| Uno sguardo comparato al linguaggio giuridico prescrittivo in lingua inglese: il caso delle costruzioni verbali |
| Fascicolo 2005-1 |
| Scritto da Williams Christopher |
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Sommario 1. Introduzione. – 2. Il caso di shall. – 3. I dati. – 4. Analisi dei dati. – 5. Conclusioni.
Abstract In this article the author analyses the question of the use of the modal auxiliary shall in prescriptive legal texts in English. Despite having been the most widely-used modal in the language of the law for centuries, it is observed that in several English-speaking countries shall has been banned from certain legally binding texts. An attempt is made, therefore, to examine the reasons that have led to this ban, to see which verbal constructions have been used in order to replace shall, and to speculate as to the possibility as well as the opportune ness of extending its replacement to legally binding texts drafted in the United States and the United Kingdom, i.e. the two English-speaking countries that have so far proved to be the most impervious to such linguistic innovations in their legal systems. |