An Adaptation Analysis of Heteroglossic Engagement Resources in Reasoning of Criminal Judgment in Hong Kong

Wenxiu Song

Faculty of Foreign Languages, Southwest University of Political Science & Law, Chongqing, 404100, China

Abstract: Reasoning play as an essential role in criminal judgment. The reasoning in criminal judgment is not only associated with the knowledge of law, but also links directly to the use of language. Based on the en-gagement system of appraisal theory and adaptation theory, this paper analyzes the use of heteroglossic en-gagement resources in the reasoning of criminal judgments in Hong Kong and explains how judges dynami-cally ｓｅｌｅｃｔ engagement resources to adapt to the context and ultimately achieve their communicative goals. It is found that entertain, deny, counter and attribute are employed most frequently by judges to adapt to the so-cial world of power relations, language norm of criminal judgment and the mental world of the potential audi-ence such as the plaintiff, defendant and the public.

Keywords: Reasoning; Criminal judgment; Heteroglossic engagement resources; Adaptation theory