Ogleznev V.V. Legal language, ascriptive legal utterances, and law enforcement

Abstract: This article demonstrates that within the legal language there have been discovered the so-called ascriptive legal utterances (ascriptions), which differ from the descriptive statements. The author determines that the ascriptions in law help realize a special function of the language – the performative one, or taking action using words. It became possible as a result of implementation within the legal language of a methodological and conceptual apparatus of the theory of speech acts, developed by an English language expert John Austin and American philosopher Searle. The methodology of philosophy of common language, as well as the conceptual apparatus of the theory of speech acts was being used in the course of this work. The author’s main contribution consists in establishment of semantic specificity of the ascriptive legal utterances, and development of the linguistic formula of ascriptions, which reflects theirs special character and importance for the legal language. It is also highlighted that ascription represents a separate speech act, which mostly occurs in the legal environment.

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