| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract | 第5-7页 |
| 摘要 | 第7-8页 |
| Contents | 第8-11页 |
| CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION | 第11-15页 |
| ·Rationale for the study | 第11-12页 |
| ·Purpose and significance | 第12-13页 |
| ·Layout of the thesis | 第13-15页 |
| CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW | 第15-29页 |
| ·Previous studies of archaic words and those used in legal English | 第15-19页 |
| ·Studies in abroad | 第15-17页 |
| ·Domestic studies | 第17-19页 |
| ·Gadamer and philosophical hermeneutics | 第19-27页 |
| ·Gadamer and his theories | 第19-21页 |
| ·Philosophical hermeneutics | 第21-24页 |
| ·Research and applications of philosophical hermeneutics in China | 第24-27页 |
| ·Summary | 第27-29页 |
| CHAPTER THREE HISTORY OF LEGAL ENGLISH AND ARCHAIC WORDS IN LEGAL ENGLISH | 第29-45页 |
| ·Legal language and legal English | 第29-30页 |
| ·History of legal English | 第30-34页 |
| ·Anglo-Saxon beginnings | 第30-31页 |
| ·The Norman Conquest | 第31-32页 |
| ·Diminishing need for French | 第32-33页 |
| ·Plain English Movement | 第33-34页 |
| ·Archaic words | 第34-41页 |
| ·Definition and brief introduction of archaic words | 第34-37页 |
| ·Archaic words in legal English and their significance | 第37-41页 |
| ·Archaic words in legal English | 第37-39页 |
| ·Outstanding features of archaic words and their significance | 第39-41页 |
| ·Origins or sources of legal English vocabulary | 第41-45页 |
| ·Origins from Latin words | 第41-42页 |
| ·Origins from French words | 第42-43页 |
| ·Origins from archaic words (archaisms) | 第43-45页 |
| CHAPTER FOUR INEVITABILITY OF ARCHAIC WORDS IN LEGAL | 第45-59页 |
| ·Feasibility of applying Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics to the analysis of legal text and legal English | 第45-48页 |
| ·Theoretical feasibility | 第45-46页 |
| ·Practical feasibility | 第46-48页 |
| ·Reason redefined by Gadamer and the inheritance of archaic words | 第48-55页 |
| ·Reason and power of control | 第48-50页 |
| ·The scientific reason and its permeation in our life | 第48页 |
| ·Scientific guidance for language using and Plain Language Movement for legal English | 第48-50页 |
| ·Scientific reason versus human reason | 第50-51页 |
| ·Science and scientific reason having their limitation for an all-round application | 第50-51页 |
| ·Human reason: value of human beings’existence and truth of life | 第51页 |
| ·Human reason and the development of legal English: major cause for inevitable existence of archaic words in legal English | 第51-55页 |
| ·The theory of prejudice and the indispensability of archaic words | 第55-59页 |
| ·The historicity of understanding and the prejudice | 第55-57页 |
| ·Accuracy requirement of legal text and the indispensable usage of archaic words | 第57-59页 |
| CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION | 第59-62页 |
| ·Summary of the thesis | 第59-61页 |
| ·Limitations and suggestions for future researches | 第61-62页 |
| Bibliography | 第62-65页 |
