STUDY UNIT 1

Homo = same

Homophones

Sound the same

Root – sound

Homographs

Root – write

Words that are spelled the same

Homonym

root – name

sound and spell the same

Polysemy

This happens when a word acquires a wider range of meanings

e.g paper

"complementary polysemy" - where a single verb has multiple senses

e.g baked

Denotation

This is the central meaning of a word, as far as it can be described in a dictionary

Connotation

Connotation refers to the psychological or cultural aspects; the personal or emotional

associations aroused by words

Implication

What the speech intends to mean but does not communicate directly

Metaphor
Refers to the non-literal meaning of a word, a clause or sentence. A metaphor
compares things.

Metonym

A word used in place of another word or expression to convey the same meaning.

Allegory

The expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or

generalizations about human existence

Paradox

A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is

perhaps true; a self-contradictory statement that at first seems true.

Tautology

A tautology states the same thing twice in slightly different wording, or adds redundant
and unnecessary words

Verbosity

using or containing an excess of words, to be pedantic

It is usually followed by a lengthy explanation

Ambiguity

When something is open to interpretation

Latent ambiguity

Occurs when the language of the instrument is clear and there is a defect which is not
visible at face-value. But when coupled with external facts or evidence, there could be
two meanings seen.

Patent ambiguity

Ambiguity present on the face of the instrument. Due to inherent uncertainty of

language used
there is an indefinite confused meaning.

Lexical ambiguity
Ambiguity in a single word.

e.g. "A musical tone" or "A short written record"

structural ambiguity

ambiguity in a sentence or clause.

e.g. "Visiting relatives can be so boring"

Humpty Dumpty Syndrome

There is a great potential for ambiguities and inconsistencies in legal documents. Each
word in the English language pertains to a large variance in terms of its possible
meanings. It is often the case that a written statement could be interpreted in several
ways by different individuals, thus rendering the statement subjective rather than
objective.

When ambiguity is present in natural language (not legal language) people are said to
have fallen victim to the Humpty-Dumpty Syndrome.

Humpty-Dumpty Syndrome = a phenomenon where individuals fail to realise that

words have many meanings and that others may not always be able to surmise the
intent of a particular statement.

1.4

just read through on page 5 of study guide

Study unit 3

A statement is a verbal expression that can be regarded as true or false but not both

Hence, a statement is a sentence with a truth-value. We can still regard a sentence

as a statement even if the truth-value of the statement is not known.

Logic is just concerned with those statements that have truth-values (there is very
much of life that is irrelevant to logic.)

Phatic communication, greetings, commands, requests, and poetry, among other uses
of language, are not mean to be taken as statements.

Three Main Ways of Judging the Presence of an Argument

i) The author or writer explicitly states and explicitly lists the reasons, evidence,
justification, rationale, or proof of a statement.

Example: I conclude …

ii) The author uses argument indicators signifying the presence of an argument.

Example:

(1) Since the solution turned red when the indicator was added, (2) I conclude it is
acidic, since acidic substances react with this indicator to form a red colour.

iii) [An utterance or] passage in question implicitly provides an answer to the
sometimes irreverent question of "What are you trying to prove?" The presence of an
argument cannot be always known with certainty. A charitable, conventional
interpretation of the content and context of the passage is assumed.

Example:

(1) The types of sentences you use are quite varied. (2) I've noticed that your essays
are quite sophisticated. (3) You have been learning much more about sentence
structure.

[The conclusion is statement (3)].

The Presence of Arguments:

Premise Indicators
Premise indicators function in a similar way as conjunctions (also known as cohesive
devices / linking devices / sentence connectors) in grammar.

Premise indicators are words which often indicate the presence of reasons.

For example:

for, since, as, because, part of the reason, in light of the fact, etc.

Conclusion Indicators

These are words which often indicate the statement which logically follows from the
reasons given.

For example:

Thus, therefore, hence, so, consequently, for that reason, etc…

Diagram arguments?

 To analyse simple and complex arguments, it useful to construct a diagram of

the structure of the argument that details the relations among the various
premisses and conclusions.

 A conclusion of one argument can become a premise for another argument.

Thus, a statement can be the conclusion of one argument and a premise for
another argument (just as a daughter in one family can become a mother in
another family).

 The number of arguments is conventionally established by the number of

conclusions in that passage.

In analysing the structure of an argument, whether simple or complex, the all-

important first step is to find the conclusion.

The Diagramming of Arguments (Examples)

Example:
(1) John didn't get much sleep last night. (2) He has dark circles under his eyes. (3) He looks
tired.

The conclusion is the first sentence in the passage.

Nevertheless, the conclusion can occur anywhere in the paragraph. Usually, if a

conclusion is not the first or last sentence, a conclusion indicator is present, or the
last sentence is presented as an afterthought with a premise indicator.

Example:

(1) Studies from rats indicate that neuropeptide Y in the brain causes carbohydrate
craving, and (2) galanin causes fat craving. (3) Hence, I conclude that food
cravings are tied to brain chemicals (4) because neuropeptide Y and galanin are
brain chemicals.

The language of nonarguments

Typical argumentative "look-a-likes" fall into four main categories; i.e.

(non)arguments

1. Fiction, poetry, emotional discourse: the purpose is not factual truth.

2. Commands: they are not statements because they have no truth value.
(However, they can be subjected to a "logic of commands" as noted later.)

3. Conditional statements (by themselves) are not arguments.: "If ... then ..."
statements, sometimes called "hypotheticals," although many logicians
distinguish different various forms of conditionals.

4. Explanations: their purpose is not to prove, but to explain. In general

explanations are not arguments.

Valid vs Invalid arguments

Valid: an argument is valid if and only if it is necessary that if all of the premises
are true, then the conclusion is true; if all the premises are true, then the conclusion
must be true; it is impossible that all the premises are true, and the conclusion is
false.
Invalid: an argument that is not valid. We can test for invalidity by assuming that
all the premises are true and seeing whether it is still possible for the conclusion to
be false. If this is possible, the argument is invalid.

Sound vs Unsound arguments

Sound: an argument is sound if and only if it is valid and contains only true
premises.
Unsound: an argument that is not sound.

Examples of all are on SU 3.4 slides

3.6

Invalid arguments

If an argument is invalid, then it is possible for the conclusion to be false even if all
the premisses are true.

Types of invalid arguments

1. Logical Fallacy
These arguments are instances of pseudo-reasoning. The conclusion of a
logical fallacy either does not depend on the truth of the premisses at all (in
such a case, we say the truth of the conclusion is independent of the truth
of the premisses; i.e. the conclusion does not follow from the premisses) or
the conclusion only follows very weakly from the premisses.

2. Inductive arguments
Inductive arguments are not logical fallacies - since their conclusions are
many times strongly inferred from the premisses, however inductive
arguments do not guarantee the truth of their conclusion, even if all the
premisses are true (which makes them invalid). We will say that
 conclusion(s) arrived at by induction are strongly or weakly inferred from the
premisses.

Special Fallacies

1. Appeal to Inappropriate Authority.

This fallacy arises when the authority invoked has no legitimate claim in the
matter at hand.
2. Disconnected Premises
When there is a discord between the three basic concepts of an argument
(the major term, minor term and middle term)
3. Irrelevant Conclusion.
This fallacy occurs when the premises “miss the point” and fail to
substantiate the conclusion.
4. False Cause.
This fallacy consists in treating something as a cause that is not, or should
not be assumed to be, a cause. Most commonly, the mistake is in assuming
that A caused B simply because A preceded B
5. Overzealous application of a general rule.
This fallacy occurs when we apply a generalization to an individual case that
it does not necessarily govern
6. Hasty Generalization.
This fallacy is the converse of the preceding one. It occurs when we move
too quickly to establish a broad principle or general rule based on specific
factual observations
7. Circular argument.
This fallacy occurs when one assumes the truth of what one seeks to prove
in the very effort to prove it. In other words, an argument is fallacious when
the conclusion lies buried in the premises used to reach that conclusion.

8. Complex Question.
This fallacy occurs when the question itself is phrased in such a way as to
presuppose the truth of a conclusion buried in that question.
 9. Ambiguity.
When we use a key word or phrase to have two or more different meanings
in the same argument, we commit the fallacy of ambiguity.
10. Composition.
We commit the fallacy of composition when we mistakenly impute the
attributes of a part of a whole to the whole itself.
11. Division.
This fallacy is the reverse of the fallacy of composition. We commit the
fallacy of division when we mistakenly argue that attributes of a whole must
also be present in each part or constituent of that whole.
12. Argument from Ignorance.
An argument is fallacious when it maintains that a proposition is true
because it has not been proved false or false because it has not been
proved true.
13. Attack Against the Person.
This fallacy occurs when the thrust of an argument is directed, not at a
conclusion, but at the person who asserts or defends it.
14. Argument from Force.
An argument is fallacious when it substitutes veiled threats for logical
persuasion or when it asserts that something must be the case because
“that’s just the way things are.”
15. Appeal to Emotion.
This fallacy occurs when expressive language designed to excite an
emotion like outrage or pity is used in place of logical argumentation

Study unit 4

Six basic elements of a narrative:

1. The plot
The sequence of events that takes place in a story.
2. Setting
Time and place in which the events of a story take place. Can also refer to political,
social, historical setting.
 3. Characterization
Methods used to present the personality of a character in a narrative. Done in 2 ways:
Directly – author describes the character
Indirectly – reader judges what the character is like based on their speech and actions.
4. Atmosphere
General mood or feeling established in a piece of literature. Created through word
choice and spacing.
Word choice – author using words to induce certain feelings in the reader.
Pacing – author controls the speed at which we read.
5. Point of view
Refers to who is narrating. 2 types:
First person – narrator uses “I”, involved in the story.
Third person – story is told from a perspective outside the story.
6. Conflict
Central problem that derives the action of a story. 2 types:
Internal – conflict in a character’s mind.
External – conflict between characters, or between a character and an external force.

Study unit 5

Ethics

The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which means "character," and
from the Latin word mores, which means "manner, custom, usage, or habit"

Aristotle was one of the first great philosophers to study ethics. To him, ethics was
more than a moral, religious, or legal concept. He believed that the most important
element in ethical behaviour is knowledge that actions are accomplished for the
betterment of the common good. He asked whether actions performed by individuals
or groups are good both for an individual or a group and for society.

Legal ethics: the branch of philosophy that defines what is good for the individual and
for society and establishes the nature of obligations, or duties, that people owe
themselves and one another. In modern society, ethics define how individuals,
professionals and corporations choose to interact with one another.

Aristotle said that it is necessary to possess three virtues of practical wisdom:

temperance, courage and justice.

The field of ethics involves: systematising, defending, and recommending concepts of

right and wrong behaviour.

General subject areas of ethical theories:

Metaethics

 Investigates where our ethical principles come from and what they mean.
 Focuses on issues of universal truths.
 Involves understanding what motivates us to be moral.

Egoism and altruism

Psychological egoism: maintains that self-orientated interests ultimately motivates all

human actions.

Egoism: an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality.

Altruism: disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Egoism and altruism are thus complete opposites.

Emotion and reason

David Hume argued that moral assessments involve our emotions, and not our reason.
We can amass all the reasons we want, but that alone will not constitute a moral
assessment. We need a distinctly emotional reaction in order to make a moral
pronouncement.

A.J. Ayer denied that moral assessments are factual descriptions. A moral utterance
involves two things:

Using the example: “It is good to donate to charity.”

 1. The emotive element
The speaker is expressing personal feelings – expressing emotion about a
specific behaviour.
2. The prescriptive element
The speaker is giving a command – prescribing some specific behaviour.

Normative ethics

Normative ethics takes on a practical task, which is to arrive at moral standards that
regulate right and wrong conduct.

Golden rule: we should do to others what we would want others to do to us. (Like in
the book of Matthew and the other Gospels).

The key assumption in normative ethics is that there is only one ultimate criterion of
moral conduct, whether it is a single rule or a set of principles.

What ethics is not:

 Ethics is not the same as feelings

 Ethics is not religion

 Ethics is not following the law

 Ethics is not following culturally accepted norms

 Ethics is not science

Five different sources of ethical standards:

1. The Utilitarian Approach

The utilitarian approach deals with consequences; it tries both to increase the
good done and to reduce the harm done in order to produces the greatest
balance of good over harm.
2. The Rights Approach
Ethical action is the one that best protects and respects the moral rights of those
affected, but it is often said that rights imply duties - in particular, the duty to
respect others' rights.
 3. The Fairness / Justice Approach
All equals should be treated equally. Today we use this idea to say that ethical
actions treat all human beings equally-or if unequally, then fairly based on some
standard that is defensible.
4. The Common Good Approach
Life in community is a good and our actions should contribute to that life, and
this approach also calls attention to the common conditions that are important
to the welfare of everyone.
5. The Virtue Approach
Ethical actions ought to be consistent with certain ideal virtues that provide for
the full development of our humanity, and virtue ethics asks of any action, "What
kind of person will I become if I do this?" or "Is this action consistent with my
acting at my best?"

The consequentialist approach

Fieser: It is common for us to determine our moral responsibility by weighing the

consequences of our actions.

Consequentialism: An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are

more favourable than unfavourable.

Consequentialist normative principles require that:

Firstly, we tally both the good and bad consequences of an action.

Secondly, we then determine whether the total good consequences outweigh the total
bad consequences.

If the good consequences are greater, then the action is morally proper. If the bad
consequences are greater, then the action is morally improper.

Ethical egoism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more
favourable than unfavourable only to the agent performing the action.

Ethical altruism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more
favourable than unfavourable to everyone except the agent.

Utilitarianism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more
favourable than unfavourable to everyone.
Applied ethics

Applied ethics is the branch of ethics which consists of the analysis of specific
controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, animal rights,
environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war.

 In recent years applied ethical issues have been subdivided into convenient
groups, such as medical ethics, business ethics, environmental ethics, and
sexual ethics.

Two features are necessary for an issue to be considered an applied ethical issue:

Firstly, the issue needs to be controversial in the sense that there are significant
groups of people both for and against the issue at hand, e.g. the issue of gun control
would be an applied ethical issue since there are significant groups of people both for
and against gun control. In contrast, grossly immoral practices on which everyone
agrees, such as a drive-by shooting, for example, is NOT an applied ethical issue.

They don’t state the second.

Note-taking and listening skills

SQL3R

Survey – identify main points

Question – identify a purpose for listening

Listen – be ready to process information

Rewrite – use key words to answer questions

Recite – summarise answers to questions in your own words

Review – check completeness of your answers

A contemporary approach to ethics

Five foundations of morality:

1. Care or Harm - cherishing and protecting others; opposite of harm

2. Fairness or Reciprocity - rendering justice according to shared rules; opposite

of cheating
 3. Loyalty or Ingroup - standing with your group, family, nation; opposite of
betrayal

4. Authority or Respect - submitting to tradition and legitimate authority; opposite

of subversion

5. Sanctity or Purity - abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, actions; opposite of

degradation

African ethics

Three moral institutions characteristic of African moral thought:

1. The high prize usually accorded to the family

2. Variation of ancestors
3. The normative concept of personhood

Ethics and legal pluralism

Legal pluralism is a key feature of African legal systems, containing the principle of
legal centrism.

Legal centrism: all law emanates from the state and that rites developed and practiced
by nonstate actors, including religious and customary institutions, are law only to the
extent they are recognised by the state.

This may occur through normative recognition, in which state institutions recognize
substantive customary and/or religious laws as law.

It may also occur institutional recognition in which the actions of customary institutions
are considered enforceable.
Study unit 6

Personal language

Whether or not you use the first person will depend upon the writing context, purpose
and audience. Using the first person pronoun (e.g. I, me, my, mine) is an effective way
to convey your passion and involvement in the topic, and to establish a connection
with your reader.

Judgemental language

Judgmental language suggests that you are making a personal judgment. By using
judgmental language, it may sound as though you have come to a conclusion based
on your previously-held beliefs, rather than through a review of the relevant literature.
It is important to remember that beliefs you may have held at one time could later be
disproved. Academic writing, therefore, tends to be cautious.

Emotive language

Emotive language appeals to the emotions or values of your reader. Emotive language
tends to use superlatives and/or exaggeration in an attempt to incite an emotional
reaction. While this type of language can be persuasive, it does not consider the
literature on its own merits, which is the primary purpose of academic writing.

Objective vs Subjective language

In summary, subjective language tends to be based on assumptions, judgements,

opinions, rumours and suspicion, while objective language tends to be based on fact,
observation and logical argument.

Tense and aspect – pg. 42 in study guide

Notes from ENGLISH FOR LAW STUDENTS
Sequence of tenses
When writing we must try to stay in a specific family of tenses.

Present tense
A) Simple present tense – something happens regularly, sometimes, time to time.
Happens in the present but not a specific point in the present.
Eg. Inherits, applies

B) Present perfect tense – describes an action which continues up to the present

or which happened in the recent past.
Eg. Have massed

Past tense
A) Simple past – something which happened at a definite past time and it no
longer happening
Eg. Died
B) Past perfect – two actions happened in the past and one finished before the
other
Eg. Had decided

After his daughter had decided (past perfect) to marry a convicted felon, the testator
revoked (simple past) his bequest.

In legal context, the present tense is used to describe rules and principles.
Four types of academic essay

 Expository
 Persuasive
 Analytical
 Argumentative

The persuasive essay: where you try to convince the reader to adopt your position on
an issue or point of view.

Most important qualities of a persuasive essay:

 A definite view point

 Maintaining the reader’s interest
 Use sound reasoning
 Use solid evidence
 Be aware of intended audience
Study unit 7

Discourse analysis

Discourse analysis is the branch of applied linguistics dealing with the examination of
discourse, which attempts to find:

 patterns in communicative products; as well as

 their correlation with the circumstances in which they occur

Discourse is always produced by somebody whose identity, as well as the identity of

the interpreter, is significant for the proper understanding of the message.

Ferdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguist, he is generally considered the founder

of modern linguistics. He divided the broad meaning of language into LANGUE and
PAROLE

The underlying basis to langue is the interpretation that it is made up of signs and not
sentences. Signs are thought to have a two-part aspect in that each sign relates a
notion with a sound pattern (or a written symbol). A sign cannot exist as a single part,
for if there is a sound pattern without a notion the sound becomes only noise.

Parole always occurs in time and is internally characterized by successively

developing expressions in which the meaning of the latter is influenced by the former,
while langue is abstract.

Furthermore, discourse always happens in either physical, or linguistic context and

within a meaningful fixed time, whereas langue on its own does not refer to anything
[outside of a provided context].

Characteristics of discourse

Spoken vs written discourse

Spoken

 Speech involves only air (takes up no ‘space’)

 Speech develops in time in that the speaker says with speed that is suitable
for him
  The speaker usually knows the listener, or listeners, or he is at least aware of
the fact that he is being listened to, which enables him to adjust the register.

 Employment of nonsense vocabulary, slang and contracted forms (we're,

you've) is another feature of oral discourse.

 Among other significant features of speech there are rhythm, intonation, speed
of uttering and, what is more important, inability to conceal mistakes made while
speaking

Written

 Writing includes some medium which keeps record of the conveyed

message
 Writing develops in space in that it needs a means to carry the information
(book, article, magazine, journal, website, etc.)
 The author of the text does not often know who is going to read the text, as
a result he cannot adjust to readers' specific expectations.
 The writer is frequently able to consider the content of his work for almost
unlimited period of time which makes it more coherent, having complex
syntax.
 The reader might not instantly respond to the text, ask for clarification, hence
neat message organization, division to paragraphs, layout are of vital
importance to make comprehension easier.

Discourse expressed formally and informally

Features influencing selecting either formal or informal language

 the relation of the producer of the message and its receiver

 the amount of addressees

 factors such as public or private occasion

Formal Discourse

 Is stricter in that it often requires the use of the passive voice

 Lacks contracted forms

  Is impersonal

 Has complex sentence structure

 [in the case of the English and legal language], it includes vocabulary derived
from other languages, such as Latin

That is why formal spoken language has many features very similar to written texts,
particularly the absence of vernacular vocabulary and slang, as well as the
employment of rhetorical devices to make literary-like impact on the listener.

Vernacular: the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a country or

region.

Slang: a type of language consisting of words and phrases that are regarded as very
informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a
context or group of people.

Rhetorical devices: A rhetorical device is a linguistic tool that employs a sentence

structure, sound, or pattern of meaning in order to evoke a particular reaction from an
audience.

Informal Discourse

 makes use of active voice mainly, with personal pronouns and verbs which
show feelings such as 'I think', 'we believe'.

 contractions are frequent, no matter if it is written or spoken.

 is casual and loose [while formal ones are more solemn and governed by strict
rules as they are meant to be used in official and serious circumstances].

Types of Text

Written texts differ from one another in terms of:

 Genre - e.g. advertisements, menus, Acts, novels, and plays.

 Function - Instruct, Inform, or Entertain.

 Structure - e.g. compare a poem, a novel, and a recipe (lay-out – the way it
physically looks / is presented).
  Form - grammatical conventions, spelling, punctuation.

All texts have a certain feature in common, n bamely they are indented to convey some
m

Characteristics of legal English

There are different types of legal discourse (subgenres), e.g.:

 the language used between lawyer and client

 the language used between two lawyers

 the language of the courts (much of which is oral)

 the language of law reports and academic texts on legal matters

 the language of legal documents

Cohesive devices

Cohesive devices or links play a central role in discourse studies. When people
produce written discourse, they focus not only on the correctness of a single
sentence, but also on the general outcome of their production.

Discourse studies are divided into two groups:

 Formal links - which refer to facts that are present in the analysed text.

 Contextual links – referring to the outside world, the knowledge (or schemata)
which is not included in the communicative product itself.

Types of formal links

1. Substitution – to avoid repetition

2. Ellipsis – omission of words (nouns, verbs, clauses)
3. Reference - words that have no meaning on their own; i.e. a word which
substitutes another, more general word and in effect works like a pronoun.
“I like that lawyer. I wish I could afford her!”
Note: Reference usually involves replacing a single word to avoid repetition;
substitution might involve a more complex replacement, i.e. that of a phrase or
thought).
 4. Conjunction / Cohesive Devices - specifies a relationship between clauses or
sentences.
5. Lexical cohesion – 2 types
 Reiteration
Identical recurrence of a preceding lexical item which establishes a
cohesive tie between at least two identical lexical items: “I met a lawyer
at a function. I at a later stage talked to a prosecutor and came to
understand that the lawyer was dodgy.”
 Collocation
The way certain words always occur together.
E.g. “take a break”, “give me a hand”, etc.

The seven standard of textuality

1. Cohesion - words in a text are mutually connected within a sequence

2. Coherence - Concepts and relations which underlie the text in the real world,
should be accessible and relevant
3. Intentionality - the text producer’s attitude that the set of occurrences should
form a cohesive and coherent text in order to fulfil his/her intentions
4. Acceptability - the text receiver’s attitude that the set of occurrences should
constitute a cohesive and coherent text having some use or relevance for the
receiver
5. Informativity - the extent to which the occurrences of the presented text are
expected vs. unexpected or known vs. unknown/certain
6. Situationally - the factors which make a text relevant to a situation of occurrence
7. Intertextuality - the factors which make the use of one text dependent upon
knowledge of one or more previously encountered texts

Four principles for effective and rational communication

1. Principle of Quality - one should neither say what he/she knows is false, nor
speak of something of which the evidence does not exist.

2. Principle of Quantity - Statements spoken or written should be as much

informative as required, neither too much informative or descriptive nor too
much less informative.
3. Principle of Relevance - In order to achieve effective communication only
relevant material or references should be cited.

4. Principle of Manner - No ideas should be in contrast to the ideas expressed

earlier in the same expression.