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【Abstract】It is of great importance in such commercialized society to translate business English， especially contractual language. The article attempts to analyze the contractual words—hereby group and binomials， through the stylistics theories of prototype and feature matrix in semantic triangle. Consequently， we find some stylistic explanation in contractual language’s formality and solemnity.

【Key words】Translation of contracts Prototype Feature matrix Semantic triangle Reference

1．Introduction

As is known to all， the philosophy basis for western world lies in its “contract spirit”， which may originate from Socrates times. It is of utmost importance to learn and to study the contractual English in an all around way in consideration of the enhancement of globalization and economy development， commercial contracts. In view of this， the author attempts to carry out stylistic analysis on contractual lexis.

2．Stylistic analysis

Concept dictates that the meaning of a word lies in the mental concept associated with it， which itself may be defined by semantic features （prototype theory is a psychological approach to conceptual meaning which implicitly involves semantic features）. Prototypes are images we store in our minds as examples of concepts.

When we encounter a word， it is the concept that first emerges in the mind. Such a concept takes the form of a prototype to help people understand the word’s denotational meaning. By the image of prototypes， we can then get the connotational meaning （referent） of the word.

（1）Feature matrix and hereby words

Let’s take the word “bread” for example， trying to analyze it with feature matrix.

［+ baked］

［+flour/meal］

［+milk/water］

［+leavening］

The matrix means， the moment people talk about bread， the image of a baked food consisting flour/meal， and milk/water， and usually something causes it to rise will appear in our minds. That’s bread’s prototype. So we can say that the concept of “bread” relies on a minimal necessary set of semantic features or meaning components.

Accordingly， we can apply such method to contractual vocabulary. The most representative one can be the family of hereby， herein， etc.， whose feature matrix may be presented as follows：

［+ here/there/where+ preposition］

［+usually found in law English especially contract］

According to our common knowledge， it can be easily found that it is these archaic words that not only render contracts highly formal and dignified but also condense the contractual language. However， from the perspective of stylistic analysis， the reason why such explanation exists lies in the function of the prototype of hereby words， which means， upon people talking about the words of hereby family， the concept， which emerges under the help of prototype， leads us to reflect on its feature matrix. And people can quickly spot the predominant stylistic features of the text and then identify what the text is about.

（2）Binomials

Now we can move forward to the binomial (or trinomial) expression， which is also a prototype of contractual lexis.

Most of binomials are made up of combinations dictated by word fields， repetition of meaning. Such use of synonymous words is meant to cover the implied content more comprehensively and flexibly and to rely on inclusiveness as compensation for lack of precision.

The feature matrix should be:

［+two or three lexical items with the same word class］

［+ conjunction or or and］

［+usually found in law English especially contract］

Those that can be most frequently seen include:

1）Noun binomials: terms and conditions; provisions and stipulations; loss， injury or damage; fraud and deceit; final and binding.

2）Verb binomials: alter and change; fulfill or perform.

3）Adj binomials: 1 and void; sole and exclusive; final and conclusive; free and clear; able and willing.

4）Prep binomials: in contract or in tort; from and above; under and by; by and between.

In order to achieve the formal and solemn style of contractual language， the translator is obligated to adopting those prototypes as much as possible， which can represent both parties’ wills and assure the third party（Arbitrator or Judge） the connotational meaning of the contract， thus avoiding unnecessary misinterpretation and disputes.

3．Conclusion

In conclusion， this article attempts to find the stylistic explanation of formality and solemnity in contractual language， especially in the field of lexical items， including hereby group and binomials. Consequently， these stylistic words help raise translators’ consciousness in deliberate use and translation of formal expressions， including but not limited to， hereby group or binomials， in order to perform as a qualified communication bridge.

Reference

1 古國生.英文合同的詞匯特征.外語教學與研究（考試周刊），2007.24

2 李斯平.涉外經(jīng)濟合同中一些舊體詞的運用與漢譯. 中國翻譯，1994.4

3 徐有志. Modern English Stylistics. 鄭州：河南大學出版社，1992

4 Shippery K. C. 國際商務(wù)合同. 上海外語教育出版社，2000

5 劉 茜.A Stylistic Approach to Chinese-English Translation of International Business Contracts. 2004 http://210.35.75.156/tpi/

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