Metaphoric Use of Denotations for Colours in the Language of Law

In many papers dealing with the stylistic features of legal texts, metaphor is highlighted as a stylistic figure often used in the language of law. On a daily basis we can witness the frequent use of metaphoric collocations like soft laws, hard laws, silent partner, hedge funds, etc. In this paper,...

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Main Author: Kordić Ljubica
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2019-06-01
Series:Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2019-0019
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author Kordić Ljubica
author_facet Kordić Ljubica
author_sort Kordić Ljubica
collection DOAJ
description In many papers dealing with the stylistic features of legal texts, metaphor is highlighted as a stylistic figure often used in the language of law. On a daily basis we can witness the frequent use of metaphoric collocations like soft laws, hard laws, silent partner, hedge funds, etc. In this paper, the author analyses the use of denotations for colours as constituent parts of metaphoric collocations in the language of law. The analysis is conducted by using a comparative approach to examples extracted by means of computer technology from international bills and conventions available online. In the main part of the paper, examples are classified by using a colour denotation as the main criterion for the classification. After that, the examples are compared with corresponding expressions used in German and Croatian. Taking into account the main principle of the Skopos translation theory that differences between cultures strongly influence the translation process, the hypothesis of this research is that in many cases there will be no lexical equivalence between collocations with colour denotation in three languages. Due to the fact that international bills and conventions build the corpus of the research, and that the English language has become the lingua franca of international communication, it can be expected that some metaphoric terms and collocations would be literally translated from English. Conclusions drawn from the comparative analysis of legal collocations containing denotations for colours can be interesting to lawyers and LSP teachers in the field of law. In this sense, results of the research can contribute to motivational aspects of teaching Legal English and Legal German.
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spelling doaj.art-817b5ed04ebd4bd7b9cbb9a73b555fe02022-12-21T18:45:54ZengSciendoStudies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric0860-150X2199-60592019-06-0158110112410.2478/slgr-2019-0019slgr-2019-0019Metaphoric Use of Denotations for Colours in the Language of LawKordić Ljubica0University of Osijek, CroatiaIn many papers dealing with the stylistic features of legal texts, metaphor is highlighted as a stylistic figure often used in the language of law. On a daily basis we can witness the frequent use of metaphoric collocations like soft laws, hard laws, silent partner, hedge funds, etc. In this paper, the author analyses the use of denotations for colours as constituent parts of metaphoric collocations in the language of law. The analysis is conducted by using a comparative approach to examples extracted by means of computer technology from international bills and conventions available online. In the main part of the paper, examples are classified by using a colour denotation as the main criterion for the classification. After that, the examples are compared with corresponding expressions used in German and Croatian. Taking into account the main principle of the Skopos translation theory that differences between cultures strongly influence the translation process, the hypothesis of this research is that in many cases there will be no lexical equivalence between collocations with colour denotation in three languages. Due to the fact that international bills and conventions build the corpus of the research, and that the English language has become the lingua franca of international communication, it can be expected that some metaphoric terms and collocations would be literally translated from English. Conclusions drawn from the comparative analysis of legal collocations containing denotations for colours can be interesting to lawyers and LSP teachers in the field of law. In this sense, results of the research can contribute to motivational aspects of teaching Legal English and Legal German.https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2019-0019metaphordenotations for colourslanguage of lawenglishgermancroatian
spellingShingle Kordić Ljubica
Metaphoric Use of Denotations for Colours in the Language of Law
Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric
metaphor
denotations for colours
language of law
english
german
croatian
title Metaphoric Use of Denotations for Colours in the Language of Law
title_full Metaphoric Use of Denotations for Colours in the Language of Law
title_fullStr Metaphoric Use of Denotations for Colours in the Language of Law
title_full_unstemmed Metaphoric Use of Denotations for Colours in the Language of Law
title_short Metaphoric Use of Denotations for Colours in the Language of Law
title_sort metaphoric use of denotations for colours in the language of law
topic metaphor
denotations for colours
language of law
english
german
croatian
url https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2019-0019
work_keys_str_mv AT kordicljubica metaphoricuseofdenotationsforcoloursinthelanguageoflaw