Legal English and Plain Language: an Update
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Legal English and Plain Language: an Introduction Christopher Williams
Legal English and Plain Language: an introduction Christopher Williams Abstract In this paper I first describe some of the main characteristics of written legal English such as sentence length and the complexity of its sentence structures, repetitiveness, the high concentration of Latinisms and archaic or rarely used lex- ical items etc. (Bhatia 1993). Such features have been widely held for centuries as having an exclusionary function, entrenching the privileges of the legal profes- sion. With the growth of the Plain Language movement in recent decades in all major English-speaking countries, however, calls for radical changes in legal English have become increasingly widespread, and cases of enacted legislative texts following the principles of Plain Language can already be found in several countries, e.g. South Africa, Australia and Canada. I analyse some of the propos- als of the Plain Language movement and the feasibility of making legal texts more comprehensible to the layperson without running the risk of ‘dumbing down’ such texts and creating new problems of ambiguity in interpretation that could end up by being detrimental to the public at large. 1. Introduction Legal language is made up of several genres,each with its own specific,if often relat- ed, characteristics. It ranges from the spoken exchanges in a court between, say, lawyers and witnesses in a cross-examination,to the relatively standardized instruc- tions given to jury members who are required to express a verdict in a court case, to the jargon employed by members of the legal profession in interpersonal communi- cation1, to the written language in case law, law reports and prescriptive legal texts. -
GUIDE to the WILLIAMS FAMILY PAPERS Scope and Content Note
GUIDE TO THE WILLIAMS FAMILY PAPERS Scope and Content Note: The Williams Family Papers, which were received by the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association from many sources over a long period of time, consist of four types of material: (1) approximately 3500 original manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries written by or addressed to various descendants of Robert Williams, "cordwayner" of Norwich, England, who came to this country in 1637 and settled in Roxbury, Mass.; (2) reproductions of similar manuscripts elsewhere in Deerfield or in other locations; (3) transcripts of Williams material; and (4) notes and correspondence of George Sheldon and others that relate to the Williams family. The numbers in superscript that follow many of the names in this guide are those assigned by George Sheldon in the Williams genealogy included in the second volume of his History of Deerfield, Massachusetts (1895). Biographical Notes and Description of Manuscripts: Thomas Williams15, a great-great grandson of Robert1, was born in 1736, studied medicine with Dr. Thomas Williams14 in Deerfield, and then settled in Roxbury, Mass. He married Abigail, daughter of Major Elijah Williams,12 in 1760. Thomas died in 1815, his widow in 1818. He is represented by an undated letter from his father-in-law, asking him to bring or arrange to have brought various items from Boston. [See box of reproductions for photocopy of his will, dated 1814.] Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams23, son of Thomas15 was born in 1761. He was a farmer who lived for many years at "Carter's Land." Later he bought several lots on the main village street and lived on Lot 42 from 1816 until his death in 1838. -
The Indexing of Welsh Personal Names
The indexing of Welsh personal names Donald Moore Welsh personal names sometimes present the indexer with problems not encountered when dealing with English names. The Welsh patronymic system of identity is the most obvious; this was normal in the Middle Ages, and traces of its usage survived into the mid-nineteenth century. Patronymics have since been revived as alternative names in literary and bardic circles, while a few individuals, inspired by the precedents of history, are today attempting to use them regularly in daily life. Other sorts of alternative names, too, have been adopted by writers, poets, artists and musicians, to such effect that they are often better known to the Welsh public than the real names. A distinctive pseudonym has a special value in Wales, where a restricted selection of both first names and surnames has been the norm for the last few centuries. Apart from the names themselves, there is in Welsh a linguistic feature which can be disconcerting to those unfamiliar with the language: the 'mutation' or changing of the initial letter of a word in certain phonetic and syntactic contexts. This can also occur in place-names, which were discussed by the present writer in The Indexer 15 (1) April 1986. Some of the observations made there about the Welsh language will be relevant here also. Indexing English names 'Fitzwarin family' under 'F' and 'Sir John de la Mare' According to English practice a person is indexed under 'D' (the last, though French, being domiciled in under his or her surname. First names, taken in England).1 alphabetical order, word by word, are then used to Indexing Welsh names determine the sequence of entries when the same English conventions of nomenclature apply today in surname recurs in the index ('first' = 'Christian' = Wales as much as in England, but there are three 'baptismal' = 'given' = 'forename'). -
Breton Patronyms and the British Heroic Age
Breton Patronyms and the British Heroic Age Gary D. German Centre de Recherche Bretonne et Celtique Introduction Of the three Brythonic-speaking nations, Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, it is the Bretons who have preserved the largest number of Celtic family names, many of which have their origins during the colonization of Armorica, a period which lasted roughly from the fourth to the eighth centuries. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the Breton naming system and to identify the ways in which it is tied to the earliest Welsh poetic traditions. The first point I would like to make is that there are two naming traditions in Brittany today, not just one. The first was codified in writing during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and it is this system that has given us the official hereditary family names as they are recorded in the town halls and telephone directories of Brittany. Although these names have been subjected to marked French orthographic practices, they reflect, in a fossilized form, the Breton oral tradition as it existed when the names were first set in writing over 400 years ago. For this reason, these names often contain lexical items that are no longer understood in the modern spoken language. We shall return to this point below. The second naming system stems directly from the oral tradition as it has come down to us today. Unlike the permanent hereditary names, it is characterized by its ephemeral, personal and extremely flexible nature. Such names disappear with the death of those who bear them. -
British Cultural Studies: an Introduction, Third Edition
British Cultural Studies British Cultural Studies is a comprehensive introduction to the British tradition of cultural studies. Graeme Turner offers an accessible overview of the central themes that have informed British cultural studies: language, semiotics, Marxism and ideology, individualism, subjectivity and discourse. Beginning with a history of cultural studies, Turner discusses the work of such pioneers as Raymond Williams, Richard Hoggart, E. P. Thompson, Stuart Hall and the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. He then explores the central theorists and categories of British cultural studies: texts and contexts; audience; everyday life; ideology; politics, gender and race. The third edition of this successful text has been fully revised and updated to include: • applying the principles of cultural studies and how to read a text • an overview of recent ethnographic studies • a discussion of anthropological theories of consumption • questions of identity and new ethnicities • how to do cultural studies, and an evaluation of recent research method- ologies • a fully updated and comprehensive bibliography. Graeme Turner is Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland. He is the editor of The Film Cultures Reader and author of Film as Social Practice, 3rd edition, both published by Routledge. Reviews of the second edition ‘An excellent introduction to cultural studies … very well written and accessible.’ John Sparrowhawk, University of North London ‘A good foundation and background to the development -
Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery: Full Report
Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery Full Report January 2014 Printed on recycled paper Print ISBN 978 1 4734 0837 1 Digital ISBN 978 1 4734 0836 4 © Crown copyright 2014 WG19847 Contents Foreword Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Complexity 21 Chapter 3: Scale and Capability 67 Chapter 4: Governance, Scrutiny and Delivery 114 Chapter 5: Leadership, Culture and Values 160 Chapter 6: Performance and Performance Management 190 Chapter 7: Our Diagnosis 251 Annex A: Commission Member Biographies 266 Annex B: Commission Remit 269 Annex C: Written call for evidence – service providers 272 Annex D: Written call for evidence – service users 285 Annex E: List of responses 287 Annex F: Complexity – Detailed Reasoning and Recommendations 292 Annex G: Complexity – Health and Adult Social Care 304 Annex H: Scale and Capability – Details of Merger Proposals 316 Annex I: Leadership, Culture and Values – Public Service Values 328 Annex J: List of Recommendations 334 Errata This version of the Commission’s report corrects two minor typographical errors in the original: 1. In paragraph 4.99 on page 147, the name of NHS Wales’s performance website has been corrected and is now shown as a hyperlink. 2. In the table on page 322 (Option 2b: 11 local authorities) the population figure for Neath Port Talbot has been corrected. There is a minor consequential change to the figure for projected Band D council tax for the merged area in the same table. Foreword In April 2013 the First Minister for Wales established the Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery. We were tasked with examining all aspects of governance and delivery in the devolved public sector in Wales. -
The History of Photography: the Research Library of the Mack Lee
THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY The Research Library of the Mack Lee Gallery 2,633 titles in circa 3,140 volumes Lee Gallery Photography Research Library Comprising over 3,100 volumes of monographs, exhibition catalogues and periodicals, the Lee Gallery Photography Research Library provides an overview of the history of photography, with a focus on the nineteenth century, in particular on the first three decades after the invention photography. Strengths of the Lee Library include American, British, and French photography and photographers. The publications on French 19th- century material (numbering well over 100), include many uncommon specialized catalogues from French regional museums and galleries, on the major photographers of the time, such as Eugène Atget, Daguerre, Gustave Le Gray, Charles Marville, Félix Nadar, Charles Nègre, and others. In addition, it is noteworthy that the library includes many small exhibition catalogues, which are often the only publication on specific photographers’ work, providing invaluable research material. The major developments and evolutions in the history of photography are covered, including numerous titles on the pioneers of photography and photographic processes such as daguerreotypes, calotypes, and the invention of negative-positive photography. The Lee Gallery Library has great depth in the Pictorialist Photography aesthetic movement, the Photo- Secession and the circle of Alfred Stieglitz, as evidenced by the numerous titles on American photography of the early 20th-century. This is supplemented by concentrations of books on the photography of the American Civil War and the exploration of the American West. Photojournalism is also well represented, from war documentary to Farm Security Administration and LIFE photography. -
J E Lloyd and the Intellectual Foundations of Welsh History : Emyr
J E Lloyd and the intellectual foundations of Welsh history 1 J E Lloyd’s ‘A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest’ first published in 1911, has been of central importance to the development of Welsh historiography. This article seeks to assess the validity of the model of Welsh history developed by Lloyd. Initially, his nurturing within the Oxford school of Germanist historians, a school of thought which placed great weight on the importance of race, is considered. Lloyd is then identified as seeking to establish a complementary Welsh school of Brythonic historians. In developing his historical model he not only misinterpreted the archaeological and written records, but also suppressed evidence of the extent to which ‘Wales’ had been assimilated into the Roman Empire. He was able to sustain his model in both the first (1911) and second (1912) editions of his ‘History of Wales’, but by the time the third edition was published in 1939 that was no longer possible. Advances in the understanding of the archaeological record and the discrediting of race as a basis for historical analysis meant that the earlier foundations to his work were too contentious. As a consequence, in 1939 Lloyd abandoned that earlier theoretical framework, and sought to establish a new basis for his work. Whether he replaced those foundations with an appropriate alternative is an issue which has never been satisfactorily addressed by Welsh historians. It is suggested that consideration of that issue could prove advantageous to Welsh History in the contemporary context. In the introduction to his History of Wales, J E Lloyd 2 presented the following account of his approach to the writing of Welsh history: … (I)t has been my endeavour to bring together and to weave into a continuous narrative what may be fairly regarded as the ascertained facts of the history of Wales up to the fall of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1282. -
Nineteenth Century New Jersey Photographers Revision of Illustrated Article in New Jersey History, Fall/Winter 2004
Nineteenth Century New Jersey Photographers Revision of illustrated article in New Jersey History, Fall/Winter 2004 by Gary D. Saretzky By 1900, approximately 3,000 individuals had worked in New Jersey as professional or serious amateur photographers but only a handful have reputations that have survived into the 21st century.1 Most of us have seen an imprinted name on the back an old photograph and wondered who that person was who took the photograph. Where did the photographer come from? Did he or she have a family? Was photography just a short-term vocation or a long-term career? If an address is also imprinted, when did the photographer work at that location? To some extent, this essayCwhich provides selected information about approximately 10 percent of the photographers known to have worked in the state in the 1800sCis a work in progress that aims toward a biographical directory of nineteenth century New Jersey photographers. Included is information about, and examples of, the work of these photographers, most of whom achieved notable success in their lifetimes. The directory will include data about all the photographers that have come to my attention with the help of numerous archivists, librarians, researchers, and collectors.2 This article begins with an overview of photography in New Jersey, on both the professional front, with a subsection on stereographic view makers, and on the amateur front, featuring the development of camera clubs. It will then examine professional photography in New Jersey=s seven largest cities, particularly the largest, Newark, which had numerous photographic establishments. (While some residents of Essex, Hudson, and other counties near New York patronized Manhattan portrait studios, they had ample and often lower priced alternatives closer to home.) Newark also was nineteenth century New Jersey's center for manufacturing photographic materials for local, New York, and even national markets. -
ROS Heather Williams
romance studies, Vol. 27 No. 3, July, 2009, 223–233 Between French and Breton: The Politics of Translation Heather Williams Aberystwyth University, UK This article explores the political implications of different types of translation between French and Breton. The bilingual parallel text publication practice of militant poets active in 1960s and 1970s Brittany is discussed in relation to their perception of Brittany as an ‘internal colony’, and against the French State’s attitude towards regional languages. I argue that the Breton versions of these poems that appear alongside the French function as a synecdoche for racial and cultural oppression and injustice across the world. Transla- tions into Breton from other minority cultures are shown to allow the mapping of political allegiances, and a sense of solidarity. The literature produced in the wake of Gwalarn, a periodical which was characterized by its enthusiasm for translation into Breton, is contrasted with the basically Romantic literature produced by nineteenth-century Breton enthusiasts. For Gwalarnistes translation into Breton from world literature was a key in escap- ing the cliché-ridden Brittany that had become familiar in Breton literature. The article concludes by considering the implications of translation out of a minority language and into the politically dominant language. Drawing on work in postcolonial translation studies, as well as comments by Welsh writers and critics on the issue of translation, I suggest that translation can be complex and indeed dangerous in the case of a minority culture such as Brittany’s, and conclude that there can therefore be no all-encompassing theory of translation. keywords Brittany, Translation, Poetry, Internal colonialism, Minority literature All Francophone Breton literature is written between the two main languages of Brittany: Breton, the indigenous Celtic language, and French, the language of the nation-state of which Brittany forms a part. -
ON the GEOGRAPHY of ENGLISH FAMILY NAMES Wolfgang Viereck University of Bamberg, Germany [email protected]
Dialectologia 3 (2009), 73-108. ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH FAMILY NAMES Wolfgang Viereck University of Bamberg, Germany [email protected] Abstract The publications dealing with the distributional patterns of English family names in the United Kingdom are anything but numerous and comprehensive. For this task researchers used either different data sets to differing degrees and from different periods in the past or from different current periods. A concerted action in onomastic research is still lacking. A project on English surname geography, of which the first volume has recently appeared, is being carried out at the University of Bamberg. Its databases are briefly described and some examples of surnames with a recent or a long history are treated accordingly. The latter often developed variants of various kinds that mirrored changes in the common language that either survived or died out there. Also a quantificational surname approach is sketched to help identify historical cultural regions in England. Finally some aspects are mentioned that will be dealt with in the second volume. Key words hereditary English surnames, diachronic and synchronic databases, surnames and dialects, cultural regions 1. Introductory remarks and earlier research The English of England, in fact of the United Kingdom, has repeatedly been put on maps. There are national linguistic atlases and regional ones, very detailed maps and simplified ones. Surprisingly perhaps, a comprehensive surname atlas does not yet exist. The study of names is undoubtedly fascinating. It is an interdisciplinary activity, combining the interests of the genealogist, the human biologist, the historian and the philologist. In England the introduction of hereditary surnames was connected with the enormous cultural change that followed the Norman Conquest in 1066. -
From Italy to Boston's North End: Italian Immigration and Settlement, 1890-1910 Stephen Puleo University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston ScholarWorks at UMass Boston Graduate Masters Theses Doctoral Dissertations and Masters Theses 5-1994 From Italy to Boston's North End: Italian Immigration and Settlement, 1890-1910 Stephen Puleo University of Massachusetts Boston Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses Part of the Cultural History Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, European History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Puleo, Stephen, "From Italy to Boston's North End: Italian Immigration and Settlement, 1890-1910" (1994). Graduate Masters Theses. Paper 154. This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Doctoral Dissertations and Masters Theses at ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FROM ITALY TO BOSTON’S NORTH END Italian Immigration and Settlement, 1890-1910 A Thesis Presented by STEPHEN C. PULEO Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Massachusetts Boston in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS MAY 1994 History Program 2 FROM ITALY TO BOSTON’S NORTH END Italian Immigration and Settlement, 1890-1910 A Thesis Presented by STEPHEN C. PULEO Approved as to style and content by: 4 S Jams M. O’Toole, Associate Professor Chaiperson of Committee Paul G. Faler, Associate Professor Member Thomas A. McMuIIin, Associate Professor Member Clive Foss, Programiirector Department of History This thesis is dedicated to my parents, who instilled in me pride in my heritage; and to my wife, Kate, who is the source of my inspiration.