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In:Applying Corpora in Teaching and Learning Romance Languages
Edited by Henry Tyne and Stefania Spina
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 122] 2025
► pp. 132–153

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Chapter 6
Patterns of modality and functional equivalence in the language of contracts

A corpus-based, intra-/interlinguistic, intercultural study for translation professionals and educators

 | University of Padua
Published online: 20 November 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.122.06gab
Abstract
This comparative study aims to make a three-fold contribution to the analysis of the language of contracts in Italian and English. It will first illustrate how deonticity is conveyed by highlighting patterns of modality in contract texts and providing a comparative analysis of linguistic variation across cultures. It will then investigate collocations that constitute cross-cultural challenges in order to identify relations binding their conceptual, intercultural legal features so as to find appropriate functional equivalents in the target language and culture. Finally, it will illustrate problem-solving strategies for professional and educational purposes, and prove how translators can achieve epistemic fluency, growth in conceptual content, and competent communicative action.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.A comparative linguistic analysis
    • 2.1Linguistic analysis of the American and British English subcorpora
      • 2.1.1Prohibition
      • 2.1.2Permission
      • 2.1.3Obligation
      • 2.1.4Discussion of findings from the study of the BE and AE subcorpora
    • 2.2Linguistic analysis of the Italian subcorpus
      • 2.2.1Prohibition
      • 2.2.2Permission
      • 2.2.3Obligation
      • 2.2.4Discussion of findings from the study of the IT subcorpus
    • 2.3Final remarks
  • 3.A comparative study of collocational profiles: A methodology for translation purposes
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
References (35)
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