Codification of Terminology: a Case Study of English Legal Terms

Abstract

The present paper is devoted to the phenomenon of codification and the main inconsistencies between the theoretical requirements for a term and actual terminological units found in terminological dictionaries of law. The paper presents the analysis of terms used in the legal sphere. The objective of the research is to identify and classify the inconsistencies that have a direct impact on codification as the last stage of the creation of a terminological dictionary. Particular attention is paid to the study of the content plane of legal terms listed in English terminological dictionaries as well as their expression plane. The authors conclude that at both levels (those of the content plane and the expression plane) and at the level of functioning the inconsist- encies raise important issues concerning further development of both terminography as a field of science and the dictionary-making process taking place today.

Keywords

• terminological dictionary
• codification
• legal term
• polysemantic term
• synony- mous term
• diatopic variation
• professional jargon
• content plane
• expression plane