THE ABBREVIATION PHENOMENON IN MODERN ENGLISH LEGAL TERMINOLOGY SUBSYSTEM

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of abbreviation in the modern English legal terminological subsystem. This phenomenon is obvious for terminological subsystems of various science and technology branches. At the current stage, the legal terminological subsystem is dynamically developing due to the strengthening of the integration of countries and international relations and it needs standardization and improvement of its terminology. It should be noted that abbreviation is one of the productive ways of creation of legal terms. In view of this, it is necessary to investigate the peculiarities of this phenomenon, to identify ways of abbreviation of legal terminological units and to determine the main models of abbreviated terms. The purpose of the work is to study the specifics of the process of abbreviation in the English legal terminological subsystem and to identify the main models of legal abbreviated terms. In accordance with the purpose of the work, the research methodology is complex. The following methods are used in the work: descriptive, which helps to describe the word-forming structure of legal terms; structural method – for identification of word-forming models; method of component analysis – for describing the meanings of lexical units of the legal terminological subsystem; quantitative analysis – to identify trends in the use of terminological vocabulary. The scientific novelty of the work is determined by the fact that it is the first to analyze the phenomenon of abbreviation in the modern English legal terminological subsystem; the productive ways of creating abbreviated legal terms are identified, the word-formation models are revealed. The analysis of the methods of term formation of the legal terminological subsystem shows that in the specified subsystem lexical units formed by shortening make up 11%. Among the ways of shortening, we distinguish abbreviation in the form of truncation, initial abbreviation, intra-word abbreviation of one-word terms, an abbreviation characterized by elimination, abbreviation presented in the form of acronyms. It should be noted that terminological abbreviations are an integral component of the modern English legal terminological subsystem and a linguistic phenomenon that vividly illustrates the tendency of terminology to the brevity of names and the economy of terminological means. Obviously, legal abbreviations are convenient to use due to their form. The theoretical value of this study is determined by its contribution to the general theory of the term. The results of the study enrich scientific knowledge about the specifics of terminological nomination and the main processes of term formation in the modern English legal terminological subsystem.