2022年商务英语信函写作中的语言特点及写作技巧全英文知识 .pdf

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1、1 1 Introduction Business English can be regarded as an application of English language in commercial occasions, aiming at enabling speakers to communicate and interact effectively using the most correct and clearest business language. Business English Correspondence is an important carrier of inter

2、national commercial activities which is used to deli ever information, address commercial issues and as a way of communication.Lexicon is an important factor of a passage. In the writing of business English correspondence, we should pay particular attention to the selection of lexicon. Different wor

3、ds may carry different meaning and even the mood of them can be very distinct. Therefore, it is of great necessity to do research of the features of lexicon in the writing of business English correspondence.This thesis attempts to do some researches on the following subjects: To have a good knowledg

4、e of characteristics of lexicon in business English correspondence. To make sense of the reason why the business English correspondence have such requirements of lexicon. To provide some suggestions that learners can improve their writing skills. 2 Description of Business English correspondence2.1 D

5、efinition of business English correspondence Nowadays more and more people choose to work in companies and do commercial work. As China joined the WTO, enterprises are all choosing to open their markets and expand them into the international world, thus making English inevitably become the most used

6、 language in the world. And in this way a new subject appeared that we call it “ business English ” . In terms of business English, we refer to the language used in order to adapt to the job market whose contents include a lot of aspects (Kansi, 1983; 134). Unlike the general English learners, peopl

7、e who learn business English are more targeted and specialized. Business correspondence means the act of communicating by means of correspondences or the correspondences between correspondents (曹菱, 2000; 87). It is the main way for traders to do business, exchange commercial information and consult

8、名师资料总结 - - -精品资料欢迎下载 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 名师精心整理 - - - - - - - 第 1 页，共 13 页 - - - - - - - - - 2 and give answers to commercial questions in international trade. Besides, it is a reflection of different cultures, social backgrounds and representative of interests of both parties of a t

9、rading activity. Business English correspondences is different from personal correspondences, for it is more formal and can be a legal document for both enterprises to do business transaction and deal with commercial disputes. This is a serious problem that business English correspondence writers sh

10、ould pay attention to.Different from the state correspondence or personal correspondences, business English correspondences has its own characteristics both in the article style and language (Ober, 1998; 98). In particular, it is high demanded of the correctness and standards of language. The busine

11、ss correspondence should be clear, concise, concrete, and of courtesy in language.2.2 Assortment of business English correspondence It can categorize business correspondences into three kinds. They are as follows: The first kind is in accordance with the letters content. We have invitation letters,

12、selling letters, employing letters, and etc. In terms of the role the business letters plays in commercial activities of enterprises, we have negotiating letters which aims at address a dispute, friendly letters which is used to keep a friendly touch with another company, and etc. The last is the co

13、rrespondence, which is used to give some information .The information may be good or bad.In a word, we can classify the business correspondences from different perspectives just as the way mentioned above. Sometimes, each kind is not so isolated from others. Besides we have mentioned above, there ar

14、e also many kinds of business English correspondences such as letters for setting up business relationships, conclusion of business, sales contract or confirmation, sales promotion, order and fulfillment, products shipment, shipping advice, insurance, claim, asking for an agent, processing trade, co

15、mpensation trade, and etc.2.3 Function of business English correspondence Today it has come into an information society with the development of information 名师资料总结 - - -精品资料欢迎下载 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 名师精心整理 - - - - - - - 第 2 页，共 13 页 - - - - - - - - - 3 technology and the Internet. Busi

16、ness English correspondences plays an important part in international trading activities due to its courtesy, completeness, conciseness and other good features in order to obtain and deliver information, make effective communication, address related issues in commercial activities and maintain good

17、and normal operating relations. Business correspondence means the act of communicating by means of letters or the letters, which pass between correspondents (曹菱, 2000; 76) .It is the main way for traders to do business, exchange commercial information and consult and give answers to commercial quest

18、ions in international trade. Besides, it is a reflection of different cultures, social backgrounds and representative of interests of both parties of a trading activity. Business English letters is different from personal letters, for it is more formal and can be a legal document for both enterprise

19、s to do business transaction and deal with commercial disputes. All in all, we summarized its function as follows: First, it can improve the working efficiency of foreign trade and reduce the cost. Second, it helps enterprises to seek more new clients and deepen their relations with the companies. T

20、hird, the business English letters can promote the foreign trade economy. And finally it is bound to play an important role in fulfilling the globalization of trade. 3 Basic writing principles for business correspondence 3.1 Politeness Being polite is an important principle in business circles. A po

21、lite correspondence can help you win others will. Therefore, it is appropriate to use more frequently words such as “ please ” , “ I will be highly appreciated that. ” , It is our pleasure to ” and etc. There are inevitably conflicts and disputes in business transactions. And it is politeness that c

22、an function as a lubricant to break deadlocks. When doing compensation, making complaints, and refusing to accept some requests, business English correspondences writers must be more polite and try to use words not so imperative. When responding to others correspondences, the writers shall also use

23、polite words no matter how bad the attitude of the other party is. First, the writers should be good at using passive sentences, which can make your words more temperate. For example, the sentence“You made a very 名师资料总结 - - -精品资料欢迎下载 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 名师精心整理 - - - - - - - 第 3 页，共 1

24、3 页 - - - - - - - - - 4 careless mistake ” may be better if it is changed into “ A very careless mistake was made ” . Second, the writers should be good at using question sentences to show politeness and euphemism and conditional sentences to make your recommendations sounds more tentative and euphe

25、mistic. 3.2 Conciseness and Completeness Emphatic and descriptive words are good ways to make business English correspondence more effective. Writers can choose abbreviated words in foreign trade fields that are familiar to people. Besides, the sentence structure should be concise and simple. Writer

26、s should use more words to replace complex sentences and try to maintain the completeness and make sentences more concise (Baugh, 1986; 39). For instance,“As what you have requested. ” can be simplified into “ As requested. ” . Moreover, it is a key factor to keep the completeness of information. So

27、me words used in our daily life such as “ the above mentioned ” , “the former” , “respectively”should not be used in business correspondences as much as possible. Make sure provide complete information to let the other party be clear at the first glance. 3.3 Clearness, Concreteness and Correctness C

28、learness is the most important principle in business English correspondence. An unclear correspondence may cause misunderstanding and ambiguous and even trading loss. Therefore, writers should pay attention to select correct words and make your sentences structure is absolutely right. In business En

29、glish correspondences writing, the information that is delivered should be concrete and vivid to avoid the risk of ambiguity. Correctness not only requires that grammar, syntax, and marks and spelling be right, but the commercial technical terms should be represented appropriately. The communicative

30、 effects will be greatly damaged if mistakes are made in spelling, person, punctuation marks, tense, and etc. Besides, writers should use more formal words. For example, abbreviations as “ I ll” , “ we re” should not be used. 4 Lexicon and writing principles of business correspondence 名师资料总结 - - -精品

31、资料欢迎下载 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 名师精心整理 - - - - - - - 第 4 页，共 13 页 - - - - - - - - - 5 4.1 The Definition of lexicology In the Oxford Advanced Learner s English-Chinese Dictionary, the definition of lexicology is the study of the form, meaning and behavior of words. Technically, lexicology

32、 is a branch of linguistics concerned with the study of the vocabulary of a given language. It deals with words, their origin, development, history, structure, meaning and application. The term lexicology contains two Greek morphemes: lexikon and logie. The former means “ word”, the latter means “ l

33、earning”or “ the study of”(Nation, 2001).4.2 Review of studies on lexical features 4.2.1Review of studies on lexical features in English for Specific Purposes English has been more and more frequently used in various circles. We have summarized this situation as workplace English including tourism E

34、nglish, law English, medical English and etc. And in this thesis, we mainly focused on its use in business field that is “ business English” . We are now living in a globalized world, and after China entering the WTO, our country s commercial activities are increasing rapidly, which makes business E

35、nglish become an indispensable language tool for communication in the world s economical activities. Business English correspondence is one of the most effective ways in international communication .A good knowledge of English is the important foundation for writers to write a good and effective bus

36、iness English correspondence. In the meanwhile, there are many other factors should be paid attention to, such as avoiding Chinglish, having knowledge of the background knowledge of western culture, keeping eye on the trading style of the other party and etc. In one word, with the continuous changes

37、 of the forms of commercial activities, the business English correspondences must change accordingly. 名师资料总结 - - -精品资料欢迎下载 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 名师精心整理 - - - - - - - 第 5 页，共 13 页 - - - - - - - - - 6 4.2.2 Former studies on lexical features of English business correspondence Lexicon pla

38、ys an important part in writing. And in business English writing, the lexicon is of more significance. Many scholars have made many researches of the language and lexicon in business English correspondences from various perspectives. They studied many aspects such as the lexicon meaning, function, c

39、orrectness, and etc. Therefore, it is of much research value to do research in this aspect. This thesis tried to explore more meaningful things expecting to provide some useful information to the readers and business English learners (何勇斌 , 2005; 196). 4.3 The Lexical Features Represented in Courtes

40、y and Consideration It has mentioned that there are 7Cs principles in business writing, here, I ll divide them into 3 classifications to illustrate the lexical features in each classification. The first classification is lexical features represented in courtesy in courtesy and consideration. In busi

41、ness correspondences, we often use some polite words to express our kindness to other. And we often use some special words to present consideration to the other party. So from some aspect we can say that the consideration for the other party is also show our courtesy. The second classification is le

42、xical features represented in conciseness and completeness. As I mentioned above, business correspondence should be concise, but that doesn t mean that the less the better. At the same time, we should notice that we give the complete information that needed. The last classification is lexical featur

43、es represented in clearness, concreteness and correctness. These three principles have one common target that is to make the business correspondence be accurate and not to be misunderstanding. 4.3.1 Use polite wordsEnglish business correspondences is an important way of commercial communication and

44、play many roles such as delivering information, building cooperative relationship, promoting company s operations and strengthening communication in commercial activities (汤军, 1998; 148). To achieve commercial goals successfully, it is 名师资料总结 - - -精品资料欢迎下载 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 名师精心整理

45、- - - - - - - 第 6 页，共 13 页 - - - - - - - - - 7 essential to use polite and appropriate language. According to Leech (Leech, 1983; 236), there is a set of Politeness Principle (PP) that socially governs communicative behavior. The Politeness Principle (PP) is formulated as follows: Minimize (other th

46、ings being equal) the expression of impolite belief, and maximize (other things being equal) the expression of polite beliefs. 4.3.2 Use positive words The meaning of word is combined with conceptual meaning and associative meaning. He former one is the core of a word and the associative meaning is

47、a combination of a word s emotional and stylistic meaning. Words of positive emotional meaning will deliver an unhappy feeling on readers. In English business correspondences, words of positive meaning can send people an emotion of delight, happiness and positiveness and make them feel respected, th

48、us making words more acceptable. Therefore, in English business correspondences, words that can express gratitude and praise are often used. For instance, We would be very grateful if you could let us take delivery before the selling season. It gives us much pleasure to receive the catalogue and sam

49、ples you sent us. In a word, it is more acceptable to choose words of positive meaning in English business correspondences. 4.3.3 Hedges Hedge words are those have certain core meaning in language while not all the sense of them are definite（伍铁平 , 1999;143）. They are different from semantic ambiguit

50、y. They have their unique characteristics and rich pragmatic function. Using hedge words appropriately will make correspondence language more polite instead of affecting its preciseness of language. Hedges can be divided into two kinds. On one hand, we can use some words or expressions that can chan