ABSTRACT
We have seen how the language of the law regulates behaviour at national and international levels. In this chapter we see how similar speech acts of regulation and persuasion operate in the business world. We are all involved to a greater or lesser extent in business. At the most superfi cial level, we buy things in shops and we read the instructions on imported goods. If we depend on business for our livelihood, we may be involved in the reading and writing of a whole raft of business documents every day. The smallest, but not most insignifi cant of documents, which seal the transaction between buyer and seller, are the invoice and the receipt. In addition to these there are accounts and audit reports, tenders, catalogues, company brochures, advertisements, contracts, inventories, purchase orders, letters of complaint or inquiry and many more. Translation for business involves a very varied range of genres, some of which are of a contractual nature, and some of which describe the company or the goods and services provided.
