Abstract: Modern researchers studying the processes in the area of legal language notice an increase in the frequency of use of professionalisms and professional legal jargon in lawmaking and law enforcement. To assess the relevance of the problem of infiltration of normative lexicon into the sphere of professional activity of the lawyers, the concepts of “term”, “professionalism” and “jargon” need to be defined when applied to legal language. In this work, the author attempts to formulate the principles of their distinction from one another, determine in which situations the official and unofficial lexicon is allowable, and find where professionalisms and professional jargon differentiate from legal and linguistic illiteracy. For these purposes, the author analyzed a number of scholarly works of linguists, and conducted a comparative analysis of several layers of legal language (terms, professionalisms, and jargons).

Abstract: Modern researchers studying the processes in the area of legal language notice an increase in the frequency of use of professionalisms and professional legal jargon in lawmaking and law enforcement. To assess the relevance of the problem of infiltration of normative lexicon into the sphere of professional activity of the lawyers, the concepts of “term”, “professionalism” and “jargon” need to be defined when applied to legal language. In this work, the author attempts to formulate the principles of their distinction from one another, determine in which situations the official and unofficial lexicon is allowable, and find where professionalisms and professional jargon differentiate from legal and linguistic illiteracy. For these purposes, the author analyzed a number of scholarly works of linguists, and conducted a comparative analysis of several layers of legal language (terms, professionalisms, and jargons).