Linguistic Expressions of Conditions of Chinese Legislative Provisions: A Register Grammar Perspective

There is difference in the distribution of grammar phenomena different registers. This paper has carried out a comprehensive study linguistic expressions Conditions Chinese legislative provisions. In provisions, are usually used to indicate preconditions or circumstances for legal norm, which referred as hypothetical conditions this paper. contrast, clauses introduced by words dan ‘but’ danshi ‘but/however’ called danshus ‘provisos’. Danshus always positioned after main clauses, so they post-conditions. Legal norms can be categorized into authorization norms, obligatory and compound norms. As special also authorization, exclusionary respectively. Through corpus-based analysis concluded that: i) expressed de-constructions; ii) post-conditions danshus, including respectively; iii) use provisions less than 7% total clause numbers; iv) co-occurrence 3% numbers. Suggestions future legislation amendments: First, more should used; Second, de-constructions standardized; Third, increased.