涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同的英語語言特色本科畢業(yè)論文

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1、 本 科 畢 業(yè) 論 文 題目： 涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同的英語語言特色 英文標(biāo)題：The Language Characteristics of the Foreign Economic Contracts 學(xué) 院： 姓 名： 學(xué) 號： 專 業(yè)：

2、 年 級： 指導(dǎo)教師： 職 稱： 二0一二 年 五 月 26 摘 要 涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同是涉外合同中的一種，它是中國法人或經(jīng)濟(jì)組織同外國企業(yè)、經(jīng)濟(jì)組織或個(gè)人之間為實(shí)現(xiàn)一定的經(jīng)濟(jì)目的而達(dá)成的契約性文件。1978年，中國施行改革開放政策，并出臺了一系列如降低關(guān)稅、開放服務(wù)

3、市場、營造公平的市場競爭環(huán)境等改革措施。對外經(jīng)濟(jì)體制的改革與完善，為中國對外經(jīng)濟(jì)的發(fā)展帶來了巨大的契機(jī)。自那時(shí)起，涉外貿(mào)易開始呈現(xiàn)蓬勃發(fā)展的狀態(tài)。1985年，中國頒布《中華人民共和國涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同法》，由此可見涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同的重要性日益明顯，也因此要求涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同文本具備較高的合法性、專業(yè)性以及規(guī)范性。受性質(zhì)的制約，涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同有別于其他文體，其語言形成了獨(dú)特的風(fēng)格。本文利用大量的例句、及簡單的合同范本分別從詞、句、結(jié)構(gòu)等方面對涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同語言的準(zhǔn)確性、嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)性、規(guī)范性做了淺顯的分析。 關(guān)鍵詞：涉外經(jīng)濟(jì)合同；合法；專業(yè)；規(guī)范

4、Abstract The foreign economic contract is one kind of the contracts in English concerning foreign business between Chinese and foreign companies or individuals. In the year of 1978, China adopted the reform and opening up policy, and the measures—lower tariffs, further opening the services market

5、, creating a just playing field—were taken one by one. Reform of and Improvements to Chinas Foreign Trade System brought a turning point to the economic development. From then on, the foreign trade of China began flourishing. In 1985, the Law of The Peoples Republic of China on Economic Contracts In

6、volving Foreign Interests was published, which means the importance of the foreign economic contracts is rising and requires the contract to be lawful, professional and formal. Limited by the nature, the language characteristics of the contract must be distinctive. This assay does a simple analysis

7、by taking a lot of examples and a sample contract in five chapters: introduction, words, sentences, structure and conclusion to make sure its formality, accuracy and rigorousness. Key words: foreign economic contract; lawful; professional; formal; Table of Contents 摘 要 I A

8、bstract II 1 Introduction 1 2 Lexical Features 2 2.1 Professional 2 2.1.1 Price 2 2.1.1.1 Unconditional Price 3 2.1.1.2 Conditional Price 3 2.1.1.3 Complex Price 3 2.1.2 Law Term 4 2.1.3 Abbreviation 5 2.2 Formal 5 2.2.1 Time 6 2.2.2 Money 6 2.2.2.1 Amount of Money 7 2.2.2

9、.2 The Currency Mark 7 2.2.3 Ancient Words 7 2.3 Accurate 8 2.3.1 Synonym 9 2.3.2 Foreign Language 9 3 Syntactic Feature 11 3.1 Complicated Sentences Priority 11 3.2 Conditional Sentences Priority 12 3.3 Active Sentences Priority 12 3.4 Impersonal Sentences Priority 13 3.5 Re

10、gular Sentences 13 3.5.1 At the Beginning of the Contract 14 3.5.2 At the End of the Contract 15 4 Text Features 16 4.1 Stable Structure 16 4.2 Details Contained 17 5 Conclusion 19 Bibliography 20 Appendix 21 Acknowledgment 23 1 Introduction Since economic reform began in

11、 China, the role of the foreign sector has burgeoned in ways that no one anticipated for almost two decades. The volume of foreign trade and the role of foreign capital are both far greater than them could be foreseen based on the modest Chinese economic reforms initiated in the late 1970s (Nicholas

12、 R. Lardy 1065). By the mid-1990s China had become one of the worlds largest trading nations. Gao Hucheng, vice Commerce Minister, accepted an interview by Peoples Daily Online on Oct. 28, 2008, during which he talked freely on the development of Chinas foreign trade. The main idea of the interview

13、 is Rosy Future for China. Gao Hucheng said, Generally speaking, the fundamental development of Chinas foreign trade is positive. China retains stable and fast development in foreign trade, which benefits from the correct decision by CPC central committee and State Council, and effective macro-c

14、ontrol. The booming of foreign trade indicates the cooperation between enterprises is increasing. In that case, the importance of foreign economic contract is inevitable. The foreign economic contract is a kind of lawful agreement between different organizations or individuals. In addition, i

15、t is always written in English. So, it can not be more important to be familiar with the related knowledge, to realize the distinction and to understand the regularity for the one whose job is about foreign trade or the one who wants to have a job concerning that. 2 Lexical Features

16、 According to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Economic Contracts involving Foreign Interest, the law is formulated with a view to protect the lawful rights and interests of the parties of Chinese-foreign economic contracts and promote the development of China’s foreign economic relat

17、ions. The indeterminacy and misunderstanding of the words in the contract is always the main reason of the economic disputes. Thus, the words inside should be professional, formal and accurate. 2.1 Professional As it is an economic contract, it is not difficult to understand why the usage of

18、 professional words about finance, law, commerce, tariff and merchandise is one of the main characteristics. The concerning professional words are such large-quantity that only the terms which can reflect the profession most were listed below. The top two are the description of price and the legal t

19、erminologies. Whats more, they are also the terms and conditions in which a lot of economic disputes occur. In addition, it is also necessary to list the abbreviation for the price item and the law term are always used in abbreviation in the daily business nowadays. 2.1.1 Price The most att

20、ractive item is the description of price in the economic contract. The price clause is related to the kind of currency, the transportation, insurance, way of payment and so on. In general, the price can be divided into three parts: unconditional price, conditional price and complex price. 2.1.1.1

21、Unconditional Price Unconditional price is the simplest to understand. It means the price is only decided by the kind of currency. Be sure of the kind of concerning currency, in that case, one can master the unconditional price well. The common ones: 1. unit price(means the price of one piece)

22、; 2. gross price(means total price ). Multiplying the unit price by the quantity can reach it; 3. mean price(means the average price.); It always refers to the average of the prices of different merchandises. 4. actual price(means the money the buyer has to pay); 5. old pri

23、ce(means the price which is accepted by people in the past); 6. present/prevail price (opposite to the old price). Attention: Do not mix the RMB with USD. It is a common mistake in drafting a contract. 2.1.1.2 Conditional Price Conditional price is more complex than the unconditional price.

24、It means the price takes the tax, the way of delivery and so on into consideration. Before calculating, some questions must be asked: Which kind of delivery would be fine? Who pays for the cost of the delivery? What is the tax rate? How much is the commission? How the merchandises be packed? The co

25、mmon ones: delivery price(the price involved the cost of delivery); price including commission; price including tax; price duty paid; net selling price; legal price; price negotiated; resale price. 2.1.1.3 Complex Price Complex price is the most complex but common one in the contract. It means

26、the price takes at least two items into consideration. It is always seen in abbreviation. For example: 1. free on board(FOB); The seller does not shoulder the responsibility of shipment. 2. cost insurance and freight(CIF); The CIF price is higher than FOB price. The seller has to

27、 promise the merchandise reach port of destination securely. 3. sellers warehouse(EX); The business is done in the warehouse. Once the merchandise arrives in the warehouse, the business finishes. 4. cost insurance, freight and interest (CIF&I). Add the interest to the CIF. 2.1.

28、2 Law Term As economic contract is a legal instrument, the interests of the involving parties were protected by the concerning law. It is much more lawful than the other kind of texts. To clear the duty and authority of the two parties, the law terms are always used. The frequently u

29、sed words：corporate bylaw （the details in the work）; discharging liability （pay off the debate）; judicial decree （the judgment of a case）; winding up （complete a course）; ultra vires contract （a contract signed out of one’s authority）; quasi-contract （a certain contract）; termination of contract （th

30、e deadline of a contract）; Breach of contract （against the contract）and so on(袁建軍 171). These words are easy to find at first sight of the contract for they look different. There is another kind of law term which is the same as normal words but has different meaning: shall, action, motion, immunity

31、, sentence, warrant, assignment, instrument, limitation, omission and so on. It is easy to misunderstand the real meaning of these words. One can master them only by endless practicing. Take an example to help understand the law terms: In case that one or both parties are impossible to perform

32、 the duties provided herein on account of force majeure，the party （or parties） in contingency shall inform the other Party （or each other） of the case immediately and may，provided the case is duly verified by the competent authorities，delay in performance of or not perform the relevant duties hereun

33、der and be partially or entirely exempted from the liability for breach of this agreement (袁建軍 171). In this paragraph, perform means carry out; verified means confirm/prove; exempt means free; breach means break. The former ones are all law terms. They are more lawful, professional and serious

34、 than the latter ones. 2.1.3 Abbreviation Abbreviation is always taken to replace the full long phrases in the contract, which means long phrases are rare. The first letters of the main words in these common phrases are picked up to line up and form a new word. It is the result of a long-tim

35、e development in the business area and known by most of the contract-signers. It is popular for it is concise and time-saving. Usually, the important organizations, companies or currency would be used as abbreviation. The basic terms are: L/C(letter of credit); COSCO(China Ocean Shipping Company); C

36、/O(Care of ); DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid); A/P(Authority to Purchase)(袁建軍 171) ; COD(cash on delivery); Enc, encl(enclosure) ; AMT(air mail transfer); B/C(bill for collection); T/T(Telegraphic Transfer); M/T(Mail/ Transfer); D/D(Demand/Draft); FOB(Free on Board); CIF C2 % ( CIF including 2 % commis

37、sion ); P C（piece ); V（vessel; voyage); NO.(number); M (meter);T(ton) and so on(張禮貴 65). 2.2 Formal Contract is different from the literature work and oral English. No slang, no spoken-English is a basic principle in an economic contract. The magnificent words as well as the figure of speech s

38、uch as exaggeration and personification are also forbidden, for the informal contract will give others a bad impression and break a new-born business relationship. The words in an economic contract must be serious and formal and such words are seldom in the oral English. Contract-drafters always obe

39、y to the regulations. For example, the pronominal references would be seen together: party A/party B ; the Buyer/the Seller; the licenser/the licensee; the employer/the employee. 2.2.1 Time As the slang goes, time is money. The time of delivery or payment or shipment must be described forma

40、lly to avoid misunderstanding. Usually, the mistakes exist in the prepositions before the date and the prepositions are required to be formal. For instance: The words before and prior to have the same meaning, but prior to is much more common in foreign economic contract. The frequency-used words in

41、clude within, after, by, prior to, upon. Take another example: The balance shall be settled upon the arrival of the goods at the port of the destination (王超 237). The word ‘upon’ here means ‘a(chǎn)s soon as’and it means the buyer should pay the rest money as soon as the merchandise arrive in the po

42、rt of destination. If the buyer delays, he breaks the contract and should be punished. Take another sentence for analysis: Shipment: To be shipped on or before Feb.28, 1998 (周紅 310). The phrase on or before means not later than. That is to say, if the merchandise is delivered on Jan 1, that is

43、 OK. If the on or before was replaced by before, it is hard to judge it is reasonable or not if the seller delivery the merchandises on Jan 1. 2.2.2 Money To earn money is the ultimate purpose of the contract-signers. The amount of money is the point that should be concerned most by the in

44、volved interests. To avoid the forgery or alteration of the amount, it must be described as formal as possible. 2.2.2.1 Amount of Money The amount of money is always written in both number and capitalization. Before the capitalization, the word ‘SAY’ is necessary, and the ‘ONLY’ must be added i

45、n the ending. And the amount is undoubted the same although in different form. For example, Party A shall pay Party B a monthly salary of US ＄500(SAY FIVE HUNDERD US DOLLARS ONLY)(王超 237). Thus, once the contract is signed, the amount of money can not be altered. 2.2.2.2 The Currency Mark T

46、he currency mark should be used formally. Different mark has different meaning, the mark $ can stand for US dollar (U.S. $), Hong Kong dollar (HK $), Singapore dollar (S. $), Canadian Dollar (Can. $), Mexican Peso (Mex. $), Australian Dollar ($ A.) as well as New Zealand Dollar ($ NZ.). The mark ca

47、n symbol Renminbi Yuan (RMB ) as well as Japanese Yen (J. ). So the contract signers can be never too careful in using the currency mark. 2.2.3 Ancient Words The ancient words are rare in the modern English, but common in economic contract. There are two reasons. Firstly, it makes the contrac

48、t concise because the ancient words are shorter than the modern English. Secondly, it makes the contract serious. Adverbial phrase which consists of two kinds of simple adverbs is typical of ancient words in economic contract. One kind is ‘here’ ‘there’ ‘where’, the other kind is ‘a(chǎn)fter’ ‘by’ ‘in’

49、 ‘of’ ‘on’ ‘to’ ‘under’ ‘upon’ ‘with’. The typical cases are: hereafter(means from now on); hereunder(the same as thereafter) ; hereinafter/below(the same as thereafter); herein(means in this…); hereof(means of this …); herewith(means with this); hereby(means by this…/still/therefore); hereto(

50、means relate to this); hereto(means relate to this) ; whereas(means considering…); whereby(means by which…) (楊芳 130); hereinbefore, thereinafter, thereon/upon, hereinabove/before. Take two examples: ①. Attachments hereof shall be made an integral part of this contract and effective as any other p

51、rovisions of this contract (鐘立勝 56). ②. In the event that the contract fails to complete the works in time owing to such reasons that the contractor shall be liable thereto, … (彭建明 李永霞 64). In the above two examples, hereof is the same as of this contract, thereto is the same as to that. The

52、using of ancient words makes the sentence more compact and terse. 2.3 Accurate Every word and sentence in the foreign economic contract implicates the profit or loss of the involved interest. So when an economic contract is signed, they both pay attention to the accuracy of the words. The

53、 principle of strict construction and the principle of nationalism which is popular in the area of law are two of the best examples. The more accurate words would be used instead of the common ones. Take a simple sentence for example: The Chairman may convene an interim meeting in accordance with a

54、proposal made by one-third of the total number of directors (袁建軍 171). In this sentence, there is a special phrase convene an interim meeting. It is the same meaning as call a temporary meeting. But the former phrase is much more suitable and can show the seriousness of the meeting. The other typic

55、al cases are commence is always used to replace begin; render instead of give; terminate instead of give; construe instead of explain; execute instead of sign; relinquish/waive instead of give up. In general, the accurate words can be classified into two kinds: synonym and foreign words. 2.3.1 S

56、ynonym A synonym is a word that means the same thing as another word, but tiny differences still exist in these two words. One couple of synonyms stresses different points. The using of large amount of synonyms is another point that can prove the accuracy of the social contract. In the fore

57、ign contract, the synonyms are used to take all of the possibility into consideration and avoid the misunderstanding. As usual, the two similar words or phrases are linked by a conjunction and or or. ①Any disputes controversies or differences which may arise between the parties, out of or in relati

58、on to or in connections with this contract may be referred to arbitration (朱敏冠 唐新萍 129). ② Any supplementary terms and conditions that may be attached to this contract shall automatically prevail over the terms and conditions of this contract (易治賢 9). In relation to is similar to in connectio

59、n with’, and term is similar with condition. At the first sight, it is unnecessary to use synonyms in one sentence, but with this usage, the sentence is much more rigorous and serious. 2.3.2 Foreign Language Most of the foreign languages in the contracts are French and Latin language. Sometim

60、es, the meaning can only be expressed completely in the foreign language, because the very words root in the very country. The most common one is the French word force majeure , which means unforeseen circumstance. Some other words or phrases: French word vis-a-vis (In comparison with ); Latin wo

61、rd as per(According to ); Latin word tale quale (In accordance with the sample ); Italic word el credere( Credit guarantee）(楊芳 130); Law terms from French: verdict, warrant, statut, ranson, saisie; and law term from Latin: The basis, Declaration, register, prior, ad diem, statu quo.

62、 3 Syntactic Feature In the choosing of the style of the sentences, more than 95% of which are declarative sentences, especially affirmative sentence, for the purpose of signing a contract is to clear the authority and duty of the two parties in a business

63、and the terms in the contract are known and accepted by both of them, so questions are not allowed to exist. Whats more, a contract is different from an order. No one can command the other one, for they are equal in the business. As a result, both exclamatory sentence and imperative sentence are alm

64、ost forbidden in a contract. Although the style of the sentences is simple, it has its own characteristics in the contract. 3.1 Complicated Sentences Priority Although complicated sentence is difficult to understand at first sight, it is prior to the simple sentence. That is because complic

65、ated sentence can include much more details. One sentence combining one principal clause with several subordinate clauses is common. The subordinate clauses, added to supply, explain or limit to the principle one, usually are the attribute or adverbial which express the time or place in the sentence

66、. That kind of sentence involves comprehensive details. And it consists of the characteristic that is powerful and serious. Sometimes, there is only one sentence in a paragraph in a contract. For example: If any event of the Force Majeure occurs which causes to the Project or the infrastructure project, then C