Summarising and Comparing the Findings

This chapter brings together the data discussed in the previous chapters. It explores and compares the different frequency rates of the most recurrent formulae across all corpora. To do so, tables with the formulae’s rates of occurrences are reported and analysed. The findings highlight that the parliamentary spoken corpora, especially the European ones, abound in legal formulae, although some of them tend to be “loose” or unconventional. It might be tempting to infer that legal language is less formulaic when delivered orally. The spoken corpora, however, are the ones with the highest frequency rates, although their formulae seem more varied. In this respect, some remarks concern debatable equivalents emerging from the European parliamentary corpora, where sometimes legal language seems to have lost its “flavour” or hallmark. The chapter finds that, in such contexts, some Italian and French equivalents are not as “standardised” as their English counterparts. The chapter ends by outlining some general implications in the field of legal translation and legal language teaching, as well as in the legal profession.