Semiotic entities in legal discourse practices: concept vs. notion

The paper deals with the issue of differentiating between the concept and the notion, which has not been solved in modern linguistics yet. The novelty of the study is due to the problem statement and possibility to apply its results in linguistic and semiotic analysis of discourse practices. The material used for the study is legal texts of different genres (court speeches, dissenting opinions, jury deliberations). The author concludes that the concept involves a number of multiple features which create conditions for further evolution into the notion, consensus and concord of different viewpoints. The notion develops from the concept by ontolozing concorded features and acquiring clear semantic boundaries as a result of narrowing the scope and densifying the content of the semiotic entity. The universal nature of the notion allows one to unite speakers due to their abilities to dialectically overcome differences.