Insights into a changing communal constructicon: Legal writing in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period

Abstract

The paper examines legal writing in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period from a diachronic perspective. The underlying corpus consists of Middle Low German law codifications of the period from 1227 until 1567. Applying a constructionist approach, the focus lies on evolving and changing constructions (of legal writing). The corpus-based examination reveals insights into the changing communal constructicon. This communal constructicon can be seen as
a repertoire of constructions shared by legal writers (of that time). Due to observable language elaboration processes, this repertoire – modelled as a socio-cognitive network – becomes increasingly complex and literate over time. Language elaboration is a type of language change closely linked to written usage. In this context, the obvious nexus between legal writing and language elaboration plays a crucial role.