On the meaning of Feifa Quanyi in Chinese legal language

A semiotic and corpus analysis

Authors

  • Michele Mannoni University of Verona
  • Deborah Cao Griffith University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.36994

Keywords:

Chinese legal language, legal semiotics, corpus linguistics, legal meaning, unlawful rights and interests

Abstract

'Illegal rights' is an oxymoron in many European languages, including English. A new term feifa quanyi (illegal rights and interests) has appeared in recent times and is now being used increasingly in court decisions and litigation in China. In this study we use a semiotic and corpus-based approach to examine the Chinese legal texts and court decisions containing the phrase to ascertain the meanings of the phrase. The various implications of the analysis of this unique new legal usage are discussed in terms of the study of Chinese legal language with semiotic and corpus analysis.

Author Biographies

  • Michele Mannoni, University of Verona

    Michele Mannoni is now Research Assistant at the University of Verona (Italy), where he carries out a three-year research in legal Chinese and corpus-linguistics within the Project of Excellence of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature. At the time of writing of this essay, he was a researcher at the University of Perugia. His main research interests include the Chinese legal language, legal linguistics, legal translation, and semiotics. His recent publication includes a coauthored paper 'Are There "Illegal Rights" in Chinese Law? On the Meanings of Feifa Quanyi' published in the Chinese Journal of Comparative Law.

  • Deborah Cao, Griffith University

    Deborah Cao is a Professor at Griffith University, Australia. She has published in areas including legal theory, legal semiotics, legal translation, the philosophical and linguistic analysis of Chinese law, and legal culture and animal law. She is editor of International Journal for the Semiotics of Law. Her major books in English include Chinese Law: A Language Perspective (2004), Translating Law (2007), Animal Law in Australia and New Zealand (2010), Animals in China: Law and Society (2015), and Chinese Language in Law: Code Red (2017).

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Published

2019-04-24

How to Cite

Mannoni, M., & Cao, D. (2019). On the meaning of Feifa Quanyi in Chinese legal language: A semiotic and corpus analysis. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 12(2-3), 177-203. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.36994

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