The formation of legal terms: a case study

Abstract

In recent years, the focus in terminology research has shifted from normative and descriptive studies to more explanatory studies, dealing with how and why new terms are formed. The present study falls within this trend. Our objective is to describe how legal terms come into being and to discuss methods for monitoring legal neologisms. The study is a part of a broader project which has the aim of describing and explaining differences in discursive norms in French and Norwegian legal texts. Within the scope of this article, we will however focus solely on the formation of Norwegian legal terms.