The English Language on Trial

Name: The English Language on Trial
Price: 276.77 AUD
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ISBN: 9781009682787

Witnessing Disputed Meanings in American Courts

John A. Hawkins (University of California, Davis and University of Cambridge)

$345.95 $276.77

Hardback

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English

Cambridge University Press
26 March 2026

Philosophy of language; Psycholinguistics; Semantics; Ethical issues: censorship; Jurisprudence & philosophy of law

Series: Studies in English Language

Many lawsuits arise over disagreements about language and about the meanings of everyday words, phrases, and sentences. This book draws on over fifty cases involving disputed meanings in the American legal system where the author served as an expert witness or consultant, to explore the interaction between language and law. Stepping back from the legal specifics and their outcomes, it analyzes the disputes from the perspective of the language sciences, especially semantics and pragmatics, and language comprehension. It seeks to understand why, and in what areas of English grammar, lexis, and usage, they have arisen among speakers who do not normally miscommunicate and disagree like this. The cases involve contracts, patents, advertising, trademarks, libel, and defamation, and descriptive insights and methods from the language sciences are applied to each case to make explicit the meanings that speakers would normally assign to English.

By: John A. Hawkins (University of California Davis and University of Cambridge)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Weight: 576g
ISBN: 9781009682787
ISBN 10: 1009682784
Series: Studies in English Language
Pages: 286
Publication Date: 26 March 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. Introduction: creating meanings in everyday language use; 2. Disputes over individual words; 3. Disputes over word combinations; 4. Disputes over whole clauses; 5. Disputes over inferences; 6. Disputes over reference and unique identification; 7. Disputes over spelling and punctuation; 8. Conclusions.

John A. Hawkins is Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the University of California Davis and Emeritus Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. His recent publications include Cross-linguistic Variation and Efficiency (Oxford University Press, 2014) and Criterial Features in L2 English (with Luna Filipovicì, Cambridge University Press, 2012).