Full Description
Linguistics and Law offers a clear and concise introduction to making sense of the law through linguistics. Drawing on lexical semantics, syntax, and pragmatics to interpret both written and spoken laws, this book:
addresses how to interpret legal documents such as contracts, statutes, constitutional provisions and trademarks;
provides thorough analyses of "language crimes" including solicitation, perjury, defamation, and conspiracy, as well as talk between police and criminal suspects;
analyzes the Miranda warning in depth;
tackles the question of whether there is a "language" of the law;
draws on real-life case studies to aid understanding.
Written in an approachable, conversational style and aimed at undergraduate students with little or no prior knowledge of linguistics or law, this book is essential reading for those approaching this topic for the first time.
Contents
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Detention and arrest
Chapter Three: Miranda
Chapter Four: Understanding recorded talk
Chapter Five: Crimes of language (and one tort)
Chapter Six: The "language" of the law
Chapter Seven: Contracts
Chapter Eight: Statutory and constitutional interpretation
Chapter Nine: Trademarks
Chapter Ten: Conclusion
