摘要：This article analyses the usage of Latin legal terms in Estonian legal language, examining it primarily on the basis of the law journals Õigus (‘Law’, 1920–1940) and Juridica (editions from 1993 to 2008). In the historical and cultural framework, Estonian-language-based jurisprudence and its terms are relatively young phenomena, which for the most part developed at the beginning of the 20th century in connection with the founding of the nation‑state (1918). Estonian-language jurisprudence developed with the establishment of sovereignty and the opening of the University of Tartu in 1919, with Estonian as the language of instruction for the first time in its history. Along with the establishment of national jurisprudence, the development of Estonian legal language was undertaken. In the 1920s, a wide-scale language reform and language planning movement took place in Estonia, bringing about a legal language reform and enrichment of vocabulary, among other things. *1 This was conditioned by the development of society and the ensuing urgent need and desire to develop the everyday language of the peasants into a functioning cultural language. The language reform led by young intellectuals set as its objective that, by becoming European, the nation still remain Estonian. *2 Considering the history of the Estonia of the beginning of the 20th century *3 we realise that the notion of ‘European’ suggested turning away from the sphere of influence of Imperialist Russia towards Western culture with its historical traditions, which have, among other things, strong ties with the Latin language that has played an important role in development of the terminology.
