A message about the features of official business style. Formal business style of speech examples statement

Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation

Federal State Educational Institution

HPE Higher professional education

Far Eastern State Agrarian University

Institute of Humanitarian Education

Department of Russian Language

Abstract

Topic: Official - business style of speech

Completed by: 1st year student,

IPPE, gr. 6210

Chernysheva I.I.

Checked by: Kisileva O.V.

Blagoveshchensk, 2010

Introduction 3

1. General characteristics of the official business style of speech 4

1.1. Lexical features of official business style of speech 4

1.2. Morphological signs of official business style of speech 5

1.3. Syntactic features of official business style of speech 5

1.4. The role of formal business style of speech 6

2. International properties of official business writing 14

3. Speech genres and structure of official business style of speech 18

Conclusion 21

List of sites used 22

Introduction

Official business style is a whole variety of Russian

literary language. And this is an appropriate style, which has its own means of expression, ways of naming objects and phenomena, and is even expressive in its own way. By observing the norms of official business speech, we pay tribute not to cliches and bureaucracy, but to the objectively established tradition of constructing speech in accordance with the expressed content, setting and purpose of the statement. So, in a conversation you can say: “From today I’m on vacation.” In the application you need to write: “Please consider me to be on vacation from such and such a date.” This is the tradition, this is the form and manner of writing statements and other business papers. And this form is appropriate and justified in this area of ​​communication. It has been developed, if not for centuries, then for decades. The official business style is quite equal to other styles and plays an important role in the formation and development of the Russian literary language. The origin of Russian official business speech begins in the 10th century, from the era of Kievan Rus, and is associated with the formalization of treaties between Kievan Rus and Byzantium. The most important monument of ancient Russian law is “Russian Truth,” a collection of legislative provisions of the ancient Russian state. The language of contracts and other documents was precisely the language from which the literary language was later developed. In Muscovite Rus' there were two parallel book languages: Church Slavonic and the business language of orders, i.e., institutions in charge of a separate branch of management or a separate territory. During the XV-XVI centuries. Muscovite Rus' used these two languages ​​depending on the genre of speech. As a result of a long process of their interaction, by the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. the national command language becomes the common written language of Muscovite Rus', from which the modern Russian literary language was subsequently formed.

The modern official business style is one of the book styles and functions in the form of written speech. The oral form of official business speech is speeches at ceremonial meetings, sessions, receptions, reports of government and public figures, etc.

1. General characteristics of the official business style of speech

Official business style is a style that serves the legal and administrative and public spheres of activity. It is used when writing documents, business papers and letters in government agencies, courts, as well as in various types of business oral communication.

Among book styles, the official business style stands out for its relative stability and isolation. Over time, it naturally undergoes some changes, but many of its features: historically established genres, specific vocabulary, morphology, syntactic phrases - give it a generally conservative character.

The official business style is characterized by dryness, the absence of emotionally charged words, conciseness, and compactness of presentation.

In official papers, the set of linguistic means used is predetermined. The most striking feature of the official business style is the language cliches, or so-called cliches (French clich). A document is not expected to show the individuality of its author; on the contrary, the more clichéd a document is, the more convenient it is to use (see examples of clichés below)

Official business style is the style of documents of different genres: international treaties, state acts, legal laws, regulations, charters, instructions, official correspondence, business papers, etc. But, despite the differences in content and variety of genres, the official business style as a whole is characterized by common and most important features. These include:

1) accuracy, excluding the possibility of other interpretations;

2) locale standard.

These features find their expression a) in the selection of linguistic means (lexical, morphological and syntactic); b) in the preparation of business documents.

1.1. Lexical features of official business style of speech

The lexical (dictionary) system of the official business style, in addition to general book and neutral words, includes:

1) linguistic cliches (bureaucracy, cliches): raise a question, based on a decision, incoming and outgoing documents, assign control over execution, upon expiration of the deadline.

2) professional terminology: arrears, alibi, black cash, shadow business;

3) archaisms: I certify this document.

1.2. Morphological signs of official business style of speech

The morphological features of this style include the repeated (frequency) use of certain parts of speech (and their types). These include the following:

1) nouns – names of people based on a characteristic determined by the action (taxpayer, tenant, witness);

2) nouns denoting positions and ranks in the masculine form (sergeant Petrova, inspector Ivanova);

3) verbal nouns with the particle non- (deprivation, non-compliance, non-recognition);

4) derived prepositions (in connection with, due to, by virtue of, to the extent of, in relation to, on the basis of);

5) infinitive constructions: (conduct an inspection, provide assistance);

6) present tense verbs in the meaning of an action usually performed (a fine will be charged for non-payment...).

7) complex words formed from two or more bases (tenant, employer, material and technical, repair and maintenance, above, below, etc.).

The use of these forms is explained by the desire of business language to accurately convey meaning and unambiguous interpretation.

1.3. Syntactic features of official business style of speech

The syntactic features of the official business style include:

1) the use of simple sentences with homogeneous members, and the rows of these homogeneous members can be very common (up to 8–10), for example: ... fines as an administrative penalty can be established in accordance with Russian legislation for violation of labor safety and health regulations in industry, construction, transport and agriculture;

2) the presence of passive structures (payments are made at the specified time);

3) stringing the genitive case, i.e. the use of a chain of nouns in the genitive case: (results of the activities of the tax police...);

4) the predominance of complex sentences, especially complex sentences, with subordinate conditionals: If there is a dispute about the amount of amounts due to the dismissed employee, the administration is obliged to pay the compensation specified in this article if the dispute is resolved in favor of the employee.

1.4. The role of formal business style

The main area in which the official business style of the Russian literary language functions is administrative and legal activity. This style satisfies the need of society for documenting various acts of state, social, political, economic life, business relations between the state and organizations, as well as between members of society in the official sphere of their communication. There are a number of circumstances when storing written information is not only desirable, but also necessary. Despite the differences in the content of individual genres and the degree of their complexity, official business speech has common stylistic features: accuracy of presentation, which does not allow the possibility of differences in interpretation; detail of presentation; stereotyping, standardization of presentation; the dutifully prescriptive nature of the presentation. To this we can add such features as formality, strict expression of style, which represent a huge variety of genres: charter, law, order, regulation, contract, instruction, complaint, recipe, various kinds

statements, as well as many business genres (for example, an explanatory note, autobiography, questionnaire, statistical report, etc.). The expression of legal will in business documents determines the properties, main features of business speech and the social and organizational use of language. Functions in various fields of activity. Therefore, the main form of the Genres of the official business style is informational, prescriptive, and stating the implementation of this style is written.

The function of social regulation, which plays the most important role in official business speech, imposes on the corresponding texts the requirement of unambiguous reading. In this regard, each text should be characterized by such accuracy in the presentation of information that would not allow the possibility of different interpretations. An official document will serve its purpose if its content is carefully thought out and its language is impeccable. It is this goal that determines the actual linguistic features of official business speech, as well as its composition, rubrication, paragraph selection, etc., i.e., the standardization of many business documents. Remember the personnel registration sheet, the form filled out, for example, to obtain a visa, a receipt for payment of housing and communal services, etc.

The lexical composition of texts of this style has its own characteristics associated with the indicated features. First of all, these texts use words and phrases of the literary language that have a pronounced functional and stylistic connotation, for example, plaintiff, defendant, protocol, job description, detention, passenger transportation, delivery, identity card, researcher, etc., among they contain a significant number of professional terms. Many verbs contain the theme of prescription or obligation: prohibit, allow, decree, oblige, assign, etc. It should be noted that in official business speech there is the highest percentage of use of the infinitive among consonant forms. This is also due to the imperative nature of official business texts.

In official papers, the set of linguistic means used is predetermined.

Therefore, another, but the most striking feature of the official business style is linguistic cliches, or so-called cliches. A document is not expected to show the individuality of its author; on the contrary, the more clichéd a document is, the more convenient it is to use.

The official business style implements such a property of the stylistic system as the desire for isolation. Elements of other styles practically do not penetrate into documents. This affects the poverty of the vocabulary and the paucity of syntactic structures.

Head of the Department of Biology
prof. S.A. Smirnov
from teacher O.N. Mikhailov
STATEMENT
I ask you to dismiss me from the position of Associate Professor of the Department of Biology at my own request (Article 80 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) from July 1, 2009.

06/27/2009 Mikhailov

Another feature of the formal business style is precision, which does not allow ambiguity. The document must be interpreted only unambiguously, therefore special terminology is used, lexical repetitions are used, puns are excluded, etc.
An official document will serve its purpose if its content is carefully thought out and its language is impeccable. It is this goal that determines both the actual linguistic features of official business speech and its composition (categorization, highlighting paragraphs and paragraphs, etc.) Remember, for example, how they look and are structured passport application form, personnel record sheet, receipt for payment of housing and communal services etc.
The requirement for accuracy of presentation forces one to abandon the use of synonyms in favor of repetition of the same word. In addition, business style is characterized by the use of full names and their “substitutes” - complex abbreviated words and abbreviations, which allow, on the one hand, to maintain accuracy, and on the other, to save the text from unnecessary cumbersomeness. Wed: Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia; Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks and Rospatent; limited liability company and LLC.
The same word (primarily a noun) in papers of this style can be repeated several times, even in adjacent sentences, and not be replaced by a pronoun.
Specific stable phrases, characteristic primarily of the language of stationery papers, also serve for accuracy, for example: higher educational institution, tax return, closed joint-stock company, homeowners' association, etc. The uniformity of such phrases and their high repetition leads to the clichédness of the linguistic means used, which gives texts in official business style have a standardized character (which I already wrote about earlier).
This style is characterized by such a feature as formality. Since documents are related to legal norms, objectivity in the style of presentation is emphasized by the affirmative and prescriptive nature of the document. As a rule, official texts - business style are created for two purposes: 1) informing about the information contained in them; 2) an order for execution of the relevant decision. The imperative (must-prescriptive) nature of the presentation, which indicates the inadmissibility of evading action, is especially often used in legislative documents, as well as in some genres of clerical substyle, such as orders. That is why many verbs contain the meaning of a prescription or obligation: prohibit, allow, decree, oblige, assign, etc. Verbs of this kind are regularly found in the form of an infinitive with a specific (imperative) meaning ( Don't walk on the lawns! Do not touch!).
Official business speech reflects not individual, but social experience, therefore the vocabulary used in it is extremely generalized in terms of meaning. For a document, the legal side of the issue is of primary importance, and not a specific fact, therefore preference is given to generic concepts, for example : vehicle (plane, bus, etc.), populated area (village, town, city, etc.), body of water (lake, pond, reservoir, etc.) etc.
~Genres~
Texts of this style represent a huge variety of genres:
A charter is a set of rules governing the organization and procedure of activities in any specific area of ​​relations or any government body, enterprise, or institution.
A law is a set of rules that prescribe human behavior in certain conditions. (It can also be an order, instruction, contract, instruction, complaint, recipe, various kinds of statements, as well as many business genres (for example, an explanatory note:

To the director of "Znamenie"
P.G. Valve

Explanatory note
about being late for work

On 10/07/2011 I was 2 hours late for work due to a transport accident. I am attaching the certificate issued by the transport company.

Manager K.Yu. Ivanets

Autobiography, questionnaire, statistical report, etc.). The expression of legal will in business documents determines the properties, main features of business speech and the social and organizational use of language. Genres of official business style perform informational, prescriptive, and ascertaining functions in various fields of activity.

An example of a complaint against the actions of the police if your child commits theft and is under the age of criminal responsibility.

Krasnoarmeisky
interdistrict prosecutor
Counselor of Justice
Livochka P.V.

Claudia Stepanovna's pimps
residing: 49494, Krasnoarmeysk,
st. Krasnoarmeyskaya 7/7.

Complaint
\ in accordance with Art. 287-288 Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine\

I would like to bring to your attention that on February 4, 2009, police officer Art. Lieutenant Prygunets I.I. drew up an administrative protocol against me under Part 3 of Art. 184 Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine.
According to Art. 9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine, an administrative offense is recognized as an infringement on public order, property and the rights and freedoms of citizens..., a guilty action or inaction, for which the law provides for administrative liability.
Do these facts indicate that there is no objective aspect of the offense in my son’s actions? provided for in Part 1 of Art. 51 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine, characterized by intent to commit theft of someone else’s property. Consequently, my actions do not constitute an administrative offense under Part 3 of Art. 184 Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine.
In violation of Art. 285 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine, they did not give me a copy of the resolution imposing an administrative penalty on me, and the fact that I did not agree with the resolution was not taken into account. In addition, Art. Lieutenant Prygunets I.I. refused to accept my and my son’s explanation for this fact. The physical evidence in the case, the watch and mobile phone, were not returned to the victim.
Attention should also be paid to the fact that on February 4, 2009, an administrative protocol was drawn up under Part 3 of Art. 184 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine against me, although I have not yet been made aware of the decision made on the victim’s application, and as far as I know, the protocol is drawn up only after a decision has been issued to refuse to initiate a criminal case, approved by the head of the police agency.
I believe that the protocol drawn up against me was unreasonable and should be cancelled.
Based on the above and guided by Art. 291, 295 Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine,
P R O S H U:
1. Suspend the execution of the decision to impose an administrative penalty on me.
2. Send to me a copy of the decision on the complaint against the decision to impose an administrative penalty.
3. Oblige to conduct an internal audit in relation to Art. Lieutenant Prygunets I.I. on the fact of the unjustified drawing up of an administrative protocol against me under Part 3 of Art. 184 Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine.
4. Notify me in writing of your decision.

Date /signature/ Pimpochka K.S.

The statement genre uses the form please give me a vacation instead of the imperative form give me a vacation. IN words used in business letters recommend, suggest, advise, invite etc.

~Substyles of official - business style~
Depending on the scope of business speech and the stylistic originality of the corresponding texts, three substyles are usually distinguished:

Legislative (types of documents such as laws, decrees, civil, criminal and other acts of state importance; the main oral form is judicial speech);

Diplomatic (types of documents: international treaties, agreements, conventions, memoranda, notes, communiques, etc.; oral forms are practically not used);

Clerical (administrative - clerical or management) (types of documents: charters, contracts, orders, instructions, statements, characteristics, powers of attorney, receipts, etc.; oral forms - report, speech, official telephone conversation, oral order).

~Language Features~
Vocabulary and phraseology.
Official business speech reveals a tendency towards extremely generalized semantically vocabulary, where everything that is acutely peculiar, specific, and unique is eliminated, and the typical is brought to the fore. What is important for an official document is not the living flesh of a given phenomenon, but its “legal” essence.
speech gives preference to generic designations with broad and poor semantics, with a limited number of semantic features:
premises (cf.: apartment, workshop, hangar, lobby, shelter, monastery, apartments), person (cf.: individual, person, man, girl, guy, small, owner, tenant, passerby), parent (cf.: mother , father, father, mother, ancestor), military man (cf.: soldier, lieutenant general, artilleryman, recruit, warrior, serviceman, sailor), punishment (cf.: reprimand, fine, arrest, scolding, reprimand), arrive ( Wed: to come, to arrive, to sail, to gallop, to burst in, to arrive, to arrive) and others.
Word formation and morphological features.
The word-formation and morphological features of the Official Business (OD) style are inextricably linked with its general characteristics: the desire for accuracy, standardization, impersonal and obligatorily prescriptive nature of presentation.
In OA speech, the highest percentage of infinitive from other verbal forms is observed among all functional styles, namely 5:1 (in scientific speech this ratio is 1:5). This quantitative increase in the share of the infinitive is associated with the goal of most OA documents - to express the will of the legislator. Here is an example from the Convention on the Rights of the Child:
"The child has the right to freely express his or her opinions; this right includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of any kind, whether or not granted, whether orally, in writing or in print, in the form of works of art or through other media of the child's choice."(Part /, p. 13).

Of the conjugated forms, the present tense forms are most often used here, but with a different meaning compared to the scientific style. This value is usually defined as the present prescription. The verb form does not denote a permanent or ordinary action, but an action that the law requires to be performed under certain conditions:
"The accused is guaranteed the right to defense."
When naming a person in the OD style, nouns are used that designate the person based on a characteristic determined by some action or attitude, which is intended to accurately indicate the “roles” of the participants in the situation: defendant, tenant, tenant, reader, guardian, adoptive parent, plaintiff, witness, etc.
etc.............

Plan:

1. General characteristics of official business style……..pp. 3-4

2. Textual norms of business style……………………………pp. 4-5

3. Language norms: drafting text, document…….……pp.5-8

4. Dynamics of the norm of official business speech………….…p.8-9

5. List of references……………………………………………………………page 10

General characteristics of the official - business style of speech

The word official means “government, official official.” “The language of laws requires, first of all, accuracy and the impossibility of any false interpretations” (L. V. Shcherba). Therefore, in official documents, words with a figurative meaning, as well as emotionally charged and colloquial vocabulary, are not used.

The official style is characterized by precisely those specific words, stable phrases and phrases that are commonly called clericalism.

Among the bookish styles of the 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, and syntactic turns give it a generally conservative character.

A characteristic feature of the official business style is the presence in it of numerous speech standards - clichés. If in other styles stereotyped phrases often act as a stylistic flaw, then in an official business style in most cases they are perceived as a completely natural part of it.

Official business style is the style of documents: international treaties, government acts, legal laws, regulations, charters, instructions, official correspondence, business papers. The official business style document is distinguished by its lack of emotional overtones and dryness.

The use of language stamps and stereotypes (clichés) in official documents is mandatory, but in colloquial speech or in works of art it is inappropriate. An official document should be concise and written in such a way that the necessary information can be found immediately. Therefore, in order to understand what the document is about and to whom it is addressed, it is given a certain form.

There are several substyles of official business style:

Diplomatic substyle is a substyle of diplomatic documents, such as a diplomatic note, government statement, credentials. It is distinguished by specific terms, most of which are international: status quo, persona non grata, ratification, preamble. Unlike other substyles of official business style, in the language of diplomatic documents there is a high, solemn vocabulary to give the document emphasized significance, and etiquette forms of politeness that are generally accepted in international public address are used:

Documentary substyle - the language of legislative documents related to the activities of official bodies, includes vocabulary and phraseology of state law, civil law, criminal law, labor code, code of laws on marriage and family. Adjacent to it is vocabulary and phraseology associated with the work of administrative bodies and the official activities of citizens.

The everyday business substyle is found in business correspondence between institutions and organizations and in private business papers, as well as in official correspondence (business letter, commercial correspondence), official business papers (certificate, certificate, act, protocol), private business papers (application , power of attorney, receipt, autobiography, invoice, etc.). All of them are characterized by a certain standardization, which facilitates their compilation and use and is designed to save language resources and eliminate unjustified information redundancy.

Textual norms of business style

Despite the differences in content and variety of genres, the official business style is generally characterized by a number of common features.

These include:

1) conciseness, compact presentation, economical use of language;

2) standard arrangement of material, frequent obligatory form (identity card, various kinds of diplomas, birth and marriage certificates, monetary documents, etc.), the use of clichés inherent in this style;

3) widespread use of terminology, nomenclature names (legal, diplomatic, military, administrative, etc.), the presence of a special stock of vocabulary and phraseology (official, clerical), inclusion of complex abbreviations and abbreviations in the text;

4) frequent use of verbal nouns, nominal prepositions (based on, in relation to, in accordance with, in fact, by virtue of, for the purposes of, at the expense of, along the line, etc.), complex conjunctions (due to the fact that, due to the fact that , due to the fact that, due to the fact that, etc.). As well as various stable phrases that serve to connect parts of a complex sentence (in case...; on the basis that...; for the reason that...; with the condition that...; thus , that...; the fact that...; the fact that... etc.);

5) the narrative nature of the presentation, the use of nominative sentences with listing;

6) direct word order in a sentence as the predominant principle of its construction;

7) a tendency to use complex sentences that reflect the logical subordination of some facts to others;

8) almost complete absence of emotionally expressive speech means;

9) weak individualization of style.

The main feature of an official document is its standard form: all statements, powers of attorney, certificates and other business papers are written the same way. Since a significant part of the text of such papers is repeated in all documents of this type, for many of them there are forms on which the repeated text is already printed.

Language standards: drafting document text.

Many types of business documents have generally accepted forms of presentation and arrangement of material, and this undoubtedly makes them easier and simpler to use. It is no coincidence that in certain cases of business practice, ready-made forms are used that only need to be filled out.

It is customary to write envelopes in a certain order (different in different countries, but firmly established in each of them), and this has its advantage for both writers and postal workers. Therefore, all those speech clichés that simplify and speed up business communication are quite appropriate in it.

In speech, there are ready-made turns of phrase that are familiar to native speakers, which are easily reproduced in any situation. Such phrases are called cliches, which exist in all styles of speech.

Unlike clichés, cliches are hackneyed expressions with a faded lexical meaning and erased expressiveness. A speech full of cliches cannot be called expressive; on the contrary, it is a stylistic flaw.

Clericalisms are words and expressions used in an official business style. But when they penetrate other styles, it leads to a violation of stylistic norms.

Clerical notes: in pursuance of the decision, in order to avoid accidents, I attach to the application, present a certificate, place of residence, according to the order, state, cancel, make proposal(s), give preference, upon expiration of the contract, upon graduation, etc.

The form of each type of document is also stable, generally accepted, and standard. A stamp in an official style is justified and appropriate: it contributes to the accurate and concise presentation of business information and facilitates business correspondence.

As an official document, an autobiography has the following structure:

a) name of the document,

b) the text of the biography (it indicates, if possible, the exact dates of the events);

d) date of writing (under the text on the left). In the text of the biography, the writer indicates his last name, first name, patronymic; date, month, year and place of birth, family social affiliation; reports on education, labor and social activities.

Models of syntactic structures used in business correspondence:

We inform (you that) that...; We inform (you that) that...; we inform (you) of (that)…; We notify (you that) that... The joint stock company (company) is turning to (you) with a request (that)... or... with a request (to you) about...; the district administration expresses a wish (desire, hope for) ... or ... really hopes for ...; according to instructions...; thanks to instructions; in connection with the refusal... (decision, instructions, implementation, delay, difficulties, intended improvements, possible clarifications)...; in accordance with the agreement (plan, direction, implementation, improvement, success, clarification, implementation)…

Information required for a resume:

1. Last name, first name, patronymic.

2. Address, telephone.

3. Date of birth.

4. Marital status.

5. Education (name of educational institution, diploma qualification).

6. Work experience.

7. Additional information (computer skills, knowledge of foreign languages, etc.).

Example of an autobiography:

From 1967 to 1977 she studied at secondary school No. 285.

In 1977 she entered the history department of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute.

In September 1983, she worked as a teacher at secondary school No. 75 in Moscow.

From 1989 to the present I have been working as the director of the above-mentioned school.

Married. I have a daughter.

Husband – Vasiliev Pavel Igorevich, born on August 17, 1959. Currently works as a teacher at the Academy of Postgraduate Education.

Daughter – Vasilyeva Natalya Pavlovna, student.

I live at: 129311, Moscow, st. Academician Korolev, 30, apt. 74.

Used to compose documents, letters and business papers in institutions, courts and in any type of oral business communication, this is an official business style of speech.

General characteristics

This is a long-established, stable and rather closed style. Of course, it too underwent some changes over time, but they were insignificant. Genres that have developed historically, specific syntactic turns, morphology and vocabulary give it a rather conservative character.

To characterize the official business style, the language must be given dryness, compactness of speech, conciseness and the removal of emotionally charged words. Linguistic means already exist in a complete set for every case: these are the so-called language stamps or cliches.

List of some documents that require official business style:

• international treaties;
• government acts;
• legal laws;
• various regulations;
• military regulations and charters of enterprises;
• instructions of all kinds;
• official correspondence;
• various business papers.

General characteristics of linguistic style

Genres can be varied, content can be different, but the official business style also has common essential features. First and foremost: the statement must be accurate. If the possibility of different interpretations is allowed, this is no longer an official business style. There are examples even in fairy tales: execution cannot be pardoned. The only thing missing is a comma, but the consequences of this error can go very far.

To avoid such situations, there is a second main feature that the official business style of documents contains - this is the language standard. It is he who helps to choose lexical, morphological, syntactic language means when drawing up business documents.

The order of words in a sentence is particularly strict and conservatistic; here much goes against the direct word order inherent in the structure of the Russian language. The subject precedes the predicate (for example, the goods are sold), and definitions become stronger than the word being defined (for example, credit relations), the control word comes before the controlled word (for example, allocate a loan).

Each member of a sentence usually has a place unique to it, which is determined by the structure of the sentence and its type, its own role among other words, interaction and relationships with them. And the characteristic features of the official business style are long chains of genitive cases, for example: the address of the Head of the Territory Administration.

Vocabulary of style

The dictionary system includes, in addition to commonly used bookish neutral words, certain cliches - clericalisms, that is, linguistic cliches. This is part of the formal business style. For example: based on a decision, incoming documents, outgoing documents, upon expiration of a deadline, control over execution, and so on.

Here we cannot do without professional vocabulary, which includes neologisms: shadow business, arrears, black cash, alibi, and so on. The official business style also includes the inclusion of some archaisms in the lexical system, for example: this document, I certify with it.

However, the use of polysemantic words and words that have a figurative meaning is strictly prohibited. There are very few synonyms and they are included in the official business style extremely rarely. For example, solvency and creditworthiness, supply and delivery, as well as collateral, depreciation and amortization, subsidy and appropriation.

This reflects social experience, not individual experience, so the vocabulary is generalized. The conceptual series prefers generic concepts that fit well into the official business style. Examples: arrive instead of arrive, arrive, fly in, and so on; a vehicle instead of a car, plane, train, bus or dog sled; settlement instead of a village, a city, the capital of Siberia, a village of chemists, and so on.

So, the following elements of lexical constructions belong to the official business style.

• A high percentage of terminology in the texts: legal - law, owner and property, registration, transfer and acceptance of objects, privatization, deed, lease, and so on; economic - costs, subsidies, budget, purchase and sale, income, expenses, and so on; economic and legal - sequestration, implementation period, property rights, loan repayment, and so on.
• The nominal nature of the construction of speech due to the large number of verbal nouns, most often denoting a material action: shipment of goods, deferment of payment, and so on.
• High frequency of prepositional combinations and denominate prepositions: to the address, by force, in relation to the matter, by measure, and so on.
• Changing participles into adjectives and pronouns to enhance clerical meanings: this contract (or rules), current prices, appropriate measures, and so on.
• Regulated lexical compatibility: the transaction is only concluded, and the price is set, the right is granted, and the payment is made.

Morphology of style

Morphological features of the official business style include, first of all, the frequency (repeated) use of certain parts of speech, as well as their types, which help in the language’s desire for accuracy and ambiguity of statements. For example, these:

• nouns that name people based on action (tenant, taxpayer, witness);
• nouns that call people by position or rank, including women strictly in the masculine form (salesman Sidorova, librarian Petrova, sergeant Ivanova, inspector Krasutskaya, and so on);
• particle non- in verbal nouns (non-compliance, non-recognition);
• the use of derivative prepositions in a wide range (due to, in connection with, to the extent of, by virtue of, on the basis of, in relation to, and so on);
• constructions in the infinitive (to provide assistance, to conduct an inspection);
• present tense of verbs in a different meaning (a fine will be charged for non-payment);
• complex words with two or more stems (employer, tenant, repair and maintenance, material and technical, below-mentioned, above-mentioned, and so on).

Style syntax

The characteristics of the official business style consist of the following syntactic features:

• Simple sentences are used with many series of homogeneous members. For example: An administrative penalty may include fines for violations of labor protection and safety regulations in construction, industry, agriculture and transport in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
• There are passive structures of this type: payments are made strictly at the specified time.
• Nouns prefer the genitive case and are strung with beads: the results of the activities of customs control units.
• Complex sentences are filled with conditional clauses: in cases of subscribers’ disagreement with the processing of their personal data in terms of the methods and purposes of processing or in full, subscribers sign a corresponding statement when concluding a contract.

The sphere of official business style in genre diversity

Here, first, you need to highlight two areas of subject matter: official-documentary and everyday-business styles.

1. The official documentary style is divided into two categories: legislative documents related to the work of government bodies - the Constitution, charters, laws - this is one language (J), and diplomatic acts related to international relations - memoranda, communiqués, statements, conventions are a different language (K).

2. Everyday business style is also subdivided: correspondence between organizations and institutions is the j language, and private business papers are the k language. The genres of everyday business style include all official correspondence - commercial correspondence, business letters, as well as business papers - autobiography, certificate, act, certificate, statement, protocol, receipt, power of attorney, and so on. Standardization, characteristic of these genres, facilitates the preparation of papers, saves language resources and prevents information redundancy.

Standardization of business papers

Specially selected words in an official business style ensure communicative precision, giving documents legal force. Any piece of text must have a single interpretation and meaning. For such high accuracy, the same words, terms, names are repeated many times.

The form of the verbal noun complements the features of the official business style with an analytical expression of actions and processes: instead of the word “supplement” the phrase “make additions” is used, instead of “decide” - “make decisions” and so on. How much harsher it sounds to be “responsible” instead of just “responsible.”

Generalization and abstraction to the highest degree and at the same time the specific meaning of the entire lexical structure are the main features of the official business style. This inconceivable combination, used simultaneously, gives the document the possibility of a single interpretation and, in the totality of information, legal force. The texts themselves are full of terms and procedural vocabulary, and, for example, appendices to contracts contain nomenclature vocabulary. Questionnaires and registers, applications and specifications help terminology to be deciphered.

In addition to emotionally charged text, the use of any swear words, reduced vocabulary, jargon, or colloquial expressions in documents is unacceptable. Even professional jargon is inappropriate in the language of business correspondence. And most of all, because it does not meet the requirements of accuracy, since it is assigned strictly to the sphere of oral communication.

Oral business speech

The unemotional and dry logic of texts, the standard arrangement of material on paper differs significantly from oral speech, which is usually emotionally charged and asymmetrical according to the principles of textual organization. If oral speech is emphatically logical, the communication environment is clearly official.

The peculiarities of the official business style are that oral business communication, despite the professional topic, should proceed in the sphere of positive emotions - sympathy, trust, respect, goodwill.

This style can be considered in its varieties: clerical and business style is simpler, but the language of public administration, diplomatic or legal requires special attention. The areas of communication in these cases are completely different, therefore the style of communication must also be different. Statements, protocols, orders, decrees - everything that is thought out, written down, read, is not as dangerous as oral negotiations, business meetings, public speaking, and so on. The word, like a sparrow, cannot be caught if it flies out.

The main features of the formal business style of speech are brevity, accuracy and influence. To achieve these goals, you will need an appropriate selection of words, correctly composed structures, correct syntax, and standardization in your mind of entire blocks of prepared speech. Just as in written business text, there is no place for emotionally charged vocabulary in oral speech. It is better to choose a neutral one, to be closer to the standards of clerical language means in order to accurately state what is planned.

Details

The most striking characteristic of the official business style is not even the text itself, but all the essential elements of its design - the details. Each type of document has its own information set, provided for by GOST. Each element is strictly assigned to a specific place on the form. The date, name, registration number, information about the compiler and all other details are always located the same way - some at the top of the sheet, others at the bottom.

The number of details depends on the content and type of document. The sample form shows the maximum details and the order in which they are located on the document. These are the State Emblem of the Russian Federation, emblems of an organization or enterprise, images of government awards, code of an organization, enterprise or institution (All-Russian classifier of enterprises and organizations - OKPO), document form code (All-Russian classifier of management documentation - OKUD) and so on.

Stencilization

Machine processing, computerized office work - a new era in the process of standardization. Economic and socio-political life is becoming more complicated, technological progress is gaining momentum, therefore the features of the official business style are to justify economically the choice of one language option from all possible and to consolidate it in practice.

Using a stable formula, an accepted abbreviation, and a uniform arrangement of all material, drawing up a document is much faster and easier. This is how all standard and template letters, tables, questionnaires, etc. are compiled, which allows information to be encoded, ensuring the informative capacity of the text, with the ability to expand its full structure. Such modules are implemented into the text of contracts (lease, work, purchase and sale, etc.)

From fifty to seventy percent of word usage in a document is procedural vocabulary and terminology. The subject of the document determines the unambiguity of the context. For example: The Parties undertake to comply with the above rules. The word “parties”, used outside the document, is very ambiguous, but here we can read a purely legal aspect - the persons who enter into the agreement.

Among book styles, the official business style is the most clearly defined. It serves legal and administrative activities when communicating in government agencies, in court, during business and diplomatic negotiations: business speech provides the sphere of official business relations and functions in the field of law and politics. The official business style is implemented in the texts of laws, decrees, orders, instructions, contracts, agreements, orders, acts, in business correspondence of institutions, as well as in legal certificates, etc. Despite the fact that this style is subject to serious changes under influenced by socio-historical changes in society, it stands out among other functional varieties of language due to its stability, traditionalism, isolation and standardization.

The authors of the textbook “Culture of Russian Speech” note: “Business style is a set of linguistic means, the function of which is to serve the sphere of official business relations, that is, relations arising between state bodies, between or within organizations, between organizations and individuals in the process of their production, economic and legal activities.” And further: “The breadth of this sphere allows us to distinguish at least three substyles (varieties) of business style: 1) the actual official business style (clerical); 2) legal (the language of laws and decrees); 3) diplomatic" 1.

Standardization of business speech (primarily the language of mass standard documentation) is one of the most noticeable features of the official business style. The standardization process is developing mainly in two directions: a) the widespread use of ready-made, already established verbal formulas, stencils, stamps (for example, standard syntactic models with denominate prepositions in order, in connection with, in accordance with, etc., which is quite is natural, since it greatly simplifies and facilitates the process of compiling standard texts of business papers), b) in the frequent repetition of the same words, forms, phrases, structures, in the desire for uniformity in the ways of expressing thoughts in similar situations, in the refusal to use expressive means of language .

The process of standardization of business speech is closely related to the process of phraseologization. This can be seen in the examples of the use of verbonominants (verb-noun phrases) in numerous documentation, which in business language become a universal means and are often used instead of the actual verb forms parallel to them: provide assistance (instead of help), make repairs (instead of repair), carry out an investigation (instead of investigating), etc. Verbonominants widely penetrate business language due to the fact that in some cases their use becomes mandatory (there is no other way to say it): to allow a marriage, to commit a crime, to perform duties, to take a position, to assign responsibility . Their meaning may not coincide with the meaning of the verbs parallel to them: the combination to conduct a competition is not identical to the verb to compete. Verbonominants not only name the action, but also express certain additional semantic shades and accurately qualify certain phenomena. For example, hit-and-run is a terminological phrase that is the official name for a certain type of road accident.

Other features of the official business style (besides standardization) are accuracy, imperativeness, objectivity and documentation, specificity, formality, and conciseness.

The linguistic means of the official business style form a relatively closed system, the basis of which is specific units of three levels: lexical, morphological and syntactic.

At the lexical level, in addition to commonly used and neutral words, we can distinguish: a) words and phrases used mainly in official documents and fixed in administrative and clerical speech (proper, due, above, undersigned, failure to fulfill, forward, bearer, guarantor, protect rights and freedom, ensure equality, etc.); b) terms, professionalisms and phrases of a terminological nature, which is determined by the content of official documents (the most common terms are legal, diplomatic, accounting: act, collection, legislation, respondent, recall (ambassador), ratify, applicant, etc.).

Many of the words with the coloring of an official business style form antonymic pairs: plaintiff - defendant, democracy - dictatorship, punished - acquitted, aggravating - mitigating (circumstances), etc.

In connection with the streamlining of the approach to terminology, two concepts-terms began to be distinguished: “vocabulary with the coloring of an official business style” and “clericalism”. The first name reflects the place of the corresponding words in the system of general literary language, their functional and stylistic coloring. For example, the lexical units recipient (this) or due, non-subordinate, undersigned, compensation, appeal, collection, discovery, superior, etc. in business documents should be considered functionally colored. The second name, “clericalisms,” can refer to the same lexical units, but only when they are unintentionally used in a text with a different stylistic overtones, for example, in a journalistic or colloquial style, i.e. in cases of functionally unjustified transfer 2 . For example, in N. Kislik’s poem we read: “I am writing to you - everything is to you. I’ve loaded the communications service up to capacity...” The phrase “communication service” can be attributed to clericalism (though it performs a certain stylistic function in this literary text). In the lexical system of the official business style, it is not clericalisms that function, but words with the coloring of the official business style. A specific feature of the lexical system of the official business style is also the presence in it of archaisms and historicisms, often used in the nominative function (for example, in the texts of diplomatic documents - assurance of respect, this, such, that, His Majesty, His Excellency, sir, etc. ). This style completely lacks slang, colloquial words, dialectisms, and words with an emotionally expressive connotation. Often used here are complex abbreviations for elephants, abbreviated names of various organizations and institutions (ZhREO, ZhES, research institutes, Central Design Bureau, KTS, Labor Code, student council, trade union committee, workshop, etc.).

Notes:

1. Culture of Russian speech. M., 1998. P. 216.

2. The reason for the penetration of elements of the official business style, for example, into everyday speech can be explained by the widespread mass mastery of this style.

T.P. Pleschenko, N.V. Fedotova, R.G. Taps. Stylistics and culture of speech - Mn., 2001.