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Syntactic complexity in legal translated texts and the use of plain English: a corpus-based study

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  • Xiaowen Lin

    (Southwest University of Political Science and Law)

  • Muhammad Afzaal

    (Shanghai International Studies University)

  • Hessah Saleh Aldayel

    (King Saud University)

Abstract

This study compared the linguistic difficulty of legal translated texts with the syntactic complexity of native English legal writings in order to demonstrate the statistically significant differences between the two big datasets. The study applies features of the syntactic complexity of sentences within legal text translations that translated texts are less complicated than their original counterparts. It provides an example of how easy plain English translation in legal communication might result in understandable target writings. The findings of the legal translation of the people of three regions reveal striking patterns in terms of syntactic complexity and legal communication in plain English, which are consistent with previous research. Complex nominal and hypotactic structures result in a high number of propositions per sentence, placing a high demand on the cognitive processing abilities of those who read and understand the text. The statistics show considerable differences among the three locations and various forms of company law corpora. The study is the first large-scale quantitative analysis of the accessibility of legal jargon compared to other forms of English, emphasizing the efficacy of plain-language initiatives in legal translations.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaowen Lin & Muhammad Afzaal & Hessah Saleh Aldayel, 2023. "Syntactic complexity in legal translated texts and the use of plain English: a corpus-based study," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-022-01485-x
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-022-01485-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bonsall, Samuel B. & Leone, Andrew J. & Miller, Brian P. & Rennekamp, Kristina, 2017. "A plain English measure of financial reporting readability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 329-357.
    2. Kanglong Liu & Muhammad Afzaal, 2021. "Syntactic complexity in translated and non-translated texts: A corpus-based study of simplification," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-20, June.
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