CHARACTERISTICS OF SYNONYMOUS RELATIONSHIPS IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH JUDICIAL TERMINOLOGY

Abstract

The article examines synonymous relationships within the contemporary English judicial system of terms, with a particular focus on exploring characteristics of synonymy in terminology. The study pays special attention to professional terms, along with their derivational and semantic peculiarities. Currently, the field of terminology exhibits heightened research activity, driven by the significant increase in professional information, processes of globalization, and the rising importance of term creation. Linguists actively analyze specialized terminological systems, focusing on the semantic characteristics of terms and their application within the language.Judicial terminology has emerged as a response to the essential need for organizing social relations. A term of judicial sphere is a generally recognized and correctly structured lexical unit that accurately defines a specific legal concept. Professional terminological units are usually characterized by such qualities as emotional and expressive neutrality, systematicity and laconicism. Studying modern English judicial terminology is both relevant and beneficial for a comprehensive study of synonymy, conducting a cognitive analysis of synonymous relations at the lexical level, classifying synonymous terms, and identifying trends in the development of this phenomenon. It is important to highlight the significance of judicial terminology in the context of growing international integration, and the expansion of international partnership. The object of our research is the contemporary English judicial terminological system, while the study’s primary subject is characteristics of synonymous relationships within this sphere.In the modern English legal terminological system, synonymous relations are of particular importance. We consider synonyms to be lexical units that serve to denote the same concept, which may differ in certain features of that concept. Synonyms are considered distinct linguistic signs.We distinguish absolute synonyms, relative synonyms and definitional synonyms among the terminological units of contemporary English judicial terminology.We have found that absolute synonyms are completely equivalent in meaning. They can be interchangeable in different contexts of the field of law. It is worth noting that relative synonyms have different semantic shades. The semantic phenomenon in which the meaning of a terminological unit of the judicial sphere corresponds to its definition is definitional synonymy.It is proven that synonymous relationships are undesirable for the judicial terminology system, as they complicate communication between professionals in this field and cause misunderstanding of judicial documentation, in particular, professional legal texts.