Stages of forming of oficial-business style of literary ukrainian language

Gorbachuk Dmitrij Vasiljevich,

Getting status of state, Ukrainian language actively entered life of our society: in science, education, jurisprudence, office work, etc. Declared in the law “About languages” (1989) and envisaged in the Constitution of Ukraine (1996) the state status of Ukrainian language needs careful attention to the usage of language in the acts of state authority and government, in office work and documentation in legal proceedings, in arbitrage execution, in international agreements and contracts, in other business papers. All these important spheres are supplying by the official-business style, that satisfies requirements in documentary legalization of acts of state, political, economic and productive life of the society members in the everyday business, official and documentary sphere of their communication.

In this connection the role of this communicative variety of Ukrainian language grows maximally. Office work joins in the educational program of middle and higher educational establishments; ukrainian linguists O.V. Abramtchuk, S.V. Glushchik, O.V.Dyyak, S.V.Shevtchuk,N.Y.Potello, I.G.Danylyuk, M.G.Zubkov, L.M.Palamar, G.M. Katsavets, A.F. Marahova, S.Y. Yermolenko, L.I. Matsko, O.M.Matsko, O.M. Pazinitch, M.S. Vlasenko, V.G. Rogozha, O.I. Bilousova, S.Y.Ilinitch prepared the sufficient amount of educational and practical supplies, dissertation and monographic researches.

 At the same time, the historical aspect of forming of official-business style of literary Ukrainian language remains insufficiently studied. Language descriptions of business documents (deeds, agreements, testaments, letters, etc.) of different periods are analysed by the articles booklets of Ukrainian language [1; 14; 16], become the object of scientific research [2; 12], remembered in textbooks on history of literary Ukrainian language [13; 15]. However, not enough attention is spared to intercommunication of communicative branching of language and socio-political conditions of the society life.

 The specific of official-business style in that, that its’ functioning manly depends on historical conditions and socio-political status of language in one or other historical period.

The offered article is the analysis of the stages of development of official-business style of literary Ukrainian language.

The exact date of conception of official-business style is difficult to define, we can assert however, that the language of business relationships begins to form since the origin of public relations of unfamily character as separate specific system of signs. The Old Russian literary language of the business settings was folded on the basis of tribal dialects before converting Rus to Christianity.

 Formation of Kyiv Rus on the territory of east-slavic tribes fixed the communicative suitability of the Old Russian language and stylistic ground of Ruthenians. The textual analysis of the agreement with the Byzantium Empire, included to Russian Chronicle, testifies to form in IX-X centuries of norms of business writing and style. In addition, there is a mention about the developed diplomatic correspondence, fixing of the last wish in testaments, functioning of other types of business communication in the indicated agreements, that testifies to the norms of the transmission of important (official) information, which appeared in pre-christian time.

 State life induced to creation of necessary state acts. In opinion of modern researches, “ancient Kievan literary language was identically used by all eastern Slavs and consisted of three functional styles: high (confessional and oratorical literature), middle (language of chroniclers and fiction) and mionectic (“Russian pravda”, deeds)” [15, p.13]. Texts of princely deeds, letters, legal codes (“Russian pravda” of XI century), agreements with the Byzantium Empire (IX-X centuries), judicial and legislative acts are characterized by an exact, simple, measure language, in which every word and expression had its’ literal meaning. So the requirements of unambiguity, semantic definition of words behaved to the language of legal documents, as long as, in the period of their conception. At the same time documents had to be clear for all, who intends them, that is why in official-business style “Church Slavonic pedantic language yielded its’ lexical composition, morphology and more over phonetics before living colloquial language” [11, p. 58].

 The next period of development of official-business style is the period of XIV-XVI centuries, when Ukraine was a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuanian, which inherited legislative administrative tradition of Rus. Taking no notice on proof tradition of spelling, in the most documents of this period, the ukrainian phonetic, lexical and grammatical characteristics are brightly observed. The state authorities with the branched administrative personnel entailed the increase of documents circulation; as a result, the genre variety of official documents was broadened. Official status of the Russian language induced to further normalization of the terminological system of business style, making of typical turns of speech, broadening of potential possibilities of syntax. The business language of Grand Duchy of Lithuanian influenced on further development of official-business style in other Ukrainian lands and even after the submission of Lithuanian principality by Poland, when literary Ukrainian began to experience the influence of Polish, the Lithuanian statute (1588) required: “A regional clerk must right all documents only in Russian”(old church Slavonic).

 An important (even if it was short) period in life of official-business style of the Ukrainian language is its’ functioning in the General office of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitskiy, where the forming of specific style of the hetman articles, administrative and official documents of the General office, intergovernmental letters and agreements proceed. Although, the business letters in that time had a form of literary-publicist works, it was gradually producing the certain stencils (forms of beginning and completion of document) in the business written language, ready formulas in exposition, terminology, and also the formular of document is rationed. Thus, the specific features of official-business style were formed and improved since ancient times: exactness, unambiguity, banality. In addition, the written language of XVII-XVIII centuries was oriented generally established language tradition of previous centuries. So, the basis of dictionary composition of the sacred documentation of this period is current vocabulary, and stylistic features fix heredity in the drawing up of documents.

 After joining of Ukraine to Russia in 1654, the development of ukrainian office work is slowed, later, as a result of negative attitude of tsarist government toward all of Ukrainian (Spelling reforms of Petro I, introduction of Moscow censorship in the XVIII century, other prohibitive acts of the XVIII-XIX centuries), and stops at all. But the achievements of old official-business Ukrainian language were not fully lost. In the bowels of the earth of other styles and genre varieties of literary Ukrainian language of that time, the certain success was attained in the field of making of norms of this functional style. As the XIX century in the history of Ukraine characterized by beginning of creation of new literary language on folk basis, we can establish that at this time official-business style maximally approached with colloquial practice, filling the verbal constructions, which are typical for this style with expressive means.

 The new stage of development of official-business style falls on the XX century. This period is characterized, foremost, by introduction to social turnover of concept of language politics – aspiration to settle language problems at legislative level.

 Although, general meeting of Emperor’s Academy of Sciences approved quite suspended and scientifically reasonable message “About abolition of constraint of Little Russian (Ukrainian) printed word, made by the academicians F. Corsh and O. Shakhmatov [8, p.57] and during 1905-1914 years the printing of books, newspapers and teaching in Ukrainian language was periodically allowed, but the real reveal of Ukrainian word and official-business style falls on 1917-1920 years. It’s possible to consider that, the legal grounds of it, the resolution of General Secretariat of UPR is passed on September, 18, year 1917, where it’s, in particular, marked: “the Ukrainian language has a complete right to be officially used on a row with the Russian language… Office work in Secretariat conducts in Ukrainian language [8, p.65], and the law of Central Rada “About inputting of the Ukrainian language in bank and trade spheres” (1918), in which it’s proclaimed:” The language of office work must be state Ukrainian [8, p.66]. Four Universals of Central Rada (27.06.1917, 15-16.07.1917, 20.11.1917, 22.01.1918), Declaration of General Secretariat of Central Rada (26.06.1918), Act of joining of UPR and WUPR(Western Ukrainian People’s Republic (02.01.1918) are considered the most prominent examples of official-business style of this period.

 It should be noted that the business Ukrainian language, produced in the period of Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR), and then in the conditions of soviet reality (during so-called “ukrainization” of 20^th) had already on what to be oriented. “It was inherited the basic terminology, fixed forms, syntactic structures” [4, p.177]. Formation of language of business documents passed in this period under strong influence of the Russian language, where a tendency to simplification of exposition prevailed, that allowed to include simple folk vocabulary into a business text. An orientation on the Russian business language in the sense of the emotional smoothing of lexical composition deprived ukrainian business style of its’ primitiveness. At the same time the Ukrainian business language didn’t have a necessity to simplify exposition, removing specific office clichés and bulky syntactical constructions; that was typical for the Russian-language business texts of the first post revolution decades.

 Thus, after October revolution the lexica-semantic system of official-business style of the Ukrainian language suffered a considerable transformation. In official documents the colloquial elements penetrate, it’s typically during social changes – old traditions were scored, manly in language.

So, for example, the Ukrainian-Russian dictionary of business language by V. Pidmogylnyi and Y. Pluzhnyk (1927) offers such units as elements of official-business style: to take on loan (to borrow money from smb); to catch someone on a crime (to prove smb's crime); sprout (industry, area) of knowledge. From other side, the copied from Russian terms and word-combinations penetrated very often to a business ukrainian texts.

 In course of time the influence of folk colloquial language began to weaken, that can be explained both by afford to avoid primitiveness and simplicity in official documents and realization of language politics of Soviet Union. Exactly a public policy in relation to national language assisted penetration of Russian-language units in Ukrainian-language texts. Since 1933 an active fight against a “nationalistic danger at the language front" is begun. According to Resolution of Commission of noncommercial organization (NCO) (1933) the ukrainian spelling, common and terminological dictionaries, grammars textbooks and other old norms are revised. From April, 20, 1938 the resolution of Soviet of folk commissars of USSR and Central Commission of Communists Party (bolshevists) of Ukraine “About the obligatory study of Russian and Ukrainian schools" (our apportionment D.G.) [8, p. 94]. These and analogical political decisions influenced on the Ukrainian language system in general, and into language of business documents, in particular. Style of business and official communication exposed to a considerable transformation with the aim of the maximal approaching to corresponding russian standard.

 Only in 60th of past century the Ukrainian language got formal possibility to function in the different spheres of life of society. But its’ prestige wasn't retrieved. Senior pupils, students, officials used Russian more and more for communication (especially in cities) "official-business life of the Ukrainian language in USSR was limited in every way, assumed only for the sake of appearance [9, p. 257]. Such state of affairs badly influenced on the language norms of office agreements. The copied names of positions, formed from the russian participles (manager, deputy), standard formulas (We, undersigned; Dear Boris Petrovitch!), etc. become usual. Gradually the Ukrainian language was forced out from an official consumption and performed only the auxiliary duty (for example, duplicated Russian-language text in a passport, certification, etc.). As justly B. Mikhaylishyn asserts "before Ukraine became independent it (official-business style - P.G.) dragged its’ pitiful western part of Ukraine [10, p. 1].

 Indeed, in soviet times, as the modern linguists mark, the official-business style was rationed and intelligent in theory, among language features of official-business texts, the language cliches, specific terminology, syntactic structures composition of business text are distinguished; they were used even in ancient bookish language and transformed into stylish paradigm of language features of official-business style in the modern Ukrainian literary language [9, p.257].

 With the proclamation of state independence and appropriation of state status, the language of official-business communication got new possibilities for development. "Changing of social status of the Ukrainian language appropriately caused to expansion of stylistic of official-business communication" (as S. Yarmolenko justly marks) [4, p.32]. It was largely assisted by the law " About languages" (1989) Government program of development of the Ukrainian language and other languages in USSR in the period before 2000 (1991), Constitution of Ukraine (1996), other normative acts in which the attention is spared to the usage of the Ukrainian language in the documents of state government and management, in office work, legal proceedings in arbitrage execution, in international agreements and in other business papers. However, from the beginning of implementation of law "About languages" was sabotaged, mostly by partocrators, who were renamed in democrats; by the leaders of different levels, who preconceived regarded to the Ukrainian language, and even simply by irresponsibility of public servants.

 In modern official-business style all attempts to copy the Russian-language analogues are limited by purism in a language plan. Accordingly within the limits of business relationships, the peculiar ukrainian forms of communication, fixing and information transfer are gradually produced.

 The short review of history of official-business style allows to assert, firstly, the language of business documents in all times , keeping traditional character, felt under the certain influence of practice of live interaction with noticeable aspiration to terminolize vocabulary, to produce specific cliches, normalize and standardize the formulars of corresponding documents. Filling with concrete sense of steady phrases and expressions allowed enlisting folk colloquial and even dialectal features of the spoken language. Secondly, the activization of conducting documents is directly related to political and legal status of the Ukrainian language: expansion of conducting documents in the Ukrainian language falls on periods, when Ukrainian had the official status of state. The important conclusion of our studios is that fact, that practice of business communication in the Ukrainian language was not interrupted in its’ evolution.

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