Some Dominant Linguistic Features of Two Legal Sub-registers

Abstract

Abstract : This study aims to investigate similarities and variations across two legal sub-registers, namely, UN resolutions and agreements, in terms of some of their linguistic features. To achieve this task, the researcher sets up research tools to help her organize the research and conduct the analysis. Examination of two corpora, one representing agreements and the other UN resolutions, shows that both corpora share some sentential features, such as complexity in sentence structure and in noun phrase modification. Yet, there are some other features such as the use of modality, non-finite verb groups, and qualificational insertions that may be designated as varieties of these two legal sub-registers. The study concludes that legal register is a broad-coverage term that is actually realized by sub-registers. These sub-registers are identified by linguistic features that indicate similarities and variations