Abstract
This Article draws from, builds upon, and continues my prior article (published in 2022 in the Wake Forest Law Review) addressing the conversion of canons of construction into “canonical” queries in both the public and private sphere. See such prior article here.
In this Article, I continue exploring further groups of canons and queries of transmitted/presented text including those outlined in appendices of my prior article. These further groups include: Queries of Signifier Scope (the Ejusdem Generis Query, the Noscitur a Sociis Query, the Expressio Unius Query, the Antecedent/Subsequent Query, and the Anaphora Query); Queries of Signifier Fit and Coherence (the Whole Text Query, the No Surplusage Query, the Absurdity Query, the Scrivener’s Error Query, the Exercise of Power Query, the Consistent Meaning Query, the Fit with the Surrounding Text Query, the In Pari Materia Query, the Particular vs. General Query, the Ellipsis Query, the Conjunction Query, the Disjunction Query, the General Query of Severability, the Relevance Query, the Presupposition Query, and the Preconception Query); and Queries of Context (including Queries turning on Linguistic, Physical, Cognitive, Type of Discourse, or Other Relevant Contexts).
This is the second in a series of four planned articles. The third will address queries of meaning and time. The fourth will address further miscellaneous queries of intent, motive, meaning and policy. My hope is that the four articles taken together will provide a detailed response to, among other works, Scalia & Garner's book titled Reading Law.
This Article can be downloaded here.
Keywords: interpretation, construction, canon of construction, ejusdem generis, noscitur a sociis, expressio unius, anaphora, surplusage, absurdity, scrivener's error, pari materia, ellipsis, severability, context, conjunction, disjunction, meaning, relevance, whole text, text, semiotics
