ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the nature of the reporting verbs used to introduce different voices in a corpus of legal academic articles, and the typical combinations and patterns in which they occur. It takes a broad view of phraseology, aiming to reveal how the patterning in legal language weaves "an intricate web of semantic meanings". In order to provide a contrastive perspective on legal academic writing, the chapter also explores to what extent their characteristic style of polyphony overlaps with what is found in other legal genres, or academic genres from other disciplines. "Contend" is principally used in legal academic corpus (LAC) to preface positions in argument that are disputed or disputable, for which the writer takes no personal responsibility. Evidence from LAC suggests that "conclude" is mainly used to preface the final outcome of arguments, presented as authoritative backing for the writer's present line of argumentation, rather than simply to indicate that something comes at the end of the text.
