Revisiting legal terms

A semiotic perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID4472803
AuthorsLe Cheng (0000-0002-4423-8585, Zhejiang University, corresponding author), Winnie Cheng (0000-0003-0709-0419, Hong Kong Polytechnic University), King-Kui Sin (Hang Seng University of Hong Kong)
Year2014
Volume2014
Issue202
Publication date2014-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSemiotica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0037-1998 • E-ISSN: 1613-3692
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/sem-2014-0051
OpenAlexW2039971386
LanguageEN
Citations received10

Although legal terms are conventionally considered to have self-referential, self-closed meaning independent of context, a legal term only acquires its meaning within a given context. As long as the context varies, the meaning of the same legal term as a signifier may change correspondingly. Based on case studies by applying semiotics, we argue that a legal term is just a sign within its sign system; a legal term as an individual sign does not have any inherent meaning, and its meaning can only exist in the relationship with other signs or sign systems. In other words, a legal term only denotes in a particular temporal and spatial context. Through this study, we conclude four propositions about a legal term as a sign: first, the connection of a legal term with a legal concept is relatively arbitrary; second, the meaning of a legal term exists in a sign system; third, a legal term can be subject to multiple interpretations; fourth, the defining of a legal term may be affected by other sign systems

Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Legal realism · Legal research · Linguistics · Meaning (existential) · Political science · Semiotics · Sign (mathematics) · Sign system · Sociology · Term (time) · History · Law · Law in Society and Culture · linguistics and terminology studies · Mathematics · Philosophy · Translation Studies and Practices

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub