Officially- business style used in the field of business and official relations between people and institutions, in the field of law, legislation. Official business speech is characterized by precision of formulation (which would eliminate ambiguity of understanding), a certain impersonality and dryness of presentation (it is brought up for discussion, not we bring it up for discussion; cases of non-fulfillment of the contract are noted, etc.), a high degree of standardization, reflecting a certain order and regulation of business relations.

In connection with these properties of the official business style, stable, clichéd phrases play a big role in it: to impute a duty, due to absence, to take action, for lack of it, after the expiration of a deadline, etc. A striking sign of business style are combinations with verbal nouns: establishing control, eliminating deficiencies, implementing a program, checking execution, etc.

A significant number of speech genres are distinguished here: law, resolution, communiqué, diplomatic note, treaty, instruction, announcement, report, explanatory note, complaint, statement, various types judicial investigative documentation, indictment, examination report, verdict, etc.

It is also necessary to take into account the conditions of communication, which in the business sphere determine the appearance of such a typical feature of the official business style as standardization (pattern, form). Since everything in legal relations is regulated, and communication is carried out according to certain standards that facilitate this communication, the speech standard, the template, turns out to be inevitable, necessary and even expedient and justified.

Due to the obligatory prescriptive nature and the need to formulate legal norms, business speech is also characterized by a special way of presentation. Narration, reasoning and description are not presented here in their “pure” form.

Since in the texts of state acts it is usually necessary not to prove something (analysis and argumentation precedes the compilation of these texts), but to establish and regulate, then these texts, in general, are not characterized by reasoning. The absence of this method sharply distinguishes the official business style from the scientific one, which is similar in a number of other features. This method of presentation, such as storytelling, is also not typical for the business sphere of communication, since there is no need to talk about any events. Only in such genres as a protocol, a report, partly an agreement, and some parts of a resolution (statements) is there an appeal to a narrative style of presentation.

There are almost no “pure” descriptions in business speech. What looks outwardly like a description actually turns out to be a special prescriptive-statistical way of presentation, in which, for example, behind the present tense forms of the verb there is a subtext of obligation.

Formal business style is divided into two varieties, two substyles - official-documentary and everyday-business.

Each of the subtypes of official business style is unique. For example, the language of diplomacy has its own lexical system, rich in international terms (communiqué, attache, doyen); it uses etiquette words (king, queen, prince, Shahinshah, His Highness, His Excellency, etc.); The syntax of the language of diplomacy is characterized by long sentences, extended periods with branched conjunctions, with participles and participial phrases, infinitive constructions, introductory and isolated expressions.

The language of laws is the official language, the language of government, in which it speaks to the population. It requires precision in the expression of thoughts, generality, a complete lack of individualization of speech, and standard presentation.

Official correspondence is characterized, first of all, by high standardization. The existence of models and their speech variants, i.e. standards, greatly facilitates the preparation of business letters. Business letters are composed, not written. Brevity and accuracy - also required attributes business letters.

It should be written briefly and clearly and business papers(application, autobiography, receipt, etc.). They are compiled in a certain form.

Linguistic features of official business style

Vocabulary. 1. The lexical system of official business style includes, in addition to general book and neutral words, words and stable phrases that have the coloring of an official business style. For example: proper, above, forwarded, recipient, present (meaning “this”).

• 2. The second feature of the lexical system of the official business style is the presence in it large quantity words belonging to professional (legal and diplomatic) terminology. For example: legislation, conduct, act, powers, collection, legal entity, recall, review.
• 3. The vocabulary of the official business style is characterized by a complete absence of slang, colloquial words, dialectisms and words with an emotionally expressive connotation.
• 4. A feature of this style is also the presence stable phrases attribute-nominal type with an official business character: cassation appeal, one-time benefit, established procedure (usually in the prepositional case: “in in the prescribed manner"), preliminary examination, conviction, acquittal.
• 5. The specificity of the lexical system of the official business style is the presence in it of archaisms, as well as historicisms. Archaisms: this, that, such, assurance of respect. Historicisms: His Excellency, Your Majesty. The named lexical units are found in certain genres of official business documents, for example, historicisms in government notes.
• 6. From a number of synonyms in the official business style, words are always selected that express the will of the legislator, such as, for example, decree, oblige, prohibit, permit, etc., but not say, advise.
• 7. Many of the words of the official business style appear in antonymous pairs: rights - duties, plaintiff - defendant, democracy - dictatorship, prosecutor - lawyer, accusatory - acquittal. Note that these are not contextual, but rather linguistic antonyms.

Morphology. 1. Among the nouns, names of people are used in an official business style based on a characteristic determined by some action or attitude; for example: tenant, tenant, adoptive parent, plaintiff, defendant.

• 2. Nouns denoting positions and ranks are used here only in the masculine form: witness Ivanova, police officer Sidorova.
• 3. Verbal nouns are widely represented: exile, deprivation, execution, finding, liberation; among them, verbal nouns with the prefix non-: non-fulfillment, non-compliance, non-recognition occupy a special place.
• 4. To avoid inaccuracies, the noun is not replaced by a pronoun and is repeated even in a nearby sentence.
• 5. The “morphological sign” of the official business style is the use of complex denominative prepositions: for purposes, in relation to, on the subject, in force, in part, etc. Their stylistic coloring is revealed when compared with simple prepositions and conjunctions involved in the formalization of similar relations ; compare: for the purpose of preparation - to prepare, for preparation; due to violation - due to violation.
• 6. In formal business style there is the highest among functional styles Russian language percentage of infinitive compared to other verb forms. Often this ratio reaches a proportion of 5:1, while in scientific speech it is equal to 1:5.

This quantitative increase in the share of the infinitive is associated with the goal of most official business documents - to express the will, the establishment of the legislator.

7. Of the conjugated forms, the forms of the present tense are most often used here, but with something different, in comparison with scientific style, meaning. This meaning is defined as "present prescription", as opposed to "present timeless", which is common in scientific style.

Syntax. 1. Of the syntactic constructions that have the coloring of an official business style, we note phrases that include complex denominative prepositions: in part, along the line, on the subject, in order to avoid, as well as a combination with the preposition by and prepositional case, expressing a temporary meaning: upon return, upon reaching.

• 2. The need for detailed presentation and reservations explains the complication of simple sentences with numerous isolated phrases, homogeneous members, often lined up in a long chain of points. This entails an increase in the size of a sentence (including a simple one) to several hundred word uses.
• 3. The percentage of complex sentences is relatively low, especially with subordinate clauses; the number of means of expressing logic and consistency of presentation in business speech is three times less than in scientific speech. Characteristic, however, is the widespread use of conditional constructions, since many texts (codes, charters, instructions) require stipulating the conditions of offenses and law and order.
• 4. In many genres of official business texts, infinitive constructions with the meaning of “ought” are widely represented, for example: The specified decisions must be announced to the public.
• 5. The syntax of the official business style is characterized by “stringing the genitive case,” i.e. the use of complex phrases with several dependent components in the genitive case form without a preposition.
• 6. The official business style, like the scientific one, is also characterized by an objective word order, and

Grammatical features of official business style

Comparison of business, scientific, journalistic (newspaper) and literary texts allows us to highlight some grammatical features of the official business style:

1. Predominant use of simple sentences (usually narrative, personal, general, complete). Interrogative and exclamatory sentences practically never occur. Of the one-part ones, only impersonal ones are actively used and in some types of documents (orders, official letters) - definitely personal ones: For the purpose of... it is necessary to highlight...; In case... it will be necessary to reduce...; I order...; Please note...

From complex sentences non-union and complex subordinate clauses with subordinate explanatory, attributive, conditional, reasons and goals, as well as constructions like... fulfilled contractual conditions are more common, which allows... Widespread use of constructions with denominate prepositions (In the order of supervision...; In connection with refusal...; ...due to under-delivery of materials) allows you to avoid the use of complex sentences with subordinate clauses of reason, purpose, conditional. Subordinate clauses of place and time are generally rarely used.

Characteristic for legal, administrative and social activities. For such a phenomenon as the culture of speech, the official business style is very important, because with its help documents and business papers relating to government tasks, court cases and diplomatic communication are drawn up. It is characterized by isolation, stability of many speech patterns, specific vocabulary and special syntactic patterns. Documents written in a formal business manner are compact and filled with cliches and linguistic cliches. These are international treaties, government decrees and acts, legal laws and court decisions, various charters and official correspondence, as well as other types of business papers that differ in the accuracy of presentation and language standard.

This is a special culture of speech. The official business style, in addition to cliches and language clichés, includes an abundance of professional terminology and archaisms. When using this style, ambiguous words are not used at all. Documents also avoid synonyms, and if they are used, their style is also strictly adhered to and the vocabulary is, as it were, shackled within a framework, beyond which it is prohibited.

But the official business style uses nouns in abundance, naming people based on their activities; positions are always called in the masculine gender. Words with a particle are often used not as antonyms for the same words when they are used without a negative particle. Compound and infinitives are also popular in business documents to denote actions performed or being performed. Quite a large place in this style of speech is given to complex words.

Formal business style gives preference to homogeneous members. Passive constructions are also often used, that is, impersonal sentences without indicating the person performing the action. Genitive nouns form a chain of syntactic constructions, sentences are often very common and burdened with subordinate clause conditions.

The official business style has two varieties: official-documentary and everyday business. The first group is the language of such legislative acts as the Constitution Russian Federation and its subjects, charters and programs of parties, as well as diplomatic documents of international importance, such as communiques, memorandums, conventions, etc. The second group includes the language used in the process of conducting official correspondence and drawing up private business papers. These include various certificates, business letters, powers of attorney, advertisements, statements, receipts, autobiographies, etc. It is known how standardized the listed papers are, which greatly facilitates their preparation. The information they contain is brief and used in minimal quantities.

It is known that English is a means international communication. Therefore, formal business style English language used in diplomatic settings when business papers need to be translated. The types of business speech in this case are determined by the sphere of use. Trade agreements and contracts are conducted in the style of commercial correspondence. In the legal field, the language of codes, statutes, state and parliamentary decisions is used. The language of militarized business papers stands out separately.

Thus, the official business style of the English language is intended to serve as a tool with the help of which the parties understand the essence of the matter, which leads to the signing of various agreements.

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 institutions, court, as well as in different types 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 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.

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 traits find their expression:

• a) in the selection of linguistic means (lexical, morphological and syntactic);
• b) in the preparation of business documents.

Let's consider the features of official business style.

The main area in which the official business style operates is administrative and legal activity. This style satisfies society's need for documentation 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.

Texts of official business style of speech represent a huge variety of genres: charter, law, order, regulation, contract, instruction, complaint, recipe, various kinds of statements, autobiography, explanatory note, 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. The genres of official business style perform informational, prescriptive, and ascertaining functions in various fields of activity, therefore the main form of implementation of this style is written.

Despite the differences in the content of individual genres and the degree of their complexity, official business speech has common style features: accuracy of presentation, not allowing for differences in interpretation; detail of presentation; stereotyping, standard presentation; the dutifully prescriptive nature of the presentation. To this we can add such features as formality, rigor of expression of thought, objectivity, logic - which is characteristic of scientific speech.

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 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 standard design of many business documents (personnel records sheet, questionnaire, receipt for payment of housing and communal services, etc.).

Consider an example: “When studying any international agreement, and in particular an agreement on the elimination of double taxation, it is first necessary to clearly define its scope in two aspects:

• - taxes covered by the agreement;
• - territories covered by the agreement.”

Even in this short passage there are words and phrases with an official legal connotation (international agreement, double taxation, taxes), the phrase “needs to be determined” expressing the obligation, such features as the severity of expression of thought, impartial statement, complete impersonality of presentation.

The official business style is characterized by a tendency to reduce the number of meanings of words, up to narrow terminology. Therefore, texts of this style often provide precise definitions of the words and concepts used. Polysemy (polysemy), metaphorical use of words, use of words in figurative meanings are unacceptable, synonyms are used to an insignificant extent (as a rule, they belong to the same style).

Typical for business language are difficult words, formed from two or more words: tenant, employer, material and technical, above mentioned, below named, etc. The formation of such words is explained by the desire of business language to accurately convey meaning and unambiguous interpretation. The same purpose is served by phrases of a “non-idiomatic” nature, for example, destination, higher educational institution, tax return, joint stock company, housing cooperative and so on. The uniformity of such phrases and their high repetition lead to the clichédness of the linguistic means used, which gives the texts of an official business style a standard character.

Official business speech reflects not individual, but social experience, as a result of which its vocabulary is extremely generalized in semantic terms, i.e. Everything that is sharply unique, concrete, and unique has been eliminated, and the typical has been brought to the fore.

Business speech is characterized by the use of verbal nouns (replenishing the budget, providing housing, serving the population, taking measures) and participles (given, indicated, above-named). Complex denominative prepositions are widely used (in part, along the line, on the subject, in order to avoid, upon reaching, upon returning).

Typically, a sentence contains a fairly large amount of information and is designed to be read again. Simple sentences are often complicated by homogeneous members, which is due to the need to exhaust the subject of the message. Passive structures are actively used; complex sentences with subordinate clause: “The procedure for conducting the meeting and examining additional evidence, if it has been presented, to the appellate instance is determined by the presiding officer. By general rule First, explanations from the persons participating in the case and their representatives are heard. First, the person who filed the appeal and his representative speak. In the event of an appeal by both parties, the plaintiff will act first.”

In this passage, the first sentence is a complex sentence with a subordinate clause. In the following sentences there are several participles (participating, submitting), a passive verb (being heard), a complex denominative preposition (in the case). Strict logic and precision of presentation determine the sequence of actions in the presented situation. This text acts as a regulation and establishes the procedure for considering an appeal.

Sometimes, after reading the next contract, you understand why it is customary to use specially trained people to work with them. This happens due to the peculiarities of the official business style, making it difficult to understand. But this manner of presentation also has its advantages, otherwise its use would have been abandoned long ago.

Signs of an official business style of speech

Of course, for us the main indicators of the officiality of a document are the seal of the organization and the signature of the responsible person, but when we're talking about Regarding the style of speech, completely different signs come to the fore.

1. Objectivity, information content and reliability.
2. The absence of words that can be interpreted in two ways.
3. Impeccable construction of phrases and documents from a legal point of view.
4. Conciseness of wording, the desire for maximum brevity, the use of complex sentences with frequent use of complex conjunctions and verbal nouns.
5. Neutrality of presentation, lack of emotional coloring, preference for direct word order, almost complete disregard for individualization of style.
6. The use of speech cliches when constructing phrases.
7. Using standard phrases to describe typical situations.
8. Logic of presentation, its narrative character.

All these features of the official business style of speech make it the most closed and stable among all book styles. Time brings its changes to this language, but the main points - phraseological units, specific speech and syntactic turns - remain unchanged. In other styles of speech, the use of cliches has long been considered a disadvantage, but in formal conversations they are welcome. Actually, this kind of templated text, combined with a lack of emotional coloring and a large number of enumerations, which are also a sign of the official style, is what makes documents so difficult to read and.

The purpose of the formal business style of speech

At first glance, all this linguistic rigidity and conservatism were invented to emphasize the isolation of business from other spheres of life. As a result, the average person receives headache from trying to understand all the intricacies, and is forced to pay money to specialists.

On the one hand, this is true, a number of specialists (document specialists, lawyers, archivists) are partly translators from official business speech to colloquial speech, understandable to the majority of the population. But you shouldn’t look for the tenacious clutches of a global conspiracy here, because on the other hand, the official business style of speech is designed to minimize the likelihood of errors and simplify work with various kinds of documentation. IN colloquial speech we often use expressions with strong emotional overtones, love ambiguity, often use argot and do not disdain irony. Can you imagine what, for example, a supply agreement written spoken language? On compliance with delivery deadlines, liability for violation of the agreement and the conformity of the delivered goods ordered could be forgotten. That is, a special style of presentation for official papers was created to eliminate the possibility of speculation and different interpretations information depending on the education of the people working with them. And to speed up work with various kinds of documents, drafting standards have been invented. Everything is regulated: from the location of the details to the order in which the address is written on the envelope. This allows you to quickly find the information you need without revising the entire document. For example, an accountant paying for the rental of premises is only interested in the terms of payment, details and duration of the contract. The clear structure of the document allows you to quickly access this information; otherwise, the time for processing the contract would greatly increase.

Officially, the business style of speech is used in the interaction of people in the field of business and management. The focus of the official business style of speech is quite broad: jurisprudence, criminal and administrative law.

The features are such that it must be built according to certain rules. No free impulses or independent introductions are allowed here. The need to follow clear standards helps to become a successful and respected person.

It may seem to some that the official business style of speech is characterized by excessive rigor in design, but it should be noted that this necessary requirement, which is observed for better delivery and perception of information by the opponent. But, once you have mastered a certain template, you can create several hundred similar requests.

Formal – business style of speech. Signs

The features of the official business style of speech are quite recognizable and easily applicable in any area that involves following established norms and procedures. Learning how to write business letters may seem like a daunting task at first, but once you learn the parameters, you can master formal messages much faster than expected.

Ultimate accuracy

Perhaps this is the most main characteristic, which determines the success of the entire enterprise. Main feature The official business style of speech is its stability, consistency in the composition of phrases and figures of speech. Once mastered this complex language, you will no longer experience significant difficulties: you will have ready-made templates to various situations in which you can safely act.

You need to be very attentive and interested in the matter in order to avoid any mistakes when drawing up important document. Extreme precision completely eliminates the possibility of interpreting written words in two ways. For this reason, the official text can hardly be understood differently, or put into it a different meaning than the one that the interlocutor wants to convey to you.

Strict nature of presentation

In business letters you will not find any individual focus or even interest in the individual. From the outside, the official language looks deliberately dry and pragmatic. Don't expect a lot of creativity or strong emotions from an official document. A business letter or speech has a clear purpose - to convey specific information to the interlocutor. It is best to do this precisely when there are no lyrical digressions or distractions. The strict nature of the presentation guarantees an extremely accurate understanding of the main meaning.

Stereotypical phrase construction

As a rule, all official papers are somewhat similar to each other. This impression is created because the text is written based on an existing template to facilitate its composition and subsequent perception. If people approached every insignificant document as if they were creating an original work of authorship, they would have neither the energy nor the time to work. In official business documents you can find quite common phrases, such as: “Based on the above”, “It should be noted”, “Please note”

Consistency and logic of presentation

In business speech you will not encounter chaos or any exceptions to the rules. All necessary information always served depending on the specific purpose and tasks that need to be solved. The chance of getting confused in the presented material is negligible. Official - business style of speech always implies a logical presentation of information and according to a strictly defined template. Perhaps people of creative professions will not really like this, but from time to time they also need to conclude contracts and sign important papers. Knowledge business communication will never be redundant!

The information is prescriptive in nature.

To an outside observer, it may sometimes seem that such an overly dry style contains only instructive information and has nothing to do with the real state of affairs. Actually this is not true. It’s just that the official style requires a detailed and scrupulous immersion in the situation, a detailed consideration of all the details.

Genres of official - business style of speech

It is traditional to highlight the following main directions. All of them are strongly interconnected, but each individually also deserves attention.

• Clerical focus. This includes business papers, memos, official letters to clients and suppliers of goods. Managers of serious enterprises know own experience, how much work it sometimes takes to compose such a text and how much effort needs to be put into it. Creating competent, constructive content is the key to the success of the development and prosperity of your business. With the help of business letters, you can advertise your services and expand the boundaries of your activities.
• Diplomatic focus. Drawing up contracts and creating special appeals addressed to other companies also requires serious preparation and knowledge of certain things. It is necessary to present information as accurately, clearly and consistently as possible, highlighting the main thing and identifying the positions of each interested party. Diplomatic orientation often helps people find a way out of difficult situations.
• Legal orientation. This may include rules, laws, criminal and administrative codes. To correctly draw up all these legal and other forms of documents, you must have special knowledge. Drawing up contracts is notoriously difficult. A competent specialist needs time to master this information.

Thus, the official business style of speech finds wide application in jurisprudence, banking and investment. A business person needs to be able to correctly draw up contracts, draw up documents, communicate productively with clients, plan working hours. And all this cannot be achieved without special knowledge.