Official Style

Official style is a sub-system of the language, a form of communication functioning in the sphere of official relations. The aim of communication in this stile is to reach agreement between two or more contracting parties. The term of such agreements must be formulated clearly and unambiguously in order to exclude any possibility of misinterpretation. Consequently this style is characterized by the use of words in their direct referential meaning and by the absence of words of emotive meaning. Another outstanding feature of this style is the abundance of special terms, clichés and set expressions of a special nature which make this style distinct from other styles and easily recognizable. Some of them have their counterparts in the target language are to be used by the translator, e.g.

The Security Council shall, where appropriate, utilize such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its authority. (Charter of the United Nations, article 53).

Совет Безопасности использует, где это уместно, такие региональные соглашения или органы для принудительных действий под его руководством.

The corresponding Russian text is very close to the English text. Yet in three cases there is no formal correspondence due to morphological and syntactical factors:

· The special form “shall + infinitive” (shall utilize), typical of official style, corresponds to the Present indicative (использует) – its Russian counterpart in official style.

· The parenthetical phrase “where appropriate” precedes the notional verb (utilize) while in Russian it comes after the verb использует.

· The attributive combination N₁ + N₂ (enforcement action) has its counterpart “an adjective + noun group” – принудительных действий.

In accordance with the aim of communication the translation of official documents requires utmost precision. Equivalence in the rendering of form is to a considerable extent ensured by the existence of correlated SL and TL patterns, but it cannot be achieved at the expense of the Russian language. For example, synonymous pairs which have an age-long tradition in literary English are also frequently used in official style: the treaty was declared null and void; just and equitable treatment; in good and due form, etc. such use of synonymous pairs in official documents is not so widespread in Russian official stile as they are regarded as pleonastic and therefore they are commonly translated by one word: договор был объявлен недействительным, справедливое отношение, в надлежащей форме.