Official-business style is a functional style of speech, a means of written communication in the field of business relations: in the field of legal relations and management. This area covers international relations, jurisprudence, economics, the military industry, advertising, communication in official institutions, and government activities. Sub-styles: legislative (used in the sphere of government, the voluntivity of the function is manifested); administrative-clerical (maintenance of personal business papers, documents of the institution, emphasizes the nature of administrative relations - loans, advances); diplomatic substyle (at the international level, the relationship between the government and diplomats).
Among the book styles of the Russian language, the official business style stands out for its relative stability and isolation. Over time, it naturally undergoes some changes caused by the nature of the content itself, but many of its features, historically established genres, specific vocabulary, phraseology, syntactic turns give it a generally conservative character.
Many types of business documents have generally accepted forms of presentation and arrangement of material - this facilitates and simplifies their use. Ready-made forms are often used, which only need to be filled out. For example, it is customary to write envelopes in a certain order, different in different countries, but firmly established in each of them - this is convenient for both writers and postal workers. Therefore, speech clichés that simplify and speed up business communication are quite appropriate in it.
Official business style is the style of documents: international treaties, state acts, legal laws, regulations, charters, instructions, official correspondence, business papers, etc.
Despite the differences in content and the variety of genres, the official business style as a whole is characterized by a number of common features. These include:
1) conciseness, compactness of presentation, economical use of language tools;
2) the standard arrangement of the material, the frequent mandatory form (identity card, various kinds of diplomas, birth and marriage certificates, monetary documents, etc.), the use of inherent in this style
3) wide use of terminology, names (legal, diplomatic, military, administrative, etc.), the presence of a special stock of vocabulary and phraseology (official, clerical), the inclusion of complex abbreviated words and abbreviations in the text;
4) the declarative nature of the presentation, the use of nominative sentences with enumeration;
5) the direct order of words in the sentence as the predominant principle of its construction;
6) the tendency to use complex sentences that reflect the logical subordination of some facts to others;
7) the almost complete absence of emotionally expressive speech means, established expressions;
8) weak individualization of style.
Varieties
The heterogeneity of the subject matter and the variety of genres make it possible to distinguish two varieties in the style under consideration: the official documentary style and the everyday business style.
In the everyday business style, they differ in content, genres and the nature of the language tools used: official correspondence between institutions and organizations, on the one hand, and private business papers, on the other.
In turn, in the first, it is possible to distinguish the language of legislative documents related to the activities of state bodies, and the language of diplomatic acts related to international relations.
The language of legislative documents includes the vocabulary and phraseology of civil law, criminal law, labor law, family law, etc. It is adjacent to the vocabulary and phraseology associated with the work of administrative bodies, the official activities of citizens, etc.
Examples of documents of this type of official business style are the following excerpts.