. As a result, the demand for professional Thai translations has increased like never before. This article will inform you about the Thai language, tourism in Thailand and why you must approach a reliable translation agency for Thai translations...

    By: Albert Carterl Business> Small Businessl Dec 27, 2011

    Written in the Gurmukhi script, Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language which is spoken in various parts of India and Pakistan. This article explores the importance of Punjabi translations, its dialects, vocabulary and why you should approach experts for Punjabi translations...

    By: Albert Carterl Business> Small Businessl Dec 13, 2011

    Discuss this Article

    Author Box
    Articles Categories
    All Categories
    Quantcast