Long lexical bundles and standardisation in historical legal texts

Kopaczyk, J. (2012) Long lexical bundles and standardisation in historical legal texts. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, 47(2-3), pp. 3-25. (doi: 10.2478/v10121-012-0001-0)

Abstract

Standardisation on the level of text is visible in the employment of stable and fixed expressions for a specific textual purpose. When gauging the extent of standardisation in texts, one of the parameters which should be taken into consideration is the length of such stable patterns. Since it is more difficult, and therefore rarer, to reproduce long chunks of text in an unchanged form, such a practice points towards greater standardisation. To explore the textual behaviour of long fixed strings in legal texts, this paper concentrates on long lexical bundles built out of eight consecutive elements (8-grams) and their frequency and function in historical legal texts. The database for this pilot paper comprises two collections of legal and administrative texts written in Scots between the fourteenth and the sixteenth century. The research results point to a considerable degree of textual standardisation throughout the corpus and to the most prominent functions of long repetitive chunks in historical legal discourse.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kopaczyk, Professor Joanna
• Authors: Kopaczyk, J.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics
• Journal Name: Studia Anglica Posnaniensia
• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• ISSN: 0081-6272
• Published Online: 27 May 2013
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 The Author
• First Published: First published in Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 47(2-3):3-25
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher