The development of english reflecting in english literature works and legal documents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF LAW GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH Major: Legal English THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH REFLECTING IN ENGLISH LITERATURE WORKS AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS Supervisor : PHAM THI THUY DUNG, MA Student : TRAN QUYNH HOA Student ID : 1852202010025 Class : 100 – LE43A Ho Chi Minh City, 2022 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I consider it a great honour to be one of the students who are qualified to complete the graduation thesis, as I have always wanted to have a thorough study on the topic that I’m interested in The process of completing the graduation thesis is a priceless journey It is definitely not an enjoyable and pleasant time Indeed, I was constantly nervous and self-conscious all the time However, I felt so lucky when I was surrounded by supportive friends and family who supported me with unfailing encouragement Therefore, I must devote this very first page to thanking these dearest people First and foremost, I would like to express my genuine thankfulness to my supervisor, Mrs Pham Thi Thuy Dung, for her invaluable advice and comforting words during the research process I was so nervous and unconfident about my findings and even sometimes lost in such a large research field, but she always found ways to help me out with her sophisticated knowledge I am so thankful for her guidance and patience with me during this journey so that the outcome came out successfully Secondly, I am grateful for all the lecturers I have had the opportunity to study with during years of university They have delivered a great deal of invaluable knowledge, which generated the initial idea for this study and then became the fundamental knowledge to bring out such a detailed work Moreover, I am especially thankful to have such a supportive family with my beloved Dad and Mom, who always have faith in me and support me unconditionally Additionally, I owe special thanks to my friends Sang and Mei who have always stayed by my side, supported and encouraged me from afar Furthermore, I would like to give my warm thanks to Cher for her comforting words and Thao Linh for her company during this challenging process Finally, I would like to declare my gratitude towards other beloved ones that I cannot name in full Without their constant support and inspiration, I would not be able to accomplish this precious experience i LIST OF ABBREVIATION OE Old English ME Middle English e.ME Early Modern English AE American English BE British English a adjective n noun v verb ii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Conceptual framework of the study 10 Table 2: Old English words that vanished .18 Table 3: Old English words that survived .20 Table 4: List of compounds in Beowulf 21 Table 5: Functions of cases in grammatical inflections 23 Table 6: Native words displaced by French vocabulary .27 Table 7: Old English vocabulary came from different foreign sources 29 Table 8: Origins of Middle English vocabulary 37 Table 9: Comparison of personal pronouns in OE and e.ME .43 Table 10: Differences between British and American English vocabulary 49 Table 11: AE words that emerged into BE vocabulary during Modern English period .52 Table 12: English borrowing words from other countries 53 Table 13: List of archaic English, Latin terms and phrases in legal instruments of the International Law Handbook 61 Table 14: Summary of the development of English language and legal English language .65 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i LIST OF ABBREVIATION ii LIST OF TABLES iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Necessity of the study 1.2 Objectives of research 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methodology 1.6 Structure of research CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .5 2.1 Definition of key terms and related literature 2.1.1 English language in general and English literature .5 2.1.2 Legal language and legal documents 2.2 Previous studies 2.3 Conceptual framework CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 12 3.1 Research questions .12 3.2 Context and design of the study 12 3.3 Research instruments 12 3.4 Analysis procedure .13 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 15 4.1 Findings and discussion of results .15 4.1.1 Historical background of general English language and its corresponding characteristics 15 4.1.2 Historical background of legal English language and its corresponding characteristics 56 4.1.3 The implication of acknowledgement of English origin changes on practical English learning process of linguistics students .64 iv 4.2 Summary 65 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 68 5.1 Conclusion 68 5.2 Limitations of the study .68 5.3 Recommendations for further study .69 REFERENCES 70 APPENDICES i APPENDIX I – Geoffrey Chaucer’s Merciless Beauty i APPENDIX II – Shakespeare’s Macbeth ii APPENDIX III – John Donne’s The Sun Rising iii APPENDIX IV – Robert Burns’ A red, red rose iv APPENDIX V – Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist (Chapter 31: Involves a critical position) v APPENDIX VI – Magna Carta 1215 – English version of Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School (2008) vi APPENDIX VII – Article 48 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice 1945 vii v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Necessity of the study English has proved satisfactory to all the facets of a lingua franca since a large number of countries, including the world’s largest economies such as the United States, have officially confirmed English as their mother tongue, not to mention that this language has also become the standard language for international commercial and communication for decades Besides, when it comes to global integration, the law serves a key role in maintaining world order, leading to the urgent need to learn the language of the law – legal English The rapid growth of English, and especially legal English, has resulted in the growing demand for a large amount of learning materials which digs into this language to provide its learners with helpful guidance during the learning process Specifically, legal English has long been a sophisticated field, which causes many troubles for the students who are interested in this very complicated field During the learning process of legal English, even the learners who have a solid background on the English language might still encounter several difficulties For example, it can be seen easily that the implications of the words in legal English totally not depend on the common senses Instead, to thoroughly know the use of legal terms in legal documents, the learners must have a great understanding of the archaic words, not only in its recent senses but also in the meanings from the original words dated a long while ago Nevertheless, most of the recent English learners are ignorant of the past of the language they are learning This is not troublesome to those who only need a language for daily communication or for dealing with modern commercial transactions, but it creates a significant problem for people with an interest in linguistics, particularly, students who have their majors in linguistic fields According to the perspective of a Legal English student, there is a severe shortage found in studying materials introducing the history of the English language and its language of law Thus, it is an urgency to contribute to the compilation of materials with quality research that can give linguistic students a better understanding and provide those who are in need of an interesting approach to the English language in general and Legal English in particular There are plenty of approaches to the development of a language, however, one of the most interesting and direct ways to get to know a language is through its literature, in which the language is presented in its most surreal manner Additionally, the process of collecting illustrative examples by reading literary works then concluding the similarities as well as differences of the topic will be more inspiring and motivated than accessing the history of language by other academic approaches By this way, the learning process would be much friendlier and easier for students who have not had a solid base in the linguistics field Understanding the necessity of this problem, this thesis will conduct an intensive research on the English language development based on its legal background during each period, and bring out a great reference which helps those who are struggling and who have great enthusiasm in the English language and its special subset – legal English 1.2 Objectives of research According to the previous reasons, this thesis includes several purposes First of all, this research will provide a compendious history of the English language by the historical background of each period of development Apparently, this will include the changes in the use of the English language, specifically in its lexicon and grammatical aspects In the second place, this thesis will conclude a brief evaluation on the characteristics of legal English with the reference made in the historical events that interfered its development, which will all be clarified by some examples extracted from English legal documents over different periods Thus, hopefully this essay will become an informative and useful source for other linguistic students and even those who are non-professional but having great interests in linguistics while creating a different and interesting approach to the language they are studying to have general knowledge of the development process of English language 1.3 Research questions There are two expectations which should be answered after finishing this essay The first question is “How did English originate and then change throughout the history reflecting in English literature works and legal documents?” And then the research will help address the question “How does this kind of acknowledgement benefit practical language learning process of linguistic students?” Depending on these research questions, the final findings and results of this thesis will be closely attached to the aims of the study, which is to present a short history of the English language and legal English referencing in literature and legal texts written in this language 1.4 Scope of the study There is a diversity of research carried out on the linguistic fields, however, this thesis will focus on two main categories: one of that is the English language used in the English literature works, and the other is the legalese employed in various legal documents written in English language 1.5 Methodology Several research methods were used during the writing process to convey persuasive information about the topic Firstly, the library research will be utilised to examine relevant papers and research to establish their utility, dependability, and authority in relation to the theme of English history Secondly, a comparative method will be applied after thoroughly researching past studies and articles, comparing the findings to corresponding literature works and legal documents to understand how the English language has changed and how beneficial those changes have been In addition to the preceding methods, the historical method will be used to depict various historical components in literary works and legal records of England The combination of the aforementioned methodology in a reasonable and fluent manner will provide readers of this study with a comprehensive view of the history of English language formation based on the correlation between the development of the language used in literary works and legal documents through each historical period 1.6 Structure of research This thesis consists of chapters Chapter 1: Introduction presents general background of the study such as the necessity, the objectives of the study, the research questions to the study and its methodology The second chapter is Chapter 2: Literature Review, which provides a quick look at previous relevant studies as well as introducing the conceptual framework for this study Then, the study’s methodology is discussed in Chapter 3: Methodology, which also gives readers a notion of the design and context of the study as well as the research instruments The most important part of the study lies in Chapter 4: Results and Discussion, which answers the research questions by findings throughout the researching process Chapter 5: Conclusion will finish this thesis by giving a summary of the work carried out during the research, and propose some viable suggestions for further research, which may improve the limitations encountered when conducting this study Article 48 The Court shall make orders for the conduct of the case, shall decide the form and time in which each party must conclude its arguments, and make all arrangements connected with the taking of evidence.10 In this case, the structure of “shall make orders” used in the Article could be simply reformulated by “shall order” Clearly, the former is witnessed regularly in legal documents whereas the latter is more comprehensible to the ordinary English learners In brief, legal English is truly a sophisticated field containing complex compounds and structures which cause great troubles for lay people to access without the assistance from the legal professionals Notwithstanding, it is still a professional field which requires indepth technical knowledge to understand 4.1.3 The implication of acknowledgement of English origin changes on practical English learning process of linguistics students A lot of studies were conducted in the development process of the English language with blooming outcomes in the practical application in the acquisition of the general English One of the most beneficial results of the historical combining with linguistic approach to English is the production of major course books which provide precious guidance to English learners to easily access this global language such as the introduction of several grammar and vocabulary course books For example, George Yule’s The Study of Language is a great combination of the linguistic and psychological development of humankinds in acquiring the English language, which has been used as the primary course book for Legal English students in Ho Chi Minh City University of Law for years In addition, understanding the historical background of the English language development also equips the educators to build proper and suitable curriculums for English language teaching A good example for this is the course book drafted by Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung, which has greatly scheduled the curriculums for students who are interested in British English literature In terms of the legal English learning, despite the complexity of English legalese, there are various studies on its development process and its nature, which overlook and 10 See Appendix VII 64 systemize the archaic legal terminologies, and also propose viable solutions to tackle the roots of the problems encountered when learning and practising legal English Some examples to the great works might be listed as the research on legal English conducted by Xuan-Nghi Ma and Son Nguyen: English for Legal Purposes: Issues in Translating English - Vietnamese Legal Terminology or the study of the legal English history and the recent trend of legal English by Williams Christopher: Legal English and Plain Language: an introduction Thanks to the research on the legal English field, there are solutions coming up such as a vast amount of dictionaries on legal terms or the study of replacing legal jargons with plain language, or development of various legal translation theories – another complicated field attached to globalisation and the English legalese 4.2 Summary In order to have a more understandable look in this research, the following table will summary all highlights in each finding of the first and second findings in the previous section of this Chapter 65 Table 14: Summary of the development of English language and legal English language Period Historical background - The Roman Conquest - The Germanic Conquest Old English Middle English - The Norman Conquest - English Civil war during the 14th century - The beginning of the Tudor Dynasty - Introduction of printing press and development of popular education and other technical fields Early during the early Modern Modern English period English - Developments in political and literature fields of England Modern English - English language during the Romantic period - English language during the Victorian period - English language from the beginning of the 20th century until present Characteristics Lexicon - The emergence of Germanic vocabulary in Old English lexicon, which either died out during the development process or survive until modern times - Referencing in Beowulf’s use of words - The diminish of native words - An influx of foreign borrowings into English lexicon, mostly from Latin and Latin in the forms of French words - The variation of word meanings - Foreign borrowings was still a major source of the early Modern English period - The growth of literary language in English, referencing in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, John Donne’s The Sun Rising and Robert Burns’ A red, red rose - Some differences in word use between British and American English, referencing in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - The introduction of new standard English vocabulary and the raise of slang reflecting in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and other literary works in comparison with James Joyce’s Evelyn 66 Grammar - Grammatical genders - A synthetic language, which adopts various inflectional endings on words - The abandonment of some inflectional endings - The reduction of grammatical inflections - The changes in the order of words in a sentence - The changes in personal pronouns - Introduction of new cases of genitive - The popularity of double comparative forms in British literature during the early Modern English period - The rise of informal language and introduction of some new grammatical structures (passive “get” structure) - English grammar has been systematised into guidance books to support English learners’ study process Legal English - The Roman legal system and Latin terms affecting English legal language before the Anglo-Saxon period - Latin and French dominated the legal language of England during the Mediaeval times - The less preference of Latin in later centuries and a growth of English legal language - The traces of Latin, French and archaic words remains - Archaic words, Latin terms as well as archaic compounds of adverbs and prepositional phrases referencing in Magna Carta (1215) and International Law Handbook (2017) - Words with specific legal meanings 67 - The repeated appearance of words, phrases and certain structures in legal documents - A neutral style of writing in legal documents - The trend towards nominalization in legal texts CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Conclusion Overall, throughout centuries of its development, the great influence of Britain on the rest of the world has brought English to the position of the world’s language, and thus has created the demands of learning English on a global scale Additionally, it now necessitates a more sophisticated understanding of the translation of legal texts to their native language for learning and referencing purposes As a student who had been trained as a Legal English student in years of university, I am fully aware of the challenging journey of legal language students in their learning process due to the lack of basic knowledge in the history of English language as well as legal English These same difficulties encountered by many other generations of students call for some relevant materials for those who are genuinely interested in this linguistic field This research is aimed at improving the cultural and historical features of English and legal English, which is definitely useful in the translation and interpretation process of legal English practitioners Based on these points, this thesis provides an overview of the English language and legal English history by pointing out some highlights in the historical background of them as well as presenting the main characteristics of the language in each period of time The English language in these recent days is substantially different from what it was in its earliest days during the Anglo-Saxon period, yet the adjustments made during the evolution process have made this language accessible to a range of individuals from many various countries The final product of this thesis has sufficient findings that, in certain cases, can be used as a reference for linguistic learning 5.2 Limitations of the study Although the result of this research comes out quite satisfying, there are a great deal of limitations Restriction in time and the large field of English language containing various linguistics issues are of the main problems faced while conducting this thesis To begin with, language is a broad category with many constitutive concepts such as pronunciation, orthography, spelling, syntax, and plenty of other notions which are closely linked and inseparable Understanding a language thoroughly requires a broad sense of knowledge about each of these fields other than just its lexicon and grammar 68 categories However, the limitation in the allowed amount of time to research on the English language in comparison to the vast knowledge about language has restricted my options, which prevents me from choosing more categories than the two most illustrative linguistic aspects – lexicon and grammar – to study on Plus, the limitation on the access to the referencing materials is also an obstacle during the process of completing this thesis Nevertheless, the outcome of this research is within the capacity and effort of the researcher, regardless of some technical limitations 5.3 Recommendations for further study In light of the previous section, there are some additional suggested ideas for further research on this subject This research field would be more comprehensive if it can be approached from different perspective such as linguistic or historical perspective In terms of linguistic approach, more studies on the semantics and phonology of the English language are strongly advised in order to present the features of English in depth Additionally, from a historical perspective, it can be easily recognised that spelling and orthography rules of the English language have changed over time, which is another intriguing academic topic Finally, in order for the final findings to be more thorough, it is also strongly advised that more time be allotted for the collecting of research tools 69 REFERENCES Albert, E (1984) History of English literature Nelson Baugh, A., & Cable, T (2005) A history of the English language Taylor & Francis eLibrary Blackwell, A H (2008) The Essential Law Dictionary Sphinx Pub Brodeur, A G (1959) The art of Beowulf Berkeley: University of California Press Carter, R., & McRae, J (2001) The Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain and Ireland Routledge Crystal, D (2008, 22) Two thousand million? English Today, pp 3-6 Crystal, D., & Crystal, B (2002) Shakespeare's words: A glossary and language companion Penguin Books Gonzalez-Diaz, V (2003) Adjective comparison in Renaissance English SEDERI 13, 87-100 Gurr, A (2009) The Shakespearean stage, 1574-1642 Cambridge University Press Hudsin, W H (1939) An outline history of English literature G.Bell J., D., & Bolton, W e (1966) The English Language Essays by English and American Men of Letters 1490-1839 Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Machan, T W (2013) What is English?: And why should we care? Oxford University Press Meyer, J (1997) What Is Literature? A Definition Based on Prototypes Work Papers of the Summer Institute of LInguistics, University of North Dakota Session Peter, B., & Richard, C (2013) Modern Legal Drafting: A Guide to Using Clearer Language Cambridge University Press Peters, R A (1966) A Table Alphabeticall of Hard Usual English Words (1604) The First English Dictionary A Facsimile Reproduction with an Introd by Robert A Peters Harry R Warfel Pyles, T., & Algeo, J (2010) The origin and development of the English language Wadsworth Cengage Learning Ray, I (2014) Bengal Industries and the British Industrial Revolution (1757-1857) Routledge Rindal, U (2014, 10 1) What is English? Acta Didactica Norge, p 70 Said, E W (1982, 1) Opponents, Audiences, Constituencies, and Community Critical Inquiry, pp 1-26 Šarčević, S (1997) New Approach To Legal Translation Kluwer Law International Schneiderová, A (2018, 2) Historical background to English legal language Journal of Modern Science, pp 117-126 Shelly, P V (2004) English And French In England, 1066-1100 Kessinger Publishing Sherman, C P (1914, 2) The romanization of English law The Yale Law Journal, pp 318-329 Sherman, C P (1914) The Romanization of English law The Yale Law Journal, 318329 Smith, E (2015) Macbeth: Language and writing Bloomsbury Taylor, R ( (2005) More Garbage, Anyone? Eating and Cooking Meat in Medieval England Retrieved from Middle English cooking terminology: https://cpercy.artsci.utoronto.ca/courses/6361taylor.htm Tiersma, P M (2000, 9) Legal Language Journal of Government Information Walton, F P., & Hoeflich, M H (2016) Historical introduction to the roman law Lawbook Exchange, Ltd Wellek, R (1978, 4) The new criticism: Pro and Contra Critical Inquiry, pp 611624 Williams, C (2004, 1) Legal English and Plain Language: an introduction ESP Across Cultures, pp 111-124 71 APPENDICES APPENDIX I – Geoffrey Chaucer’s Merciless Beauty Your yën two wol sle me sodenly, I may the beaute of hem not sustene, So woundeth hit through-out my herte kene And but your word wol helen hastily My hertes wounde, whyl that hit is grene, Your yën two wol sle me sodenly; may the beaute of hem not sustene Upon my trouthe I sey yow feithfully, That ye ben of my lyf and ded the quene; For with my deth the trouthe schal be sene Your yën two wol sle me sodenly, I may the beaute of hem not sustene, So woundeth hit through-out my herte kene This version of the poem is extracted from section I of the post Geoffrey Chaucer: Modern English poetry translations by Michael R Burch in The Hypertexts – a webpage run by Michael R Burch i APPENDIX II – Shakespeare’s Macbeth Act I, scene vi: … I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on the other Act I, scene vii: If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly: if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success Act II, scene ii: Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas in incarnadine, Making the green one red again Act III, scene iv: Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect, Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, As broad and general as the casing air: But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears But Banquo's safe? Act V, scene iii: Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver'd boy What soldiers, patch? Death of thy soul! those linen cheeks of thine Are counsellors to fear What soldiers, whey-face? Act V, scene v: We might have met them dareful, beard to beard, And beat them backward home Act V, scene vi: With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed: Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests; I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, To one of woman born These extracts come from the online database of The Tech – the oldest and largest newspaper of the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) about the Complete Works of William Shakespeare ii APPENDIX III – John Donne’s The Sun Rising Busy old fool, unruly Sun, Why dost thou thus, Through windows, and through curtains, call on us? Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run? Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide Late school-boys and sour prentices, Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride, Call country ants to harvest offices; Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time Thy beams so reverend, and strong Why shouldst thou think? I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink, But that I would not lose her sight so long If her eyes have not blinded thine, Look, and to-morrow late tell me, hether both th' Indias of spice and mine Be where thou left'st them, or lie here with me Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday, And thou shalt hear, "All here in one bed lay." She's all states, and all princes I; Nothing else is; Princes but play us ; compared to this, All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy Thou, Sun, art half as happy as we, In that the world's contracted thus; Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be To warm the world, that's done in warming us Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere; This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere This version of the poem is extracted from Part II: Selected works of A course in British Literature by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung & Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu (p 59) iii APPENDIX IV – Robert Burns’ A red, red rose O, my luve's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June O, my luve's like the melodie, That's sweetly play'd in tune As fair art thou, my bonie lass, So deep in luve am I, And I will luve thee still, my Dear, Till a' the seas gang dry Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun! O I will luve thee still, my Dear, While the sands o' life shall run And fare thee weel, my only Luve, And fare thee weel a while! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho' it were ten thousand mile! This extract comes from Part II: Selected works of A course in British Literature by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung & Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu (p 77) iv APPENDIX V – Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist (Chapter 31: Involves a critical position) ‘Just send somebody out to relieve my mate, will you, young man?’ said the officer; ‘he’s in the gig, a-minding the prad Have you got a coach ‘us here, that you could put it up in, for five or ten minutes?’ (Tor Classics Publisher, 1998) v APPENDIX VI – Magna Carta 1215 – English version of Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School (2008) (2) If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of us in chief by military service shall have died, and at the time of his death his heir shall be full of age and owe "relief", he shall have his inheritance by the old relief, to wit, the heir or heirs of an earl, for the whole baroncy of an earl by L100; the heir or heirs of a baron, L100 for a whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight, 100s, at most, and whoever owes less let him give less, according to the ancient custom of fees (11) And if anyone die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased are left under age, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts due to others than Jews vi APPENDIX VII – Article 48 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice 1945 Article 48 The Court shall make orders for the conduct of the case, shall decide the form and time in which each party must conclude its arguments, and make all arrangements connected with the taking of evidence vii ... language of England had failed, and this period of war had boosted the use of English English Civil war during the 14th century and the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty During the 14th century, the internal... when, in 1485, Henry Tudor ended this war and became king of England, marking the beginning of the flourishing of this kingdom This was also the turning point for the English language from the. .. with the death of King Harold and his two brothers in the 24 Battle of Hastings in the same year However, the triumph at Hastings and the defeat of the rivals did not grant William the English