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Official Style

The translation of official documents is characterized by a direct use of language, adherence to clerical styles, and a focus on standardization, contrasting with the artistic freedom found in literary translation. Official texts follow a structured macro and micro format, often utilizing frames with changeable elements for effective communication. Translators must ensure accurate equivalents and maintain proper lexical and grammatical patterns while paying attention to standard terms and terminology.

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23 views2 pages

Official Style

The translation of official documents is characterized by a direct use of language, adherence to clerical styles, and a focus on standardization, contrasting with the artistic freedom found in literary translation. Official texts follow a structured macro and micro format, often utilizing frames with changeable elements for effective communication. Translators must ensure accurate equivalents and maintain proper lexical and grammatical patterns while paying attention to standard terms and terminology.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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One of the main hallmarks of the official style is the use of words in their direct dictionary meaning.

It should be noted that in the translation of business documentation contextual values or


simultaneous use of several meanings of the word as well as emotional value are inapplicable.

Concerning the specifics of the translation of official texts it can be noted that a characteristic feature of
this type of texts is "the predominance of the clerical style," and the abundance of clerical clichés and
terms, some conservative vocabulary, complicated, cumbersome syntax, predominance of verbal
forms of the present time. The goal of such texts is to inform the recipient of objective and reliable
information and sometimes to prescribe some action. The documents are usually translated according
to a prepared model since the translation is dominated by complete equivalents and
transformations. However, we should not forget that the most of complex texts of official style are
translated using different types of translation.

To sum up, the translation of official documents is one of the most essential and important
thing in the modern world. It is reflected in all branches of knowledge. Official cross-cultural
communication is impossible without properly compiled and translated documents.

In a way translation of official documents is the opposite of literary translation in what concerns the
freedom of translator's actions and choices.

As you will remember, literary translation is more art than craft which is accounted for by the nature of
literary texts. Translation of a literary text is unique and unprecedented; it cannot be standardised and
obeys almost no rules.

Unlike literary texts the texts of official documents are highly standardised: this applies both to the
structure of the whole text (macrostructure) and to the arrangement of individual paragraphs and
sentences (microstructure).

At the macro level an official document usually consists of a preamble, main text body and a finalising
(concluding) part. Depending on the type of document the composition and content of its individual
parts may slighdy vary (see Appendix to this Manual). In modern linguistics standard text structures
intended for information presentation at different language levels are called frames.

A frame is understood as a set language structure with changeable elements.

The changeable elements within a text frame are called slots. Let us take a preamble to a commercial
agreement as an example of a frame.

In the above text frame the italisized text fragments are presumed to be changeable depending on the
subject and conditions of the Agreement, e.g., (prior and written consent» may be replaced by «oral
consents, etc.

Bearing in mind the standardised and clicheed structure of official documents one may formulate the
main translator's task as follows:

The task of a translator translating official documents is to find target language equivalents of the source
text frames and use them in translation as standard substitutes, filling the slots with frame fillers in
compliance with the document content.

Another important task of a translator translating official documents is to keep to proper matching
patterns of lexical and grammatical structures within the frames. To give an example, English forms of
Participle I in the preamble of some international agreements may be rendered in Ukrainian as «3
Memoю...»
Besides, translators of official documents must pay special attention to translation of standard terms
and terminological word combination in the texts.

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