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Statutory Interpretation and Corpus Evidence: Tensions Between Linguistic Reality and Legal Meaning.
1Department of Linguistics and Communication, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT UK.
International Journal for the Semiotics of Law = Revue Internationale De Semiotique Juridique
|June 3, 2026
Summary
Legal interpretation of the word "child" can differ from ordinary meaning. Corpus linguistics reveals "child" typically refers to born individuals, challenging court rulings that include fetuses.
Area of Science:
- Legal Linguistics
- Corpus Linguistics
- Statutory Interpretation
Background:
- The Alabama Supreme Court case Ex parte Ankrom (2013) expanded the legal definition of "child" to include unborn individuals.
- This legal interpretation raises questions about how ordinary meaning is established and applied in statutory law.
- Discrepancies between legal definitions and everyday language usage can lead to interpretive ambiguity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction between linguistic meaning and legal interpretation of the statutory term "child".
- To empirically analyze the ordinary meaning of "child" using corpus linguistics.
- To assess whether the legal definition in Ex parte Ankrom aligns with common usage.
Main Methods:
- A triangulated, corpus-based framework grounded in linguistic theory was employed.
- Analysis of the term "child" across three corpora (national, regional, informal U.S. English).
- Methodology included semantic coding, grammatical context analysis, and lexical alternation.
Main Results:
- Linguistic evidence shows a strong preference for interpreting "child" as referring to born individuals in ordinary U.S. English.
- Extension of the term "child" to include fetuses was found only in marked or specific contexts.
- A significant tension exists between the court's broad legal interpretation and the prototypical ordinary meaning.
Conclusions:
- Corpus linguistics provides empirical data that can inform statutory interpretation and highlight potential ambiguities.
- Aligning legal definitions with everyday language use is challenging but crucial for reducing interpretive uncertainty.
- This study demonstrates the value of linguistic data in legal analysis without overstepping disciplinary boundaries.
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