Legal English Term Translation-Principles And Applications

Legal English, in terms of linguistics, is a functional variety of English with a specific vocabulary based on the common core of the English language, which is formed and used in the activities of legislation and judicature. As a branch of customary language, it gradually includes a large amount of special vocabulary peculiar to law. Like the other legal languages, legal English has a series of special terms, which help solidify the corresponding concepts and reinforce the typical characteristics of its legal system or structure.Legal English terms, important in the legal glossary, are the most significant element in legal English. Therefore, English legal term translation has a profound and special significance. The quality and the accuracy of the term translation often determine the quality of the whole translation of the legal documents. If a term is precisely translated, it will not lead to major misunderstanding even if there are some translation problems in other parts like grammar, but if a term is translated inaccurately, it may lead to misunderstanding or even dispute. During the process of translating, the following situations may well result in misunderstanding: 1) The translator only pays attention to the special meaning of a term, while ignoring the other meanings; 2) The translator only takes notice of its common meaning while ignoring its special meaning in a special context; 3) The translator is uncertain of the wordings and gives a tentative translation. Hence, in the translation of English legal terms, several basic principles should be observed, so as to avoid the possible negative consequences in legal effect caused by erroneous or inaccurate term...