| The present study provides a functional analysis of the language in Chinese & British Marriage Law. Halliday's Systemic-Functional Grammar (SFG) has been proven to be a scientific and practical theory. One of the most outstanding applications of this theory is discourse analysis. The purpose of this thesis is to apply Halliday's linguistic theory to analyze power concealed in the legislative discourse. From the functional perspective, the study employs the theory of context, three meta-functions and grammatical metaphor to perceive the power concealed in the legislative discourse; from the legal perspective, the study explains the discourse situation and provides legal interpretation concerning certain linguistic theory through the analysis.The thesis selects two pieces of law as its research data—Chinese Marriage Law(2001) & British Family Law Act(1996) because Marriage Law is concerned with the basic interests of all men and women in the society no matter in the western world and the eastern one. The universality of the law renders that every member in the society is sure to be deeply influenced by it. Through analyzing certain provisions in two laws, the thesis shows the similarities in terms of power in legislative discourse rather than differences reflected in Chinese and British law and consequently tries to prove that language—as the carrier of law, can reflect a country's sovereignty and power. This kind of power just reflects that law is formulated to maintain a country or an area's stability, feasibility of people's behavior and the governments'smoothly functioning.As a result of the current research, the present thesis shows the advantages of Halliday's theory, its being scientific and practical; meanwhile, helps us gain a deeper insight into his theory. Through interpreting power concealed in marriage law in China and England, this thesis invites the non-specialist readers to better understand the law that governs them. It also benefits the law students for helping them employ linguistic theories to assist their daily study. |
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