譯中中譯題目法律英語語體探析

Iamtrulygratefultoallthosewhohavetaughtmeandhelpedmewiththisthesis.Withouttheirguidance,encouragementandsupport,thecompositionofthisthesisisalmostFirstofall,Iwouldliketopresentmysincerethankstomysupervisor,ProfessorXuYanhongwhoprovidedmewithconstructivesuggestions,valuablehelp,encouragementandcarefullyreadthedraftofthisthesis.Hervaluabledirectionandadvicehavedrawnmyattentiontoanumberofdeficienciesforimprovementandhavemademanythingsclearerforme.ThemostprecioustreasureIgainedfromheristheprecisioninngresearch,whichIbelievewillcontinuetobenefitmeinmyfuturestudy.Furthermore,Iwouldliketoacknowledgemygratitudetoalltheinstructorswhohavekindlyhelpedmewiththestudiesofmycourses.Theirearnestteachingandinstructionhaveprovedmostvaluableandhelpfultomyunderstandingoflinguisticsandhelpedmeseethethesisthroughtocompletion.Therearemanyotherswhohaveofferedmegreathelp,bothdirectlyandTheirkindnesswillalwaysbeinmyheart.Thankyou ysisofLegal:Lawistherulesandpriciplesforhumanbehavior,anditisimplemantedbytheoftheState.Legallanguage(orthelanguageoflaw),thecarrierandmanifestationlaw,isasbroadandcomplexashumanexperience.Languageisthemediumofcommunication,andofcourselawsareexpressedandannouncedbylanguage.AlthoughEnglandoriginatesinEngland,itiswidelyusedintheworldtoday.ManyothercountriesuseEnglishastheirfirstlanguage,orofficiallanguage.Usuallythelawofacountryisexpressedbytheofficiallanguageofthecountry.BeingafunctionalvariantofEnglish,thestylisticfeaturesoflegalEnglisharedeterminedbythefunctionsoflaw.BecauseofitsspecialfunctionsinthesocialactivitieslegalEnglishisboundtobeformal,accurate,beingdevoidofvaguenessandambiguity.AllofthosefeaturesarereflectedinthelegalEnglish.ThustoknowthefeaturesoflegalEnglishisofgreatsignificancetolearnersoflegalEnglish.Onthestandofthispoint,thispaperisanattempttodoamoresystematicysisoflegal legallanguage;stylisticfeatures;Tableof in inTableof I Liture Legal Previous Theoretical Stylistic StylisticysisofLegal Lexical Etymology Degreeof Useof Rei Syntactic Lengthof Typesof Sentence Voicesof Theme-Rheme IAfterestablishingmarketeconomyandrapidlydevelopedourtradewithforeigncountries,hasmoreandmoreopportunitiestocommunicatewithforeigncountries,especiallywiththosecountrieswhoseofficiallanguageisEnglish.Whatismore,withitsentryintotheWTO,willinvolveitselfintheworld’seconomymoreprofoundlyandwidely.Inthecontemporaryhighlylegalizedsocietylawsarecloselytiedtopeople’seconomicactivities.It’swellknownthatman’sactivitiesmustconformtothelaw.SoknowingthelawsofEnglish-speakingcountriesisofgreatimportance.Languageisamediumofcommunication,andofcourselawsareexpressedinlanguage.NowEnglishiswidelyusedintheworld.ManycountriesuseEnglishastheirfirstlanguage,orofficiallanguage,forexample,America,Canada,Australia,NewZealand,SouthAfricaandtheRepublicofIreland.Thelawofacountryiswritteninthenativelanguageofthecountry,sothelawsofthesecountriesarewritteninEnglish.Moreover,thelawsofthesecountriesbelongtothecommonlawsystem.Anothermainlegalsystemiscivillawsystem.Inthecommonlawsystem,thedecidedcasesareusedasthesourceoflawwhichmustbecontrastedwiththecivillawsystem.Thecivillawcountrieshavecodifiedthelawssothatthemainsourcesoflawinthosecountriesaretobefoundinthestatutesratherthaninthecases.IfonecancommandlegalEnglishquitewellitmaybeeasierforhimtoreadthelawsofcommonlawsystemintheoriginal.ItishighlypossiblethathecouldstudyandunderstandthelawsbetterthanthosewhoknowlittleaboutlegalLanguageisthemediumthroughwhichlawacts.Itisimportantforthelawyertogivespecialattentiontothestudyoflanguage.LordMansfieldoneofthemostfamousEnglishjudges,onceobservedthatmostofthedisputesintheworkarisefromwords.Thisisadirectresultofthelackofprecisioninthemeaningofnearlyeveryword.Neitherlawnorlinguisticsciencegaveadequateattentiontothisfact.Soinordertohaveabetterunderstandingofthelawofacountry,Itisnecessarytoknowthelanguageofthecountry,especiallystylisticfeaturesoftheirlegalEnglish. tureInthispart,wewillintroducewhatthelegalEnglishisfirstandthengiveabriefviewonthepreviousresearchaboutitanditsstylisticfeatures.LegalLegalEnglishmeansthelanguageofthelawofEngland,America,andsomeothercountries,whoseofficiallanguageisEnglish.ThesecommonlawsystemcountrieshaveahistoryaboutseveralhundredyearstoexpresslawinEnglish.LegalEnglishcanalsobecalled“EnglishfortheLaws”or“Englishforthelegalprofession”.ItisprofessionalEnglishwithlegalprofessionaltechnicalfeatures.LegalEnglishisatypeoflegallanguage,afrontiersciencewithoverlapsbetweenlinguisticsandthescienceoflaw.LegalEnglish,thecarrierandmanifestationoflawsinEnglishspeakingcountriesorincountrieswhereEnglishfunctionsastheofficiallanguage,isasbroadandcomplexashumanexperienceitself,andassocietyevolves.Fromalinguisticpointofview,legallanguageisonekindofvariantsoflanguagelikeEnglishforscienceandtechnology,medicalEnglish,commercialEnglish,financialEnglish,advertisingEnglishandsoon.Tobeexact,itisaregisterorprofessionaljargonofsofSofromthestylisticangle,thefollowingdefinitionisgiven:LegalEnglishisonekindofEnglishstylewhichisusedinlegalscientificconceptsorlitigationornon-litigationaffairsbypeopleespeciallyworkersinthelegalprofession.SomeexnationsoflegalEnglish:(a)LegalEnglishisthelanguagewhichpossessesthelegalprofessionalfeaturesbasedoncommoncoreEnglish,formedandusedintheactivitiesoflegislationandjudicature.(b)UniversallyapprovedintheEnglishandAmericanlegalfield,legalEnglishisacustomaryandprofessionallanguageusedbylawyers,judges,andworkersofthelegalprofessionincommon-lawcountriesanditincludessomewords,phrasesandthespecialmodesofexpression.(c)LegalEnglishinEnglisheducationalfieldreferstothelanguageoflawandtheexactEnglishexnationisEnglishforlawemphasizingprofessionalfeaturesanddistinguishedfromnon-technicalcommon(4)TheauthorityoftheAmericanLegalInstitute,Mellinkoff(1963)thinksthatlegalreferstotheEnglishlanguageofPreviousSinceforensiclinguisticsbecameanindependentsubjectin1993,ithasdrawnthelegal,especiallylinguisticexpert'sattentiontotheparticularity,complexityanduniversalityofthestudy.Forensiclinguisticstakeslegallanguagepractice,exploresandsummarizesthefeaturesandrulestosolvetheproblemsconcerninglegaleventsandlinguisticappliance.LegalEnglishisthecross-linkoflegalscienceandEnglishlinguistics.ItstudieslegalEnglishasaparticularregisterbyapplyingtherelevantlinguistictheories.Linguisticsbothinourcountryandabroadhavefocusedtheirattentionsonthisarea,andtheyhavedonealotofresearchesfromdifferentaspects.InthebookLinguisticAspectsofLegislativeExpression,AmericanscholarBowers(1989)makesasystematicstudyoflegalEnglishonvariouslanguagelevels.HeappliesthetheoriesofFunctionalismandtheSpeechActTheorytothedescriptionsofthefeaturesoflegalEnglish,andtriestofindoutthelinguisticexnationstothespecialstyleofthisspeciallanguageregister.Inourcountries,scholarshavealsodonemanyvaluableresearchesonthistopic.InhisbookVarietiesofHou(1988)viewslegalEnglishasafunctionalregisterofEnglish,andheproposestoitscharactersinviewofthefunctionsitys.Zhang(1998)discussesthestylisticfeaturesoflegalEnglishinaspecificchapterofhisbookFunctionalStylistics.Heemphasizesthefunctionsoflanguage,andgivesthedetailedysisonthelexicalsyntacticandtextuallevels.InthebookStylisticStudiesinlegalEnglish,Huang(2004)appliesthetheoriesofstylistics,syntaxandsemanticscomprehensivelytothestudyoflegalEnglish,andgivesagoodexampleofthestylisticstudyofthisregister.Besidesthesementionedbooks，therearestillacertainnumberofrelatedresearchesonlegalEnglish.DuJinbang's(2004)ForensicLinguisticsgivesaamountofexamplesoflegalEnglish,whichisveryvaluabletotheusandrelatedresearchers.LiuHongying's(2003)LegalLinguisticssummarizesthelegalandhabitrules,andyzesoftheapplicationofthemoderateandloses,throughgrassystematiclegallanguageinthecontextofdifferentapplicationcharacteristics.HeJiahong's(1997)LegalEnglishgivesasystematicysisoftheEnglishindifferentlevelsoflaw.LiaoChuanfeng's(2004)theFeaturesoflegalEnglishdiscussesthelegalEnglishtheviewsofthreeMeta-functions.LuoWehua's(1996)theStylisticFeaturesoflegalalsogivesthestylisticfeaturesoflegalEnglishinaspecificchapterAlthoughthenumberofthestudyonthisthemeislarge,someoftheavailableresearchesareonthelevelofphenomenondescription.Therefore,thereisstillsomespaceforfurtherresearch.TheoreticalTheapplicationofthemodernlinguistictheoriestothestudyofstylisticsbringsthedevelopmentofthemodernstylisticsintoanewareaandtheresearchingareashavebeenenlargedintovariouskindsofregisters，alongwiththetraditionalstudyofthelirylanguage.Thefunctionalstylisticsisanimportantschoolofthemodernstylistics.AccordingtoHalliday(2000),theadultlanguagesystemisquitedifferentfromthechildlanguagesysteminthewaylanguageisusedtoserveforthem.Thecharacteristicoftheutncesofchildrenisthateachoneisfunctionallysimple,thatis,eachutnceservesjustonefunction.Ifanutnceisinstrumentalinfunction,seekingthesatisfactionofsomematerialneedordesire,thenitisjustinstrumentalandnothingelse.Whiletheadultutncesarefunctionallycomplex,thatistosay,eachadultutnceisservingmorethanonefunctionatthesametime.Sointheinternalorganizationoftheadultlanguagesystem,thereisamuchmorehighlyorganizedandmore functionalsystem/asetoffunctionalcomponents,thatis,themetafunctions.Theinnumerablesocialpurposesforwhichadultsuselanguagearerepresentedindirectlyinthelanguagesystemthrough“metafunctions”ofaverygeneralkind.Halliday(1976)identifiedthreemetafuntions,whichunderliethespecificusesoflanguage.Weuselanguagetorepresentourexperienceoftheworldaroundusandinsideus.Thisisexperientialfunction,togetherwithlogicalfunction,whichrelatestotheconnectionsbetweenmessages,andtothewaysinwhichwesignaltheseconnections.Theyconstituteideationalmetafunction,oneofthethreemetafunctions.InclauseitisrealizedbyTransitivityandVoice.Transitivityisthenamefortheparticularrangeofmeaningpotential—theencodingofourexperienceofprocesses(Halliday,1976).The metafunctionembodiestheuseoflanguagetoexpresssocialand alrelations.Thatis,“weuselanguagetoinctwithotherpeople,toestablishandmaintainrelationswiththem,toinfluencetheirbehavior,toexpressourownviewpointonthingsintheworld,andtoelicitorchangetheirs”.(Thompson,2000:28)Inclausethiscomponentisrealizedbymoodandmodalityandkey.Thenthereisathirdmetafunction:textualmetafunction.Thisistherequirementthatlanguageshouldbeoperationallyrelevant—thatitshouldhaveatexture,whichmakesthedifferencebetweenatextandacollectionofunrelatedsentences.Thiscomponentprovidesalsotheremainingstrandsofmeaningpotentialtobewovenintothefabricoflinguisticstructure.Andthetextualfunctionrelatestothecontext,confiningthespeaker/writertoproducingtextthatisconsistentwiththesituation/culturetowhichtheybelong.Thismetafunctionisactuallyaprerequisitetotheeffectiveoperationoftheothertwo.Inthefollowingthesefunctionswillbediscussedindetails.StylisticInthesimplestwayofspeaking,stylisticsisthestudyofstyle.Butasstyleisaverythornytermtodefine，stylisticsisalsoviewedinvariousways.StylisticsisanoldbranchoflearningthatcouldbetracedbacktotheGreekandRomantimes,yetitisalsoayoungdisciplinewithahistoryofonly100years.AccordingtotheOxfordEnglishDictionary(1983),theword“stylistics”appearedintheyearbetween1882and1883.Byfarthemostcommonkindofmaterialstudiedisli ture,andattentionislargelyText-centred.Thegoalofmoststylisticsisnotsimplytodescribetheformalfeaturesoftextsfortheirownsake,buttoshowtheirfunctionalsignificancefortheinterpretationofthetextortorelateliryeffectstolinguisticcauseswherethesearefelttoberelevant.Stylisticianswanttoavoidvaugeandimpressionisticjudgmentsaboutthewaythatformalfeaturesaremanipulated.Asaresult,stylisticsdrawsonthemodelsandterminologyprovidedbywhateveraspectsoflinguisticsarefelttoberelevant.Thedevelopmentofmodernlinguistictheorieshasinfusednewenergytothestudyofstylistics.ThescholarsofdifferentLinguisticSchoolsbegintopayattentiontothisspecificlanguageareabyapplyingtheirrelevanttheoryintothestudy.Besides,thedimensionofthissubjecthasbeenlargedfromthefocusonthelituretextstowiderrangeoflanguageThosepracticalusesoflanguagesuchasthenewsreport，legallanguage，advertisement,areallunderthestudy.StylisticysisofLegalInthispart,legalEnglishismainlydiscussedfromthreedifferentaspects.Theyarethelexicalfeatures,syntacticfeaturesandthetextualfeatures.Followingpartisthedetaileddiscussionofthesefeatures.LexicalTherangeofvocabularythatmaybemetinlegallanguageisextremelywide,sincealmostanythingmay ethesubjectoflegislationorlegaltabulationinsomewayorother;andastatuteregulatingtheimportationofsheepandpigswillobviouslydiffergreatlyfrommortgagedeed.Butlawyershavedevelopedmarkedpreferencesintheirchoiceofwords，andsomeveryclearcharacteristicsemerge.EtymologyOnelexicalfeatureoflegalEnglishisthatitintroduceslargetiesofforeignwords.WheneverweopenastandardEnglishdictionaryoflaworaEnglish-dictionaryoflaw,wecanseedenselyLatinwordslisted,suchasaffidavit;alienares;bonamobilia;andsoon.AsQian(1991)statestheexaminationoflexicalchoiceismainlyanysisofcontentinanystyle,thefrequenceofformwords(prepositions,auxiliaryverbs,conjunctions,andarticles)isthehighest,andtheyaremainlyoldEnglishwords.Sobyyzingthecontentwords,wecanknowthefeaturesoflexicalchoice.UsuallyacoupleofLatinwordsarecombinedtoformaphrasewithacompletelegalsense,suchasdonatiointervivos;eatindesinedie;andsoforth.Inaddition,someLatinwordssuchassomeprepositionsornounscanbecombinedwithmanyotherwordstoformphrasestoexpresscertainmeanings.Ontheonehand，thefrequentuseofLatinatewordsinLegalEnglishmakesandevenalearnerwithhighEnglishlevelmayfinditdifficulttounderstandlegalconversationor WhyareLatinwordswidelyusedinlegalEnglish?OneofthemostimportantreasonsisthatLatinlanguageisadeadlanguagewhoseformandmeaningwillnotchangeowningtofrequentuseorculturaldevelopment.Thusnoambiguitywillbecaused.TheborrowedFrenchelementinlegalvocabularyisextremelylargeandthisisoneoftheconsequencesoftheNormanConquest.ItisobviousthattherateoftheuseofFrenchloansinlegal isveryhigh.ThedramaticallyfrequentuseofFrenchloansinlegalEnglishistomakethelanguageelevatedandformal.AllthewordswehavementionedsofarbecameEnglishwordswhentheywereadoptedintothelanguage,andmanyofthemareingeneraluse.ButthereisstillarelativelysmallgroupofbothFrenchandLatinlegaltermswhichlingeredonintheiroriginalformsfromthedayswhenlegalbusinesswascarriedonintheselanguages.Thesewordsandphraseshavenever enaturalized,inthemannerofotherloan-words;theyaretoberegardedasbarbarisms.Yetquiteanumberofthemyanimportantroleastechnicaltermsandsoconstituteanactiveandhighlydistinctivepartofthelegalvocabulary.Forexample,Frenchlawtermsare:estoppel(abarorimpedimentpreventingapartyorfromassertingaclaimorafactinconsistentwithapositionhepreviouslytook,eitherbyconductorwords),feesimple(anestateorinheritanceinland,absoluteandwithoutlimitationtoanyparticularclassofheirs).AmongthetermofLawLatinare:alias(anassumedname),resjudicata(athingadjucated:acasethathasbeendecided).Locutionsofthiskindhaveremainedlargelythepropetyoflawyers.Butafewhavemadetheirwayintoeverydayuse.DegreeofThewordsthatareoftenusedmaybedivided,fromastylisticpointofview,intothreetypes:formal,common,colloquial.Formalwordsmayalsobecalledlearnedwords，orlirywords，or“big”words.Theymainlyappearinformalwriting,suchasscholarlyortheoreticalworks,formallecturesandaddresses,politicalandlegals.Manywordscontainthreeormorethanthreesyllables,andmostofthemareofGreekorLatinorigin.Theyareseldomusedindailyconversation,exceptforspecialpurposes.Wang(1987)suggest,veryoften,somebigwordsorformalwordsareusedinlegalEnglishtomakewordsformalandstylesolemnandstay.Insteadofcoarseorvulgarwords,flowerywordsfilllegalEnglish.UseofHallidayidentifiedthreemetafunctions,theyareideationalfunction,interalfunctionandtextualfunction.Modalitybelongstooneofthemostimportantfeaturesofinteralfunction.Modalityisasemanticcategory,whichexpressestheattitudeofthespeakertowardsthatexpressedinthesentences.Inthiswidersense,modalityrefersnotonlytothemorphologicallyformedmoodsofindicative,subjectiveandimperative,butalsotothedifferenttypesofsentences(statement,question,command).Appropriay,modalitycanbeexpressedthroughavarietyofformalandlexicalmeansinconjunctionwithcontextualfactors:(a)morphologicalmoodoftheverb;(b)lexicalmeanssuchassentenceadverbial(hopeful,maybe),modalauxiliaries(can,must,may);(c)syntacticmeanssuchasparaphraseswithwouldaswellasconstructionswithhave+inf(Bussmann,2000:308-309).AccordingtoLongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglish(1995),OxfordAdvancedLearner'sDictionaryofCurrentEnglish,Webster'sEncyclopedicUnabridgedDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,therearetwomainusesoftheword“shall”.Oneistoexpressthesimplefuturetense,theotheristoexpresspromise,purpose,suggestion,demand,custometc.AsalegalEnglishword,shallisinvariablyusedtoexpresswhatistobetheobligatoryconsequenceofalegaldecision,andnotsimplyasamarkeroffuturetense,whichisitsmainfunctioninothervarieties.Inallkindsofregulationsshallisoneofthemosthighlywords.Itexpressesorderorstandardofprohibition.ForInordertoguaranteetheperformanceofthecontractanditsappendices，bothPartyAandPartyBshallprovideeachotherthebankguaranteesoftheperformanceofthecontract.Thequalityandpricesofthecommoditiestobeexchangedbetweentheimportersandexportersinthetwocountriesshallbeacceptabletobothsidesandthepricesshouldbefixedinaccordancewithworldmarketprices.Nounitsuitableforwomantowokshall/mayrejectanyfemaleapplicant(s)forBesides,therearesomeotherwordsthatexpressthemodality,suchasmaybe,perhaps,likely,ReiTwosynonymsortwowordswithclosemeaningcanbeconnectedby“and”or“or”tocomplementeachother.AndinlegalEnglishthiskindofuseoccursveryoften.Itisespeciallyanoutstandingcharacteristicofcontracts,forbyusingit,ambiguitycanbeavoidedorreduced.Lookatthefollowingsentences:TheydeclaredthecontractnullandThepackingandwrapexpensesshallbebornebytheThepurposeofthisusageisnotonlytorespectthetradition,butalsotoseekaccuracyandcompletionofmeaning.Asithasbeenmentionedbymanylinguists,legalEnglishadheresmuchtotradition.Therearemanymoresuchsynonymouspairs:termsandcondition,settleclaimsanddebts,importdutyandtax,customsandusage,missinganddisappeared,willfulandmaliciousinjuryelderlyandaged,etc.Thesynonymsornear-synonymsineachphraseareconnectedby“and”andthesecondpartisoftenusedtoreaffirmandcomplementthefirstpart.Sometimes,draftsmenmayusesomecombinationsofwordswiththeword“or”tomakethemeaningmorerigorous,accurateandcomplete.Forexample,use,misuse,orabuse,inconrtactorintort;expressorimplied;alteredoramended;repairorrecement.Amongthem,loss,injury,ordamage;incontractorintort;expressorimpliedarefrequentlyusedSomewords，whicharenotsynonymsornear-synonymsarealsousedtogetheraccuracy,forinstance:breakingandentering,shallbeorremainliable,etc.Itisblamelesstousecommonlyusedreduplicationsofsynonymsornear-synonymstoobeythehabitoflegalEnglish,whileitisnecessarytoavoidusingsuperfluouswords.SyntacticSyntacticfeaturesrefertolengthofsentences,typesofsentences,sentencestructuresandvoicesofsentencesandsoon.Inthispart,wewilldiscussthemrespectivelyandLengthofLongandshortsentenceshavetheirownrespectivestylisticfunctions.Generallyspeaking,asshortsentencesareeasytoorganizeandpresentandstylisticallycasualandcolloquial,theyaremostlikelytobeusedindailycommunicationandonunofficialoccasions.Comparedwithshortsentences,longsentencescanexpressmorecomplicatedideasandfacts.Aslengthysentencesappearsolemn,grave,andformal,theyareusedinformalsituationandwrittenlanguage,suchasacademicpapers,ation,technicalmaterials,meetingspeech.LegalEnglishisoneofThecharacteristicsoflegalEnglishsentencestructurearecloselyrelatedwiththestylisticfeaturesoflegalEnglish.Legal sincludinglaws,treatie,contracts,guarantees.concernpeople'srightsandduties.Especiallythelegalrelationshipbetweenthepartiesexpressedbythelawisrathercomplicated.Thisrequiresthelanguageoflawmustaccurate,conciseandformalandthelanguagestructureispreciseandcompact,verylogicalandundistorted.SothesentencestructureoflegalEnglishisquitedifferentfromthoseofotherstyles.Theformallegalshavemanydeterminers(adjective,adverb,participle,gerund,infinitive,overlap,insertion)fortheheadwordsandmany1imitativeconditionsasadverbials(oftime,condition,purposeandmanner)orclauses(ofadverbial,time,ce,condition,etc.)forthetenableexistenceofthelaw.ThisbringsmorelongsentencesandfewershortsentencestolegalEnglish.InthecommonEnglish,thesentencestructureisusuallysimpleandthesentenceisshort.Accordingtoresearch,theaveragelengthisonlythirteenwordsintheAmericanfamouswriterErnestHeminway'snovel.AccordingtoIntroductiontoEnglishStylistics,Wang&Ding(1985)suggeststhatthelengthofthelongsentencesinlegalEnglishisfarlongerthanthenormalseventeenwordsinoneSometimesoneparagraphismadeupofoneortwosentences.Therefore,thelegalsareoftenobscureandhardtounderstand.Weknowthattheomnipresenceoflongsentenceinlegaltextisoneofthemostprominentstylisticfeaturesoflegallanguage.Sofarasitsfunctionisconcerned,theemploymentoflongsentenceservestostipulatetherightsandobligationscompleyandwholly.Itisentirelynecessarytoresorttolongsentenceto pletenessstipulationascompletestipulationsmayresultinambiguityintheinterpretationors.Thelengthofsentenceshowever,mayinevitablyincurdifficultyinthecomprehensionofalegaltext.Somanylawyersandlaw-makershavecontributedquitealottoshorteningandsimplifyinglongsentences.Owingtothenatureofhighconditiondensityofthelaw,theycannotbetooprudentinngso.Allinall,precisionisofvitalimportancewhencomparedtotheotherrequirementsoflaw.Ofcourse,thisisonlyoneofthemostfrequentlyusedlongsentencesinlegalEnglish,thereareotherssuchasLooseSentenceandPeriodicSentencethathavethesamefunctionintheLegalEnglish.TypesofAsweallknow,Englishsentencecanbedividedintodeclarativesentence,imperativesentence,interrogativesentence,andexclamatorysentence.Anoveralllookatlegalutncewillallowustofindoutdeclarativesentencesintermsofthepurposeofthisusagetakeupanoverwhelmingmajorityofsentencesinallclassesoflegalutnceexceptincourtcross-examinationsandinterrogation.Itissafetosaythatsentences(ifcomplete)instatutesandcontractsareal1declarativesentences.Legalsareusedtoidentifythelegalrelationship,carryoutthelegalterms,statethefactofthelawcaseandstipulatethepeople'srightsandobligations.Astatutemustbeauthoritative,andthisnaturallycallsforanaffirmativetonerepresentedinstatements.Theuseofdeclarativesentencesgivesthereadertheimpressionthatastheyaredevoidofornatelanguagetheyaresimple-styledbutful.Thesameistocontracts.TheaimfunctionofthelawdecidethebasicsentencestructureinlegalEnglishisdeclarativesentencewhoseprimarypurposeistogiveinformation,asopposedtoquestionsorimperatives.“Theprepondenceofdeclarativesentencesinlegalsisdeterminedbythedeclarativeillocutionarywhichdominatesinlegalsandwhichlegalsneed.Theisbroughtaboutmerelybytheactofutteringwordsafterdueprocess”(Bowers,1989:27).Theconditionnecessaryforasuccessfuldeclarationisthattheaddressorshavetheauthoritytomakeit.Inmostdeclarative,authorityderivesfromtheconstitutiveruleswhicherntheactivityinwhichthedeclarativeisuttered.SentenceInthissection,longsentencewillbeyzedindetailbecauseitisoneoftheimportantfeaturesofsyntaxinlegalEnglishanditisthemainfactorsofmakingthelegal muchdifficulttounderstand.Theattributivestructurehereafterreferstotheelementsthatfunctionasmodifiersofnounphrases.Attributiveclause,alsotermedrelativeclause,fallsintotwotypes:RestrictiveRelativeClauseandNon-restrictiveRelativeClause.WehavealreadyknownthatlegalEnglishismuchmoreprecisethancommonEnglish.SoRestrictiveRelativeClauseisadoptedinlegalEnglishonmostoccasionandNon-restrictiveRelativeClausewhichisusedforexnationandcomplementationappearsless.Thefollowingaretheexamples.Asalawyer,yourgoalistoconvertthefactsfromyour'snarrativeintoalegalclaimthatstatesacauseofaction,orintoaviabledefencetousiblelegalclaims.(RestrictiveRelativeClause)Theaccusedhastherighttodefense,whichisguaranteedbytheconstitution