The Hidden Architecture of Legal Language

© Szabó László 2025

The Ten Layers of Legal Text Creation

Writing legal texts between two languages—especially between English and Hungarian—requires far more than linguistic dexterity. It is a multidimensional act of mediation between two legal systems, two linguistic structures, and two professional cultures. The following ten-layer model seeks to illuminate this complexity by identifying the successive strata that shape the process of legal drafting and translation.

Each layer represents a distinct level of knowledge, from the surface of everyday language to the deep conceptual framework of national legal systems. Together they form an interwoven structure where law and language continuously influence and reshape one another. Understanding these layers allows the translator, lawyer, or legal linguist to perceive the hidden architecture of legal texts and to move more confidently between two worlds of law.

This framework is not meant as a rigid hierarchy, but as a dynamic map. It invites reflection on how meaning is constructed, transferred, and recontextualized across the borders of languages and legal traditions.

(1) Ordinary English language, incorporating the linguistic means of English language,

(2) UK / US law, and in particular the practice area, the domain into where the document is to be written, each practice area with a range of typical documents, with their particular wording (genre),

(3) Legal English, manifesting UK and US law, consisting of:

(4) The linguistic environment of UK and US legal terms: collocations, advanced collocations (sentence patterns), synonyms and antonyms, consisting also of:

(5) UK and US Legal terms, the building blocks of UK and US law, their meaning, (6) Hungarian Legal terms, the building blocks of Hungarian law and their meaning,

(7) The linguistic environment of legal Hungarian legal terms: collocations, advanced collocations (sentence patterns), synonyms and antonyms, being part of:

(8) Legal Hungarian language, being a realm of:

(9) Hungarian law, and in particular the practice area, the domain where the document to be translated stems from, each practice area with a range of typical documents, with their particular wording (genre).

(10) Ordinary Hungarian language, incorporating the linguistic means of the mother tongue, carrying together with the legal language.

The ten-layer model outlined above offers more than a taxonomy—it is a mirror reflecting the intricate relationship between linguistic form and legal thought. When drafting or translating legal texts, we do not merely replace words with their equivalents; we navigate between entire conceptual systems, each with its own syntax of thought and practice.

Recognizing these layers enables professionals to approach legal translation not as a mechanical task but as an act of informed interpretation. Mastery of legal English or legal Hungarian is not achieved by memorizing terms, but by internalizing how these terms live within their linguistic and legal ecosystems.

Ultimately, the art of writing legal texts between two languages lies in balancing precision with comprehension, faithfulness with functionality. Only by understanding all ten layers can we build bridges strong enough to carry the weight of law across linguistic divides.