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1、浅析礼貌原则在商务信函中的应用Application of Politeness Principle in Business LetterAbstract: Today, politeness principle is more and more important in business, and business letter is indispensable in international trade. The characteristics and requirements of the language of business letter have its unique form
2、. And the writing forms and methods of business letter writing are become more and more important. This passage based on previous studies of politeness principle, analyzed the characteristic and the role of politeness principle in business letter. For politeness principle can be paid special attenti
3、on in business letter writing. Key words: business letter; politeness principle; characteristic; role摘要：礼貌原则在如今商务交流中越来越重要，而商务信函也在国际贸易中占据举足轻重的位置，本文结合前人研究成果，浅析礼貌原则在商务信函中的应用特点和作用，帮助人们加强商务信函写作时对礼貌原则的重视关键词：商务信函；礼貌原则；特点；作用Outline：1. Introduction 2. Literature review2.1 The concept of “politeness principle
4、”2.2 The previous studies of politeness principle in business letter3. The analysis of the usage of politeness principle3.1 The linguistic feature of politeness used in business letter3.1.1 The characteristics of personal pronoun 3.1.2 The usage of modal verb 3.1.3 The usage of tense 3.2 The assortm
5、ent of politeness principle3.2.1 Application of clarity principle in business letter3.2.2 Application of correctness principle in business letter3.2.3 Application of completeness principle in business letter3.3 The maxim of politeness principle3.3.1 The usage of agreement maxim in business letter3.3
6、.2 The usage of sympathy maxim in business letter3.3.3 The usage of appreciation maxim and modesty maxim in business letter4. The role of politeness principle in business letter4.1 The positive effect of principle in business letter4.2 The negative effect of principle in business letter5. Conclusion
7、1. IntroductionWith the development of the global economy, business letter has played an important role in modern international trade. Business letter has its own unique characteristics and requirements in the language. The writing forms and methods of writing the business letter are very important.
8、 And politeness principle is one of the most important methods of business letter writing. Geoffrey Leech points out that politeness principle has six maxims: tact, generosity, appreciation, modesty, agreement and sympathy. These maxims are methods of principles which discussed in pragmatics and als
9、o have directive function in business letter writing. A polite business letter can promote the trade of a deal by valuing others point of view and their interest, and make others feel considerately. This passage analyzes the usage of politeness principle and specifically analyzed modesty, agreement
10、and appreciation maxim to help people pay more attention to business letters writing skill.This passage is composed of three chapters. The first chapter has cited Geoffrey Leechs view-point to explain the concept of “politeness principle” and summarize the previous studies of politeness principle in
11、 business letter. The second chapter is a specific analysis of the usage of politeness principle. This part firstly introduces linguistic feature of politeness used in business letter, including the usage of personal pronoun, modal verb and tense. Then further analysis the assortment of politeness p
12、rinciple applied in business letter, involving clarity principle, correctness principle and completeness principle. Besides, the tactics of politeness principle are also discussed in this part, including modesty tactics, agreement tactics as well as tactics. And in the last chapter, both the positiv
13、e effect and negative effect of this principle in business letter is analyzed. 2. Literature review2.1 The concept of “politeness principle”Politeness principle is an explanation for realistic communication. In 1967, in order to make sure the conversation in social life goes well, American linguisti
14、c philosopher Herbert Paul Grice had put forward the cooperative principle, which made a major breakthrough in pragmatics. But sometimes when people are talking, their speech usually deviates from the cooperative principle. Then Geoff Rey Leech put forward the politeness principle to replenish and c
15、omplete the cooperative principle. In Leechs opinion, when people are talking they should maximize the expression of polite beliefs and minimize the expression of impolite beliefs. This principle is very important to business letter writing.2.2 The previous studies of politeness principle in busines
16、s letterPoliteness has been an important factor affecting interpersonal relationship which attracts the attention of lot of linguists. And various scholars both home and abroad, have given their explanation to this principle from different perspectives. They sum up that business letter is not only a
17、n intermediary of communication, but also a method of developing a friendship and attracting clients. When writing business letter, we should not only use all kinds of politeness principle flexibly and improve the express skills of politeness, but also consider all kinds of the context in internatio
18、nal trade and use the language tactics rightly to ensure smooth business cooperation. Whats more, to reply letter in time, use the appropriate language, respect others, be neither humble nor pushy are very important skills in business letter writing. The usage of polite language can embodies the res
19、pect to each other. Therefore, the foreign trade staff should know the basic skills of politeness principles in international business correspondence writing well to build up a language bridge of trade.3. The analysis of the usage of politeness principle3.1 The linguistic feature of politeness used
20、in business letterThere are many linguistic features in business letter, such as, the usage of Euphemism and modal verb, the roles of personal pronoun and Passive Voice .According to the previous studies, this paper will specially analyze the usage of personal pronoun, modal verb and the tense. 3.1.
21、1 The characteristics of personal pronoun Personal pronoun is very important in business letter, especially in Britain and American letters. In British English, the wording always needs to be official and the honorific is always used in letters. The most universal honorific is Mr., Mrs., Miss, and M
22、adam. In British letter writing, Mr., Mrs. and Messer are all without abbreviation full stop. On addressing aspects, Dear Sir is the most universal one in business letter. If the company you wrote to has only one person, you must use Sir or Dear Sir and with a comma behind it. In the end of the lett
23、er, yours sincerely, best wishes, kind regards, yours truly or yours faithfully should be used.When we write business letters we also need to pay attention to “you-attitude”. It means we should show that we are always considering about our friends, and show our friendliness and respect to them. Some
24、 one said that” Remember that the word b-u-s-i-n-e-s-s contains both U and I, but the U comes before the I. This is a good progression for you to remember.” That is a good explanation for “you-attitude”. In order to explain “you-attitude”, the second person is always being used. (1)To meet your requ
25、irement, we are willing to make snore concessions to cut 3%of our price if the quantity of your individual purchase is not less than 50 tons.This example easily showed us that whether you want to give information or convince others to buy your goods, the most noticeable thing is the words “you” and”
26、 your”. Because the usage of the second person can make an impression on you are focus on your partner. That makes your partner feel that you are considerate and politee.g.2:(1)We are pleased to announce that You will be pleased to know that(2) We want you to do it. You will no doubt do itIn this ex
27、ample, sentence 2 is much better than sentence 1. It is more considerable, It is fully affirmed that the reader is the center of this business ship,3.1.2 The usage of modal verb The past tense of modal verb has a function that can relax the mood. It can make the letter more polite by using with some
28、 words, like wonder, hope, and wish and so on.e.g.:(1)It is wondered if you would allow partial shipment. I was wondering if you could furnish us with the information about this company.In this sentence, the writer wants to get information about the company, and show his respect to the reader. Here,
29、 the writer puts the reader in a leading role and make the reader feel respected. Left leeway for the other party3.1.3 The usage of tense In business letter, whatever you want to claim, to complains or to denies the clause, your wording requires to be polite, your tone should be tactful.When we writ
30、e, fristly, we should use declarative sentence and question frequently, imperative sentence and negative sentence are avoided. Declarative sentence is widely applied in narrative, explaination and it is unnecessary to express individual emotional by it. And question in letters is a best way to show
31、politeness. Secondly, passive voice is needed to express negative significance. Compared with passive voice, initiative sentence always expresses something about blame, always make others feel your tone is aggressive. That is unfavourable to build a harmonious relationship. On the contrary side, the
32、 sentence which uses passive voice is more circumbendibus and objective.For example:e.g.1:(1)A very careless mistake was made during the course of shipment.(2)What if the inspection cannot be completed within the time limit?In these examples, sentence B is more polite than A. It can help the final s
33、olution of this problem. e.g.2:(1) You damaged the case.(2) The case was found to be damagedSentence two used the passive voice, and avoids blaming the parties. And reduce the embarrassment of the subject. Lastly, we should be good at using the past tense and progressive tense. Some words past tense
34、 has a test function, it can express request, suggestion and advice indirectly and show more politeness than present tense3.2 The assortment of politeness principleGenerally speaking, business letter writing should insist on keep the following principles: consideration, completeness, clarity, concis
35、eness concreteness, correctness and the most important one: courtesy.Politeness principle is not the only means to be polite, but also should consider the whole things on the side of “you-attitude”. 3.2.1 Application of clarity principle in business letterClarity principle is that all the sentences
36、in the letter should be clear and show the authentic intention definitely. Avoid double meaning of representation. To show other person the mean idea straightforward with the simplest words.e.g.:(1)As to the steamers sailing from HongKong to Japan, we have bimonthly direct services.In this sentence
37、“bimonthly” has double meanings, make this order ambiguously.Whether the ship sail twice a month or once for two months is a question.This may delay the shipment.So, we must pay special attention to clearity principle in business letter writing.3.2.2 Application of correctness principle in business
38、letterCorrectness principle means when we wrote, we should use the language and punctuation mark correctly. Because business letter is involved in the interest, duty and stake of both the sale and buyer, mistake is not allowed in writing. It is not understatement or overstatement. Correctness includ
39、e: correct narration, correct language, correct words, correct understanding and usage of trade terms and correct use of another six Cs.e.g.:(1)This stove is absolutely the best on the marketThe purpose of this sentence is to introduce the stove, but it shows nothing about the stoves function. Inste
40、ad of a comprehensive introduction, it makes a conclusion straightly. This will not achieve the purposes, on the contrary will make customers feel like cheating. So to be correct is important in trade. It is a link between another six Cs. 3.2.3 Application of completeness principle in business lette
41、rBusiness letter should deliver the message completely, including the person, the time, the place, the reason and the method.(1) “Cellulose Tape 1/2”* 3yds, with plastic dispenser 700doz/ditto-but 1/2”* 5yds, 1,000 doz.”This is an order about the name of commodity, quantity and the type of goods whi
42、ch received by export merchant. But this order is not completely. The word “ditto” here means the cellulose tape mentioned in the beginning but “with plastic dispenser” can not be concluded in it. So whether the plastic dispenser is need or not is unclear. That will be easily misunderstood and waste
43、 both the sales and buyers time.3.3 The tactics of politeness principleIn Leechs opinion politeness principle has six maxims:1. Tact maxim: Minimize the expression which harmful to others beneath. 2. Generosity maxim: increase the expression which harmful to yourself.3. Approbation maxim: Always pra
44、ise others.4. Modesty maxim: Do not always speak highly of yourself 5. Agreement maxim: Try the best to make an agreement when you two have different opinions6. Sympathy maxim: Try your best to lessen the disgust. Among these six maxims, agreement, sympathy and appreciation are very important in wri
45、ting. And the following sections will analyze these three maxims by giving examples.3.3.1 The usage of agreement maxim in business letterAgreement tactics is used in formulation. When sales and buyers have different opinions, agreement tactics can reduce the divergence and ensure successful the nego
46、tiation.(1)We do not deny that the quality of Chinese kernels is slightly better, but the difference in price should, in no case, be as big as10 percent.In this example, the writer recognized that the quality of the goods is better than others before pointing out that the price is unreasonable. This
47、 eliminates the barrier of negotiate(2) :( a)Unfortunately this is our rock bottom price; we can not make any further reduction. (b) I am really sorry t hat our products panhandle satisfy your requirement.(c) We are looking forward to t he pleasure of hearing from you as soon as.(d) Your immediate a
48、t tension would be appreciated.Compare these four sentences and you will find out that positive presentation and cooperative presentation can make the whole sentence more polite and faithful.3.3.2 The usage of sympathy maxim in business letterThis maxim is used for declaration. During the process of
49、 foreign trade this maxim is always used for expressing ones sympathy and solicitude or the wish to give a hand to others. (1)We are most anxious to compensate you for the shortage in weight mentioned in your letter of June 4, by offering you an allowance of 10 percent.In order to show their sympathy, the writer