浅析商务英语中模糊语言的语用功能

精品文档-下载后可编辑浅析商务英语中模糊语言的语用功能【Abstract】Vaguenessisoneofthefundamentalfeaturesoflanguage，whichiswidelyusedinhumancommunication.VaguelanguageinBusinessEnglishanditspragmaticfunctionsareofparamountsignificanceinactualbusinesscommunications.Tousevaguelanguageappropriatelyandreasonablycreatespositivepragmaticeffects，whichcanmakebusinesscommunicationmoreappropriate，moreaccurate，moreflexible，morecourteousandmorevivid，soastorealizethebusinesscommunicationpurposesandtoachievebetterbusinesscommunicationeffects.WithananalysisofthepragmaticfunctionsinBusinessEnglish，it’sinthehopethatitwillhelpreadersandbusinesspeopleinvolvedbetterunderstandvaguelanguage，thereforetousevaguelanguagewithappropriateness，flexibilityandeffectiveness.

【Keywords】BusinessEnglish；BusinessCommunication；VagueLanguage；PragmaticFunctions

1.Introduction

Vaguenessisaconstitutivefeatureofnaturallanguageandisalsoauniversalphenomenonintherealworldandhumancognition.BusinessEnglishisthoughttobeclearandconcrete，butvaguelanguageisfrequentlyusedinBusinessEnglish，whichplaysanimportantandirreplaceableroleindailycommunicationforreflectingtheobjectiveworldandexpressinghumanthoughts.Daitz（1956）declaresthatwithoutvagueness，therecouldbenoeffectivecommunication.However，dueattentionhasn’tbeenpaidtovaguelanguageanditspragmaticfunctionscomparedtootherfieldslikepoliticaldiscourse，literaryworksandnewsreports.Withtherapiddevelopmentofinternationaltradeandbusinesscommunication，asystematicanalysisofvaguelanguageinBusinessEnglishisneeded.Pragmaticsdoesnotconfineitselftomerelydescribinghowpeopleuselanguage，butalsoconcernsitselfwithhowtohelpthembecomebetterusers（Mey，1994）.Itisanewapproachtostudyvaguelanguageanditspragmaticfunctionsintheframeworkofpragmatics.

2.Definition

PeoplehavestartedcomprehensivestudyofvaguelanguagesinceAmericanscientistZadehproposedthetechnicaltermfuzzinessinhispaperonfuzzymathematicsinl965.However，evenuptillnow，therehasbeennogenerallyaccepteddefinitionoftheterm“vaguelanguage”.Duetotheterm“vagueness”isitselfrathervague；manydefinitionshavebeengiveninthepastresearches.

Crystal（1991）proposesthatfuzzinessreferstotheindeterminacyinvolvedintheanalysisofalinguisticunitorpattern.C.S.Pierce（1902），theoriginatorofthenotionofvaguenessinlanguageprovidesuswiththisparagraph：

Apropositionisvaguewhentherearepossiblestatesofthingsconcerningwhichitisintrinsicallyuncertainwhether，hadtheybeencontemplatedbytheaddressor，hewouldhaveregardedthemasexcludedorallowedbytheproposition.By‘intrinsicallyuncertain’wemeannotuncertaininconsequenceofanyignoranceoftheinterpreter，butbecausetheaddressor’shabitsoflanguagewereindeterminate；sothatonedayhewouldregardthepropositionasexcluding，anotherasadmitting，thosestatesofthings.Yetthismustbeunderstoodtohavereferencetowhatmightbededucedfromaperfectknowledgeofhisstateofmind；foritispreciselybecausethesequestionsneverdid，ordidnotfrequently，presentthemselvesthathishabitremainedindeterminate.”（Pierce，1902：748）

Channell（2000：20）definedthatanexpressionorwordisvagueifitcanbecontrastedwithanotherwordorexpressionwhichappearstorenderthesameproposition；itis‘purposelyorunabashedlyvague’；itsmeaningarisesfromthe‘intrinsicuncertainty’referredbyPierce.

Inthispaper，theauthorisgoingtodefinevaguelanguagemainlybasedonChannell’sdefinition.Anexpressionisvague，ifitcannotgenerateanydefinitemeaning.Itisintentionallyandunabashedlyvaguetobeusedtoachievecertaincommunicativeintentions.

3.ClassificationsofVagueLanguage

Vaguelanguageinthispaperisdividedintothreecategories：vagueadditives，vaguewordsandexpressionsandvaguenessbyimplicatureorbysomespecificsentencepatterns.ThiskindofclassificationisbasedonthedefinitionsbyChannell（2000：18）andZhangQiao.

3.1Vagueadditives

AdditiveinChannell’stheoryisequaltohedge，shieldorapproximator.Inthiscase，awordorphraseisaddedtowhatwouldotherwisebeaprecisestatement，ortoresultinavaguereading.Thesewordshavetheinherentvagueconnotation：maybe，probably，possibly，like，around，approximately，generally，kindof，sortofetc.Forinstance：

（1）Iagreetoacertainextentiftheimprovementwillbemade.

Here，theaddressordoesnotdirectlyexpresstowhatdegreetheagreementismadebytoacertainextent；thuswithholdcommitmenttotheproposition.

（2）Theinferiorqualityisduetothedeficiencyofnitrogencontent，whichdecreasesbyapproximately10%comparedwiththelastlot.

Here，theapproximator“approximately”isaddedtotheexactnumbersothattheprecisenumberismadevague.

3.2Vaguewordsandexpressions

Vaguewordsmakehardlyanysenseinsemanticaspect，buttosubstituteanounoraname，i.e.placeholdersforanounoraname.Thetypicalexamplesare：thingy，thingummy，thingummyjig，thingummabob，whatsisname，whatnot，andwhatsit.Allthemeaningstheypossessarepragmaticduetothefactthattheaddressorusesthemwhentheydonotknowthenounornameorevenarenotwillingtoutterthenounorname.Forexample：

（3）Imeanhimorwhatsisname，thatbusinessman…

Placeholder‘whatsisname’isusedhereprobablybecausetheaddressorinfactdoesnotknowthenameortheaddressorisnotwillingtomentionthenameofthatbusinessman.

3.3Vaguenessbyimplicatureorbysomespecificsentencepatterns

AsproposedbyLakoff（1972），thistypeofvaguenessimpliesmorethanonewaystocomprehendasingleapparentprecisesentence，thusvagueconnotationsarecomingintobeing，andtypicalexamplesare：

（4）Accordingtoourrecords，youhavenotyetsettledyouraccountforelectronicequipmentsuppliedtoyouon10thDecemberand20thJanuarythisyear.

Thisisanapparentlyprecisesentencewherenobodyknowstheexactmeaningof“ourrecords”.Othersentencepatternslike“itissaidthat…”，“Ithinkthat…”，“Iamafraidthat…”，‘'itispossiblethat…”etc.alsocontainvagueness.

4.PragmaticFunctionsofVagueLanguageinBusinessEnglish

Theappropriateuseofvaguenessinlanguageforspecialpur

posewillbringbeneficialandpositiveeffects.JoannaChannell（2000：194）summarizedthepragmaticfunctionsofvaguenessintotencategories：1.givingtherightamountofinformation；2.deliberatelywithholdinginformation；3.usinglanguagepersuasively；4.lexicalgaps；5.lackingspecificinformation；6.displacement；7.self-protection；8.powerandpoliteness；9.informalityandatmosphere；10.women’slanguage.

AccordingtoBrownandLevinson（1987），thepragmaticfunctionsofvagueexpressionsare：

Addresserscouldsuggestorcriticizebyusingqualityhedgesinordertogetridoforemphasizeapartofresponsibility.

Addresserscouldcomplainorrequestpolitelybyusingquantityhedges.

Addresserscouldofferhelporrecommendbyusingrelationhedges.

Addresserscoulddecoratesortsofface-threateningexpressionsbyusingmannerhedges.（Brown&Levinson，1987）

Communicationinbusinessenvironmentrequiresnotonlyclearandcourteouslanguage，butalsovaguelanguage.Exactlyspeaking，functionsofvaguelanguevarywithsituationsandpurposes.Inthispaper，byreferringtoChannell’stenpointsofpragmaticfunctionsofvaguelanguageandcombiningthemwithBusinessEnglish，thefollowingpointsaresummarizedtoillustrateandexplainthepragmaticfunctionsofvaguelanguageinBusinessEnglish.

4.1Improvingtheappropriatenessoflanguageexpression

Appropriatenessisbeneficialforsuccessfulhumancommunication，especiallyforbusinesscommunicationinwhichadifferentbusinesssettlementwilloccurifbusinesslanguageisnotappropriateenough.Sometimes，vaguelanguagecanfacilitatetheappropriatenessoflanguageexpressiontosomeextent.

（5）Itisourpracticewhenweopennewaccountstoobtainatleasttwotradereferences.

Whatistheactualcontentof“ourpractice”？Evenwhetheritexistsornotwillneverbeknownbytheaddresseefortheso-called“practice”ismerelyanexcusetoavoidoffence.

（6）Ingeneral，wewouldallowdiscountforlargeandregularorders.

Thehedge“ingeneral”isusedtomaketheabovestatementmoreobjectiveandsuitable.Ifitisremovedoutofthesentence，thestatementwillbetooabsoluteanddemandingwhichisnotappropriateinbusinesscommunication.Also，“largeandregular”impliesvaguemeaning.

4.2Beingpolite

Politenessconcernshumancommunicativebehavior，andthecoreofpolitenessisshowingorappearingtoshowconsiderationofothers.Channell（1994：190）alsosaid：“Vaguenessisusedasonewayofadheringtothepolitenessrulesforaparticularcultureandofnotthreateningface.”Forinstance：

（7）Wehavealreadycheckedallthedocumentsavailable，andunexpectedlyfindeachofthemhasdoubtfulpointsmoreorless.

Fromtheabovesentence，wecanseethatthespeakerisstatinganunsatisfactoryresultoftheircheckingwork.However，withtheuseofvaguetermslike“unexpectedly”and“moreorless”，thespeakerhasmadethestatementquitepolite，indirectandeuphemistic，soasnottomakethehearerfeelawkwardorembarrassed.

（8）A：I'mafraidthattheproposalyouputforwardjustnowisn’tuptoomuch.

B：Yourpresentationmakesmefeelalittletoo--youknowwhatImean.

Here，vaguetermslike：I’mafraid”，“toomuch”，“alittle”and“youknowwhatImean”soundeuphemisticandimplicit，thusmakingtheexpressionmorepoliteandmoredecent.

4.3Improvingtheefficiency

Gogue（1979：36）oncesaid，“Theindefinitenessinexpressionisnotalwaysabadthing.”ZhangQiao（1998：115）thinksthatvaguelanguagecanvividlyreflectthechangeabilityoftherealworldandthecomplexityofpersonalfeelings.Theindeterminacyoflanguagecouldenablethespeakertousefewerwordsbuttransferenoughinformationtothelistener.

（9）Meanwhile，wecanassureyouofreasonableprices，excellentqualityandpromptdelivery.

Here，wordslike“reasonable”“excellent”“prompt”areallvagueadjectives.Wedonotknowhowreasonablethepricesare，howexcellentthequalityisandhowpromptthedeliverycanbe.However，withvagueterms，thissentencedoesconveycertaininformationandwillleavefavorableimpressiononthelistenersorcustomers.

（10）“AskforMore”

（11）RomanticMysteriousItalian.

Example（10）isanadvertisementofabrandofcigarettecalled“More”whichusesthevagueword“more”，alsoapun，hasachievedhumorouseffectandleftdeepandpositiveimpressiononthecustomers，thereforemakingtheadvividandeffective.Example（11）alsousethreevagueadjectives“Romantic”，“Mysterious”and“Italian”toachievecertaineffect：transferringasmuchinformationaspossibleandleavingthereaderandbuyertodeepandendlessimagination.

4.4Establishingself-protection

Sincebusinesscommunicationisinterests-involvedandinterests-driven，anyabsoluteandextremestatementmayputtheaddresserintroubleifheisprovedwrongsomeday.Vaguelanguagethereforemaybeusedasasafeguardagainstbeingwrong.Speakersmayusevagueexpressionstoprotectthemselvesagainstthepossibilityofbeingwrong.Theappropriateandskillfuluseofvaguelanguagecanreducethelevelofshoulderingtheresponsibility.Forexample：

（12）Thisproductmaybeofmagicinthetemporaryreliefofsomeofthesymptomscommonlyassociatedwithfrozen-shoulder.

Here，byadoptingvaguetermslike“maybe”，“someof”，theadvertiserscanavoidunnecessarytroubles，disputes，inconveniencesorevenlegalsuits.

（13）A：Wehopethatthegoodswillarriveearlier.

B：Weknowthatyouareinurgentneedofthesegoodssincetheseasonisapproaching.Consideringthis，wewilltryourbesttopersuadeourmanufacturestorearrangetheirproductionplanandmanagetomakeearliershipment.

AasksforthedeliveryaheadofschedulewhileBneitherrefus-

sabruptlynorconsentsblindlybecauseoftheincertitude.Thereplywithvaguelanguagesuchas“tryourbest”and“earliershipment”leavesspaceforBanditisagoodwayofself-protectioninbusinesscontext.Thefollowingisalsoacaseinpoint.

（14）DuetothedelayoftheL/Carrivalatus，wemaynoteffecttheshipmentintime.Wewilldoourutmosttodispatchthegoodsassoonaspossible.

4.5Enhancingtheflexibility

Theworldisconstantlychanginganddeveloping，whichrefue-

esquiresthelanguagetobeflexiblesoastofittheworld.Inbusine-

sscommunication，peopletendtousevaguelanguagetoenhanceflexibilityinbusinessactivities.

（15）A：Thatismyproposal，uh…andwhat’syouropinion？

B：Iagreeinprinciple，butIwouldliketoaddsomethingmoresometimelater.

Whatkindofagreementisonthedegreeof“inprinciple”，andwhatwillBaddtotheproposalandwhenistheexacttime？Ahasnowaystoknowtheexactanswers.However，asforB，thegiveninformationisenoughandthusleaveshimbothtimeandspacetotakefurthermeasuresandactions.

（16）A：Whatabouttheprice？

B：Thegivenquotationissubjecttochangesofthemarket.

Inthisexample，vaguetermlike“subjecttochangesofthemar-

ket”maketheofferfluctuatewiththemarketbutnotfixedatapart-

icularprice，thusflexibilitybeingenhanced.Anotherexample：

（17）Inmostcases，ourtermsofpaymentaremadebyconfir-

med，irrevocableL/Cavailablebydraftatsight.

4.6Improvingthepersuasiveness

AsChannell（2000）summarizes，oneofthepurposesofusingvaguelanguageistouselanguagepersuasively.Thetactfulapplica-

tionofvaguelanguagecanlessenthestrengthofimposition，sothattheutteranceswillsoundmoreacceptable.

（18）I'msureyouwillfindourpricemostfavorable.Inthelat-

esttwomonths，pricesforartificiallatexhavegoneuptremendously.Youcangotoinvestigatethequotedpricegivenbyothers.Howev-

er，ourpriceshaven’tchangedmuch.

Vagueexpressionslike“mostfavorable”，“tremendously”，“others”and“haven’tchangedmuch”addpersuasivenesstothead-

dresserandwillbringmoreclearthoughtsintotheaddressee’smind.

（19）Thenyoucanlookforwardtohealthier，brighterandmoreattractiveteeththanyou’veeverhadbefore.

Inthisexample，thesellerappliesthevagueexpressions“healthier”，“brighter”and“moreattractive”toreinforcethesuperi-

orityofhisproductsoastopersuadetheaddresseetoplaceanorder.

4.7Enhancinglanguagevividnessandcharm

Asvaguelanguageisnotdefinite，sometimesusingvaguelanguagewilladdvividnessandcharmtothelanguageexpressionthereforeleavedeepimpressionandwillletpeopletoimaginefreelyandwildly.

（20）Seriouslysmooth，mysteriouslymellow，gloriouslygolden，whocanresistthemagicofCamusXOCognac？

Thecontinuoususeofvagueadverbs“Seriously”“mysterious-

ly”“gloriously”andvagueadjectives“smooth”“mellow”“golden”maketheadvertisementofXOveryvividandappealing.Itseemsthatpeoplejustcan’tresistthecharmandtemptationofXO.Andwiththeuseofvaguelanguage，thisadwilldefinitelybeveryeffec-

tiveandwillattractalotofpotentialcustomers.

4.8Creatingaharmoniousatmosphere

Involvedintheinterest-orientedactivityofcommerce，bothofthetwopartiesmanagetopursueaharmoniousatmosphereandagre-

eablebusinessenvironmentinordertomakeprofitsandachievewin-winresults.Therefore，vaguelanguageischosentomitigatethepotentialconflict，createapleasantatmosphereandbuildaclosere-

lationshipbetweentheparticipants.Forinstance：

（21）A：Tobefrankwithyou，$240isafairlyhighpriceforyourmaterials，andIamafraiditishardformetomakeithigher.

B：IcanunderstandthatandIhopewehavemorechancestositherelaterinfuture.

Inthisexample，bothsidesarestrivingforaharmoniousatmo-

spher