Commas In Legal Texts

Despite the fact that punctuation marks, same as words or characters, areconstituents of written language, unfortunately do not share the same fate as the latterof being treasured by people. Comma, as a member of this system, seems to undergothe same destiny. For many people, I'm afraid to say, commas do not seem to be aworthy subject, even do not have any values to be explored for academic study at all.Since they have long been accustomed to take for granted commas' existence in thewritings, they do not think such a small potato as a comma worth noticing. It countsfor nothing but a trivial role used as an instrument by a writer at most. Objectivelyspeaking, such points of views do not sound altogether unjustifiable. After all, wehave to accept the fact that commas are so appealing to many peoples' eyes. Ironically,it is because none other than their integral parts in our reading and writing that toomuch about commas has been regarded as a matter of course. However, once peoplesuffer from being misled by printing stuffs or being taught, they can do nothing butbeing confused or puzzled. A judge may, out of a little comma mark, not be convincedof the exact meaning of a certain written document. Lawyers may also, over this tinysign, debate the exact implication.of the marker of it. Owing to its close relation to theinterests and benefits, responsibilities and obligations of the parties concerned. Thenwhat on earth does comma do in legal-documents? What's does it mean toward legaltexts? In correspondence to the acceleration of globalization, transference fromEnglish to Chinese and that from Chinese to English call for the involvement ofcommas during this process, on such an occasion, how does comma adjust itself to theconflicts of the two languages?Centered around the most frequently-used punctuation mark—comma, from theperspectives of semiotics, semantics, aesthetics, etc., this thesis explores comma's roleplaying in legal texts, its function and the value it brings to the legal texts. Chapterone mainly focuses on the explanation of comma's definition, evolution, worth ofstudying. Based on the first chapter, Chapter two gets deeper digging in the value of comma by analyzing its usage and function, so that value examination and factualevaluation can be done in this way, as well. In consideration of thesis's utility, chapterthree provides relatively concrete statement of commas' important status in thetranslation between the two languages. As a conclusive part, chapter four does a goodsummary of the former parts, reiterating the significance of commas in legal texts andputting forward the prosperity of research aimed at commas.