A study of linguistic features of set expressions used in business contracts

THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES * A STUDY OF LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF SET EXPRESSIONS USED IN BUSINESS CONTRACTS GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor : Ho Le Minh Nghi, M.A Student : Nguyen Thi Thu Uyen Class : 19CNATM02 Course : 2019-2023 DANANG – 2023 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the present work, entitled "A Study of Linguistic Features of Set Expressions Used in Business Contracts," has been composed by myself This work contains not incorporate any material published elsewhere except for the referenced sources acknowledged within the text This paper has not been submitted for any other degree or diploma in any circumstances Da Nang, 2023 Nguyen Thi Thu Uyen i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Ms Ho Le Minh Nghi, my advisor, for her dedicated guidance and encouragement Without her patient instruction and specific advice for revision, I could not have completed this essay successfully In addition, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the current staff members of the Department of English for Specific Purposes, as well as the lecturers who have taught me in the past four years I am sincerely grateful to my beloved family for their unwavering support and invaluable words of encouragement Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who have directly or indirectly assisted me during the research process ii ABSTRACT This study examines the linguistic characteristics of set expressions commonly used in business contracts Business contracts are legal documents that outline the terms and conditions of a business agreement The use of set expressions is a common feature of business contracts, and these expressions play a crucial role in ensuring clarity, accuracy, and consistency in legal language The study was conducted on 100 basic examples of specific business contracts, specifically sale contracts, selected from websites for lawyers on the Internet and some other resources provided by the teacher's instructor It explores and describes the forms of set expressions commonly used in business contracts Additionally, it identifies the syntactic and lexical features of set expressions used in business contract documents Finally, proposals for further research are discussed iii ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table: Table Examples words for PREP Preposition ADJ Adjective ADV Adverb N Noun PP Past Participle O Object of formal set expressions in contracts .23 Figure: Figure Distribution of types of Lexical features of set expressions in Business Contract 32 Figure Distribution of types Syntactic features of set expressions in Business Contracts 44 v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 RATIONALE 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 Aims 1.2.2 Objectives 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY .3 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.2.1 Definition of Contracts a Definition of Contracts b Characteristics of Contracts c Definition of Business Contracts 10 2.2.2 Notions of Set Expressions 11 a Definition of Set Expressions 11 b Classification of Set Expressions .12 2.2.3 Linguistics Features 12 2.2.3.1 Syntactic features .12 2.2.3.2 Lexical features 15 a Formal words .15 vi b Archaic words 16 c Loan words 16 d Technical Terms 17 e Coordination of Synonyms 17 f Nominalization 18 CHAPTER 20 RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES 20 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 20 3.2 RESEARCH METHODS 20 3.3 DATA COLLECTION 20 3.4 DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLES 20 3.5 DATA ANALYSIS 21 3.6 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY .21 CHAPTER 22 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 22 4.1 LEXICAL FEATURES OF SET EXPRESSIONS USED IN BUSINESS CONTRACTS .22 4.1.1 Formal words 22 4.1.2 Archaic words 24 4.1.3 Loan words 26 4.1.4 Technical Terms 27 4.1.5 Coordination of Synonyms 29 4.1.6 Nominalization 30 4.2 SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SET EXPRESSIONS USED IN BUSINESS CONTRACTS .33 4.2.1 NOUN PHRASES 33 4.2.1.1 N + N 33 4.2.1.2 N + PREP + N 34 4.2.1.3 N + AND + N 34 4.2.1.4 N's + N .35 4.2.1.5 Ns’ + N .36 4.2.1.6 ADJ + N 38 vii 4.2.2 VERB PHRASES 38 4.2.2.1 V +N 38 4.2.2.2 V + AND + V 39 4.2.3 ADJ PHRASES .40 4.2.3.1 ADJECTIVE + AND + ADJECTIVE 40 4.2.3.2 ADJ + PREP .41 4.2.4 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES 42 4.2.4.1 PREP + PREP 42 4.2.4.2 AS + PP + BY 42 4.2.4.3 AS + PP + IN 42 4.2.4.4 AS + ADV + PP + UPON 43 4.2.4.5 AS +ADV + AS .43 CHAPTER 46 CONCLUSION 46 5.1 CONCLUSION 46 5.2 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 46 5.2.1 Sample Size: 46 5.2.2 Language Specificity: 46 5.2.3 Generalizability: 47 5.2.4 Contextual Variation: 47 5.2.5 Single Source: 47 5.3 IMPLICATIONS 47 5.3.1 Enhancing Language Learning 47 5.3.2 Improving Skills in Translation and Interpretation 47 5.3.3 Enhancing Communication and Clarity 48 5.3.4 Legal Validity and Accuracy 48 5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 48 REFERENCES 50 viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE Since the 1960s, globalization has been developing extensively, leading to significant changes in the world economy This has resulted in integration in all aspects, especially in the economic field among countries that continue to develop strongly, bringing about a free trade flow worldwide Up to the present day, in the 21st century, along with the strong development of digital technology, it has contributed significantly to the increase in the number of business activities taking place, with transactions of buying and selling goods occurring every second, regardless of geographical distance As a result, globalization has blurred national borders and narrowed gaps in economic, political, and social aspects of life For many years, under the pressure of productivity improvements and the ability to meet the demand for exchanging goods, we have found an official weapon to support the issue of trade worldwide One of the five principles of Roman law when talking about contracts is "VERBA VOLANT, SCRIPTA MANENT," meaning "spoken words fly away, written words stay," to replace the previous temporary methods From there, business contracts appeared Business contracts are the backbone of the commercial world, and they are used to establish and regulate the relationships between various entities in the business world The linguistic features of these contracts play a critical role in ensuring clarity, accuracy, and effectiveness in legal communication Set expressions are a common feature of business contracts and are used to convey specific meanings and concepts in a clear and concise manner The use of set expressions is a common feature of business contracts, and these expressions play a critical role in ensuring clarity, precision, and consistency in legal language However, there is limited research on the linguistic features of set expressions in business contracts Understanding the characteristics of set expressions in business contracts is crucial for legal practitioners, as it helps them to use language