Adjectival Polysemy in Legal English: Semantic Analysis and Pedagogical Implications

This study explores the relationship between polysemy, frequency, and register-specific meaning in English legal adjectives and develops a pedagogical framework for teaching these items to learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Drawing on a mixed quantitative–qualitative design, polysemous legal adjectives were identified from Black’s Law Dictionary and examined for their frequency in a large English corpus of parliamentary discourse and sense overlap in Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. Statistical tests assessed correlations between frequency, number of senses, and semantic overlap with general English, while qualitative semantic analysis traced the development of legal-specific meanings from their general-language prototypes. Findings indicate that higher-frequency adjectives typically display broader polysemy and greater overlap with general English, whereas low-frequency items more often exhibit legal-exclusive senses. These results inform a hybrid pedagogical model that combines inductive discovery, structured sequencing, and corpus-based tasks to help EFL learners manage semantic extensions and avoid negative transfer. The study underscores the value of frequency-sensitive, context-driven instruction for fostering semantic flexibility and professional accuracy in legal English.