Cover not available

Article published In: Specialised Translation in Spain: Institutional dimensions
Edited by José Santaemilia-Ruiz and Sergio Maruenda-Bataller
[Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 30:2] 2017
► pp. 611–635

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

The expression of emotion in institutionalized legal opinion

A contrastive Spanish-English pre-translational study

 | Universidad de Murcia
Published online: 26 March 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.00009.ort
Abstract
The present work carries out a contrastive study of interpersonal devices between two corpora of legal opinion in English and Spanish, with a view to assessing the different use that is made in these languages of the indicators of emotion, evaluation and appreciation as to the ideational context of these texts. The antecedents of the present study are found in the Appraisal theory, which constitutes the interpretation of Halliday, M. A. K. (1994/2004). An introduction to Functional Grammar. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar Systemic-Functional Linguistics by the Sydney School. Through the analysis of an ad-hoc corpus of forty opinion columns from two prestigious and influential newspapers, El País and The New York Times, aims to understand how the use of the different evaluation resources advocated by Appraisal theory (Affect, Judgment and Appreciation) varies depending on the way legal opinion articles as genres are conceived in the languages and cultures under scrutiny. In other words, it tries to deepen into the different application of the prototypical rhetorical strategies used to express emotion and evaluation, through which the different ideological positions of the institutionalized press are naturalized.
Resumen
El presente trabajo se propone realizar un estudio contrastivo de los mecanismos de interpersonalidad entre dos corpora de artículos de opinión jurídica en inglés y español, con vistas a valorar el diferente uso que se hace en estas lenguas de los indicadores de emoción, evaluación y apreciación en lo relativo al contexto ideacional de esos textos. Los antecedentes del presente estudio se hallan en la Teoría de la Valoración, según la interpretación que la Escuela de Sydney ejecuta de la Lingüística Funcional Sistémica de Halliday, M. A. K. (1994/2004). An introduction to Functional Grammar. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar. A través del análisis un corpus ad-hoc de cuarenta columnas de opinión provenientes de dos periódicos de gran prestigio e influencia en la opinión pública, El País y el New York Times, este estudio tiene por objeto entender cómo el uso de los diferentes recursos de evaluación propugnados por la Teoría de la Valoración (Afecto, Juicio y Apreciación) varía según esté concebido el artículo de opinión jurídica en los dos idiomas y culturas . Dicho de otro modo, trata de profundizar en la distinta aplicación de las estrategias retóricas prototípicas utilizadas para expresar la emoción y la evaluación, a través de las cuales se naturalizan las diferentes posiciones ideológicas de la prensa institucionalizada.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Material and methods
  • 3.Results
  • 4.Discussion and conclusions
  • References
References (33)
References
Anthony, L. (2016). AntConc 2.0. Software available at [URL]
Bakhtin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bednarek, M. (2010). Evaluation in the news. A methodological framework for analysing evaluative language in journalism. Australian Journal of Communication, 37(2), 15–50.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bhatia, V. K. (1982). An investigation into formal and functional characteristics of qualifications in legislative writing and its application to English for Academic Legal Purposes. PhD thesis. University of Aston in Birmingham.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Breeze, R., Gotti, M., & Sancho Guinda, C. (Eds). (2014). Interpersonality in legal genres. Bern: Peter Lang. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dafouz, E. (2008). The pragmatic role of textual and interpersonal metadiscourse markers in the construction and attainment of persuasion: A cross-linguistic study of newspaper discourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 401, 95–113. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eggins, S., & Slade, D. (1997). Analysing casual conversation. London: Cassell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fossum, J. E., & Schlesinger, P. R. (2007). The European Union and the public sphere: A communicative space in the making? London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibbons, J. (2004). Taking legal language seriously. In J. V. Gibbons, V. Prakasam, K. V. Tirumalesh, & Hemalatha Nagarajan (Eds.), Language in the law (pp. 2–5). New Delhi: Orient Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodrich, P. (1987). Legal discourse: Studies in linguistics, rhetoric, and legal analysis. New York: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
González, M. J. (2011). La expresión lingüística de la actitud en el género de opinión: El modelo de la valoración [The linguistic expression of attitude in opinion discourse: The appraisal theory]. RLA: Revista de Lingüística Teórica y Aplicada, 49(1), 109–141. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994/2004). An introduction to Functional Grammar. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hiltunen, R. (1990). Chapters on legal English: Aspects past and present of the language of the law. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hunston, S., & Thompson, G. (Eds.). (2000). Evaluation in text: Authorial stance and the construction of discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hutchinson, A. C. (1995). A postmodern’s Hart: Taking rules sceptically. The Modern Law Review Ltd., 58(6), 788–819. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Iedema, R., Feez, S., & White, P. R. R. (1993). Media literacy: Disadvantaged schools program. Sydney: NSW Department of School Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jovanović-Krstić, V. (2005). Evaluating the discourse of war: Examining the system of Attitude in the discourse of media. In A. Makkay, W. Sullivan, & A. R. Lommel (Eds), LACUS Forum, XXXI, Interconnections (pp. 242–253). Houston, TX: LACUS. [URL]
Martin, J. R., & Rose, D. (2003). Working with discourse: Meaning beyond the clause. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, J. R., & White, P. R. R. (2005). The language of evaluation: Appraisal in English. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mattila, H. (2013). Comparative legal linguistics: Language of law, Latin and modern lingua francas. London: Ashgate.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miller, D. R. (2002). Multiple judicial opinions as specialized sites of engagement: conflicting paradigms of valuation and legitimation in Bush v. Gore 2000. In M. Gotti, D. Heller, & M. Dossena (Eds.),Conflict and negotiation in specialized texts (pp. 119–141). Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). ‘Truth, justice and the American way’: The appraisal system of judgement in the U. S. House debate on the impeachment of the President, 1998. In P. Bayley (Ed.), Discourse approaches to politics, society and culture: Cross- cultural perspectives on parliamentary discourse (pp. 271–300). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Orts, M. A. (2015). Power and complexity in legal genres: Unveiling insurance policies and arbitration rules. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue international Sémiotique juridique, 28(3), 485–505. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Power distance and persuasion: The tension between imposition and legitimation in international legal genres. Journal of Pragmatics, 921, 1–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Orts, M. A., Breeze, R., & Gotti, M. (Eds.). (2017). Power, persuasion and manipulation in specialised genres: Providing keys to the rhetoric of professional communities. Bern: Peter Lang. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salmi-Tolonen, T. (2014). Interpersonality and fundamental rights. In R. Breeze, M. Gotti, & C. Sancho Guinda (Eds.), Interpersonality in legal genres (pp. 303–328). Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sancho Guinda, C., Gotti, M., & Breeze, R. (2014). Framing interpersonality in law contexts. In R. Breeze, M. Gotti, & C. Sancho Guinda (Eds.), Interpersonality in legal genres (pp. 9–35) Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tiersma, P. M. (1999). Legal language. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
White, P. R. (1998). Telling media tales: The news story as rhetoric. Unpublished doctoral thesis. Sidney: University of Sidney.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003). Beyond modality and hedging: A dialogic view of the language of intersubjective stance. Text, 23(2), 259–284. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). The language of attitude, arguability and interpersonal positioning. [Available online]. Last retrieved May 22 2017: [URL]
(2015). Appraisal theory. In The international encyclopedia of language and social interaction [Available online]. Last retrieved May 22 2017: [URL]
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Mintah, Kingsley Cyril, Grace Nana Aba Dawson-Ahmoah, Nana Yaw Ofori Gyasi, Alimsiwen Elijah Ayaawan & Gabriel Opoku
2025. We are not Campaigning: A Functional Discourse Appraisal of Ghanaian Newspapers’ Subtle Political Campaigns. African Quarterly Social Science Review 2:2 ► pp. 10 ff. DOI logo
Cheng, Shi
2024. A review of interpersonal metafunction studies in systemic functional linguistics (2012–2022). Journal of World Languages 10:3 ► pp. 623 ff. DOI logo
Orts, María Ángeles
2022. Emotions in specialised genres: Power, manipulation and persuasion from the Affect Spectrum Theory. ELUA :38 ► pp. 99 ff. DOI logo
Pérez Blanco, María & Marlén Izquierdo
2022. Engaging with customer’s emotions. Languages in Contrast 22:1 ► pp. 43 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue