STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC PECULIARITIES IN THE FORMATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH LEGAL TERMINOLOGY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the relevant issue of studying various types of classifications and the formation characteristics of English legal terminology based on its structural and semantic features. The paper examines the main approaches to the classification of legal terms: vertical, horizontal, by the degree of specificity, and by historical criteria. The vertical classification is based on the hierarchy of legal sources, while the horizontal classification relates to the branch affiliation of terms, including civil, criminal, administrative law, and others, each forming its own terminological layer. Depending on the field of use, legal terms are categorized into: legal doctrine terms, terms of legal practice, the terms of legal acts, the terms of law enforcement acts, and terms of interpretative acts. The article emphasizes the dynamic nature of English legal terminology, which is influenced, on the one hand, by the process of determinologization due to the active use of terms in general language contexts, and on the other hand, by the constant renewal of the terminological system under the influence of scientific and technological progress and the emergence of new legal realities across both English-speaking countries and the EU. The study found that the main models for the formation of legal terms include compounding, affixation, the creation of multi-component terms, conversion as a means of linguistic economy, and the active use of abbreviations, which acquire standard status in legal discourse. It was also revealed that the meaning of English legal terms depends on legal context, jurisdictional features, and the genre of legal texts. All these peculiarities require extralinguistic knowledge for accurate interpretation. Additionally, the semantics of legal terms is shaped by metaphorical constructions and legal fictions, which define their specific interpretation and usage.