A Corpus-based Study on Translation of Vague Expressions in The Civil Code

Abstract

This paper explores the classification of the vague expressions in The Civil Code and discusses the translation techniques of each of the vague expressions. The analysis reveals that the vague expressions in the The Civil Code includes five categories which are vague concepts, quantitative vague expressions, relational vague expressions, graded vague expressions, and exhaustive vague expressions. This study finds that equivalent translation can be applied to most vague expressions. Sometimes, other translation methods like variant translation should be used based on the function and legal connotations of vague expressions in legal texts to compensate for the shortcomings of equivalent translation.