The hidden dimension of the language of corporations in America and Spain: perspectives for inter-legal communications

Abstract

Starting from Edward T. Hall's assumptions regarding the cultural dimension as the 'hidden dimension' of communication, this study tries to highlight the fact that legal culture vastly influences legal interaction and, hence, varies from system to system. The translation of Company Law from American Legal English into Spanish consists of an exercise in inter-legal communication, as the translator must be aware of the culturally different way s in which the corporate world is contemplated, from the point of view of both the Common Law and the Spanish Continental systems. Through a detailed analysis of the peculiarities of corporate legislation in these different systems that takes into consideration cultural variance, a discussion on the possibility of inter-legal communication is established. In addition, an account of the mercantile terminology belonging to each peculiar legal country is supplied, aimed at explaining how the two different legal systems envision different ways to establish business relationships and identify their constituents linguistically.