<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The document titled “14 points of Wilson” was announced by the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson in his speech addressed to the United States Congress on 8<sup>th</sup> January 1918. The speech is one of the most well known documents of the First World War as it touched upon several world issues. The text has been interpreted ever since in respect to the importance and real meaning of points formulated by Wilson. One of the points referred to Poland. The aim of the paper is to focus on the exponents of deontic modality used in that text of historical value and to find the answer to the question concerning the deontic value of each point. The analysis will encompass the principles of deontic logic as well as the meaning of deontic modals in legal discourse at the time of speech delivery as those 14 points should be classified as a text belonging to legal genres. The aim of the paper is to present the historical background and the linguistic analysis in order to find out whether historical facts, interpretations and language used correspond with one another.</p>
</abstract>

The document titled “14 points of Wilson” was announced by the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson in his speech addressed to the United States Congress on 8th January 1918. The speech is one of the most well known documents of the First World War as it touched upon several world issues. The text has been interpreted ever since in respect to the importance and real meaning of points formulated by Wilson. One of the points referred to Poland. The aim of the paper is to focus on the exponents of deontic modality used in that text of historical value and to find the answer to the question concerning the deontic value of each point. The analysis will encompass the principles of deontic logic as well as the meaning of deontic modals in legal discourse at the time of speech delivery as those 14 points should be classified as a text belonging to legal genres. The aim of the paper is to present the historical background and the linguistic analysis in order to find out whether historical facts, interpretations and language used correspond with one another.

Who is Right, Who is Wrong? Interpreting 14 Points of Wilson – A Case Study of Deontic Modals and their Meanings

Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The document titled “14 points of Wilson” was announced by the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson in his speech addressed to the United States...

Who is Right, Who is Wrong? Interpreting 14 Points of Wilson – A Case Study of Deontic Modals and their Meanings

Published Online: Nov 19, 2021

Page range: 83 - 103

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2021-0006

Keywords
deontic modals, 14 points of Wilson, legal translation, legal interpretation, semiotic analysis of legal text meanings

© 2021 Aleksandra Matulewska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Who is Right, Who is Wrong? Interpreting 14 Points of Wilson – A Case Study of Deontic Modals and their Meanings

Published Online: Nov 19, 2021

Page range: 83 - 103

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2021-0006

Keywordsdeontic modals, 14 points of Wilson, legal translation, legal interpretation, semiotic analysis of legal text meanings

© 2021 Aleksandra Matulewska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
deontic modals, 14 points of Wilson, legal translation, legal interpretation, semiotic analysis of legal text meanings