Diplomatic Language as part of the Language for Specific Purposes

Résumé

The goal of this work is to undertake exploratory analyses of the concept of the diplomatic language as part of the language for specific purposes. Specifically, we intend to contribute to the understandings of the relations between the lexicon of the language for specific purposes and the words and phrases of the diplomatic language by establishing relevant features and outlining a specialized vocabulary. The language for specific purposes refers to the use of terms by the members of a particular subject field of activity. Therefore, the language for specific purposes provides a code used by a relatively small group of speakers, the purpose of which is to ensure better communication and comprehension of the message by the recipient. Diplomatic language refers to the words and expressions that, over the centuries, have become part of the general diplomatic vocabulary. It also refers to the euphemistic phrases that allow unpleasant things to be revealed without becoming offensive. The attractiveness of the diplomatic language is rooted in its secular and complex nature, which falls under the competence of several fields, making it an interdisciplinary field of study. The issue investigated in this study confronts the ethics of the diplomatic corps and the interests of states, combining, in a genuine way, the semiotics with political science. Thus, our approach lays at the crossroads of two academic fields that are often distinctive, but also interrelated: on the one hand the political science, as a study of inter-statehood, trans-nationality, and internationality; and on the other hand, linguistics, to be more specific semiotics, at the level of discursive structures and functions.