摘 要

近年来，法律词汇背后相关文化的作用逐渐被重视。近年的研究多从宏观角度关注因文化差异而导致翻译过程中的词汇空缺及其解决策略，往往落脚于对相关法律文化的掌握，而忽视了从具体的某一类法律，如宪法、民法、或是刑法等出发，分析具体词汇背后的文化内涵。美国1787年宪法作为世界上第一部比较完整的资产阶级成文宪法，由序言及正文，修正案三部分组成，共七千多字，言简意赅，字字经典。历时200多年，制宪先贤们创造的美国宪法基本维持原框架，游刃有余，是人类历史上的一个奇迹。该宪法中法律词汇多处颇具创造性意义，对以后资本主义国家制度的建立起到示范作用。

本文对美国宪法及其修正案词汇进行较为系统的分类、释义和分析，探析其背后的文化内涵。研究结果表明，以美国宪法为例，文化对其词汇产生影响主要可分为三类：词意扩大或缩小、词意的明确与规范化、词汇的普及化。影响法律词汇的文化因素主要有经济、政治、宗教及相关制度思想。

关键词：英语词汇；法律英语；文化；宪法

Abstract

In recent years, more and more attentions have been paid to related culture behind legal vocabularies. Previous studies tended to research it from macroscopical view, paid attentions to phenomenon of lexical vacancy caused by cultural differences in the process of translation. They often settled in mastering related legal culture, while ignored analyzing specific cultural meaning behind words from perspective of specific legal department, like the constitution, civil law or criminal law. The Constitution of the United States of America, as the first comparatively complete written constitution of the bourgeois, consisting of a preamble and the body, then gradually developed amendments. It was brief and to the point. It has more than 7000 vocabularies, while every vocabulary is classical. It is a miracle in human history that after 200 years, the constitution made by the founders can still keep its frame and play its role in the society. A model has been set by many creative vocabularies in this constitution for further establishment of the political system of capital countries.

This paper makes a classification of constitutional words in selected text, explains and analyzes them, and trying to explore their cultural connotations. The findings of the study indicates that changes made by culture in The Constitution of the United States of America can be classified into three types, namely extension or narrowing of the word meaning, clarification and normalization of the vocabulary meaning, and popularization of the vocabulary. Cultural factors concerning changes in the meaning of legal words can be concluded as politics, economics, religion, as well as related thoughts and institutions.

Key Words: English word; legal English; culture; Constitution

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Research questions and significance 2

1.3 Layout of the paper 2

2 Legal vocabularies and their cultural connotations 4

2.1 Terminologies of political institutions and organizations 4

2.1.1 Terminologies of political institutions 5

2.1.2 Terminologies of political organizations 6

2.2 Terminologies of identity and civil rights 7

2.3 other terms 8

3 Vocabulary changes led by culture in the U.S. Constitution 10

3.1 Extension or narrowing of the vocabulary meaning 10

3.2 Clarification and normalization of the vocabulary meaning 11

3.3 Popularization of the vocabulary 11

4 Studies of the changes in cultural context 13