languag

LANGUAGE. The faculty which men possess of communicating their perceptions 
and ideas to one another by means of articulate sounds. This is the 
definition of spoken language; but ideas and perceptions may be communicated 
without sound by writing, and this is called written language. By 
conventional usage certain sounds have a definite meaning in one country or 
in certain countries, and this is called the language of such country or 
countries, as the Greek, the Latin, the French or the English language. The 
law, too, has a peculiar language. Vide Eunom. Dial. 2; Technical. 
     2. On the subjugation of England by William the Conqueror, the French 
Norman language was substituted in all law proceedings for the ancient 
Saxon. This, according to Blackstone, vol. iii. p. 317, was the language of 
the records, writs and pleadings, until the time of Edward III. Mr. Stephen 
thinks Blackstone has fallen into an error, and says the record was, from 
the earliest period to which that document can be traced, in the Latin 
language. Plead. Appx. note 14. By the statute 36 Ed. III. st. 1, c. 15, it 
was enacted that for the future all pleas should be pleaded, shown, 
defended, answered, debated and judged in the English tongue; but be entered 
and enrolled in Latin. The Norman or law French, however, being more 
familiar as applied to the law, than any other language, the lawyers 
continued to employ it in making their notes of the trial of cases, which 
they afterwards published, in that barbarous dialect, under the name of 
Reports. After the enactment of this statute, on the introduction of paper 
pleadings, they followed in the language, as well as in other respects, the 
style of the records, which were drawn up in Latin. This technical language 
continued in use till the time of Cromwell, when by a statute the records 
were directed to be in English; but this act was repealed at the 
restoration, by Charles II., the lawyers finding it difficult to express 
themselves as well and as concisely in the vernacular as in the Latin 
tongue; and the language of the law continued as before till about the year 
1730, when the statute of 4 Geo. II. c. 26, was passed. It provided that 
both the pleadings and the records should thenceforward be framed in 
English. The ancient terms and expressions which had been so long known in 
French and Latin were now literally translated into English. The translation 
of such terms and phrases were found to be exceedingly ridiculous. Such 
terms as nisi prius, habeas corpus, fieri facias, mandamus, and the like, 
are not capable of an English dress with any degree of seriousness. They are 
equally absurd in the manner they are employed in Latin, but use and the 
fact that they are in a foreign language has made the absurdity less 
apparent. 
     3. By statute of 6 Geo. II., c. 14, passed two years after the last 
mentioned statute, the use of technical words was allowed to continue in the 
usual language, which defeated almost every beneficial purpose of the former 
statute. In changing from one language to another, many words and technical 
expressions were retained in the new, which belonged to the more ancient 
language, and not seldom they partook of both; this, to the unlearned 
student, has given an air of confusion, and disfigured the language of the 
law. It has rendered essential also the study of the Latin and French 
languages. This perhaps is not to be regretted, as they are the keys which 
open to the ardent student vast stores of knowledge. In the United States, 
the records, pleadings, and all law proceedings are in the English language, 
except certain technical terms which retain their ancient French and Latin 
dress. 
     4. Agreements, contracts, wills and other instruments, may be made in 
any language, and will be enforced. Bac. Ab. Wills, D 1. And a slander 
spoken in a foreign language, if understood by those present, or a libel 
published in such language, will be punished as if spoken or written in the 
English language. Bac. Ab. Slander, D 3; 1 Roll. Ab. 74; 6 T. R. 163. For 
the construction of language, see articles Construction; Interpretation; and 
Jacob's Intr. to the Com. Law Max. 46. 
     5. Among diplomatists, the French language is the one commonly used. At 
an early period the Latin was the diplomatic language in use in Europe. 
Towards the end of the fifteenth century that of Spain gained the 
ascendancy, in consequence of the great influence which that country then 
exercised in Europe. The French, since the age of Louis XIV. has become the 
almost universal diplomatic idiom of the civilized world, though some states 
use their national language in treaties and diplomatic correspondence. It is 
usual in these cases to annex to the papers transmitted, a translation in 
the language of the opposite party; wherever it is understood this comity 
will be reciprocated. This is the usage of the Germanic confederation, of 
Spain, and of the Italian courts. When nations using a common language, as 
the United States and Great Britain, treat with each other, such language is 
used in their diplomatic intercourse. 
     Vide, generally, 3 Bl. Com. 323; 1 Chit., Cr. Law, *415; 2 Rey, 
Institutions Judiciaires de l'Angleterre, 211, 212.