I’m not sure any one factor “explains” why something is written in a particular way. History, practical concerns, conveying the tone and register, signaling, an

I’m not sure any one factor “explains” why something is written in a particular way. History, practical concerns, conveying the tone and register, signaling, and official requirements all play a part. Still, it wouldn’t shock me if legal language is an unusual in how much of its incomprehensibility is explained by the “magic spell” hypothesis. Looking at the full text of the article, much of the analysis involves center embedding, which makes me wonder whether other features that contribute to complexity work the same way. Full text: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric-Martinez-6/publication/383233336_Even_laypeople_use_legalese/links/66ccbf1c97265406eab0818a/Even-laypeople-use-legalese.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric-Martinez-6/publica...