Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/gem.3621
The use of modal verbs in legal texts A German-Croatian case study
Geriena Karačić
; University of Zadar
Žaklina Radoš
; University of Zadar
Abstract
The focus of this case study is the use of modal verbs as a means of expressing objective modality. The subject of the investigation are the provisions of German tax law for issuing invoices and the corresponding provisions of the Croatian VAT law. The German and Croatian normative text were first analyzed quantitatively and then subjected to a qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2015). The frequency analysis shows that the modal verb können (can) occur most frequently in the German text and the modal verb morati (must) in the Croatian text.
It was also found that in the German text there are as many modal verbs as there are modality verbs and constructions with “sein / haben + Infinitiv” (be / have + infinitive) and “verpflichtet sein + zu + Infinitiv” (be obliged + to + infinitive). In the Croatian text, on the other hand, the modal verbs predominate, whereby the construction “je obvezan” (is obligatory) has only a quarter of the modal verbs. The results of this case study serve as a stimulus for more extensive analysis of further texts on tax law in the German and Croatian languages.
Keywords
case study, modality, legal linguistics, qualitative content analysis, GermanCroatian
Hrčak ID:
273414
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2021.
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