Verbalization of performative units in English texts of international conventions: morphological aspect

The article presents the results of a study devoted to the analysis of the morphological features of the texts of international conventions operating within the English legal discourse. Close attention is paid to the characteristics of the main language means by which the aspect of performativity is actualized in legal context. The texts of international conventions relating to various special areas of the life of society comprise the material of the study. The analysis of empirical material has enabled the authors to identify the most frequent models of performative units in the texts of international conventions: 1) constructions with modal verbs; 2) constructions with infinitives; 3) adjectives / adverbs; 4) pronouns / prepositions (with semantics of default). The designated performative models are functionally aimed at the actualization of prohibition and prescription of certain actions. In addition, the authors describe the parts of speech classification of key linguistic units verbalizing the meaning of performativity in the analyzed legal documents. The database of performative units developed in the course of the studyis of great importance. It contains 250 items, its fragment is presented in the article. The study can become the basis for further analysis of performative units in the context of their structural-semantic, lexical, grammatical features, as well as in lexicographical practice in compiling a bilingual legal dictionary, which includes, along with the actual legal terms, the professional vocabulary commonly used by communicants in legal sphere.