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Deontic contexts and the interpretation of disjunction in legal discourse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Martin Aher
Martin Aher*
Affiliation:
University of Osnabrück
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Abstract

This study investigates the interpretation of or in legal texts, focusing on two puzzles: “inclusive/exclusive” or and “free choice permission”. The study first examines various examples of or in American court cases described by Solan and the “and/or” rule that he describes. It then turns to occurrences of or in a different legal domain, that of the World Trade Organization, giving a brief introduction to the WTO dispute mechanism and its principles of interpretation before examining these occurrences of or. The study then introduces the inquisitive semantics framework as a way to account for these occurrences, offering an analysis of the inclusive/exclusive or and free choice or puzzles and of the interaction of or with obligation, permission, and negation more generally.

Résumé

Résumé

Cette étude porte sur 1’interprétation de or (‘ou’) dans les textes juridiques et se concentre sur deux questions : or «inclusif/exclusif» et or «autorisation de libre choix». L’étude examine tout d’abord la question de or dans divers exemples d’affaires judiciaires américaines décrites par Solan et la régie de type and/or (‘et/ou’) qu’il décrit. Elle s’inteYesse ensuite à des occurrences de or dans un autre domaine juridique, celui de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce, et présente brièvement le mécanisme de reglement des différends de l’OMC et ses principes d’interprétation, avant d’examiner ces occurrences de or. L’étude présente la sémantique inquisitive comme moyen de rendre compte de ces occurrences, pour ensuite offrir une analyse des problématiques du or inclusif/exclusif et du or de libre choix et de 1’interaction de or avec les sens d’obligation, de permission et de négation.

Keywords

deonticinquisitive semanticsfree choicelegal languageWTOdéontiquesémantique inquisitivelibre choixlangue juridiqueOMC
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 58 , Issue 1: Temporal and modal dimensions of legal discourses , March 2013 , pp. 13 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 2013

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