In this chapter I focus on documents drafted by legislative bodies. In investigating the changes that have taken place in the verb phrase in legislative English in recent decades, my analysis adds another dimension to the concept of ‘current change’ with respect to the other chapters in this volume, insofar as changes occurring in legislative language may be the result of prescriptive engineering rather than of subconscious choice. Over the last few decades, several parliamentary counsels and drafting bodies have responded to the request to modernise legal English in general, leading in some cases to what has been defined as a ‘modal revolution’ (Williams 2009), with regard to the choice of modal auxiliaries. As a result, a number of drafting style manuals have been updated over the last two or three decades in line with the calls for change, and drafters have generally complied with the new guidelines. My aim, then, is to illustrate to what extent transformations have taken place in the verb phrase in legislative language in different parts of the English-speaking world.
Changes in the verb phrase in legislative language in English
WILLIAMS, CHRISTOPHER
2013-01-01
Abstract
In this chapter I focus on documents drafted by legislative bodies. In investigating the changes that have taken place in the verb phrase in legislative English in recent decades, my analysis adds another dimension to the concept of ‘current change’ with respect to the other chapters in this volume, insofar as changes occurring in legislative language may be the result of prescriptive engineering rather than of subconscious choice. Over the last few decades, several parliamentary counsels and drafting bodies have responded to the request to modernise legal English in general, leading in some cases to what has been defined as a ‘modal revolution’ (Williams 2009), with regard to the choice of modal auxiliaries. As a result, a number of drafting style manuals have been updated over the last two or three decades in line with the calls for change, and drafters have generally complied with the new guidelines. My aim, then, is to illustrate to what extent transformations have taken place in the verb phrase in legislative language in different parts of the English-speaking world.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
