Stylistic classification of the english vocabulary

F. The Style of Official Documents

The style of official documents is not homogeneous and is represented by the following substyles:

1. 
   the language of business documents;
   
2. 
   the language of legal documents;
   
3. 
   the language of diplomacy
   
4. 
   the language of military documents.
   

This style has a definite communicative aim and has its own system of language and styjistic means. The main aim of this type of communication in this style of langua­ge is to reach agreement between two contracting parties. These parties may be: the state and the citizen, a society and its members; two or more enterprises; two or more go­vernments, etc. In other words the aim of communication in this style of language is to reach agreement between two contracting parties.

The language of this style has its own system of cliches, terms and set expressions by which each substyle can easily be recognized. For example: I beg to inform you, the above-mentioned, on behalf, of, Dear Sir, your obedient servants.

Each of the subdivisions of this style has its own peculiar terms, phrases and expressions which differ from the corresponding terms, phrases and expressions of other variants of this style. Thus in finance we find terms like extra revenue, taxable capacities, liability to profit tax. Terms and phrases like to ratify an agreement, memo­randum, pact, extra-territorial status, plenipotentiary are the utterance of diplomacy. In legal language, examples are: to deal with a case; summary procedure; a body of judges.

Corresponding abbreviations, conventional symbols and contractions are widely used in this style. For ex­ample: M.P. (Member of Parliament), Gvt. (Government), $ (Dollar), £ (Pound), Ltd. (Limited).

Abbreviations are particularly abundant in military documents. E.g.: adv. (advance); atk. (attack); obj. (ob­ject); A/T (anti-tank); ATAS (Air Transport Auxiliary Service).

Another feature of the style is the use of words in the­ir logical dictionary meaning. There is no room for words with contextual meaning or for any kind of simultaneous realization of two meanings. Words with emotive meaning are not used here. In military documents sometimes meta­phorical names are given to mountains, rivers, hills or vil­lages, but these metaphors are perceived as code signs and have no aesthetic value. E.g.:

"2.102d. Inf. Div. continues atk. 26 Feb. 45 to captive objs Spruce Peach and Cherry and pre­pares to take over objs Plum and Apple after capture by CCB, 5 armed Div."

Almost every official document has its own compo­sitional design and has a definite form. The form of the document is itself informative, as it tells something about the matter dealt with (a letter, an agreement, an order, etc.).

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1 Preface to critical reading. N. -Y., 1956, p. 270