The style of official documents possesses its own features which are reflected in standardized
forms of different documents. They are peculiarities of the vocabulary, grammar and syntactic constructions.
Formal style of business language is rather hard to obtain and to follow. It remains mostly in written form, and its
peculiarities should be strictly observed. Nevertheless, informal English influences it greatly, and even in routine
The most general function of business language sets the peculiarities of the style. The most outstanding is a
special system of cliché, terms and set expressions by which each sub-style can easily be recognized, for
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contracting parties; to ratify an agreement;
memorandum; pact; protectorate; extra-territorial status;
plenipotentiary will immediately brand the utterance as diplomatic. In legal language, examples are:
to deal with a
case; summary procedure; a body of judges; as laid down in; the succeeding clauses of agreement; to reaffirm
faith in fundamental principles; to establish the required conditions; the obligations arising from treaties and
other sources of international law.
The vocabulary is categorized not only by the use of special terminology but the choice of lofty (bookish)
words and phrases: plausible -possible; to inform - to tell; to assist -to help; to cooperate -to work together; to
promote - to help something develop; to secure -to make certain; social progress; with the following
objectives/ends -for these purposes; to be determined/resolved -to wish; to endeavour -to try); to proceed -to
go); inquire -to ask.
English Business communication used in written language, the purpose is to enable the recipient to obtain
certain information or to take some action. Vocabulary style tags: business letter by its specific purpose, theme
and readers the impact of choice of words are the following typical style tags. Simple, specific, concrete terms: In
the light commercial purpose of the letters, themes and readers, many of traders of commercial letter writing
standards, that is 7 C: complete (completeness), simple (conciseness), understanding (consideration), specific
(concreteness), clear (clearness), politeness (courtesy), correct (correctness). Among the seven C, concise,
specific, clear, correct vocabulary to express required accuracy, this unique style of business letter formation have
a major impact.
From the linguistic point of view a contract is a type of a document due to any agreement and a
completed document fixing some information. As a type of text, contract has its own specific characteristics. The
stylistic peculiarities of all document texts are:
• concreteness, conciseness, clearness of the stated idea;
• high capacity of information;
• strict logic;
• clear rhythm of sentences;
• accenting on the main idea with the help of word repetitions;
• absence of con notational information;
• a special system of cliches and stamps;
• usage of abbreviations, conventional symbols and marks;
• usage of terms in their direct semantic meaning; preferential usage of mono semantic words;
• division of a text into chapters, paragraphs, points, often numbered (clear compositional structure of a
document);
• usage of definite syntactic models;
The main features of official business document are:
• steady system of linguistic means in the text of contract;
• lack of emotional colouring;
• decoding character of language;
• usage of a special symbolic system;
• definite syntactic structure (the 12 above-enumerated items).
Let us analyze them in detail. The style of contract defines some peculiarities and techniques of its writing.
Making official business English differ in some points from writing business letters, such as an offer, an enquiry, a
complaint etc. Some considerations important for business letters are not important for contracts. The main
difference between them is that any official business English is made up by two contracting parties and contains
information about many subjects. So all points must be approved by both parties. There are certain clearly
definable requirements for how to write business contracts.
Generally official business English should be formal, complete, clear, concrete, correct and concise. In
contracts all possible informational details are not suitable. So, while writing contracts we must observe all
peculiarities of standard English grammar, vocabulary use and stylistic appropriation. A formal contract or
agreement requires considerations of neatness and attractive arrangement. Completeness of any contract suggests
the scope of all significant facts that have reference to the issue of the agreement.
The next element, - clearness, - is one of the most important, because much depends on it. Clearness could be
reached by the use of simple short words, phrases and paragraphs where the both parties of a contract explain their
intentions and issues. Clearness of any arguments actually defines your striking a deal or not. The component
which is closely connected with the previous one is concreteness. Concreteness of a contract or an agreement is a
part and a parcel of any legal document. Besides that, the longer the document is, the more attractive and vivid its
contents should be.
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The next two components are also significant. They are correctness and conciseness. Correctness involves
proper grammar use (tense-aspect forms of the verb, verbals, articles, etc.), vocabulary use, punctuation and
formal style. Grammar should be checked with a special care, otherwise it may produce a poor impression of the
document and non-seriousness of your interests. Conciseness is usually achieved by the use of minimum words to
express maximum of information. As it has already been noted, any official business document should be simple
and clear, concise and brief. Commercial correspondence often suffers from an old-fashioned, pompous style of
English which complicates the message and gives the reader the feeling that he is reading a language he does not
understand. Though the language of contract is perhaps the most formal among all kinds of business
correspondence, and the vocabulary of such correspondence is very specific, which is connected with its character
and a great number of legal terms, it should not be archaic. It should be clear enough in its meaning. The style,
however, should not be too simple as it may become discourteous and sound rude. Some linguists (G.Leech,
J.Svartvik, Ch.Fries, O.Jespersen, M.Joos, I.V. Arnold, B.A. Ilyish, E.M. Gordon etc.) recommend the following
stylistic devices that might make agreements and contracts more polite:
• complex sentences joined with conjunctions are preferable, rather than short sentences;
• passive constructions rather than active;
• full forms rather than abbreviated forms, if necessary.
The right tone should be neutral, devoid of a pompous language on one hand, and an informal or colloquial
language on the other hand. Therefore, inappropriate vocabulary, idioms, phrasal verbs are not allowed.
happen if we use a lot of abbreviations, figures and prepositions.
Abbreviations are very useful, because they are very quick to write and easy to read. But the both parties are
expected to know what the abbreviations stand for. If one of the partners is not absolutely certain that the
abbreviations are easily recognized he / she should not use it.
The symbol &, which means in English and, is used in some terms like C&F (Cost and Fright), C&I (Cost
and Insurance). But is marked as
# in contract texts. The symbol № is used instead of the word number. In
American English the symbol # means number as well, but it is used in different tables and graphics, and not in
the text. It is never used, however, to denote numbers of houses.
Very often in contracts Latin abbreviations are used, for example: e.g. (for example), et al. (and others), etc. (and
so on), v.v. (quite the opposite), i.e. (that means). Also such English abbreviations ltd. (limited), Bros, (brothers), end.
(enclosed), dols. (collars), etc. are used. The use of figures instead of words for sums can create many problems for
people. To avoid any possibility of confusion, it is recommended to write sums in both figures and words. A special
attention should be paid to titles, names, addresses, references, prices, specifications, enclosures, etc., which are also
of a great importance in texts of contracts.
Business letter from the general vocabulary borrowed a large number of
words, and then given a new special meaning, this special vocabulary has become a typical feature of a business
letter. Dynamic verb: Dynamic verbs and state verbs is different from that it can give life sentences, so that readers
note that the verb to express action, and thus to persuade readers to take some action. There fore, a large number of
business correspondence using dynamic verbs as much as possible in order to achieve its purpose. Numerals: In
order to facilitate the read, merchants to follow 'the ten principles of journalists', that is, the following figures 10 and
10 words in English spelling, more than 10 figures in Arabic numerals and write. In this way to write numbers, to
facilitate proof of conformity. The exception to this principle is the date of writing, the date base of commonly used
words (1,2,3, etc.), rather than ordinal numeral (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.). Another feature is the extensive use of figures,
which is the subject matter of business letters, business letters often talked about because of the price, specifications,
quantity of goods, date. Abbreviations and acronyms: In the business letter, the widespread use of acronyms in place
of business terms. Specific vocabulary: business letter has its own unique vocabulary of high frequency of use,
which has become a typical characteristic of this style.
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