商务信函中的模糊语

PAGETableofContentsAbstract i中文摘要 iiTOC\o"1-3"\f\h\z1.Introduction 11.1Researchbackground 11.2Aimsandobjectives 11.3Datacollectionandresearchmethod 11.4Organization 22.LiteratureReview 22.1Introduction 22.2Previousrelatedstudies 22.3Definitionofvaguelanguage 22.3.1Theclassicaldefinition 22.3.2Theworkingdefinition 32.4Summary 33.ClassificationsofVagueLanguageinBusinessLetters 43.1Introduction 43.2Businesslettersinforeigntrade 43.2.1Definition,functionofbusinesslettersinforeigntrade 43.2.2Thebusinessletterswritingprinciples 43.3Classificationsofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters 43.3.1Lexicalvagueness 53.3.2Syntacticalvagueness 63.3.3Hedges 63.4Summary 64.SituationsandPragmaticFunctionsofVagueLanguageinBusinessLetters 64.1Introduction 64.2Thesituationsofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters 74.2.1Conveyingthebadnews 74.2.2Promotingfurthernegotiation 84.2.3Lackingspecificinformation 84.2.4Clarifyingtheobjectivesituation 94.2.5Withholdinginformation 94.2.6Requestingtheothersidetocompleteobligations 94.3Thepragmaticfunctionofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters 94.3.1Givingmorespaceinfurthernegotiation 94.3.2Realizingcourtesyincommunication 104.3.3Enhancingtheflexibility 104.3.4Strengtheningself-protection 104.3.5Minimizingthethreattotheotherside 104.3.6Strengtheningthepersuasiveness 114.4Summary 115.Conclusion 11References 13Acknowledgements 14AbstractBusinesslettersplayanimportantroleinbusinesscommunication.Itseffectiveusehasaclosebearingonthewholetransaction.Though“correctness”and“clearness”aretheprinciplesofwritingbusinessletters,undersomecircumstancestheaddressermayemploythevaguelanguagetoconveytheinformationtotheaddressee,sothatitcanfinallyreachtothespecificcommunicativeintentions.Basedonvariousrelevanttheories,especiallyJoannaChannell’s(1994)researchresults,twentypiecesofbusinesslettersarechosentoanalyzethesituationsandpragmaticfunctionsofvaguelanguageinbusinesscommunication.Thedissertationprimaryexploresthesixsituationsandsixpragmaticfunctionsfromthepositiveaspectofvagueness.KeyWords:vaguelanguage;businessletters;situations;pragmaticfunctions

中文摘要商务信函在商务交际中发挥着重要的作用，它的有效运用密切关系到整个交易的顺利完成。虽然“准确”和“清楚”为商务信函写作的基本准则，然而在某些情形下，写信者需要运用模糊语言向收信者传达信息，以达到特定的交际目的。本篇论文在相关模糊理论的基础上，尤其JoannaChannell（1994）的研究成果，结合20则商务信函来分析商务信函交际的运用情景以及语用功能。从模糊语言的积极方面出发，本篇论文主要探索了模糊语言在商务信函运用中的6种情景及所产生的6种语用功能。关键词：模糊语；商务信函；情景；语用功能1.Introduction1.1ResearchbackgroundTheattentionofvaguephenomenoncanbetracedbacktotheancientGrecianphilosophers.Atthattimevaguenesshasarousedphilosophers’attentionthoughitdidnotcomeoutthescientificconception--“fuzziness”.Afterthat,scholarshavestudiedthevaguenessondifferentsubjects.Vaguelanguageappearsalmostineverycornerofourlifesuchaspoliticaldiscourse,literaryworks,anddailyconversation,andsoon.Previousresearchesshowthatvaguelanguageapplyingtocommunicationresultstotwoconsequences.Firstly,asforthebadside,peoplecan’tgetthedefiniteandexactinformation,whichcausesconfusing;secondly,asforthegoodside,vaguelanguagecanbenefitthespeakerandwritertosatisfydifferentpurposesaslongasitisusedappropriately.Recentlywiththeboomofforeigntrade,businesslettershavebecomeanindispensablesteptofulfillatransaction.Apartformthe7Csprinciplesofwritingbusinessletters--completeness,clearness,concreteness,conciseness,correctness,courtesyandconsideration,inmanycases,thetwosidesofforeigntrademayusevaguelanguagewhenfallingintothetightcornersuchasconveyingthebadnewstotheotherside,urgetheothersidetocompleteobligations,soonandsoforth.Theappropriateuseofvaguelanguageinbusinessletterscanpromotethefurthernegotiation,realizecourtesy,enhancetheflexibility,andfinally,successfullycompletethewholetransaction.1.2AimsandobjectivesSystematicresearchhasbeencarriedoutonthevaguelinguistics,whilevaguelanguageinbusinesslettershasnotbeenpaidsuchenoughattentionasotherfieldslikepoliticaldiscourse,literaryworks,andsoon.Thedissertationisgoingtoanalyzethevaguelanguageinbusinesslettersfromthepositiveaffectionofvagueness.Thedissertationprimaryaimstoanswerthefollowingtwoquestions:Whatarethesituationstousevaguelanguageinbusinessletters?Whatarethepragmaticfunctionsofusingvaguelanguageinbusinessletters?Byansweringthetwoquestionsabove,thedissertationhopestogivethelearnersofforeigntradeandEnglishabetterunderstandingofvaguelanguageinbusinesslettersandthenwriteeffectivebusinesslettersintheforeigntrade.1.3DatacollectionandresearchmethodThedissertationisdata-based,which“employsanon-experimentalmethod,yieldsqualitativedata,andprovidesaninterpretiveanalysisofthatdata”(Huang&Ghadessy,2008:20).TwentypiecesofbusinesslettersarecollectedfromthecoursebookofforeigntradeandelectronicversionfromtheInternetandtradecompanies.Becauseofthelengthlimitationofthedissertation,someofthecollectedsamplelettersarenotlisted.Thedissertationanalysesthecollecteddata,whichcombinesthevaguenesstheorywiththeprinciplesofwritingbusinessletters.1.4OrganizationThedissertationincludesfivechapters.Thefirstoneisabriefintroductionwhichisabouttheresearchbackground,theaimsandmethod,andtheorganization.Thesecondonemovestotheliteraturereviewwhichincludesthepreviousrelatedstudies,theclassicalandtheworkingdefinitionofvaguelanguage.Thethirdoneisprimarilyaboutthebusinessletter’scharacteristicsandclassificationsofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters.Thenitmovestotheimportantsection--theforthchapter,whichisthesituationsandpragmaticfunctionsofusingvaguelanguageinbusinessletters,willbethespecificanddetailedsection,withsixpointsrespectively.Thelastchapterwillmakeasummaryanddiscussesthelimitationofthedissertationandsuggeststhefurtherresearch.2.LiteratureReview2.1IntroductionThischapterstatesthepreviousrelatedstudies,presentingtheinfluentialresearchresultsbythescholarfromdifferenttimes.Andthenitoutlinestheclassicaldefinitionsputforwardbydifferentscholars.Thelastpartistheworkingdefinitionofthedissertation.2.2PreviousrelatedstudiesIntheearlytimeofancientGreece,thevaguephenomenonhasarousedthephilosophers’attention.Eubulidies,theGreecephilosopherbornintheforthcenturyBC,wastheoutstandingrepresentative.AnotherimpressiveBritishphilosopherRussellwroteafamouspaperin1923entitled“Vagueness”,pointingoutthat“alanguageismoreorlessvague”.Accordingtohisstatement,wecannotcallacolorisgreenbecausethegreencolorcanbedeeporlight;itisnotbecausewedonotknowthemeaningof“green”buttheindefiniteessenceofthesuitablescale.Inaddition,AustraliaphilosopherWittgensteinin1953suggeststhat“wordsarelikeblurredphotographsandads”,heputforwardandmadeagreatcontributiontothestudyofthevagueness.AmericanCyberneticexpertL.AZadeh(1972:4)wroteapaper“AFuzzy-set-theoreticInterpretationofLinguisticHedges”.Afterthat,“vaguelogic”and“vaguelinguistics”havebeendeveloped.InChina,scholarsshowinterestsinvaguelanguageafter1979.2.3Definitionofvaguelanguage2.3.1TheclassicaldefinitionThereweredifferentpointsofviewonthedefinitionofvaguelanguage,soitcannotreachintoaconsensusagreement.Somethoughtthatvaguenessinlanguagewasbad;whiletheothers:good.Somepreviousscholarssaidthatusingvaguelanguagewasbecauseoflackoftheprecision,iskindofinadequacytoexpressthethought.Whileothersthoughtthatisagoodthingwhenusedinthesuitablesituations.Forinstance,ifpeoplewanttowithholdinformationtobenefithim,hemayuse“maybe”,“about”,“sometimes”.Ullmann(1962:118)pointsoutthat“wordswithblurrededges”.Henotesthat“Ifonelooksmorecloselyatthisvaguenessonesoondiscoversthatthetermisitselfrathervagueandambiguous:theconditionitreferstonotauniformfeaturebuthasmanyaspectsandmayresultformavarietyofcauses.Someoftheseareinherentintheverynatureoflanguage,whereasotherscomeintoplayonlyspecialcircumstances.”Heattributesvaguenesstofourfactors:(ⅰ)genericcharacterofwords;(ⅱ)meaningisneverhomogeneous(i.e.itiscontext-bound);(ⅲ)lackofclear-cutboundariesinthenon-linguisticword;(ⅳ)lackoffamiliaritywithwhatthewordsstandfor.AnotherapproachtovaguenessbyCrystalandDavy(1975:111)referstovaguenessasimprecision.“Lackofimprecisionisoneofthemostimportantfeaturesofthevocabularyofinformalconversation,”theystate,andgivefourreasonsforvagueness:(ⅰ)memoryloss--thespeakerforgetsthecorrectword;(ⅱ)thelanguagehasnotsuitableexactword,orthespeakerdoesnotknowit;(ⅲ)thesubjectoftheconversationisnotsuchthatitrequiresprecision,andanapproximationorcharacterizationwilldo;and(ⅳ)thechoiceofvagueitemisdeliberatetomaintaintheatmosphere.2.3.2TheworkingdefinitionVaguelanguageexistsinmanyfieldsofourlife;itiswidelyusedinlanguage.Someinvestigatorsevenwanttoinsistthatalllanguageisvagueinsomeway.Butmostofusdonotrealizethefrequencyuseofvaguelanguagewhenspeakingandwriting.Wearenotawareofitunlessitispointedoutandusedunsuitability.JoannaChannell(1994:20)onherbookVagueLanguagestatestheworkingdefinitionofvaguelanguageanditsuse.Shestatesthatanexpressionorwordisvagueif:(ⅰ)itcanbecontrastedwithanotherwordorexpressionwhichappearstorenderthesameproposition;(ⅱ)itis“purposelyandunabashedlyvague”;(ⅲ)itsmeaningarisesfromthe“intrinsicuncertainty”referredtobyPeirce.Differentresearchershavedifferentviewsofvaguelanguage.OnthebaseofJoannaChannell,theworkingdefinitionofthedissertationis:(ⅰ)meaningofwordsorcontextisnotdefinite;(ⅱ)itcanbepurposelyusedinsuitablesituation;(ⅲ)ithaspragmaticfunctionsincommunication.2.4SummaryThischapterhassettledontherelatedstudiesofvaguelanguageandpresentedtheclassicaldefinition,andthenmovestotheworkingdefinitionofthedissertationbasedontheJoannaChannell’sworks.Inspiredbythischapter,thefollowingchapterwilldealwiththeclassificationsofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters.3.ClassificationsofVagueLanguageinBusinessLetters3.1IntroductionTostartwith,thischapterbrieflypresentsthebusinessletter’sdefinition,function,andwritingprinciples,sothatithelpspeopletohaveabetterunderstandingofthevaguelangueappearingontheletters.Inthesecondplace,thischapterwilldiscusstheclassificationofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters.Relevantwordsandsentencesarechosendeliberatelyfromthebusinessletters.3.2Businesslettersinforeigntrade3.2.1Definition,functionofbusinesslettersinforeigntradeBusinessletterisaletterdealingwithbusinessbetweenthetwosidesoftrade.Inthelargesense,businessalsoincludestelegrams,telex,postcardsandavarietyofreports,advertisements,andsoon.Comparedwithordinaryletters,thebusinessletterhasitsownspecialformatsandfixedbusinessterms.Astheculturaldiversitybetweentheeastandwest,theformatandcontextarealsodifferent.AgoodcommandofEnglishandcommercialregulationsarenecessary;besides,thewritershouldpaymuchattentiontothewritingskillsandthecharacteristics,i.e.thelayoutofbusinessletters,whichconsistsoftheletterhead,thedate,theinsideaddress,thesalutation,themessage,thecomplementaryclose,thewriter’ssignatureandofficialposition.Broadlyspeaking,thefunctionofbusinesslettersmaybesaidto(ⅰ)toestablishbusinessrelation;(ⅱ)toaskforandconveyinformation;(ⅲ)todealwithmattersandmakenegotiationofbusiness.Inaddition,thereareletterswithnopurposesjustremindtheothersideofthesender’sexistencetomaintainthecommercialrelations.3.2.2TheprinciplesofwritingbusinesslettersThebusinessletterswritingprinciplesare7Cs--completeness,clearness,concreteness,conciseness,correctness,courtesyandconsideration.Thatistosay,thewritershouldpayattentiontotheattitude,language,contentandforminordertomeetthesevenprinciples.3.3ClassificationsofvaguelanguageinbusinesslettersTheclassificationcanbemadeinto“approximations”and“shields”byE.F.PrinceandhiscolleagueJ.Frader&C.Bosk,whichiswidelyrecognizeduptonow.Thethreescholarsmadetheclassificationthroughthepragmaticaspect;K.M.KempsononSemanticTheory(1977:18)statesthatvaguenesscouldbedividedintofourkinds:“referentialvagueness”,“indeterminacyofmeaning”,“lackofspecification”,and“disjunction”.Butsomeresearchersevenmakemorespecificclassificationonvaguelanguagebasedonthepreviousstudy.Withreferenceofthepreviousresearcher’sstudiesandcombingwiththecharacteristicsofbusinessletters,thedissertationprescribestheclassificationsaslexicalvagueness,syntacticalsentencesandhedge.3.3.1LexicalvaguenessThelexicalvaguenessinbusinesslettersincludesadjectives(e.g.good,high,competitive);nouns(e.g.interest,dissatisfaction);adverbs(e.g.perhaps,maybe,very);proposition(e.g.around,inanearlydate);quantifiers(e.g.agreatdealof,alargeamountof).Differentformsabovehavedifferentpurposes.(ⅰ)Adjectives(1)Webelievethatthereisacompetitivemarketinourareaforthereasonablepriceofourgoods.(2)Theyareofthehighquality,whichwillappealtothemostselectivebuyers.(3)Alltheitemsquotedaremadeofthebestqualitymaterialandcanbesuppliedinvariousdesignsandcolors.Seenfromtheexamplesabove,thevagueadjectivesemployedinthebusinesslettersareabouttheattitudetowardsthegoods,thepriceandthequalityofthegoods:satisfied,reasonable,expensive,high,andsoon.(ⅱ)Nouns(4)Butmuchtoourdisappointment,wehavenotreceiveanyreplyuptonow,we,therefore,againsentyouatelexyesterday.(5)Wethinkyoumayhaveinteresttoknowthatwehavearesiduestockof307setsModelST-202,which,youboughtfromusinsubstantialquantitypreviously.Wecanfindoutthatthevaguenounsinbusinesslettersshowpeople’sattitudetowardsthegoodsandothersubjects,butthedegreearenotdefinite.(ⅲ)Adverbs(6)Wewillmakeyouoffersearlyuponreceiptofyourdetailedrequirements.(7)Sixreplacementreceiverswillbestronglyrequired,pleasearrangetosupplytheseandchargetoouraccount.Sortoftheseadverbsusedinbusinessletterscanmodifythetime,like:early,soon,quickly;realizethedegree,like:strongly,firmly,fully;showthepossibility,like:perhaps,probably,maybe.(ⅳ)Proposition(8)AslongaswereceiveyouL/Csoon,wewillarrangeshipmentwithoutanydelay.(9)Thepolicyisbeingpreparedaccordinglyandwillbeforwardedtoyoubythemiddleofthismonth.Around,in(aearlydate),by(theendofthisyear),thiskindofpropositionsaremostlyaboutthetime.(ⅴ)Quantifiers(10)Wehavesentyouarangeofsamples.(11)Becausewereceiveagreatnumberofordersdaily,wehavetoexecutetheminstrictrotation.Agreatdealof,alargeamountof…aretheexpressionshowingtheinaccuratemumbles.3.3.2SyntacticalvaguenessPassivevoiceandcomplexsentencearetwoformsdiscussedatthispart.Theyfallintothesyntacticalvaguenessinbusinessletters.(12)Itissaidthatthepriceforthiskindofcommodityistendingdownwardontheworldmarket.(13)Wewouldliketotellyouthattheshipmentofthegoodsshouldbearrangedassoonaspossible.(14)Iamafraidwecan’tacceptyourprice.Thesesentenceschosenfrombusinesslettersemploythestructureofpassivevoiceandcomplexsentence.Sentencespatternlike“itissaidthat…”,“Iamafraid…”canbecalledsyntacticalvagueness.Withoutthemitwillnotdamagethewholeessentialpoint,buttheyarewidelyusedinbusinesslettersfortheirpurposes.3.3.3HedgesInmanycases,somevaguewordsandsentencepatternarebelongingtothehedges.Forexample,“probably”islexicalvaguenessbutalsohedge;“itissaidthat…”issyntacticalsentenceaswellashedge.Sothehedgeiswidelyusedinbusinessletters.(15)Accordingtoourrecords,youhavenotsettledyouraccountforelectronicequipment.(16)Generallyspeaking,weonlyacceptpaymentonirrevocabledocumentaryL/C.3.4SummaryThemajorsectionofthischapterisdevotedtotheclassificationofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters,certainamountofwordsandsentencespatternarechosentobetheexamples.Inaddition,itshowsthestatuesofbusinesslettersinforeigntradeincludingthedefinition,thecharacteristicsandthefunctions.Onthebaseofthischapter,thefollowingchapterwillfocusonthesituationsandthepragmaticfunctionsofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters.4.SituationsandPragmaticFunctionsofVagueLanguageinBusinessLetters4.1IntroductionJoannaChannell(1994:194)inherbookVagueLanguagestatesthatvaguelanguageincommunicationhasthefollowingcommunicativepurposesandsituations:(ⅰ)Givingtherightamountofinformation(ⅱ)Deliberatelywithholdinginformation(ⅲ)Usinglanguagepersuasively(ⅳ)Lexicalgaps(ⅴ)Lackingspecificinformation(ⅵ)Displacement(ⅶ)Self-protection(ⅷ)Powerandpoliteness(ⅸ)Informalityandatmosphere(ⅹ)Women’slanguageBasedonJoannaChannell’sresearchresult,inthischapter,somerelevantbusinesslettersandsentencesarechosenasexamplestodiscussthesituationsandpragmaticfunctionsofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters.Thischapterisdividedintotwoparts.Onepartisthesituationsofvaguelanguageinbusiness,whichwillcombinetheprinciplesofwritingbusinessletterstodiscussthesixsituations;theotherpartmovestothepragmaticfunctionsofvaguelanguageinbusiness,whichwillpresentthesixsupportingpoints.4.2Thesituationsofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters4.2.1ConveyingthebadnewsAstheoldsayinggoes,accidenceswillhappen.Italsowellappliestotheforeigntrade.Intheforeigntrade,badnewsincludesdiscontentoftheprice,delayofshipmentandcomplainsofthequality,andsoon.Duringthetrade,bothofthesideshopethewholetradeprocedurestobesmoothlyconductedwithoutanyobstacles.Nevertheless,itisinevitablethatsomethinghappenswithnoexpectation.Therefore,theonesideshouldconveythebadnewstotheotherside.Conveyingbadnewsishardtohandlewith.Generallyspeaking,peoplearenotwillingtohearabouttheunpleasantthings,andmayreacttothatbadnewswithdispleasure.Itmayruinthewholetransactionifconductedinappropriately.Itneedstherelatedskillsandshouldexpressappropriately.Vaguelanguageisagoodhelpforthissituation.Thefollowingisasampleletteraboutconveyingthebadnews.SampleLetter1:DearSirs,YourletterofJuly20hasbeenreceivedwithmanythanks.Inreply,weareveryregretfultostatethatourcustomersfindyourpriceistoohighandoutoflinewiththeprevailingmarket,althoughweappreciateyourhighqualityofyourproducts.Suchbeingthecase,itisimpossibletopersuadeourcustomerstoacceptyourprice,asmaterialofsimilarqualityiseasilyobtainedatalowerprice.Shouldyoubepreparedtoreduceyourpricebyalitterbit,say,around8%,wemightcometoterms.Webelievethatyouwillfindourcounter-offerreasonable.Wearelookingforwardforyourearlyreply.(兰天,2008:131)Thislettermeansthattheimporterrefusestoaccepttheprice.Withthevagueexpressionslike“regretful”,“high”,“might”,“appreciate”,itcansoftthetone,andmaketherefusaltobemoreindirect.Itusesamoreappropriatewaytoexpresstheimporter’srequesttomakethepricelow.Inaddition,thevaguewords“manythanks”and“appreciate”showthewriter’scourtesytothereader,whichistherequiredprincipleofbusinessletterswriting.Readatanotherexample:(17)However,sinceyoustatethefirmconditionofthedeliverybeforetheendofNovember,wedeeplyregretthatwecannotsupplyyouonthisoccasion.Thissentencechosenfromthebusinessletterisconveyingthebadnewsthatthedeliveryhastobepostponed.Itisagainsttheschedulebefore.Forthiskindofsituation,itmaystopthedealifitisnotexpressedsuitably.Fromtheexampleabove,welearnthatwiththevagueexpression“deeplyregret”,thisbadnewsbecomesmoreacceptable.Besides,itshowsthattheexportergivesconsiderationtotheimporter’sbenefits,whichwillnotdamagetheirtraderelations.4.2.2PromotingfurthernegotiationNegotiationplaysanimportantroleintheforeigntrade.Takethesampleletter1asexample.Admittedly,theimporterwantstheexportertoreducetheprice.Itwilldecreasethedegreeofthreatandleavemorespaceoffurthernegotiationbyemployingthevagueexpressions“alittlebit”,“around”,and“might”.Withthehelpofvaguelanguage,thebusinessgoeson.4.2.3Lackingspecificinformation“Correctness”isoneoftheprinciplesinbusinesswriting.Nevertheless,insomecases,becauseofthefluctuatingmarketorotherreasons,theimporterortheexportercannotgettheexactinformationortheaccuratenumber.Inthesecases,theymayemploythevaguelanguagetoexpresstheinformation,toavoidgivingthewrongmessagetotheotherside,whichhappenstobetheprincipleofcorrectness.SampleLetter2:DearSirs,WethankyouforyourorderNo.6235fordeliveryinFebruary.Weregret,however,thatwecannotaccepttheorderthatwequotedsixweeksago.Accordingtothemarketprices,itissadthatthefreightandthecostofmaterialhaverisensubstantially;itisfoundthatabout10kindsofrelevantlawmaterial’spricehasincreased.Sowearecompelledtoadjustourpriceinordertocoveratleastpartofthisincrease.Thelowestpriceswecanquotetodayshouldincreaseby7%asstipulatedinthecontract.Wedonotwanttoinfluenceyou,butwethinkitonlyfairtomentionthatweshallhavetoincreasethesepricessubstantiallyagainstwhenouroldstockofmaterialisusedup.Pleaseinformusbyreturnwhetherwemayacceptyourorderattheserevisedprices;weshallthenbeabletogiveyoudeliveryinFebruaryasrequired.(兰天,2008:149)Thehedge“about”from“about10kindsofrelevantmaterial”belongstothelexicalvagueness.Thereasonofusingthewordisbecausethewritercannotgettheexactnumber.Byusingthevaguewords,itwillavoidgivingthewronginformationtothereader.What’smore,itmeetstherequirementofthe“correctness”principle.4.2.4ClarifyingtheobjectivesituationSampleletter2isagoodexampletoembodythesituationofclarifyingtheobjectiveness.Thesentencepattern“itissaidthat…”belongstothesyntacticalvagueness.Becausethemarketpriceisalwayschanged,thefreightandcostofmaterialmaynotcontainthesamelevel.“itissaidthat…”,“wearetoldthat…”,“itisbelievedthat…”arefrequentlyusedwhenthewriterneedstoclarifytheobjectivesituation.4.2.5WithholdinginformationInsomesituationstheonesidewillresortvaguelanguageforhelptowithholdinformationwithpurposes.(18)Weholpyoucanloweryourprice.Otherwise,weshallplaceanorderwithanothersupplierbecausetheirquotationismorereasonable.“Reasonable”isadjectivevagueness.Howmuchofthepriceshouldbereasonable?Whatisthedefinitepricethattheothersupplierquoting?Theanswersarenotgiven.Undoubtedly,thewriterwithholdstheinformationpurposely.Hejustwantstheexportertoreducetheprice.4.2.6RequestingtheothersidetocompleteobligationsLet’stakealookatthefollowingexample:(19)WewouldliketomentionthattheL/CshouldbeissuedbeforetheendofJanuary,sothatwecouldarrangeshipmentontime.Inthissentence,thewriteruse“theL/Cshouldbeissued”insteadof“youshouldissuetheL/C”torequesttheothersidetocompleteobligations.Employingthepassivevoicecansoftenthetone,whichismoresuitabletoreachthecommunicativeintentions.4.3Thepragmaticfunctionsofvaguelanguageinbusinessletters4.3.1GivingmorespaceinfurthernegotiationWhenwewanttopromotethefurthernegotiation,wecouldresortthevaguelanguageforhelp.(20)Shouldyoubepreparedtoreduceyourpricebyalitterbit,say,around8%,wemightcometoterms.Inthissentence,thewriterdoesnotwanttocancelthetransaction.Theexpressions“alittlebit”and“around”indicatethathestillwantstocompletethedealwithfurthernegotiation.Thosevaguewordshavegivenmorespacei