商务英语信函写作中的语言特点及写作技巧 全英文

商务英语信函写作中的语言特点及写作技巧全英文商务英语信函写作中的语言特点及写作技巧全英文商务英语信函写作中的语言特点及写作技巧全英文商务英语信函写作中的语言特点及写作技巧全英文编制仅供参考审核批准生效日期地址：电话：传真:邮编:1IntroductionBusinessEnglishcanberegardedasanapplicationofEnglishlanguageincommercialoccasions,aimingatenablingspeakerstocommunicateandinteracteffectivelyusingthemostcorrectandclearestbusinesslanguage.BusinessEnglishCorrespondenceisanimportantcarrierofinternationalcommercialactivitieswhichisusedtodelieverinformation,addresscommercialissuesandasawayofcommunication.Lexiconisanimportantfactorofapassage.InthewritingofbusinessEnglishcorrespondence,weshouldpayparticularattentiontotheselectionoflexicon.Differentwordsmaycarrydifferentmeaningandeventhemoodofthemcanbeverydistinct.Therefore,itisofgreatnecessitytodoresearchofthefeaturesoflexiconinthewritingofbusinessEnglishcorrespondence.Thisthesisattemptstodosomeresearchesonthefollowingsubjects:TohaveagoodknowledgeofcharacteristicsoflexiconinbusinessEnglishcorrespondence.TomakesenseofthereasonwhythebusinessEnglishcorrespondencehavesuchrequirementsoflexicon.Toprovidesomesuggestionsthatlearnerscanimprovetheirwritingskills.2DescriptionofBusinessEnglishcorrespondence2.1DefinitionofbusinessEnglishcorrespondenceNowadaysmoreandmorepeoplechoosetoworkincompaniesanddocommercialwork.AsChinajoinedtheWTO,enterprisesareallchoosingtoopentheirmarketsandexpandthemintotheinternationalworld,thusmakingEnglishinevitablybecomethemostusedlanguageintheworld.Andinthiswayanewsubjectappearedthatwecallit“businessEnglish”.IntermsofbusinessEnglish,werefertothelanguageusedinordertoadapttothejobmarketwhosecontentsincludealotofaspects(Kansi,1983;134).UnlikethegeneralEnglishlearners,peoplewholearnbusinessEnglisharemoretargetedandspecialized.Businesscorrespondencemeanstheactofcommunicatingbymeansofcorrespondencesorthecorrespondencesbetweencorrespondents(曹菱,2000;87).Itisthemainwayfortraderstodobusiness,exchangecommercialinformationandconsultandgiveanswerstocommercialquestionsininternationaltrade.Besides,itisareflectionofdifferentcultures,socialbackgroundsandrepresentativeofinterestsofbothpartiesofatradingactivity.BusinessEnglishcorrespondencesisdifferentfrompersonalcorrespondences,foritismoreformalandcanbealegaldocumentforbothenterprisestodobusinesstransactionanddealwithcommercialdisputes.ThisisaseriousproblemthatbusinessEnglishcorrespondencewritersshouldpayattentionto.Differentfromthestatecorrespondenceorpersonalcorrespondences,businessEnglishcorrespondenceshasitsowncharacteristicsbothinthearticlestyleandlanguage(Ober,1998;98).Inparticular,itishighdemandedofthecorrectnessandstandardsoflanguage.Thebusinesscorrespondenceshouldbeclear,concise,concrete,andofcourtesyinlanguage.2.2AssortmentofbusinessEnglishcorrespondenceItcancategorizebusinesscorrespondencesintothreekinds.Theyareasfollows:Thefirstkindisinaccordancewiththeletters’content.Wehaveinvitationletters,sellingletters,employingletters,andetc.Intermsoftherolethebusinesslettersplaysincommercialactivitiesofenterprises,wehavenegotiatingletterswhichaimsataddressadispute,friendlyletterswhichisusedtokeepafriendlytouchwithanothercompany,andetc.Thelastisthecorrespondence,whichisusedtogivesomeinformation.Theinformationmaybegoodorbad.Inaword,wecanclassifythebusinesscorrespondencesfromdifferentperspectivesjustasthewaymentionedabove.Sometimes,eachkindisnotsoisolatedfromothers.Besideswehavementionedabove,therearealsomanykindsofbusinessEnglishcorrespondencessuchaslettersforsettingupbusinessrelationships,conclusionofbusiness,salescontractorconfirmation,salespromotion,orderandfulfillment,productsshipment,shippingadvice,insurance,claim,askingforanagent,processingtrade,compensationtrade,andetc.2.3FunctionofbusinessEnglishcorrespondenceTodayithascomeintoaninformationsocietywiththedevelopmentofinformationtechnologyandtheInternet.BusinessEnglishcorrespondencesplaysanimportantpartininternationaltradingactivitiesduetoitscourtesy,completeness,concisenessandothergoodfeaturesinordertoobtainanddeliverinformation,makeeffectivecommunication,addressrelatedissuesincommercialactivitiesandmaintaingoodandnormaloperatingrelations.Businesscorrespondencemeanstheactofcommunicatingbymeansoflettersortheletters,whichpassbetweencorrespondents(曹菱,2000;76).Itisthemainwayfortraderstodobusiness,exchangecommercialinformationandconsultandgiveanswerstocommercialquestionsininternationaltrade.Besides,itisareflectionofdifferentcultures,socialbackgroundsandrepresentativeofinterestsofbothpartiesofatradingactivity.BusinessEnglishlettersisdifferentfrompersonalletters,foritismoreformalandcanbealegaldocumentforbothenterprisestodobusinesstransactionanddealwithcommercialdisputes.Allinall,wesummarizeditsfunctionasfollows:First,itcanimprovetheworkingefficiencyofforeigntradeandreducethecost.Second,ithelpsenterprisestoseekmorenewclientsanddeepentheirrelationswiththecompanies.Third,thebusinessEnglishletterscanpromotetheforeigntradeeconomy.Andfinallyitisboundtoplayanimportantroleinfulfillingtheglobalizationoftrade.3Basicwritingprinciplesforbusinesscorrespondence3.1PolitenessBeingpoliteisanimportantprincipleinbusinesscircles.Apolitecorrespondencecanhelpyouwinothers’will.Therefore,itisappropriatetousemorefrequentlywordssuchas“please”,“Iwillbehighlyappreciatedthat...”,Itisourpleasureto…”andetc.Thereareinevitablyconflictsanddisputesinbusinesstransactions.Anditispolitenessthatcanfunctionasalubricanttobreakdeadlocks.Whendoingcompensation,makingcomplaints,andrefusingtoacceptsomerequests,businessEnglishcorrespondences’writersmustbemorepoliteandtrytousewordsnotsoimperative.Whenrespondingtoothers’correspondences,thewritersshallalsousepolitewordsnomatterhowbadtheattitudeoftheotherpartyis.First,thewritersshouldbegoodatusingpassivesentences,whichcanmakeyourwordsmoretemperate.Forexample,thesentence“Youmadeaverycarelessmistake”maybebetterifitischangedinto“Averycarelessmistakewasmade”.Second,thewritersshouldbegoodatusingquestionsentencestoshowpolitenessandeuphemismandconditionalsentencestomakeyourrecommendationssoundsmoretentativeandeuphemistic.3.2ConcisenessandCompletenessEmphaticanddescriptivewordsaregoodwaystomakebusinessEnglishcorrespondencemoreeffective.Writerscanchooseabbreviatedwordsinforeigntradefieldsthatarefamiliartopeople.Besides,thesentencestructureshouldbeconciseandsimple.Writersshouldusemorewordstoreplacecomplexsentencesandtrytomaintainthecompletenessandmakesentencesmoreconcise(Baugh,1986;39).Forinstance,“Aswhatyouhaverequested...”canbesimplifiedinto“Asrequested...”.Moreover,itisakeyfactortokeepthecompletenessofinformation.Somewordsusedinourdailylifesuchas“theabovementioned”,“theformer”,“respectively”shouldnotbeusedinbusinesscorrespondencesasmuchaspossible.Makesureprovidecompleteinformationtolettheotherpartybeclearatthefirstglance.3.3Clearness,ConcretenessandCorrectnessClearnessisthemostimportantprincipleinbusinessEnglishcorrespondence.Anunclearcorrespondencemaycausemisunderstandingandambiguousandeventradingloss.Therefore,writersshouldpayattentiontoselectcorrectwordsandmakeyoursentencesstructureisabsolutelyright.InbusinessEnglishcorrespondenceswriting,theinformationthatisdeliveredshouldbeconcreteandvividtoavoidtheriskofambiguity.Correctnessnotonlyrequiresthatgrammar,syntax,andmarksandspellingberight,butthecommercialtechnicaltermsshouldberepresentedappropriately.Thecommunicativeeffectswillbegreatlydamagedifmistakesaremadeinspelling,person,punctuationmarks,tense,andetc.Besides,writersshouldusemoreformalwords.Forexample,abbreviationsas“I’ll”,“we’re”shouldnotbeused.4Lexiconandwritingprinciplesofbusinesscorrespondence4.1TheDefinitionoflexicologyIntheOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary,thedefinitionoflexicologyisthestudyoftheform,meaningandbehaviorofwords.Technically,lexicologyisabranchoflinguisticsconcernedwiththestudyofthevocabularyofagivenlanguage.Itdealswithwords,theirorigin,development,history,structure,meaningandapplication.ThetermlexicologycontainstwoGreekmorphemes:lexikonandlogie.Theformermeans“word”,thelattermeans“learning”or“thestudyof”(Nation,2001).4.2Reviewofstudiesonlexicalfeatures4.2.1ReviewofstudiesonlexicalfeaturesinEnglishforSpecificPurposesEnglishhasbeenmoreandmorefrequentlyusedinvariouscircles.WehavesummarizedthissituationasworkplaceEnglishincludingtourismEnglish,lawEnglish,medicalEnglishandetc.Andinthisthesis,wemainlyfocusedonitsuseinbusinessfieldthatis“businessEnglish”.Wearenowlivinginaglobalizedworld,andafterChinaenteringtheWTO,ourcountry’scommercialactivitiesareincreasingrapidly,whichmakesbusinessEnglishbecomeanindispensablelanguagetoolforcommunicationintheworld’seconomicalactivities.BusinessEnglishcorrespondenceisoneofthemosteffectivewaysininternationalcommunication.AgoodknowledgeofEnglishistheimportantfoundationforwriterstowriteagoodandeffectivebusinessEnglishcorrespondence.Inthemeanwhile,therearemanyotherfactorsshouldbepaidattentionto,suchasavoidingChinglish,havingknowledgeofthebackgroundknowledgeofwesternculture,keepingeyeonthetradingstyleoftheotherpartyandetc.Inoneword,withthecontinuouschangesoftheformsofcommercialactivities,thebusinessEnglishcorrespondencesmustchangeaccordingly.4.2.2FormerstudiesonlexicalfeaturesofEnglishbusinesscorrespondenceLexiconplaysanimportantpartinwriting.AndinbusinessEnglishwriting,thelexiconisofmoresignificance.ManyscholarshavemademanyresearchesofthelanguageandlexiconinbusinessEnglishcorrespondencesfromvariousperspectives.Theystudiedmanyaspectssuchasthelexiconmeaning,function,correctness,andetc.Therefore,itisofmuchresearchvaluetodoresearchinthisaspect.ThisthesistriedtoexploremoremeaningfulthingsexpectingtoprovidesomeusefulinformationtothereadersandbusinessEnglishlearners(何勇斌,2005;196).4.3TheLexicalFeaturesRepresentedinCourtesyandConsiderationIthasmentionedthatthereare7Csprinciplesinbusinesswriting,here,I’lldividetheminto3classificationstoillustratethelexicalfeaturesineachclassification.Thefirstclassificationislexicalfeaturesrepresentedincourtesyincourtesyandconsideration.Inbusinesscorrespondences,weoftenusesomepolitewordstoexpressourkindnesstoother.Andweoftenusesomespecialwordstopresentconsiderationtotheotherparty.Sofromsomeaspectwecansaythattheconsiderationfortheotherpartyisalsoshowourcourtesy.Thesecondclassificationislexicalfeaturesrepresentedinconcisenessandcompleteness.AsImentionedabove,businesscorrespondenceshouldbeconcise,butthatdoesn’tmeanthatthelessthebetter.Atthesametime,weshouldnoticethatwegivethecompleteinformationthatneeded.Thelastclassificationislexicalfeaturesrepresentedinclearness,concretenessandcorrectness.Thesethreeprincipleshaveonecommontargetthatistomakethebusinesscorrespondencebeaccurateandnottobemisunderstanding.4.3.1UsepolitewordsEnglishbusinesscorrespondencesisanimportantwayofcommercialcommunicationandplaymanyrolessuchasdeliveringinformation,buildingcooperativerelationship,promotingcompany’soperationsandstrengtheningcommunicationincommercialactivities(汤军,1998;148).Toachievecommercialgoalssuccessfully,itisessentialtousepoliteandappropriatelanguage.AccordingtoLeech(Leech,1983;236),thereisasetofPolitenessPrinciple(PP)thatsociallygovernscommunicativebehavior.ThePolitenessPrinciple(PP)isformulatedasfollows:Minimize(otherthingsbeingequal)theexpressionofimpolitebelief,andmaximize(otherthingsbeingequal)theexpressionofpolitebeliefs.4.3.2UsepositivewordsThemeaningofwordiscombinedwithconceptualmeaningandassociativemeaning.Heformeroneisthecoreofawordandtheassociativemeaningisacombinationofaword’semotionalandstylisticmeaning.Wordsofpositiveemotionalmeaningwilldeliveranunhappyfeelingonreaders.InEnglishbusinesscorrespondences,wordsofpositivemeaningcansendpeopleanemotionofdelight,happinessandpositivenessandmakethemfeelrespected,thusmakingwordsmoreacceptable.Therefore,inEnglishbusinesscorrespondences,wordsthatcanexpressgratitudeandpraiseareoftenused.Forinstance,Wewouldbeverygratefulifyoucouldletustakedeliverybeforethesellingseason.Itgivesusmuchpleasuretoreceivethecatalogueandsamplesyousentus.Inaword,itismoreacceptabletochoosewordsofpositivemeaninginEnglishbusinesscorrespondences.4.3.3HedgesHedgewordsarethosehavecertaincoremeaninginlanguagewhilenotallthesenseofthemaredefinite（伍铁平,1999;143）.Theyaredifferentfromsemanticambiguity.Theyhavetheiruniquecharacteristicsandrichpragmaticfunction.Usinghedgewordsappropriatelywillmakecorrespondencelanguagemorepoliteinsteadofaffectingitsprecisenessoflanguage.Hedgescanbedividedintotwokinds.Ononehand,wecanusesomewordsorexpressionsthatcanchangetheoriginalmeaningofdiscourse.Forexample,wecanuse“alittle,roughly,greatly,approximately“andetc.Ontheotherhand,weusewordsthatdonotchangethetrueconditionofdiscoursebutcansoftenthelanguagemood(陈楚君,2004;71).Incommercialactivities,therearesomeinevitablydisputesthatcannotbeavoidedinthecooperationofbothtradingpartiesbecauseofsomeinterestsconflictsandcontradictions.Inthosesituations,writerscouldusehedgestodelivertheirinformationmorequicklyinordertogivebothpartiesmorespacetosavetheirtradeandface,thuseasilychangingtheirwayoftrading.Forexample,thesentence“Wecannotagreewiththepriceyouoffer.”maybechangedinto“Iamafraidthatwecannotagreewiththepriceyouhaveset’.Andinthisway,yourwordscanbemoreacceptablebytheotherparty.4.3.4UsemoremodalverbsModalwordshavemodalmeaningandmodalmeaningisthecourageofaverbthatcanexpressthespeaker’sattitudetowardsandemotiontothesubjecthetalksabout.Whetherthelanguageispolitedependsonwhetherthemodalwordsarestrong.Modalwordslike“could,might,would,should”andetc.moreofnegotiablemoodthatcanmakelanguagemoodmoreeuphemisticandareoftenusedinEnglishbusinessletters.4.4Thelexicalfeaturesrepresentedinconcisenessandcompleteness4.4.1ChoiceofconcisewordingWritersofbusinessEnglishcorrespondences,whenwriteabusinessEnglishcorrespondence,redundancyofwordsshouldbeavoided.Trytomakethewordsandsentencesmoreclear.Toomanydetaildescriptionsshouldalsobeavoidedasmuchaspossible.Forexample,inthesentence“Wehavebeguntoexportourmachinetocountriesabroad”,theword“export”and“countriesabroad”areofthesamemeaning.Andinthiscase,wesuggestthat“countriesabroad”shouldbeomitted.EmphaticanddescriptivewordsareagoodwaytomakebusinessEnglishcorrespondencemoreeffective.Writerscanchooseabbreviatedwordsinforeigntradefieldsthatarefamiliartopeople.Besides,thesentencestructureshouldbeconciseandsimple.Writersshouldusemorewordstoreplacecomplexsentencesandtrytomaintainthecompletenessandmakesentencesmoreconcise(Baugh,1986;94).Forinstance,“Aswhatyouhaverequested...”canbesimplifiedinto“Asrequested...”.Moreover,itisakeyfactortokeepthecompletenessofinformation.Somewordsusedinourdailylifesuchas“theabovementioned”,“theformer”,“respectively”shouldnotbeusedinbusinesscorrespondencesasmuchaspossible.Makesureprovidecompleteinformationtolettheotherpartybeclearathefirstglance.4.4.2SynonymsinpairsSynonymisanotherimportantwordformusedinbusinessEnglishcorrespondences.Itreferstowordsofthesameoralmostthesamemeaningbuthavedifferentspellingformsorsounddifferent.ThesewordsareoftenusedinbusinessEnglishcorrespondences.Forinstance,”wehavesometermsandpactsneedingyoutocheckcarefully”.Itisverycommontouseagreatdealofsynonymsinbusinesscorrespondences.Ononehand,theuseofsynonymsreflectsthediversityandflexibilityoflanguageinbusinessEnglishcorrespondences.Ontheotherhand,thesesynonymshavealittledifferenceinthemeaningorusage,whichcanindirectlyreflecttheprecisenessofbusinessEnglish.Suchasgoods,commodity,merchandise,shipment,freight,cargoandconsignment.Thesewordsthatwelistedhereallcanrefertothingsincommercialtrading.Butifweusedifferentwords,werefertothesamething.However,thereshouldbenotedthatwecannotstillmixthemtogetherorjusttakethemasoneword.Becausetheyaredividedintoaccordancewithvariouslinkofinternationaltrade,theyrepresentdifferentlinks.Shipmentandcargoaregenerallyreferredtothingsintransportation,whilemerchandise,goods,commoditiesaremorelikelytorefertothingswhentheyaresoldorbought.Therefore,thisisaspecialfeatureoflexiconinbusinessEnglishcorrespondencesthatdeservinglearnerstopaytheirattentionto.4.4.3UseAffixLanguageischangingwiththedevelopmentofoursocietyandbusinessEnglish,asanapplicationofgeneralEnglishincommercialactivitiesischangingaswell.Andthegreatwavedoftheeconomy’sglobalizationbringmoreopportunitiesforbusinessEnglish.InthelexiconofbusinessEnglish,themoststrikingfeatureisthattheusageofsomenewprefixandaffix,whichcontributedthebirthofsomenewwordsinbusinessarea.Forexample,theprefixe-,eco-,tel-,andsuffix-ism,andetc.Somenewwordsmadefromthemsuchase-commerce,tele-message,eco-friendly,endism,andetc.4.4.4UseabbreviationsAbbreviationsareanimportantpartofbusinessEnglishlexiconthatformedinthelong-termcommercialpractices.Theuseofabbreviationscanmakeyourexpressionmoreconciseandclearandtheyarefrequentlyusedincommercialactivities.Abbreviationsareoftenrepresentedbythecapitalizedcorrespondences,suchasL/C(correspondenceofcredit),B/L(billoflanding),EAT(estimatedarrivaltime),ASAP(assoonaspossible),andetc.4.5.TheLexicalfeaturesrepresentedinclearness,concretenessandcorrectness4.5.1ChoiceofprecisewordingInbusinesscorrespondences,therearesomespecialexpressionsandwordsthatrenotsofrequentlyusedinsituationsofdailylife.ThesewordsalmostdonotappearingeneralEnglish.Insomecases,theyareusedinordinaryEnglish,butwillhavedifferentmeaninginbusinessEnglish.ThisisalsoalexicalfeatureofbusinessEnglishcorrespondences.Forexample,inthephrase“onthetermsandconditions”,thewords“term”and“condition”arebothofthemeaning“insomesituationorwithsomerequirements”.Inourdailylife,thereisnoneedtousethetwowordsofthesamemeaningatthesametime,whileinbusinessEnglishcorrespondences,theyaremustbeusedtogetherlikeabovetoguaranteethatthelettersarepreciseandrigorous.Inanotherexample,theword“advise”inthephrase“advisesbofsth”isusedasthemeaning“giveasuggestionorrecommend”indailyusage.ButinbusinessEnglishcorrespondences,itmeans“notice”.TherearealotofsuchwordsinbusinessEnglish.Forinstance,theword“offer”generallyrefersto“provideorsupplysth”,whileinbusinessEnglishcorrespondencesitcanusedasoftheameaningassociatedwiththestocks.Again,ininsuranceindustry,“theword“policy”means“thecredittoproveyoumakeaninsurance”ratherthantheordinarymeaning“principles”.Therefore,itisofgreatnecessityforwritersofbusinessEnglishwriterstopayattentiontothis.4.5.2PreferenceofconcretewordstoabstractwordsInbusinessEnglishcorrespondences,writersshouldmakesurethattheinformationthattheydeliverisspecific,correctandvividaspossibleastheycan.Trytocomparethefollowingsentences:“WehavesenttoyouasusualunderyourL/C”.“WehavesenttoyouoursightdraftNo.231oftheCentralBank.”Bycomparison,itisapparentforustoseethatinformationofthesecondsentenceismorespecific,whichmakereaderscanclearlymakesenseoftheinformationthewriterwanttodeliverattheirfirstglance.However,thefirstoneissogeneralthatreaderscanunderstandwhatdoesthesentencemeanaftercarefulthinking.4.5.3UsesimplewordstomakesureofclearnessInbusinessEnglishcorrespondences,theprincipleclearnessisofgreatsignificanceaswell.Itreferstodelivertheinformationthatwriterstrytopassonclearlyanddirectlywithoutcausinganymisunderstandingorbringinganytroubleforbothtradingparties.AclearexpressionhasbeenanimportantlinktomakesureofeffectivecommercialcommunicationallthetimeandthusbecometheobjectiveandstandardofbusinessEnglishwriting.IfthereceiversofthebusinessEnglishcorrespondencescannotmakesenseofwhatthewritersintentionis,thecorrespondencewillbeboundtoturnouttobemeaninglessnomatterhowfiguredandmagnificentthelanguageis.Andinsomecases,suchcorrespondencesthatcannotdelivercorrectandclearinformationmayevencausemisunderstandingsandtradinglosses.Tosolvethisproblem,firstly,wecanchoosetousesimplewordsthatfamiliartous.Indoingtradingcommunication,wehadbetterusewordsthataresimpleandinlinewit