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Handbook of Terminology: Volume 3. Legal Terminology
Edited by Łucja Biel and Hendrik J. Kockaert
[Handbook of Terminology 3] 2023
► pp. 16–36

Frame approach to legal terminology

What may be gained from seeing terminology as manifestation of legal knowledge?

| Aarhus University

Central in this chapter are affordances of applying a frame approach to the representation of legal knowledge and the relation to legal terminology. The first part introduces the basic idea of linguistic meaning as based on the knowledge held by language users. It is followed by a presentation of frame semantic approaches that have been used for representing legal terminology. The next section discusses conceptual dynamics as an aspect on which frame approaches have special attention. The final section presents a method for constructing a broad basis for conceptual comparisons for lawyers as well as for translators in a frame format as well as an example for how translators may take advantage of such a frame representation.

Keywords: frame semantics, meaning and legal knowledge, legal translation, comparative law
Article outline
  • Introduction: Meaning as knowledge held by users
  • Frame approaches
    • General aspects of frame approaches in connection with terms
    • Frame approaches to (legal) terminology and terminography
    • Frame approaches for legal terminological resources
    • Frame approaches representing knowledge underlying legal communication
  • How does a frame-oriented conceptualization of legal terms influence the description of terms?
    • Dynamic nature of legal knowledge due to distributed character
    • Non-monolithic character of legal knowledge, subject to contemporary challenge
  • How may a frame approach be practically useful for legal translation?
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives (CC BY-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 1 December 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hot.3.fra2
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