Bureaucratisms
Bureaucratisms
words and expressions characteristic of the style of official papers and documents. Documents, acts, declarations, applications, certificates, and warrants are written according to an established form. However, the official formulations and requisite stereotyped expressions (cliches) of official discourse should not be transferred to colloquial speech and the literary language. Examples of Russian bureaucratisms are the use of lesnoi massif (“forest tract”) instead of les (“forest”) and proizvodi? polivku (“to conduct an irrigation”) instead of poliva? (“to irrigate”). Bureaucratisms may also differ grammatically from corresponding elements of the colloquial and literary languages—for example, Russian imeet by? (“will have existence”) rather than budet (“it will be”). The essential differences, however, are in vocabulary and syntax—for example, the words sei for etot (“this”) and kakovoi for kotoryi (“which”).