Formation of Legal Register Terminology in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia

The systematic and well-grounded formation of legal terminology within legal register texts is essential to ensure clarity of meaning and uniformity of interpretation in courts and in the administrative practice of the nation's legal system. This study aims to analyse the patterns of legal terminology formation in the Federal Constitution (2020 Reprint), with a focus on translation strategies, the coinage of new terms, and the adaptation of inherited Malay terms for the modern constitutional context. The objective of this study is to identify the formation of legal terminology in the Malay language. The data for this study are drawn from the Malay-language text of the Federal Constitution (2020 Reprint) published by the Attorney General's Chambers. This study employs a descriptive qualitative research design through a textual analysis approach, grounded in the guidelines for legal terminology formation in the Malay language as established by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), prioritising internal Malay language resources before foreign borrowings to ensure accuracy and clarity in legislative texts. The findings reveal that the formation of legal terminology in this text involves the use of Root Words and Affixation, Word Compounding, Semantic Translation, Borrowing and Adaptation, and Abstract Reduplication. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of legal terminology formation in the Malay language within constitutional texts, and provides a reference foundation for future efforts in terminology standardisation and enhancement.

terminology formation, legal register, Federal Constitution

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