IV The style of official documents

Morphological features

Adherence to the norm, sometimes outdated or even archaic, e.g. in legal documents.

Syntactical features

Use of long complex sentences with several types of coordination and subordination (up to 70% of the text).

Use of passive and participial constructions, numerous connectives.

Use of objects, attributes and all sorts of modifiers in the identifying and explanatory function.

Extensive use of detached constructions and parenthesis.

Use of participle I and participle II as openers in the initial expository statement.

A general syntactical mode of combining several pronouncements into one sentence.

Information texts are based on standard normative syntax reasonably simplified.

Lexical features

Prevalence of stylistically neutral and bookish vocabulary.

Use of terminology, e.g. legal: acquittal, testimony, aggravated larceny; commercial: advance payment, insurance, wholesale, etc.

Use of proper names (names of enterprises, companies, etc.) and titles.

Abstractions of persons, e.g. use of party instead of the name.

Officialese vocabulary: cliches, opening and conclusive phrases.

Conventional and archaic forms and words: kinsman, hereof, thereto, thereby, ilk.

Foreign words, especially Latin and French: status quo, force majeure, persona non grata.

Abbreviations, contractions, conventional symbols: M.P. (member of Parliament), Ltd (limited), $, etc.

Use of words in their primary denotative meaning.

Absence of tropes, no evaluative and emotive colouring of the vocabulary.

Seldom use of substitute words: it, one, that.

Compositional features

Special compositional design: coded graphical layout, clear-cut subdivision of texts into units of information; logical arrangement of these units, order-of-priority organisation of content and information.

Conventional composition of treaties, agreements, protocols, etc.: division into two parts, a preamble and a main part.

Use of stereotyped, official phraseology.

Accurate use of punctuation.

Generally objective, concrete, unemotional and impersonal style of narration.

V Scientific/ academic style

Morphological features

Terminological word building and word- derivation: neologism formation by affixation and conversation.

Restricted use of finite verb forms.

Use of ''the author's we'' instead of I.

Frequent use of impersonal constructions.

Syntactical features

Complete and standard syntactical mode of expression.

Syntactical precision to ensure the logical sequence of thought and argumentation.

Direct word order.

Use of lengthy sentences with subordinate clauses.

Extensive use of participial, gerundial and infinitive complexes.

Extensive use of adverbial and prepositional phrases.

Frequent use of parenthesis introduced by a dash.

Abundance of attributive groups with a descriptive function.

Preferential use of prepositional attributive groups instead of the descriptive of phrase.

Avoidance of ellipsis, even usually omitted conjunctions like ''that'' and ''which''.

Prevalence of nominal constructions over the verbal ones to avoid time reference for the sake of generalisation.

Frequent use of passive and non-finite verb forms to achieve objectivity and impersonality.

Use of impersonal forms and sentences such as mention should be made, it can be inferred, assuming that, etc.

Lexical features

Extensive use of bookish words e.g. presume, infer, preconception, cognitive.

Abundance of scientific terminology and phraseology.

Use of words in their primary dictionary meaning, restricted use of connotative contextual meanings.

Use of numerous neologisms.

Texts (history, philosophy): descriptive narration, supplied with argumentation and interpretation.

Logical and consistent narration, sequential presentation of material and facts.

Extensive use of citation, references and foot- notes.

Restricted use of expressive means and stylistic devices.

Extensive use of conventional set phrases at certain points to emphasize the logical character of the narration, e.g. as we have seen, in conclusion, finally, as mentioned above.

Use of digressions to debate or support a certain point.

Definite structural arrangement in a hierarchical order: introduction, chapters, paragraphs, conclusion.

Special set of connective phrases and words to sustain coherence and logic, such as consequently, on the contrary, likewise.

Extensive use of double conjunctions like as ... as, either ... or, both ... and, etc.

Compositionally arranged sentence patterns: postulatory (at the beginning), argumentative (in the central part), formulative (in the conclusion).

[16.01.2013 21:09:55] Марк Литвинов: Какой язык самый сложный?

1. Самый сложный язык для изучения – баскский, он настолько сложный, что во время Второй мировой войны этот язык применяли как шифр.

2. Досчитать до трех на нивхском языке (распространен в северной части о. Сахалин) - непростая задача. Нивхские числительные звучат по-разному в зависимости от того, что считают: лыжи, лодки или связки вяленой рыбы. Всего в языке 26 способов счета.

3. В табасаранском языке (один из официальных языков Дагестана) существует 48 падежей существительных.

4. В эскимосском языке насчитывается 63 формы настоящего времени и 252 окончания простых существительных.

5. Чтобы научиться квалифицированно переводить тексты на санскрите или писать на нем, человеку потребуется изучать его не менее 12 лет.

6. В языке североамериканского индейского племени чиппева 6 000 глагольных форм – больше, чем в любом другом языке.

7. Про абазинский язык, распространённый в Карачаево-Черкесии, говорят: не зная его с детства, овладеть им в зрелом возрасте почти невозможно. А всё из-за чрезвычайно сложной фонетики.

8. Наиболее полный словарь китайского языка содержит более 87 000 иероглифов, каждый из которых обозначает свой слог. Самым сложным является архаичный иероглиф се – «болтливый», состоящий из 64 черт, а из использующихся в настоящее время - иероглиф нан, который содержит 36 черт и означает «заложенный нос».