THE STORY OF ONE NOUN: “ACT” IN ENGLISH AND UKRAINIAN DICTIONARIES AND DISCOURSES

Keywords: act, dictionary definition, legal discourse, legislative discourse, institutional discourse

Abstract

The main focus of this article is the analysis of he noun ‘act’ in the Ukrainian and English langauges. At the first stage of the research the etymology and the semantic structure of the noun is discussed as well as the variety of its meanings registered in explanatory dictionaries. Special attention is paid to the data provided by a New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. At the second stage of the research special attention is paid to the functioning of the noun under study in the legal discourse. The article provides various definitions of the legal discourse suggested within different scholarly approaches. It also discusses its reference to the legislative and institutional discourses. The legislative discourse is viewed as a part of the legal discourse since legislation encompasses the establishment and further implementation of legal acts. The institutional discourse is considered to be an umbrella term covering all types of discourses brought to life by social institutions (e.g. parliament, Congress, etc.).

Finally, this exploratory enquiry seeks to examine similarities and differences in the semantic structure and functioning of the noun under study in English and in Ukrainian and thus provides the context for follow-up articles on the findings in the field of contrastive linguistics.

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Published
2021-08-20
How to Cite
Horodylovska, M. (2021). THE STORY OF ONE NOUN: “ACT” IN ENGLISH AND UKRAINIAN DICTIONARIES AND DISCOURSES. Scientific Journal of Polonia University, 44(1), 41-50. https://doi.org/10.23856/4405
Section
LANGUAGE, CULTURE, COMMUNICATION