The Style of Official Documents

        This functional style is not homogeneous and is represented by the following substyles or variants:

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

     Like other styles of language, this style has a definite communicative aim and its own system of interrelated language and stylistic means. Richard Bradford pointed out that, the main aim of this type of communication is to state the conditions binding two parties and to reach agreement between two contracting parties. The most general function of the style of official documents predetermines the peculiarities of the style. The most striking feature is a special system of cliches, terms and set expressions by which each substyle can be easily recognized.  Thus in finance we find terms like extra revenue, liability.  In diplomacy such phrases as high contracting parties, memorandum, to ratify an agreement are found.  In legal language, examples are to deal with a case, a body of judges.

       All these varieties use abbreviations, conventional symbols and contractions, for example, M.P. (Member of Parliament), Ltd (Limited), $. Abbreviations are especially abundant in military documents.   They are used not only as conventional symbols, but also as signs of military code. Another feature of the style is the use of words in their logical dictionary meaning.  There is no room here for the realization of any other meaning here¹³.

Scientific prose style

        From the point of view of McMillan, the purpose of science as a branch of human activity is to disclose by research the inner substance of things and phenomena of objective reality and find out the laws regulating them, thus enabling man to predict, control and direct their future development in order to improve the material and social life of mankind. The style of scientific prose is therefore mainly characterized by an arrangement of language means which will bring proofs to clinch a theory. The main function of scientific prose is proof. The selection of language means must therefore meet this principle requirement¹⁴.

       The genre of scientific works is mostly characteristic of the written form of language (scientific articles, monographs or textbooks), but it may also be found in its oral form (in scientific reports, lectures, discussions at conferences, etc.); in the latter case this style has some features of colloquial speech.

        Thomas Andrew argues that, the language of science is governed by the aim of the functional style of scientific prose, which is to prove a hypothesis, to create new concepts, to disclose the internal laws of existence, development, relations between different phenomena, etc. The language means used, therefore, tend to be objective, precise, unemotional, and devoid of any individuality; there is a striving for the most generalized form of expression.

        The first and most noticeable feature of this style is the logical sequence of utterances with clear indication of their interrelations and interdependence, that is why in no other functional style there, is such a developed and varied system of connectives as in scientific prose. The most frequently words used in scientific prose are functional words conjunctions and prepositions.

       A second and no less important feature and, probably, the most conspicuous, is the use of terms specific to each given branch of science. Due to the rapid dissemination of scientific and technical ideas, particularly in the exact sciences, some scientific and technical terms begin to circulate outside the narrow field they belong to and eventually begin to develop new meanings. In modern scientific prose one can observe an exchange of terms between various branches of science. It is due to the interpenetration of scientific ideas. Self-sufficiency in any branch is now a thing of the past. Collaboration of specialists in related sciences has proved successful in many fields. The exchange of terminology may therefore be regarded as a natural outcome of this collaboration.

       A third characteristic feature of scientific style is special sentence-patterns. They are of three types: postulatory, argumentative and formulative. A hypothesis, a scientific conjecture or a forecast must be based on facts already known, on facts systematized and defined. Therefore every piece of scientific prose will begin with postulatory statements which are taken as self-evident and needing no proof. A reference to these facts is only preliminary to the exposition of the writer’s ideas and is therefore summed up in precisely formulated statements accompanied, if considered necessary, by references to sources¹⁵.

       As Polikarpov A.A and Kurlov V.J. said, the writers own ideas are also shaped in formulae, which are enunciation of a doctrine or theory of a principle, an argument, the result of an investigation, etc. The definition sentence-pattern in a scientific utterance, that is the sentence which sums up the argument, is generally a kind of clincher sentence.

       Theoretical models represent their objects in more abstract ways; they are often based on assumptions about how something is structured, or how it might be related to other phenomena. These models are attempts to construct images of the object of study, i.e. images that hopefully make it easier to visualize, understand and analyse¹⁶.

Neutral style - Colloquial style - Bookish style

       In the work of Middleton Murry was written that, the term “neutral style” is used mostly to denote the background for realizing stylistic peculiarities of stylistically colored elements. Neutral style is characterized by the absence of stylistic coloring and by the possibility to be used in any communicative situation. This style is deliberately simplified.

        If neutral style serves any situation of communication colloquial style serves situations of spontaneous everyday communication (casual, non-formal). Bookish style corresponds to public speech (non-casual, formal). This division does not coincide with the division into spoken and written language because colloquial style can be used in fiction, bookish style represented for example by oratorical style exists in the oral form only. At the same time we should remember that colloquial speech which we meet in fiction has undergone some transformations: the writer usually compresses linguistic information choosing the typical and avoiding the accidental¹⁷.

        According to Arnold, colloquial style is divided into upper colloquial, common colloquial and low colloquial. The latter two have their own peculiar features connected with region, gender, age of the speaker.

        Bookish style embraces scientific, official, publicistic (newspaper), oratorical, and poetic styles¹⁸.

        Arnold belongs to the group of scholars who reject the existence of belles-lettres style. Her opinion is that each work of literature presents an example of the author’s individual speech and thus follows its own norm; in the work of literature authors often use different functional styles.

       She introduces the notion of language function characteristic for different functional styles. Intellectual-communicative function is connected with the transferring of intellectual ideas. Voluntary function serves for influencing the will-power and conscience of listener or reader.

       Having in mind the fact that functional style is a historical category Arnold doubts that in the contemporary English language exists a separate poetic style.

       There are no strict boundaries separating one functional style from another. The oratorical style has much in common with a publicistic one. The publisictic newspaper style is close to the colloquial style. But if we consider this problem it will be evident that we are dealing with the combination of different functional style in the speech of a given individual because each functional style is characterized by certain parameters concerning vocabulary and syntax.   

1.2 Verb’s categories and place of tense in its system.

        The system of the English verb is rightly considered to be the most complex grammatical structure of the language. According to Rayevska, the most troublesome problems are, indeed, concentrated in the area of the finite verb, and include, in particular, questions tense, aspect and modal auxiliary usage. This seems to be an area of grammar which has always gained the greatest interest in language learning.

     In Modern English, as well as in many other languages, verbal forms imply not only subtle shades of time distinction but serve for other purposes, too; they are also often marked for person and number, for mood, voice and aspect.

       The grammatical categories of the English verb find their expression in synthetical and analytical forms. The formative elements expressing these categories are: grammatical affixes, inner inflection and function words. Some categories have only synthetical forms (person, number), others —only analytical (voice distinction). There are also categories expressed by both synthetical and analytical forms (mood, time, aspect).

      We generally distinguish finite and non-finite forms of the verb. The grammatical nature of the finite forms may be characterised by the following six oppositions with reference to: person, number, time relations, mood, and the aspective character of the verb, voice distinctions: active — passive.

     The non-finites (verbids) are: the Infinitives, the Gerunds and the Participles¹⁹.

The term grammatical category broadly refers to a set of syntactic features that is conceptually similar and applies systematically to a linguistic expression. According to Jesperson O. more concretely, grammatical categories that are salient in English are:

• tense
• aspect
• person
• number
• gender
• case
• voice
• mood/modality

 

         Verbal forms denoting time relations are called tenses. According to Jesperson the two concepts "time" and "tense" should be kept clearly apart.

        Time is an unlimited duration in which things are considered as happening in the past, present or future. Time stands for a concept with which all mankind is familiar. Time is independent of language. Tense, which derives from the Latin word tempus, stands for a verb form used to express a time relation. Time is the same to all mankind while tenses vary in different languages²⁰.

        Graphically, time can be represented as a straight line, with the past represented to the left and the future to the right. Between the two points there is the present.

       In order to understand the meaning of the tense and aspect, we should look at the definition of the category of tense and aspect, which is given by G.O Gurme:

        Tense is a grammatical category that indicates the location of an event or situation in time. It is expressed in verbal morphology or with the help of auxiliary verbs (be and have) in combination with the non-finite forms of main verbs²¹.

     Each tense has naturally its characteristic time range, though every tense meets competition from other tenses within its characteristic range. These complicated distinctions, which in speech are made automatically without thinking, may be well presented in terms of binary oppositions. According to Fries these oppositions have a characteristic structure of the marked —unmarked term type —always in their functions, and sometimes in their forms. And this will justify labelling them in terms of a positive characteristic contrasted with its absence (the unmarked term). Such are the contrasts which operate throughout the range of the conjugation and free independent variables:

1. non-progressive — progressive (continuous);
2. non-perfective — perfective;
3. non-passive (active) — passive.

        The progressive (continuous), as a positive term in a contrast, indicates, where necessary, to the fact that an "action" is thought of as having (having had or to have) duration or progression. The perfective adds a positive implication of "being in a state resulting from having...” indicates that the action is thought of as having consequences in or being temporarily continuous with а "now" or "then" (past or future).

       Aspect concerns the manner in which the situation denoted by a sentence is seen to develop in time. English distinguishes the progressive (continuous) aspect and the perfect aspect. However, one can refer to the time of a situation without formally indicating how the verbal action is developing. In this case the internal temporal structure of the situation is conveyed by the lexical meaning of the verb.

    Tense and aspect are expressed in one and the same verbal form. The English verb has only two tenses proper — the present and the past, either simple (work(s), worked) or combined with the progressive (is/was working) or perfect (have/had worked) aspect. There are many ways of expressing future time in English. The most common is with the help of the modal auxiliaries will/ shall attach to a simple or complex (aspectual) form of the main verb²².  

1.3 Past Tense expression.

        From the point of view of Halliday, the past tense is a verb tense expressing action, activity, state or being in the past of the current moment (in an absolute tense system), or prior to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future (in a relative tense system).

        The past tense locates the process prior to the present moment. The past form of the verb does not say anything about whether the past process occupied a single point or an extended time period. This is not the job of the past tense; it is the job of appropriate adjuncts or the lexical meaning of the verb.

      The primary use of the past tense indicates a situation in which “actions, events, processes, relations, states of affairs or whatever a clause expresses” are dynamic (in which case they ‘take place’) or static in which case they ‘obtain’…The past tense may be more directly indicated by an expression including time such as “yesterday”, a definite time in which the topic of the sentence occurred. Use of the past tense remarks on something that has happened, but does not necessary indicate that the situation continues into the present²³.

       Huddleston noted that past time is an inherently relational concept; the past tense inflection indicates that the time, the situation or even took place is past in relationship to another time, usually at the time the sentence is said or written. The incorrect usage of past and present tense can not only impair communication and understanding, but have the potential to affect the “face” of the speaker/writer in social and work settings as well²⁴.

1.3.1 The simple past tense.

     According to Bryant, the grammatical content of the simple past tense may be briefly characterised as follows: the simple past tense represents an action or state as relatively static in the past. The duration of the process indicated by the Past indefinite can vary according to the immediate lexical context or special situation with no time indicators at all.

     The simple past tense refers an action to the past without telling anything about the connection with the present moment. It may denote:

1) A succession of actions in the past,

2) Simultaneity in action,

  3) A special use of the Past Tense is presented by patterns like the following:

  After he left the house, he recollected that he had not locked the door. That happened before I met you.

     The opposition between perfect verb forms and the past tense forms occurring in such clauses is neutralised. The function of signalling "earlier time" is taken over by the words after and before.

  4)  Repeated actions in the past. (Here belong also patterns with the Past Indefinite used to denote a permanent characteristic of a person or thing spoken about).

5. The Past Tense is fairly common in denoting abilities, properties or habitual actions represented in speech situation as relatively static, e. g.: She played tennis with innate grace.
6. Past actions logically connected with the present in patterns with adverbs of frequency and repetition: never, ever, always, seldom and before.

   It is important to remember that the adverb never in patterns with the Past Tense is often used rather to intensify negation than in the meaning of "not ever" at "no time".

       The use of the Past Tense in patterns like "Did you ever?" or "Did you ever hear of such a thing?" is virtually synonymous with "Have you ever heard of such a thing?" The two structures differ only in style, the former as highly expressive is generally used merely as emotional exclamation in expressive language.

7. The Past Tense is common in narration to indicate anteriority, e. g.: He thought he had lost her, then almost ran into her standing quite stilt. (Galsworthy)
8. There are also cases when the Past Tense is used for stylistic purposes to denote that what has hitherto been true is so still and will always remain so. Familiar examples quoted by Bryant are:

Men were deceivers ever. (Shakespeare) Faint heart never won fair lady²⁵.

1.3.2 Past progressive.

       Hook and Methews indicated that, the primary meaning of the Past Continuous is that of a past action shown in its progress at a given past moment, e. g.:

  The door was slowly opening, and Anthony found himself gazing into a pair of pale-grey hooded eyes. (Gordon) She followed his gaze through the falling rain and saw a man and a girl coming from the large block of flats opposite her home. Now they were getting into a little motor car. (Gordon)

  Verbal processes in narration may also be denoted by the Past Continuous.

  Progression in time as denoted by the Past Continuous is most fluctuating and variable: from several short stretches of time to long duration, repeated actions or simultaneity or, say, increasing duration.

   Continuous forms may either indicate that an activity is incomplete or not as yet completed, or else may be noncommittal regarding the completion of the specified activity.

  A special interest attaches to its stylistic transposition where it comes to represent:

1. Future action when that future moment is viewed from the past. This is often the case in patterns with the free reported speech. The primary meaning of the verb-form comes to be neutralised by the situational context, e. g.: At last, my dear, I thought you were never coming.
2. with adverbs of frequency and repetition the Past Continuous will generally denote habitual actions, abilities, properties and other characteristic traits, e. g.: Annette was always running up to town for one thing or another, so that he had Fleur to himself almost as much as he could wish. (Galsworthy)