Terminological neologisms and necrologisms in Brazilian legal language: the case of terms referring to marital separation Neologismos e necrologismos terminológicos na linguagem jurídica brasileira: o caso dos termos referentes à separação conjugal En Pt

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The emergence of new terms to describe concepts that were previously undefined in a specific specialized field undergoes a process of lexical creation known as terminological neology (Humbley, 2003). Conversely, the disappearance of these terms can be referred to as terminological necrology (Picton, 2014). To further explore these processes within Brazilian law, this study examines the dynamics of lexical production concerning terms relating to specific types of marital separation in Brazilian legislation. It also investigates the reasons behind the emergence of new terms and the cessation of usage of others over time in this domain, as well as the sociocultural and historical factors underlying these changes. The methodology employed consists of three main steps: i) compilation of a diachronic corpus comprising four Brazilian laws on marital separation from the establishment of civil marriage (1890) to the most recent legislative amendment on the subject (2010); ii) utilization of the AntConc program (Anthony, 2021) to identify terms referring to Brazilian marital separation types and analyze their occurrences within the study subcorpora relative to the years of enactment of these laws; iii) examination of the reasons based on a study of the history of marital separation in the Brazilian legal context, drawing from specialized literature on the topic. The theoretical framework guiding this investigation is rooted in studies of neology and necrology, particularly within the context of diachronic terminology.