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Contents

Introduction
4

Chapter   1.   Contracts.   General    characteristics    and    types
      7
 1.          English          of          documents’          writing
      7
 2.   Theoretical   problems   of   the   language    of    documents
             13
 3.  The  structure   of   contract   and   its   essential   clauses
               15
 4.         Types         of         contracts.          Abbreviation
           19

Chapter     2.     Linguistic      peculiarities      of      contract
         23
2.1.  Contract as a type of text  and  its  stylistic  characteristics
               23
2.2.        Grammatical        peculiarities        of        contract
         26
2.3.         Lexical         peculiarities         of         contract
               32

Conclusion
      38

References
42
                                Introduction

  The interest  to  the  problem  of  drawing  up  contracts  is  not
occasional. Nowadays more and more people are getting involved in  the
world of business relationships. As a result of  it,  business  people
need specialists possessing knowledge of the English language used for
writing documents.
  Any serious deal should be struck with the help  of  contracts  and
agreements. A written form of agreements is a guarantee that different
people, for example Buyers and Sellers, will cooperate  in  accordance
with a certain business strategy, and their interests  will  be  taken
into consideration by their partners.
  A contract makes clear such  things  as  quantity  and  quality  of
goods, their prices, delivery  terms,  order  of  payment,  and  other
terms. Contract serves to make a business operation smooth and  logic.
It also proves seriousness of contracting parties  and  defines  their
responsibilities before each other. An honest word of  a  businessman,
as well, should be reflected in a contract of a different kind. It  is
called intentions agreement and is a manifestation of  a  wish  to  do
business. That is, every step and stage of a business deal  should  be
supported in a legal way, in an official form.
  The  chosen  problem  has  appeared  to  be  very  urgent,  because
linguistics lacks  its  precise  description.  There  is  a  clear-cut
between formal and informal styles of English, but there is no  strict
difference between spoken and  written  business  English.  Obviously,
businessmen do not communicate with their companions  using  intricate
phrases and bookish words. Still, they are obliged to use some  formal
clichйs which may  sound  strange  to  non-business  people,  but  are
essential for conducting business. Anyway, in  the  research  we  have
been trying to investigate the written part of business procedure, and
to   analyse   texts   of   contracts   considering   their   specific
peculiarities.
  Another thing to be mentioned is that there are very few scientific
researches devoted to the problem of drawing up business documents. As
a result of it, theory of writing business papers, on  the  one  hand,
reflects  highly  subjective  approaches.  On  the  other  hand,  such
approaches are not unified in accordance with existing rules of formal
English which is also greatly influenced  by  informal  English.  Such
influence really exists, but there are no accepted criteria about what
changes should be taken into consideration. That  is  why  people  who
draw up contracts suffer quite  understandable  problems:  How  should
they do it to sound correct in the foreign language?  To  what  degree
should they be formal in  the  text  of  contract,  if  even  English-
speaking people meet difficulties of a special kind in drawing a  line
between formal and informal English? However, these problems are  side
problems of making up contracts here.
  The object of the research, thus, is a contract  as  a  part  of  a
business deal and a type of  written  business  English.  Its  subject
comprises investigation of  linguistic  peculiarities  of  a  contract
which make technique of its writing obligatory for people involved  in
drawing up business documents.
  The purpose of the research  is  to  investigate  peculiarities  in
texts  of  contracts.   It   is   performed   through   comprehension,
interpretation and analysis of contractual essential clauses,  all  of
them illustrated by examples from texts of contracts.
  The solution of the aim claims for doing  away  with  a  number  of
certain tasks, such as:
1. to point out main features of formal English  as  the  language  of
  business correspondence;
2. to describe the structure of contract and to single  out  its  main
  clauses which are characteristic of this type of documents;
3. to expose  peculiarities  of  contract  dividing  them  into  three
  general groups of stylistic, grammatical and lexical peculiarities.
  In order to solve these tasks the author of the research  has  used
methods  of  studying  and  analysis  of  theoretical  literature  and
practical  manuals  on  the  problem;  the  methods  of   observation,
description, means of syntactic and semantic analyses.
  The  research  has  been  performed  in  four  interrelated  steps.
Analysis of literature on the problem has  logically  been  the  first
stage. After it, theoretical basis of the research has been  compiled.
Then the author  has  picked  up  examples  illustrating  grammatical,
lexical  and  stylistic   peculiarities   of   contracts.   At   last,
generalisation of  results  of  the  research  and  drawing  up  final
conclusions have been performed.
  In fact, linguistic peculiarities of contracts in  comparison  with
their structure and functioning in the business world  have  not  been
investigated thoroughly enough yet. There are either  economic  papers
on forms and types of contracts, or linguistic researches on stylistic
peculiarities of formal English. To state a connection  between  those
kinds of  data  and  make  links  between  them  describing  texts  of
contracts and to analyse their distinguishing features  are  the  main
factors of scientific novelty of the research.
  The  practical  significance  of  the  research  is   in   possible
application of its results in practice by people who are interested in
drawing up contracts and in the way of doing it correctly. It  can  be
also be of an interest  for  people  studying  problems  of  style  in
English and functional  usage  of  formal  and  informal  styles.  The
results of the research can be taken into  consideration  by  students
and instructors of English and English stylistics. As well they can be
used as material for special courses on business English for  students
of linguistic and economic departments.
  The examples for analysis have  been  selected  by  the  method  of
overwhelming excerption from texts of contracts dated different years.
This fact can be a basis for comparison of linguistic devices used  in
them. In order to make analysis of examples more precise,  the  author
has used data not only of  linguistic,  but  those  ones  of  economic
dictionaries as well.
  The structure of the research includes introduction, two  chapters,
seven paragraphs, conclusion and references. The total volume  of  the
research is 43 pages.
Chapter 1. Contracts. Their general characteristics and types
   1. English of documents’ writing
  A document in its any appearance has always been an important  part
of  business  doing.  Business  contracts   are   impossible   without
correspondence all over the world. It does  not  matter,  whether  you
communicate with your partner on the phone (orally) or through telexes
(in writing). All decisions and terms must be confirmed by documents.
  All  business  papers,  both  correspondence  (letters),   telexes,
enquiries, offers, claims (complaints) and contracts (agreements)  are
normally associated with striking business deals and their  procedure.
Such documents are made up and signed “by a  judicious  authority  and
are of legal importance”  [5,  P.7].  As  a  result  of  it,  business
documents are written in  accordance  with  some  officially  accepted
forms, common for everybody who wants to do business.
  The official business language is sometimes called officialese  and
differs from other kinds of the English language,  mostly  because  of
specific character of its functional usage, which can  be  illustrated
in classical terms of style, its predestination, and main features.
  A functional style of a language is characterised by the greater or
less typification of its  constituents  and  supra-phrasal  units,  in
which the choice and arrangement of  interdependent  linguistic  means
are calculated to secure the purpose of communication [3, P.312].
  The style of official documents is divided into sub-styles  of  the
language of   business  documents,  legal  documents,  diplomacy,  and
military documents. The aim of the style of official documents  is  to
state conditions binding two parties in an undertaking  and  to  reach
agreement between them.
  General features of the style of English of documents’ writing  are
the following:
  1) conventionality of expression;
  2) absence of emotiveness;
  3)  encoded   character   of   the   language   system   (including
     abbreviations);
  4) general syntactical mode  of  combining  several  pronouncements
     into one sentence [3, P.316].
  The syntactical pattern of business correspondence style is made up
from compositional patterns of variants of this style which have their
own designs. The form of a document itself is informative, because  it
tells something about the matter dealt with. From the viewpoint of its
stylistic structure, the whole document is one sentence. It looks like
separate, shaped clauses often divided by commas  or  semicolons,  and
not by full stops, often numbered. Every predicate construction begins
with a capital letter in the form of a participial  or  an  infinitive
construction.

e.g. 3. Claims
   3.1. In case  of  non-confirmity  of  the  quality  of  the  goods
actually delivered by Sellers with  the  contract  specification,  any
claim concerning the quality of the goods may be presented within  two
months of the date of delivery;
   3.2. No claim to be considered by Sellers after expiration of  the
above period;
   3.3. No claim presented for one lot of the goods shall be regarded
by Buyers as a reason for rejecting any other lot or lots of the goods
to be delivered under the present contract;
   3.4. ……… [6, P.202].

  This structurally illogical way of combining definite ideas has its
sense. It serves to  show  the  equality  of  the  items  and  similar
dependence of participial and infinitive  constructions  or  predicate
constructions.
  One of the most striking features of this style is usage  of  words
in their logical dictionary meaning. There is no room  for  contextual
meanings or for any kind of simultaneous realisation of two  meanings.
Words with emotive meanings are not  to  be  found  there  either  [3,
P.31].
  Every type of business  documents  has  its  own  set  phrases  and
clichйs which  may sound strange in colloquial English, e.g.  invoice,
book value, currency clause, promissory note, assets, etc. If a person
wants to avoid misunderstanding, he  /  she  should  use  glossary  of
commercial terms, and vice versa.
  Indeed, there are many differences in the vocabulary of formal  and
informal business correspondence. Much vocabulary of formal English is
of the French, Latin and Greek origin. They are often translated  into
informal language by replacing them by words or phrases of the  Anglo-
Saxon origin.
  e.g.  Formal style                    Informal style
       commence                         begin, start
       conclude                         end, finish, stop
       prolong, continue                go on
  Let us compare examples where these words  are  used  in  different
styles.
  e.g.  I am informing you that the meeting will commence at  4  p.m.
(formal)
       I’d like to remind you that the meeting  will  begin  at  4p.m.
(informal)
       The meeting concluded with signing the contract. (formal)
       The meeting ended with signing the contract. (informal)
  Phrasal and prepositional  verbs  are  characteristic  of  informal
style, that is why they are not used in business correspondence. Their
formal equivalents are used in official texts instead.
            Formal style     Informal style
            discover                          find out
            explode                           blow up
            encounter                         come across
            invent                            make up
            investigate                             look into
  e.g. In case of discovering discrepancy of quality and quantity  of
      the product inform us immediately.
  Spoken English is full of various  vocabulary,  both  standard  and
slangy. We also have here different connectors, such as well, you see,
a kind of which cannot be  used  in  written  business  English,  both
logically and stylistically. They are logically excluded because of  a
little amount of information they convey. Business documents,  on  the
contrary, convey a lot of information in  almost  any  word.  Thus,  a
person should be aware of these factors and not mix up colloquial  and
business English, drawing up a document.
  Informal terms have emotive qualities  which  are  not  present  in
formal language. Formal language often insists on a  greater  deal  of
preciseness. But the problem is  that  there  are  not  always  proper
equivalents in formal and informal English. The informal word job, for
instance, has no formal equivalent. Instead of it, we have to look for
a more restricted in usage and a more precise term, according  to  the
context, among  possible  variants:  employment,  post  (esp.  Br.E.),
position, appointment, vocation, etc. [16, P.12 – 13]
  Business English is formal. We use it in  business  correspondence,
official reports and regulations.  Actually,  it  is  always  written.
Exceptionally it is used in speech,  for  example,  in  formal  public
speeches.  There  are  various  degrees  of  formality,  like  in  the
examples:
  e.g.   After  his  father’s  death,  he  had  to  change  his  job.
(informal)
       On the disease of his  father,  he  was  obliged  to  seek  for
       alternative employment. (formal)
  These sentences mean roughly the same  idea,  but  would  occur  in
different situations. The first sentence  is  fairly  neutral  (common
core) style, while the second one is very formal, in fact stilted, and
would only occur in a written business report.
  In general, grammar rules of spoken sentences are rather simple and
less constructed than grammar  of  written  sentences,  especially  in
agreements. It is more difficult to divide a spoken conversation  into
separate sentences, and connections between one clause and  the  other
are less clear  because  the  speaker  relies  more  on  the  hearer’s
understanding of the context and situation, as well as on his  ability
to interrupt if he fails to understand. The speaker is able to rely on
features of intonation which tells us a  great  deal  that  cannot  be
reflected in written punctuation.
  The grammar use in business correspondence is also different  about
the pronouns who and whom, and the place of prepositions:
  e.g. She wanted a partner  for  her  business  in  whom  she  could
       confide. (formal)
         She  longed  for  a  partner  (who)  she  could  confide  in.
(informal)
       In what country was he born? (formal)
       What country was he born in? (informal)
  Formal written language often goes  impersonal  style.  That  means
that one doesn’t refer directly to himself / herself or to his  /  her
readers,  but  avoids  pronouns.  Some  of  the  common  features   of
impersonal  language  are  passive  sentences   beginning   with   the
introductory word it and abstract nouns. The effect of the change into
a passive construction is to reverse the focus from the subject to the
object of speech.
  Abstract  nouns,  especially  amount  words  (majority,   minority,
amount), specify more precisely the meaning of an utterance.
  e.g.                 Announcement from the librarian
      It has been noted with concern that the stock of  books  in  the
   library has been  declining  alarmingly.  Students  are  asked  to
   remind themselves of the rules for the  borrowing  and  return  of
   books, and to bear in mind the needs of other students.  Penalties
   for overdue books will in the future be  strictly  enforced.  [16,
   P.13]
  It is a very formal and impersonal message which  could  have  been
written in a more informal and less impersonal way, achieved by  usage
of  phrasal  verbs,  contractions,  colloquial   phrases   and   other
linguistic means:
                             Librarian’s message
    The number of books in the library has been  going  down.  Please
  make sure you know the rules for borrowing, and don’t  forget  that
  the library is for everyone’s convenience. So from  now  on,  we’re
  going to enforce the rules strictly. You  have  been  warned!  [16,
  P.13]
  To  be  tactful  is  to  avoid  causing  offence  or  distress   in
correspondence. Sometimes it  means  disguising  or  covering  up  the
truth. In such a case, the use of imperatives should be polite:
  e.g. Would you like to stipulate details of the contract?
  Let us compare some more examples:
  e.g. I suggest that we  postponed  signing  of  the  contract  till
           tomorrow. (tactful)
      Could I suggest that we postponed signing of the  contract  till
      tomorrow. (tentative and more tactful)
  In other cases tentativeness is not connected  with  tact,  but  is
simply an indication of the speaker’s reluctance to commit  himself  /
herself on a given question. To use  of  might  is  characteristic  of
business correspondence,  because  it  is  a  more  tentative  way  of
expressing possibility than may. Let us compare two sentences:
  e.g.        It may have been an error in a business deal.
       It might have been an error in a business deal.
In  the  second  sentence  might  presupposes  a  greater  degree   of
uncertainty and sounds more tactful than may.
  Texts of business documents are specific and aimed  at  a  definite
purpose. In order to make one’s business work and work effectively,  a
person should possess knowledge  of  language  standards  in  business
letters. Skilful application of this knowledge is  somehow  determined
by standards of documents’ writing. If a document  is  written  in  an
accepted way, it will be assessed by specialists. A  unified  business
text takes up less time and work to compile in comparison with private
letters.
  Since a writer of a business letter has a unified form in front  of
him / her, this person follows a set pattern while doing it.  All  the
writer’s attention is focused on  major  information  and  data  which
represent the subject of the document. In this way, an  addressee  can
decode the subject-matter faster, because a document is written in the
standardised form.
  Moreover, if business documents are drawn up in a unified  and,  to
some extent, simplified way, it takes less money  spending  and  saves
time of the dealing sides, and shortens the time of business procedure
as well. A special branch of English linguistics, - business  English,
- is devoted to the purpose of simplifying of business making.
  Written business English has got certain traits and problems of its
usage, not only for  foreigners,  but  for  English-speaking  business
people.

   2. Theoretical problems of the language of documents
  Knowledge  of  drawing  up  business  correspondence  is  equal  to
communicating with people in a businesslike manner [7, P.4]. A  person
should know  rules  of  documents’  writing  to  make  one’s  business
effective and profitable. All of them are united under the  notion  of
style.
  A style of the language is a system of interrelated language  means
which serve a definite aim in communication [3, P.33]. As has  already
been written, the style can be formal (business written  English)  and
informal (spoken English).  The  difference  of  formal  and  informal
English is a matter of style and attitude of  people  to  each  other.
However, it is not an easy matter to draw an exact line between formal
and informal English [8, P.28], and that is the first,  and  the  most
important thing to be clarified in this paper.
  English  of  business  correspondence  possesses   some   important
qualities, common for formal style of English as well.
  The language of business correspondence  is  very  bookish  and  is
remarkable for the usage of  larger  and  more  exact  vocabulary,  in
comparison  with  informal  style  of  communication.   Sentences   in
documents are  longer  and  their  clauses  are  grammatically  fitted
together more carefully, which means a lot of practise  for  a  person
who draws up a contract. It is generally considered and expected  that
real business people, experts in their field of activity, should enjoy
the preciseness and careful  grammatical  construction.  It  does  not
mean, of course, that  business  people  must  communicate  orally  in
formal business style.
  Formal business correspondence should be more impersonal. It should
not emphasise the  individuality  of  the  writer,  and  takes  little
account of the personal qualities of people who are going to make  use
of it. Thus, the speaker should not refer directly to himself  or  his
readers, but avoid the pronouns I, we, you, and it may also  be  of  a
difficulty for a person.
  One more problem is that formal English lacks force and  vividness.
The fact that it is formal implies its great dependence  on  arbitrary
conventions, rather than on natural speech habits [8, P.29].  That  is
why it is so hard for non-business  people to keep concentrating their
attention on contents of documents all the time, as their attention is
diverted by intricate language use. Some of them will find their  long
and complicated sentences rather confusing. Words  of  formal  English
may sound nice, but their meaning is often hard to get  through.  Very
often a person must read something all over again to make sure what it
means.
  e.g. This stipulation being of the essence of the contract, default
      by the buyers shall entitle the Sellers to  load  and  ship  the
      goods as convenient to themselves to any of the ports  named  in
      this  contract  and  Buyers  shall  take  delivery  accordingly.
      (Extract from a standard form of contract for the sale of timber
      through broker in the U.K.) [6, P.229]
  Another chief problem to remember about business correspondence  is
that it will be read by busy people who usually have  no  interest  in
either one’s personality or his / her problems [8, P.280]. Bearing  in
mind that one should not waste anybody’s time and try to gain anything
by impressing your employers, a person uses formal  English  to  avoid
unnecessary details about matters handled, replacing  them  by  strict
routine. To be as clear and  brief  as  possible  without  sacrificing
clarity is a common trait of 

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