Pragmatic relevance/strength of lexico-grammar choices in EU legal documents

The present study focuses on the communicative relevance of lexical choices in the documents of the European Union Committee of the Regions （CoR） and of other related bodies within a pragmalinguistic perspective. The function of the Committee of the Regions is to issue opinions on proposals for Community legislation which are closest to the citizen interests - education, youth, culture, health. It is thus a voice at the heart of the EU which aims at increasing the participation of European regions in community life. Our corpus consists in 100 documents （Proposals and Opinions） whose lexico-grammatical aspects and communicative/ rhetorical strategies are here investigated. Our hypothesis is that such texts aim at creating a holistic we to construe a common ground of interests, within the constraints of legal intercourses, shared by both the sender and the receiver of the messages. Frequently occurring lexical items are： welcome, ensure, strengthen, aid. To stress urgency, generate empathy, emphasize needs and endorse value-positions are the recognizable perlocutionary effects of such semantic/pragmatic choices. Tools for analysis were taken from the domain of pragmalinguistics, from Evaluative/Appraisal Frameworks and, also, from social sciences. Particularly relevant appeared the notion of＇advocacy＇ （i.e., when researchers are asked to use their expertise to defend the subjects＇ interests in healthcare, education, political rights, and cultural autonomy）. This study will provide both qualitative and quantitative data to support our hypothesis, and will offer suggestions for further research.     

郑和下西洋与中国东南亚的友好交往

明初中国政府为了发展与东南亚国家的友好关系,奉行了一系列和平外交政策,包括派遣郑和七下西洋,遍历东南亚各国。郑和作为一位和平外交使者;在下西洋期间,不仅为满剌加立国,制止了强国对弱国的欺凌,而且在旧港剿灭海寇,保证了航道的畅通,同时在苏门答腊为国王平定了叛乱,维持了当地的和平秩序。郑和及其随从的和平外交活动在东南亚民众中影响很大,至今仍到处流传着有关他们的传说。这些事实说明,郑和作为一位和平使者,的确为发展中国与东南亚的友好交往立下了功勋。