Terminological hybridity in institutional legal translation

Abstract

The analysis of domain-specific terminology is essential for characterizing specialized discourses, and emerges as a useful means of measuring the thematic hybridity of law and legal translation in particular. This paper accordingly presents a large-scale mapping of terminological and phraseological features in a multi-genre corpus that was built as part of the LETRINT project on institutional legal translation. The corpus-driven analysis focuses on the density of legal terminology and phraseology, on the one hand, and that of terminology of other specialized domains, on the other, in nine genres that are considered representative of three central legal functions (law-making, compliance monitoring and adjudication) in three international settings (the European Union, the United Nations and the World Trade Organization). The comparative examination of density scores provides empirical evidence of the common core features of the selected genres, and reveals variations based on institutional thematic focus, primary legal function and genre specificities. These insights nuance our understanding of international legal discourses and domain specialization in institutional translation.

Revisiting translator competence in the age of artificial intelligence: the case of legal and institutional translation

“…As in law and legal communication, institutional discourses must convey the intended message accurately and conform to the applicable legal framework, institution-specific conventions and the relevant precedents in institutional work. Also, like law, institutional missions and policies cover a myriad of subject matters, as reflected in the high degree of terminological hybridity of institutional text genres (Prieto Ramos and Cerutti 2022 ). This further supports the relevance of LTC in institutional translation settings, as LTC also entails the ability to research the range of subjects addressed by legal texts and proceedings, encompassing not only legal meaning, but also economic, technical or scientific topics, for example.…”