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1、Syntactic Features of Legal Documents of Business EnglishAbstract: It has been many years since China adopted its policy of reform and opening to the outside world. More and more people are beginning to attach importance to studying business English. The purpose of this paper is to quest for syntact
2、ic features of legal documents of business English. Key Words: Syntactic Features Legal Documents Business English Business English is an important language tool for people to pursue international business activities. With Chinas successful entry into WTO (the World Trade Organization), business Eng
3、lish is more widely used. The legal documents of business English refer to the law-oriented documents during the course of international business activities. Merchandisers or relevant translators may use them in business transactions. The legal documents use the written form to set forth the involve
4、d rights and obligations, which are stipulated in the laws. They are an indispensable part for people to carry out international business activities. Syntax refers to the rules for ordering and connecting words into sentences. It allows various possibilities to be exploited for effective linguistic
5、communication. A systematic description of syntactic features should include: sentence types, clause types, phrase types, etc. Here, it is only necessary to mention the syntactic features of legal documents of business English. 1. Long SentencesLong sentences are common in legal, political and theor
6、etical writing, which depends on modification for accuracy. In legal documents of business English, you can find the sentences used are long and quite often the entire document is composed in the form of a single sentence. In legal documents, long sentences are more than anywhere else and in fact, a
7、 deed is usually written in one long sentence. Long sentences are capable of expressing complex ideas with precision, because they may contain many modifiers. The structures of the long sentences are often intricate, which often include several clauses or modifiers. When an independent clause compri
8、ses one or more dependent clauses as its element(s), this makes a complex sentence. Long sentences are often complex sentences, which include relative clauses or adverbial clauses, etc. The following example will be used to illustrate this point.The present Agreement is concluded for a period of two
9、 years and will be automatically renewed for successive two years unless denounced by one of the Contracting Parties in writing by an advance notice of four months, and shall thereafter be renewable accordingly. Subject to special provisions explicitly provided for in this Agreement, if either party
10、 has been prevented from performing its obligations under the Agreement because of an event of force majeure such as earthquake, storm, flood, fire, other acts of nature, epidemic, war, riot, hostility, public disturbance, acts of public enemies, prohibition or acts by a government or public agency
11、or labour disputes, or other unforeseeable events beyond the control of the parties, and their occurrence is unpreventable and unavoidable, the party so prevented shall notify the other party in writing within eight days after the occurrence of such event of force majeure, act to mitigate damages, i
12、f possible, and within fifteen days thereafter provide detailed information of the event, a certificate of evidence thereof issued by the relevant authorities and a statement explaining the reason for its inability to perform all or part of its obligations under the Agreement.The above paragraph con
13、sists of two sentences. The draftsman used so many words in the two sentences to make the Agreement accurate and prevent misunderstanding.2. Statement & Full SentenceIn communication, statements are chiefly used to state a fact or non-fact that is to affirm or negate something. Thus, statements may
14、be divided into positive statements and negative statements. A full sentence is a sentence with an expressed subject and predicate. This kind of sentence is mostly used in formal speech and writing. Legal documents stipulate the rights and obligations of the signatory parties instead of proposing qu
15、estions or carrying out negotiation, that is to say, legal documents stipulate what is to be done. In order to make the stipulations in the legal documents clear without being twisted, the full sentences are often used. Legal documents of business English are generally made up of statements and full
16、 sentences. Here are some examples:This Article is without prejudice to the second Supplementary Provision to Paragraph One of Article VI in Annex I to GATT 1994.Article 29 of the same law provides that, “After the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board has made the final decision maintaining or ca
17、nceling the registered trademark, it shall notify the parties interested in writing.”3. Subject Clauses Introduced by Anticipatory “it”The draftsmen sometimes adopt subject clauses introduced by anticipatory “it” in legal documents of business English. “Anticipatory it” commonly occurs in sentences
18、with a nominal clause as subject or object. The subject or object clause is usually shifted to the end of the sentence, leaving the vacancy to be filled in by an anticipatory it. Things are more complicated with subject clauses introduced by it. Sentences have got it in the subject slot and the real
19、 subject clause is moved to the latter part of the sentence. You may choose to move the subject clause back to the beginning of the sentence or leave it where it is. Some of the examples are listed below:It is mutually agreed that the contracts concluded in accordance with Article V of this Protocol
20、 may continue to be in force until the expiry of their respective terms of validity even after the termination of this Protocol.It is stipulated that the certificate of quality and quantity or weight issued by the Manufacturer shall be part of the documents to be presented to the paying bank for neg
21、otiation of payment.4. The Frequent Use of Adverbials &Adverbial Clauses of ConditionAn adverbial is a clause element. Adverbials fall into three categories: adjuncts, disjuncts, and conjuncts. Strictly speaking, it is only the first category the adjunct that can be rightly labeled an adverbial, whi
22、ch is generally treated as one of the five elements of a clause. Semantically, adjuncts may denote time, place, manner, purpose, cause, result, condition, concession, and accompanying circumstances. A legal document of business English, when setting forth rights or obligations, must exactly point ou
23、t that in what instances, at what point of time, in what place or in what manner an action can be undertaken. This requires adverbials of time, place, condition, concession, manner, etc. Adverbials are used as a means of clarifying meaning and avoiding ambiguity. Examples are:The stipulations in the
24、 relative letter of credit should strictly conform to the terms stated in the Sales Confirmation in order to avoid the trouble of subsequent amendments.The Agenda shall be established by mutual agreement.Legal documents of business English have many adverbial clauses of condition. Since most of lega
25、l documents stipulate the obligations and confirm the rights, conditional sentences are often used to educe a certain conclusion. Adverbial clauses of condition are generally introduced by if, in case (that), in the event (that), unless, provided that, should, etc. For instance:In the event that the
26、 Documents supplied by Party B are not in conformity with the stipulations in Sections 8.2, Party B shall, within the shortest possible time but not later than 30 days after the receipt of the Party As written notice, dispatch free of charge to Party A the missing or the correct and legible Document
27、s.Unless otherwise stipulated in the credit, banks will accept a document bearing a date of issuance prior to that of the credit, subject to such document being presented within the time limits set out in the credit.Partial inversion usually takes place when a sentence is introduced by “should”, e.g
28、.Should either party be prevented from performing all or part of its obligations owing to force majeure, it shall be relieved of all or part of its obligations.Should the Sellers fail to load the goods within the time as notified by the Buyers, on board the vessel booked by the Buyers after its arri
29、val the port of shipment, all expenses such as dead freight, demurrage, etc., and consequences thereof shall be borne by the Sellers.5. PostmodifiersModification is an important grammatical device for description and sentence expansion. Modifiers in a noun phrase may be classified into premodifiers
30、and postmodifiers. Postmodifiers include all the items that appear after the headword. They are chiefly prepositional phrases (a textbook on English grammar), non-finite clauses (pupils standing outside the classroom), relative clauses (the actor who was absent) etc. One of the obvious tendencies in
31、 the development of Modern English is a greater frequency of premodifiers. This tendency, as it helps to achieve economy of expression, is most obvious in journalistic English. But in legal documents of business English, we often use nouns with long, complicated postmodifiers. This is another striki
32、ng characteristic of written legal English to achieve precision. Postmodifiers are preferred because phrases or clauses can better define the noun they modify than single words that precede a noun. Here are two examples:Other matters relating to this Contract shall be dealt with in accordance with t
33、he Terms of Delivery as specified overleaf.Routine duties of the Joint Venture Company are to be discharged by the general manager appointed by the Board of Directors.In particular, draftsmen like to use restrictive relative clauses as postmodifiers in legal documents of business English. The purpos
34、e of using restrictive relative clauses is to make the content more definite and distinct in the interest of eliminating misunderstanding. A restrictive relative clause is closely attached to the head. It gives essential information about the meaning of the antecedent. It forms an integral part of t
35、he noun phrase, without which the head cannot be identified as the specific object. For instances:However, the party who suspends performances should promptly inform the other party.The Joint Venture shall establish and maintain books and records in accordance with accounting principles and procedur
36、es that are agreeable to both parties.Since legal documents of business English should be clear, accurate and complete, and leave no room for misinterpretation, it is necessary for draftsmen or translators to master the syntactic features of legal documents so as to deal with the like documents effi
37、ciently. Bibliography1 August, Ray International Business Law: Text, Cases and Readings (third edition) Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2002.2 Barnes, A. James Law for Business Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2000.3 Hyland, Richard An Introduction to Commercial Law St. Paul, Minn.: West Group, 1999.4 陈静
38、 案释WTO反倾销协议 北京：对外经济贸易大学出版社，20015 何家弘 法律英语 北京：法律出版社，19976 李妍 涉外法律英语 北京：外语教学与研究出版社，20027 林光祖 刘经华 国际商务丛书 / 国际商法 厦门：厦门大学出版社， 20038 刘艺工 屈文生 法律英语北京：机械工业出版社，20039 章振邦 新编英语语法教程 上海：上海外语教育出版社，1995英语谚语警句100句精选Proverbs are the daughters of daily experience.谚语是日常经验的结晶。1. Look before you leap./Second thoughts are
39、 best. 三思而后行。/再想而后行。2. Great minds think alike; (heroes have similar views.) 英雄所见略同。 3. We shall never have friends if we expect to find them without fault.欲求完美无缺的朋友必然成为孤家寡人。4. What you sow, you must mow. 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。5. A beggar can never be bankrupt.天无绝人之路。6.A friend in need is a friend indeed.患难见真情。
40、7. No news is good news. 没有消息就是好消息。8. No cross, no crown. 不经历风雨,怎么见彩虹。9. The more haste, the less speed. /Haste makes waste.欲速则不达。10. Victory belongs to the most persevering. 坚持就是胜利！11. A young idler, an old beggar. 少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。12. Put ones foot in ones mouth. 说话不得体。13. It is no use crying over spil
41、t milk.覆水难收/悔恨已晚/木已成舟,回天乏力。14. Content is better than riches. 知足常乐。15. No gains without pains. 没有辛苦就没有收获。16. The more a man knows, the more he is inclined to be modest. 大智若愚。17. All roads lead to Rome .条条大路通罗马。18. A snow year, a rich year. 瑞雪兆丰年。19. Never say die! 永不言败！20. The best mirror is a frien
42、ds eye. 朋友的眼睛是最好的镜子。 21. Faith will move mountain. 精诚所至，金石为开。 22. A life without a friend is a life without a sun. 人生没有朋友，犹如生活没有了太阳。 23. Great wits have short memories.贵人多忘事。 24. Do well and have well. 善有善报。25. A bad thing never dies. 坏事传千年。26. Four eyes see more than two. 人多识广/集思广益。27. Diligence is
43、 the parent of success. 勤劳是成功的根本。28. Water dropping day by day wears the hardest rock away.滴水穿石。29. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. 抱最好的愿望，做最坏的打算。 30. While there is life, there is hope. /Debt is better than death. 留得青山在，不怕没柴烧。/有生命就有希望。31. Where there is a will, there is a way. 功夫不负有心人
44、。/有志者事竟成。32. Where there is great love, there are always miracles. 哪里有真爱存在，哪里就有奇迹。33. Where there is smoke, there is fire. 无风不起浪。34. One boy is a boy, two boys half a boy, three boys no boy.一个和尚挑水喝，两个和尚抬水喝，三个和尚没水喝。35. A stitch in time saves nine. 及时缝一针能省九针。/小洞不补，大洞吃苦。36. Never too old to learn, neve
45、r too late to turn. 亡羊补牢，为时不晚。37. Dont claim to know what you dont know. 不要不懂装懂。38. Do in Rome as Roman do. 入乡随俗。39. Rome was not built in a day. 冰冻三尺，非一日之寒。40. Sharpening your axe will not delay your job of cutting wood. 磨刀不误砍柴工。 41. Things of a kind come together, people a mind fall into a group.
46、物以类聚,人以群分。 42. One mans meat is another mans poison. 萝卜白菜,各有所爱。43. like author like book.文如其人。46. Like for like. 惺惺相惜。47. Like teacher like pupil. 有其师必有其徒。48. Gods that run many hares kill none.贪多必失。49. Practice makes perfect. 熟能生巧。50. Actions speak louder than words. 行胜于言。51. You cannot eat your ca
47、ke and have it. 鱼与熊掌，不可兼得。52. One loses by pride and gains by modesty. 满招损,谦受益。53. Love me, love my dog. 爱屋及乌。54. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. 每日一苹果远离医生。55. Time past cannot be called back again. 时光不倒流。56. A drop of water cannot make a sea, and a tree cannot make a wood. 滴水不成海，独木不成林。57. If
48、you venture nothing, you will have nothing. 不入虎穴,焉得虎子。58.The tree is known by its fruit. 观其行知其人。59. All work no play makes Jack a dull boy. 只会用功不玩耍,聪明的孩子也变傻。60. The pot calls the kettle black. 五十步笑百步。61. Unkindness often reacts on the unkind person. 恶有恶报。62. Todays work should never be left over till tomorrow. 今日事今日毕。63. Nothing so bad but might have been worse. 塞翁失马,焉知非福。 64. God helps those who help themselves. 自助者天助。65. Complacency is the enemy of study. 学习的敌人是自己的满足。66. A fox may grow gray, but never good.江山易改，本性难移。67