Translating Performative Speech Acts in Legal Discourse | ||||
| Egyptian Journal of Linguistics and Translation | ||||
| Volume 15, Issue 1, July 2025, Page 316-346 PDF (1.67 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Translation science | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejlt.2024.331066.1087 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
Wegdan Rabea S. Khalifa 
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| English Department, Faculty of Arts, Sohag University, Sohag | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| One great feature of legal discourse is the use of performative speech acts. Performatives are used in the language of law to perform certain acts such as giving permissions, making obligations, passing laws, or declaring rights. The aim of this paper is to examine the translatability of performative speech acts in legal discourse from Arabic into English and whether this translation results in any loss of the original function or the illocutionary force of these performatives. To address these issues in this research, Austin’s speech acts theory and Searle’s taxonomy are applied. The data used to conduct this paper are extracted from various legal documents translated from Arabic into English including a civil marriage contract and an employment agreement. The results of this paper indicate that translators may face difficulty in translating these speech acts accurately which in turn can affect the validity and legal force of various legal documents. Therefore, translators must pay attention to the pragmatic aspect of legal documents to ensure not altering the intended meaning and function of these texts. Keywords: legal translation, performative speech acts, legal documents, speech acts theory, Searle’s taxonomy, illocutionary force | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| translation; legal documents; Searle’s taxonomy; illocutionary | ||||
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