《涉外经济合同的英语语言特色本科毕业论文.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《涉外经济合同的英语语言特色本科毕业论文.doc（31页珍藏版）》请在三一文库上搜索。
1、 本 科 毕 业 论 文 题目： 涉外经济合同的英语语言特色 英文标题：The Language Characteristics of the Foreign Economic Contracts 学 院： 姓 名： 学 号： 专 业： 年 级： 指导教师： 职 称： 二0一二 年 五 月 26摘 要涉外经济合同是涉外合同中的一种，它是中国法人或经济组织同外国企业、经济组织或个人之间为实现一定的经济目的而达成的契约性文件。1978年，中国施行改革开放政策，并出台了一系列如降低关税、开放服务市场、营造公平的市场竞争环境等改革措施。对外经济体制的改革与完善，为中国对外经济的发展带来了巨大的契机。自
2、那时起，涉外贸易开始呈现蓬勃发展的状态。1985年，中国颁布中华人民共和国涉外经济合同法，由此可见涉外经济合同的重要性日益明显，也因此要求涉外经济合同文本具备较高的合法性、专业性以及规范性。受性质的制约，涉外经济合同有别于其他文体，其语言形成了独特的风格。本文利用大量的例句、及简单的合同范本分别从词、句、结构等方面对涉外经济合同语言的准确性、严谨性、规范性做了浅显的分析。关键词：涉外经济合同；合法；专业；规范 AbstractThe foreign economic contract is one kind of the contracts in English concerning fore
3、ign business between Chinese and foreign companies or individuals. In the year of 1978, China adopted the reform and opening up policy, and the measureslower tariffs, further opening the services market, creating a just playing fieldwere taken one by one. Reform of and Improvements to Chinas Foreign
4、 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 Involving Foreign Interests was published, which means the importance of the foreign economic contrac
5、ts 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 by taking a lot of examples and a sample contract in five chapters: introduction, words, sentences,
6、 structure and conclusion to make sure its formality, accuracy and rigorousness. Key words: foreign economic contract; lawful; professional; formal;Table of Contents摘 要IAbstractII1 Introduction12 Lexical Features22.1 Professional22.1.1 Price22.1.1.1 Unconditional Price32.1.1.2 Conditional Price32.1.
7、1.3 Complex Price32.1.2 Law Term42.1.3 Abbreviation52.2 Formal52.2.1 Time62.2.2 Money62.2.2.1 Amount of Money72.2.2.2 The Currency Mark72.2.3 Ancient Words72.3 Accurate82.3.1 Synonym92.3.2 Foreign Language93 Syntactic Feature113.1 Complicated Sentences Priority113.2 Conditional Sentences Priority123
8、.3 Active Sentences Priority123.4 Impersonal Sentences Priority133.5 Regular Sentences133.5.1 At the Beginning of the Contract143.5.2 At the End of the Contract154 Text Features164.1 Stable Structure164.2 Details Contained175 Conclusion19Bibliography20Appendix21Acknowledgment231 Introduction Since e
9、conomic reform began in 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 t
10、he late 1970s (Nicholas 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
11、idea of the interview 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
12、effective macro-control. 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 ad
13、dition, it 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 Accordin
14、g to the Law of the Peoples 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 Chinas foreign economic relations. The inde
15、terminacy 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 professional words ab
16、out 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 terminologies. Whats mo
17、re, 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 attractive item is the description
18、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 Unconditional PriceUnconditional pr
19、ice 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); 2. gross price(means total price ). Multi
20、plying 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 price(means the price which is accepted by people in the past);6. present
21、/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 PriceConditional price is more complex than the unconditional price. It means the price takes the tax, the way of delivery and so on into consideratio
22、n. 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 common ones: delivery price(the price involved the cost of delivery); price including
23、 commission; price including tax; price duty paid; net selling price; legal price; price negotiated; resale price.2.1.1.3 Complex PriceComplex price is the most complex but common one in the contract. It means the price takes at least two items into consideration. It is always seen in abbreviation.
24、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 promise the merchandise reach port of destination securely. 3. sellers warehouse(EX); The business is done in
25、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.2.1.2 Law Term As economic contract is a legal instrument, the interests of the involving parties were protected by the concerning law. It
26、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 used words：corporate bylaw （the details in the work）; discharging liability （pay off the debate）; judicial decree （the judgment of a case）; winding up （
27、complete a course）; ultra vires contract （a contract signed out of ones authority）; quasi-contract （a certain contract）; termination of contract （the deadline of a contract）; Breach of contract （against the contract）and so on(袁建军 171). These words are easy to find at first sight of the contract for
28、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, sentence, warrant, assignment, instrument, limitation, omission and so on. It is easy to misunderstand the real meaning of these words. One can master t
29、hem only by endless practicing.Take an example to help understand the law terms: In case that one or both parties are impossible to perform 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 immediatel
30、y and may，provided the case is duly verified by the competent authorities，delay in performance of or not perform the relevant duties hereunder and be partially or entirely exempted from the liability for breach of this agreement (袁建军 171). In this paragraph, perform means carry out; verified means c
31、onfirm/prove; exempt means free; breach means break. The former ones are all law terms. They are more lawful, professional and serious 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
32、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-time 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
33、 or currency would be used as abbreviation. The basic terms are: L/C(letter of credit); COSCO(China Ocean Shipping Company); C/O(Care of ); DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid); A/P(Authority to Purchase)(袁建军 171) ; COD(cash on delivery); Enc, encl(enclosure) ; AMT(air mail transfer); B/C(bill for collection
34、); T/T(Telegraphic Transfer); M/T(Mail/ Transfer); D/D(Demand/Draft); FOB(Free on Board); CIF C2 % ( CIF including 2 % commission ); P C（piece ); V（vessel; voyage); NO.(number); M (meter);T(ton) and so on(张礼贵 65).2.2 Formal Contract is different from the literature work and oral English. No slang, n
35、o spoken-English is a basic principle in an economic contract. The magnificent words as well as the figure of speech such 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 ec
36、onomic contract must be serious and formal and such words are seldom in the oral English. Contract-drafters always obey 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
37、.1 Time As the slang goes, time is money. The time of delivery or payment or shipment must be described formally 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
38、 the same meaning, but prior to is much more common in foreign economic contract. The frequency-used words include 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 as
39、soon asand it means the buyer should pay the rest money as soon as the merchandise arrive in the port 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 (周红 310). The phrase on or b
40、efore means not later than. That is to say, if the merchandise is delivered on Jan 1, that is 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
41、-signers. The amount of money is the point that should be concerned most by the involved interests. To avoid the forgery or alteration of the amount, it must be described as formal as possible.2.2.2.1 Amount of MoneyThe amount of money is always written in both number and capitalization. Before the
42、capitalization, the word SAY is necessary, and the ONLY must be added in 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 amo
43、unt of money can not be altered. 2.2.2.2 The Currency MarkThe 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. $), Australian Dollar
44、 ($ A.) as well as New Zealand Dollar ($ NZ.). The mark can 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 WordsThe ancient words are rare in the modern English, but common in economic contract. Th
45、ere are two reasons. Firstly, it makes the contract 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
46、where, the other kind is after by in 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(means relate to this); hereto(means relate to this) ; whereas(means considering); whereby(means by which) (杨芳 130); hereinbefore, thereinafter, thereon/upon, hereinabove/be