Modes of Thinking and Expressing Clear Language in the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina): A Perspective from Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Abstract

The institutional interest in providing greater clarity to legal language is an initiative that, in recent decades, has driven public policies at local, regional, and global levels. We consider that one way to understand such policies is through the discourse of the authorities responsible for them, and that linguistic studies provide theoretical and methodological tools to investigate and describe their scope and limitations. Therefore, we ask ourselves what role analogical reasoning and its discursive manifestations occupy in a recently published manual developed by the Attorney General's Office of the Province of Buenos Aires –Republic of Argentina–. Specifically, we seek to identify and analyze the metaphors through which the jurisdiction's guidelines are communicated to legal operators in order to streamline, modernize, and clarify their discursive interventions in the Administration of Justice, in pursuit of ensuring the right of individuals to understand. Through a qualitative approach, we focus on addressing the text “Clear Language and Style Manual of the Public Prosecutor's Office” (2025), adopting theoretical and methodological inputs provided by cognitive linguistics, and particularly, the theory of conceptual metaphor. Among the findings of the study, the recurrent use of metaphors that conceptualize clear language in terms of a PATH, a WAR, a TOOL, a CONSTRUCTION, and even a CONCERT is highlighted. These conceptualizations serve as a resource to improve communication between judicial operators and the public.