On Terminological Changes in Law: Translation Activities with Terms Related to Legal Professions

Abstract

Although legal language is known for its conservative nature, its terminology changes over time to adapt to new social contexts. This paper aims, on the one hand, to reflect on this aspect by showing the problems it poses for translation students and, on the other, to offer examples of practical activities that help them, right from the beginning of their training, to become aware of this characteristic and of the difficulties it can entail for translation. The exercises are based on terms that designate legal professions because, being very culturally marked elements, they are susceptible to changes in their denominations and, therefore, allow us to illustrate the problem that we wish to address.