Comparative Legal Linguistics—Language of Law, Latin and Modern Lingua Francas

Six years after publication of the first edition, this second edition is enhanced with substantial new coverage of legal Spanish and of the legal languages of the Nordic countries. Mattila (U. of Lapland, Finland) begins with discussion of the concept of legal language, genres and subgenres, related linguistic phenomena, the counter-language of criminals, and the history and current status of legal linguistics as a discipline. Subsequent coverage encompasses functions, linguistic policy, cultural tasks, and characteristics. A chapter each is devoted to Latin, German, French, Spanish, and English. Translation (presumably from the Finnish) is by Christopher Goddard. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Professor Heikki E.S. Mattila is Professor Emeritus of Legal Linguistics at the University of Lapland, Finland. His current research interests focus on comparative law and comparative legal linguistics. He has published several studies on legal languages, especially on legal Latin, as well as on family law, law of inheritance and international private law. Professor Mattila is also Docent of Comparative Law at the University of Helsinki in Finland.