A Corpus Linguistic Analysis of “Possessions” in American English, 1760-1776

Authors

James C. Phillips, Brigham Young University

Abstract

"This article will proceed in four parts. Part I introduces the question at issue in the context of the first state constitution to include the term: the Pennsylvania Constitution. It does so, at least in part, because other state constitutions arguably copied the Pennsylvania Constitution, and thus the meaning of that constitution likely sheds light on the state constitutions that followed it. Part I also describes the litigation where the issue of the meaning of possessions comes up. Part II highlights shortcomings of the traditional tools usually employed in constitutional interpretation. Part III explains how the tools of corpus linguistics can address these shortcomings. And Part IV presents a corpus linguistic analysis of the term possessions. This approach, more rigorous than that usually undertaken, provides data on the linguistic question that undergirds the legal issue— which reading of these state constitutions is more probable than the other. After all, a 'problem in [legal interpretation] can seriously bother courts only when there is a contest between probabilities of meaning.'6 Corpus linguistics can help with that contest."

Recommended Citation

James C. Phillips, A Corpus Linguistic Analysis of “Possessions” in American English, 1760-1776, 27 Chap. L. Rev. 143 (2023).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/chapman-law-review/vol27/iss1/4