doi:10.18454/RULB.2022.29.1.6

THE LEXICAL COMPONENT OF THE LANGUAGE MEANS USED FOR THE REFERENCE ZONE “INVESTIGATIVE ACTIONS” (AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE OF THE USA)

Research article

Shashkova V. N.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2022.29.1.6

Issue: № 1 (29), 2022

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Shashkova V. N.

Orel Law Institute of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia named after V.V. Lukyanov, Orel, Russia

Abstract

The article is devoted to identifying the specifics of the lexical component of the language used to describe the reference zone “Investigative Actions” in English as exemplified by the sublanguage of the regulatory legal act “Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure”. The analysis of the lexical component was carried out in three main areas: 1) nomination mechanisms used in describing the reference zone “Investigative Actions”; 2) word-formation patterns typically actualized in lexemes belonging to the semantic field under study; 3) patterns of syntactic expansion of complex nominative units. The purpose of the study is to determine the specifics of the lexical component of the conceptual field “Investigative Actions”, taking into account the discursive conditions for the use of nominative units, as well as the grammar structure of the language. The theoretical significance of the study lies in the development of questions related to nomination in a comparative typological aspect. The practical value is predetermined by the identification of the nomination aspects that can be used for didactic purposes in the course of teaching legal topics in Russian and English. The analysis revealed two recurring nomination mechanisms for the majority of nominative units used in describing the reference zone “Investigative Actions”, namely: specification of the significative meaning of the nominative unit by introducing additional lexemes, and metonymy realized by the transference from the process to the result, which is typically represented in the name of the relevant judicial document. Word-formation methods are represented by suffixation and conversion. Syntactic models used in the complex nominative units of the semantic field “Investigative Actions” include the following basic structures: adjective + noun, noun + noun, verb + noun, the variability of which is extremely limited.

Keywords:

nominative unit, nomination mechanism, specification of significative meaning, metonymy, suffixation, conversion, word formation, syntactic pattern.

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