THE STYLE OF OFFICIAL AND BUSINESS DOCUMENTS: SPECIFIC LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL FEATURES
The style (the language) of official documents has the following sub-styles: a) the language of legal documents: (constitutions, laws, treaties, agreements, exchanges of notes); b)the language of business documents (contracts, letters, memos); c) the language of military documents (military statutes, rules, regulations).
The aim of communication in the official style of language is to bind the addressee (the reader) to a certain kind of behavior.
Communication by means of official documents may occur between: – two or more states or governments (international treaties, agreements, charters); – the state and its citizens (decrees, acts, resolutions, orders, rules and regulations); – two or more legal or physical entities such as companies, institutions or individuals (business contracts, letters, memos); – a person who has authority and subordinates (orders, regulations, instructions).
The binding nature of official documents is ensured by the extensive use of “binding” words (performative verbs and nouns), such as advise, agree, undertake, guarantee, request and modal verbs, such as should, would, need, must, have to etc.
Besides that, preambles to international legal documents play very important role ― they contain the ‘performative’ formula ‘have agreed’ or ‘agree as follows’, which makes the rest of the text binding for the parties to perform what they have agreed upon.
Texts of official documents are also characterized by: – conventionality of expression: division into structural parts (preamble, central clauses, opening addresses, closing sentences); – set expressions and highly literary formal words (I beg to inform you; Dear Sir; hereby; above-mentioned etc.); – terms which have to do with the subject-field of the document and which must be unambiguous (tax exemption, air services; territorial waters etc.); →
– the encoded character of language: the use of symbols, abbreviations and acronyms, e.g., MP (Member of Parliament); IMF (International Monetary Fund); UN (United Nations); – absence of any emotions, stylistic devices and expressive means; →
– complicated syntax: the use of the participial and infinitive constructions, long compound and complex, sentences; – reference to the present or future which is expressed by the preference to use the Present Indefinite, the Present Perfect and the Future Indefinite tense-forms.
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