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Introduction In: International Journal of Corpus Linguistics: Online-First Articles

Introduction

Corpus perspectives on legal discourse

ORCiD logo with link | Nottingham Trent University
ORCiD logo with link | Independent researcher
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Abstract
This editorial introduces a special issue of the International Journal of Corpus Linguistics on corpus perspectives on legal discourse. It first situates corpus-based research within the broader empirical tradition of language and law studies, tracing the emergence of a ‘corpus turn’ from the mid-1990s onwards and its contribution to the analysis of legal texts. It then identifies established and emerging trends exemplified by the five studies in the issue, which span jurisdictions in Europe, North America and Asia and draw on both common law and civil law traditions. Four trends are discussed: the continued dominance of written legal discourse as the core object of corpus analysis; comparison as a foundational methodological design principle; the role of intertextuality, interdiscursivity and genre networks in situating legal texts within broader institutional and societal contexts; and the spectrum from impersonal, informational legal language to more involved, evaluative discourse in judicial settings.
Article outline
  • 1.Empirical foundations in studies of language and law
  • 2.The corpus turn in legal discourse analysis
  • 3.Established and emerging trends in corpus approaches to legal discourse
    • 3.1Written legal discourse as the core object of corpus analysis
    • 3.2Comparison as a methodological design principle
    • 3.3Looking outwards: Networked genres and societally embedded legal discourse
    • 3.4Informational to involved: The (im)personal in legal discourse
  • 4.Looking forward
  • References
References (35)
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