LEGALESE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF FOSSILIZATION OF LANGUAGE: A STYLISTIC STUDY OF NIGERIAN JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS

Abstract

Abstract  
Nigerian legal English continues to retain archaisms in judicial writing, reflecting both linguistic 
traditions and the institutional authority of the courts. This study investigates the stylistic roles of 
such archaic expressions within a lexical semantic framework grounded in Cruse (1986). Adopting 
a qualitative, corpus-informed approach, the research compiles a structured dataset of archaic 
forms extracted from eleven annotated judgments spanning four judicial tiers: the Supreme Court, 
Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, and National Industrial Court. The data were purposively 
sampled to ensure representation across different time periods and institutional contexts, with each 
instance of archaism systematically tagged with relevant metadata, including court, case title, year, 
and immediate linguistic environment. This procedure yielded a searchable corpus that enables 
detailed stylistic and semantic analysis. The study aims to identify the distribution, frequency, and 
communicative functions of archaisms in contemporary Nigerian legal discourse. Findings reveal 
that archaisms remain pervasive across courts and historical periods, performing multiple, often 
overlapping functions, such as enhancing semantic precision, structuring legal texts, maintaining 
intertextual continuity, and symbolically reinforcing judicial authority. The analysis further 
conceptualizes legal language as a “living archive,” wherein historical linguistic forms are 
preserved and dynamically recontextualized within modern judicial communication. While the 
persistence of archaisms contributes to the continuity, formality, and prestige of legal discourse, it 
also raises concerns regarding accessibility and comprehensibility for non-specialist audiences. 
The study therefore underscores the need for a balanced approach that preserves valuable linguistic 
traditions while simultaneously promoting clarity and inclusiveness in contemporary legal 
practice.