The role of gender in the formation of Anglo-American legal terminology

Abstract

The various elements of the gender system have an impact on specialized areas of the language. Legal terminology is no exception, since the law covers almost all spheres of society. The interdisciplinary nature of gender studies has led to the demand for linguistic competence to study the gender construct, which has given rise to an independent discipline – linguistic genderology. In this regard, the problem of the influence of extralinguistic factors on the formation of legal terminology is relevant. In this paper linguistic research is conducted, within the framework of which Anglo-American legal terminology and its formation under the influence of gender factors are considered. The role of extra-linguistic factors in the formation of legal terms has been determined, the extra-linguistic factors affecting the gender markedness of the form and content of legal concepts have been identified. The method of continuous viewing of English legal texts, as well as English legal dictionaries, revealed gender-marked English-American legal terms and terminological concepts. The result of the study was the definition of a gender factor as a backbone for the Anglo-American legal terminology.