Humanities and Legal-Administrative Texts
Humanities
Characteristics
Humanistic studies explore human-related issues such as thinking, social relations, and language. Within this field, we distinguish between:
- Social Sciences: Describe and analyze social reality (e.g., law, sociology, economics).
- Human Sciences: Focus on the individual and personal development (e.g., philosophy, philology, aesthetics).
Disciplines vary in their objectives and practical applications. Social sciences texts tend to be more technical and specific, while human sciences texts are more speculative and abstract. Both primarily use verbal language, sometimes incorporating subjective viewpoints. Despite potential biases, these fields maintain rigor and precision.
Typology and Structure
Exposition and argumentation are the predominant text types in the humanities, often combined. Deductive reasoning is common. The typical structure includes:
- Introduction: Presents the topic.
- Development: Elaborates on ideas.
- Conclusion: Offers a thesis (inductive) or synthesizes ideas (deductive).
Description and narration may also appear as complements. Human sciences texts are open to interpretation due to their basis in logical premises rather than empirical data. Convincing arguments are crucial.
Linguistic Forms
Humanities texts use natural language, which can be imprecise and ambiguous. Subjectivity can emerge in word choice and tone. Nominal style, long sentences with subordinate clauses, and discourse markers are common. Technical terminology often derives from Greek, Latin, or modern languages (especially English), including loanwords, acronyms, and neologisms. Abstract terms are frequent due to the theoretical nature of the field.
Legal and Administrative Texts
Typology and Structure
Legal and administrative language primarily uses performative texts, often normative or prescriptive. Examples include laws, judgments, and decrees. Narrative, descriptive, explanatory, and argumentative texts also appear. A predefined external structure is common, aiding interpretation and consultation. For instance, an official letter typically includes personal data, reasons for writing, the application itself, closing, locality, date, signature, and recipient’s information.
Linguistic Forms
Legal and administrative texts require clear and precise language. Objectivity and universality are prioritized. However, complexity can arise. Key features include:
- Nominal style with frequent nominalization.
- Long, complex sentences with subordinate clauses and clarifications.
- Abundant use of gerunds, participles, infinitives, and impersonal constructions.
- Formal tone with the use of the third person and plural.
- Denotative and sometimes anachronistic lexicon with technical terms, archaisms, and set phrases.
Classes of Legal and Administrative Texts
- Legislative Texts: Normative or prescriptive (e.g., laws, decrees).
- Legal Texts (Judicial): Result from court proceedings (e.g., judgments).
- Administrative Texts: Requests or grants benefits or rights (e.g., certificates, contracts, complaints).