The Style Of Official Documents

The official document functional style can be divided into four varieties:

a) the language style of diplomatic documents;

b) the language style of business documents;

c) the language style of legal documents;

d) the language style of military documents.

The style of official documents aims at establishing, developing and controlling business relations between individuals and organizations.

The main aim of this type of communication is to state the conditions binding two parties in an undertaking. These parties may be: this state and a citizen, or citizen and citizen; a society and its members (statute or ordinance); two or more enterprises or bodies (business correspondence or contracts); two or more governments (pacts, treaties); a person in authority and a subordinate (order, regulations, instructions, authoritative directives); a board or presidium and an assembly or general meeting (procedures acts, minutes).

The aim of communication in this style of language is to reach agreement between two contracting parties. Even protest against violations of statutes, contracts, regulations, can also be regarded as a form by which normal cooperation is sought on the basis of previously attained concordance.

Distinctions in American and English Terms and Terminological word-combinations.

Amer. Eng.

Administration government in power

Around (ten) about

Blue – chip first-class

Investments investments

Call loan short-term loan

Checking account current account

Claim letter letter of complaint

Collect on delivery cash on delivery

Common stock ordinary share

Corporation law company law

Express man carrier

To fix a meeting to arrange a meeting

Freight not prepaid carriage forward

Freight prepaid carriage paid

Freight train goods train

Government bonds government securities

In god shape in good conditions

Investment bank merchant bank

Law business practice (law)

Local taxes rates

To operate a business to run a business

Operating costs running expenses

Ordinance by-law

To pass up an offer to decline an offer

President chairman

Right away immediately

Shipment consignment

Stock holder shareholder

Stub counterfoil

Tag label

Tender offer

Way back some time ago

Besides the special nomenclature characteristic of each variety of the style, there is a feature common to all these varieties – the use of abbreviations, conventional symbols and contractions, for example:

Ltd – Limited,

B/E – bill of exchange,

Gvt – government,

Appx – appendix,

$ - dollar,

₤ - pound…

Words with emotive meaning are not to be found in the style of official documents.

Almost every official document has its own compositional design.

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 2071