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论文终稿范文 郑州大学西亚斯国际学院礼貌原则在商务英语信函中的运用On theApplication of the Politeness Principle in English Business Letters级别07级系别外语学院翻译系指导教师岳文文填表日期xx年3月20日姓名学籍号专业王会玲xx1412325英语翻译On theApplication of the Politeness Principles inBusiness EnglishLetters礼貌原则在商务英语信函中的运用ID NO.xx1412325Wang Huiling(Judy)Submitted asa partialfulfillment of the requirementsfor theDegree ofBachelor of English SIASInternational Collegeof ZhengzhouUniversity March20,xxFaculty Advisor:Yue WenwenAcknowledgements Myprofound gratitude should gofirst andforemost to my supervisor,Yue Wenwen,who hasgiven me a lot of help,support,guidance andencouragement.Without hervaluable and constructive suggestions,this thesiswould neverhave reachedits presentform.My sinceregratitude mustalso becontributed toall theteachers andprofessors in the Schoolof ForeignLanguages ofSias University.I appreciatetheir insightfulguidance inmy studyand offeredmealotofprecious adviceon mypaper.Special thanksare dueto MsShi Wenjuan,who helpedme tocollect the business lettersused in the paper.Last butnot theleast,my thanksshould gotomyfriends andfamily memberswho alwaysgive mesupport andencouragement.They deservemy mostsincere thanksfor theirenormous helpin variousways to the position of thispaper.i AbstractPoliteness is not onlya culturalphenomenon,but alsoa linguistic phenomenon,which peoplecan obtainsuessful munication.Ever sincethe early1970s,dozens of theories have been proposedto explainpoliteness asa linguisticphenomenon,among whichthe PolitenessPrinciple of Leech is one of the mostinfluential theoriesin thepragmatic field.English business letters areregarded as the lifelineof modernbusiness municationin business activities.The significanceof English business lettersdetermines the application of politeness strategies,that is,what languageforms areused topresent the politeness ofEnglish business letters.By takingEnglish business letters asthe carrierand Leechs PolitenessPrinciple asthe theoreticalfoundation,this thesisfirstly introducesprevious theoretical studies on politeness and business letters,then provides a descriptive and parative analysis on the application of the six maxims of Leechs PolitenessPrinciple in English business letters collectedfrom booksand websitesconcerning English business letter writing andfurther puts forward concretetips toapplying eachmaxim of the PolitenessPrinciple in business letter writing so as tohelp peoplemake the business municationmore effective and promotethe suessof thetrade.Key words:business Englishletters;politeness strategies;PolitenessPrinciple;pragmatics ii摘要礼貌既是一种文化现象，也是一种语言现象，它广泛存在于人类生活的各个方面，礼貌是人们达到成功交际的一种重要手段。 自上世纪七十年代以来，语言学家纷纷提出各种理论对礼貌现象加以研究，在语用学界，影响较大的当属利奇的礼貌原则。 商务英语信函被看作是现代商务活动中商务交际的生命线。 商务英语信函的这一重要作用决定了在英文商务信函中必须注重礼貌策略的运用，即采取何种语言形式来使信函表现得更加礼貌。 本文以商务英语信函为载体，利奇的礼貌原则为主要的理论框架，首先介绍了关于礼貌现象和商务信函的理论研究知识，然后在所搜集到的商务英语信函语料的基础上，采取了描述性和对比性的分析方式，对礼貌原则在商务信函中的运用作了具体的分析，并进一步提出每一项礼貌原则的具体运用方法，以便人们进行更有效的商务沟通，达到交际目的并促成交易。 3.2The Applicationof Generosity Maxim.错误！未定义书签。 3.3The Applicationof Approbation Maxim错误！未定义书签。 3.4The Applicationof Modesty Maxim.错误！未定义书签。 3.5The Applicationof Agreement Maxim.错误！未定义书签。 3.6The Applicationof Sympathy Maxim.错误！未定义书签。 ivIntroduction As we allknow,politeness isa universalphenomenon existing in allhuman societiesand pervadingin almostevery aspectof humanlife.Being politeisone of the manifestations ofhuman civilization.Therefore,it isvery importantthat politenessshould betaken intoconsideration whenpeople municatewith eachother.Politeness is not onlyuniversal,but alsounique in different cultureswhich havedifferent pointsof viewof politeness.As thedifferences of politeness arealways embodiedin languages,it is inevitable forresearchers toinvestigate specificlinguistic realizationsto achievepoliteness inparticular languages.Moreover,with therapid developmentof the world economy,business municationbetween nationsbees moreand morefrequent.Business letters,as oneof the most importantand effectivemeans in business munication,should applycertain politeness strategies.In recentyears,researchers haveshown greatinterests in the studyof politeness and business letters.Some researchersstudy the politeness in business lettersfrom thecross-cultural angle,focusing on the differentmanifestations of politeness inChinese andEnglish business letters.Studies on themanifestationof politeness indifferenttypes ofEnglish business letters aredealt within amore general way.In addition,some researchersare interested in a particular aspectof thepresentation of politeness with a specificperspective.In away,those arethe generaldirectionsof thestudy on the politenessand business letters.This thesis is designed1to explicitlystudy on the empiricalapplications of Leechs PolitenessPrinciple in business letters.In aword,politeness playsa veryimportant rolein aeleratingeffectiveandsuessful businessmunication.Hopefully,the researchwill helpto createmore effectivebusiness transactionand will be helpfulto teachersin teachingEnglish businessletterwritingand peoplewho workon Englishbusinessletterwriting.2II TheoreticalFramework Thischapter presentsa generalsurvey of politeness theoryandbusiness letters.On onehand,a theoreticalfoundation isset for the thesisby reviewingthe theoreticalstudies oflinguistic politeness;onthe other hand,with theresearch of businessletter,politeness theoryhas acarrier,on whichempirical studies of writtenlanguage aremade.Moreover,the previousstudiesof the applicationofpolitenesstheories to thebusiness letters arealso brieflyintroduced.2.1An Overviewof PolitenessTheories2.1.1The Notionof Politenessin PragmaticsIn thelast twodecades,the notionofpolitenesshas beena mainfocus ofinterest withinpragmatic studies.Though asubstantial bodyof theoreticalwork hasinvestigated thelinguisticphenomenonofpoliteness,there stilllacks consistencyamong researcherson whatpoliteness is,or howit mightbe aountedfor.Remarkably,many of the writersdo noteven explicitlydefine what they takepoliteness to be,and theirunderstanding of the conceptmust beinferred fromstatements referringto thisterm.As isgenerally embracedby thepublic within the English-speaking world,the historicalunderstanding ofpoliteness startedfrom asocial-norm view(Fraser,68).Briefly stated,it assumesthat eachsociety hasaparticularset ofsocial normsconsisting ofmore orless explicitrules thatprescribe certainbehaviors,a stateof3affairs,or away ofthinking in a context.A positiveevaluation(politeness)arises whenan actionisincongruence with the norm,as anappropriate behavior aording toexpected norms;a negativeevaluation(impoliteness)arises whenan actionis to the contrary.This socialnorm approachhas fewadherents amongcurrent researchers,who mostlyperceive politenesswith aconversational-maxim vieworaface-saving approach(Fraser,80).Politeness hasalso beenviewed as“oneof the constraintson humaninteraction,whose purposeis toconsider others feelings,establish levelsof mutualfort,and promoterapport”(Hillet,47);“strategies forconflict avoidance”(Kasper,76);or“a deviceused in order toreduce frictionin personalinteraction”(Lakoff,53).In the following sectionsthe conversational-maxim viewwill begiven detailedillustration withdata collectedfor thecurrent studywithin the scope of business Englishletters.2.1.2The Conversational-maxim View2.1.2.1Grice andHis Cooperative Principle Theconversational-maxim perspectiverelies principallyonthework ofGrice.In anattempt toclarify howit isthat speakerscan meanmore thanthey“say”,Grice proposedhis generalCooperativePrinciple(CP)which provides that arational conversationalistshould:“Make yourconversational contributionsuch asrequired,at thestage whichit ours,by theaepted purposeor directionof talkexchange in which you4are engaged.”(Grice,45)Stated inmore simpleterms,the CPprovidesthat a speakershould saywhat hehas tosay,when hehas tosay it,and theway hehas tosay it.While the CP isof paramountimportance and is assumedto beoperative inmost conversations,Grice associatedwith the CP a set ofmore specificmaxims andsub-maxims:quantity maxim,quality maxim,relation maxim,and mannermaxim(Hu,191).These maxims are consideredto beguidelines for the“rational”use of language inconversation.They donot provide an aountof well-formedness fora grammaticalstructure,but ratherserve toprovideaset ofconstraints for the useoflanguage.Thus theviolation of these maximsmay beaepted assignaling certainspeaker intentions.2.1.2.2Lakoffs Theoryof PolitenessLakoff wasamong thefirst toadopt Grices constructionof CooperativePrinciples in an effortto aountfor politeness.He refersto politeness as“a deviceused in order toreduce frictionin personalinteraction”and introducestwo rules: (1)be clear; (2)be polite,as PragmaticCompetence.He formulateshis politenesstheory aroundthe threesub-maxims,adapted asfollows:Rule1:Dont impose:remain aloof.Rule2:Offer options:give chanceto makefinal decisionto theaddressee.Rule3:Encourage camaraderie:be friendlyand makethe listenerfeel good.(53-58)Furthermore,Lakoff arguesthat politenessmay bethrough behaviorsother than5linguistic onesand indicatesthatalinguistic behaviorwhich ispolite inone settingmay beneutral oreven rudein anothersetting.In thatsense nolinguistic behaviorcan bejudged asbeing inherentlypolite orimpolite unlessinvestigated incontext.In otherstudies Lakoffalso looksinto theways thatpoliteness isrealized inmale andfemale speech.He suggeststhat womentend tobe more polite and the languageused byfemales is more grammaticallycorrect thanthat usedby males.Though oftenbeing criticizedfor lackof empiricalevidence,his findingsin thisarea aregaining validitywith worksof Holmes (120)and otherscholars.2.1.2.3Leechs PolitenessPrinciple ThepositionofLeech is“a grandelaboration of the ConversationalMaxim approachto politeness”,as assertedby Fraser (113).Leech viewedpolitenessasa phenomenon existing in all languages.He isconcerned withhow politenessprovidesamissing linkbetween Grices CooperativePrinciples(CP)and theproblem ofhow to relate senseto force(104,torelatethe grammaticalmeaning ofan utteranceto itspragmatic force).Leech lookson politenessas crucialin aountingfor“why peopleare oftenso indirectin conveyingwhat theymean”.He thusputsforwardthe PolitenessPrinciple so as to“rescue theCooperativePrinciple”in thesense thatpoliteness cansatisfactorily explainexceptions toand apparentdeviations fromtheCP.Therefore,his PolitenessPrinciple isnot justan additionto Grices CP,but anecessary plementneeded forcases wheretheCPfails tooffer areasonable explanation(Liu,160).Following Grices presentationof theCP,Leech formulateshis Politeness6Principle(PP),which canbe statedasthe following(1983:80):Other thingsbeing equal,minimize the expression of beliefs which are unfavorable tobethe hearerand atthe sametime maximizetheexpressionofbeliefswhicharefavorableto the hearer.This generalprinciple containswithin itasetof sixmaxims:1).TactMaxim(in directivesand missives)Minimize cost to other;maximize benefit to other.2).GenerosityMaxim(in directivesand missives)Minimize benefitto self;maximize costto self.3).ApprobationMaxim（in expressivesand assertives)Minimize dispraise of other;Maximize praise of other.4).ModestyMaxim(in expressivesand assertives)Minimize praise of self;Maximize dispraise of self.5).AgreementMaxim(in assertives)Minimize disagreement between self and other;Maximize agreement between self and other.6)SympathyMaxim(in assertives)Minimize antipathy between self and other;Maximize sympathy between self and other.While claimingpoliteness isa universalphenomenonexistingin alllanguages,Leech alsonotes thatdifferent culturesmay havedifferent maximsand leavesspace forclassifying othermaxims thatmay notexist inEnglish,but matoperate inother languagesand cultures.Above arethe previoustheoreticalstudiesofpoliteness,of whichLeechs PolitenessPrinciple will be furtherdiscussed indetails withits empiricalapplications to business letters inthefollowing chapter.The reasonwhy Leechs Politeness7Principle ischosen asthe theoreticalfoundation isthat the six differentmaximsare,to someextent,general for business peopleintheprocess ofwriting business letters.They stillcan notapply themin writingeven underthe circumstanceof knowingtheoretical politenessstrategies.The thesisis toelaborately analyzethesixmaxims of the PPand attemptsto formulatemore concretetips toapplying themin businessletterwritingwithin eachmaxim.2.2Business Communicationand BusinessLetters Business people municatewith eachother to discuss differentkinds ofbusiness issues.They needto introducetheir newproducts tocostumers,ask informationof pricesof certainproducts,place orders,make contracts,etc.For differentbusiness issues,business peoplechoose differentmunicating methods.There are mainly twomajor typesofbusinessmunicating methods-oral municationand written munication.Since thispaper is to mainlydiscuss writtenmunication,oral municationwill not be furthersurveyed inthis section.Written municationmainly referstobusinesswriting.It includesbusiness letters,business reports,meeting materials,annual reportsand contracts,etc.Though writtenmunication isnot asefficient asoral municationandistime-consuming,it hasthe functionof keepingrecords of the messages.This iswhy inthis ageof rapidmunication,business peoplestill usethe methodof writtenmunication.8Business lettersare oneimportant partofbusinesswrittenmunication.They areusually usedtodiscussbusiness matterswith otherpanies andaremainlyabout municatinga message,putting ones thoughtsand ideasinto aform ora codewhich canthen betransmitted toanother person.So business letters involvemore thanone person:it isnot merelyabout writingthe letter,it isabout thatletter beingreceived andunderstood bythe readeras well.Business lettersdeal withmessage andrelationship.A businessletter representsthe imageof the pany.A well-planned businessletter withclear andcorrect information and properexpressions,showing respects,consideration andgoodwill to the readermay leavea goodimpression tothe readerand strengthenthebusinessties between the two sides.In contrast,a poorly-planned businessletter withimproper languageand mannersmay havenegative impactonthebusiness relationshipand damagethe panys long-term benefits.Thus business people should be verycareful inwriting ofbusiness letterssoas to assuresmooth businessmunication.2.3Necessity ofApplying PolitenessStrategies inBusinessLettersAs animportant wayof municationin businessactivities,business lettersare aboutconveying messagesbetweenthe writer and the reader.The writerwrites the letter withthe purposeof conveyingcertain information,or expressinghis/her ideasabout abusiness issue,and inorder to make himself/herself correctly-understood and the informationor ideas well-received,the writermust9pose the letter ina veryefficient manner.A suessfulbusinesslettercan expressthe informationcorrectly andclearly,can makethe readerunderstand themain ideaof the letter easilyor willingto aeptthe writers idea,and moreimportantly,create a good imagefor boththe panyandthe writer himself/herself.From theabove discussion,it isapparent tosee thatpoliteness playsa veryimportant roleinbusinessletters.Business peoplemust learnthepolitenessstrategies inbusinesslettersfind thepoliteness ruleshidden inthe letters and thenuse thesepolitenessstrategiesto guidetheir writingsinorder to makebusinessletterssuessful andefficient.2.4Present StudyCondition onPolitenessinBusinessLettersSince this thesisisa studyon politenessprinciple inbusinessletters,it isnecessary tounderstand thepresent conditionof studiesonpolitenessinbusinessletters.With the increasing demandfor internationalexchange ofinformationandresources,international businessmunication hasreceived muchattention indifferent perspectivesand manyresearchers haveprobed intopoliteness phenomenonexistinginbusinessletters.Some researchersstudy thepolite languageand expressionsinEnglishbusinessletters,focusing onthepolitenessat wordsand expressionslevel.Some studytheapplicationofpolitenessstrategies inEnglishbusinesslettersanddiscuss theapplication fromdifferent angles,including choiceof words,sentence structureandthearrangement oftheletterbody.10After readingand examiningthese papersabout politenessstrategies inbusinessletters,the authorfinds thatmost ofthem focuson onlyone aspectofEnglishbusinessletters,or justdescribe thepolitenessinEnglishbusinessletters ina rathergeneralway.In this thesis,the authortries toparticularly studythe applicationsofthe PolitenessPrincipleofLeechinEnglishbusinesslettersinaparatively thoroughand detailedway.11III EmpiricalStudies In this chapter,the authorgives adescriptiveandparativeanalysisoftheapplicationofthesixmaximsofthePolitenessPrinciple:tact maxim,generosity maxim,approbation maxim,modesty maxim,agreement maxim and sympathymaxim inbusinesslettersrespectively.3.1The Applicationof TactMaxim TactMaxim isothers-centered maximby whichpeople minimizecostto others andmaximize benefitto others.Businesspeopleshould takethefollowingtips intoconsideration forbeing tactful.1)Reply promptly.It isof greatimportance toreply letterspromptly inbusiness affairs.The clientwill beinclined tothink thathis requirementsand problemsare notnoticed andtackled if theletterisnotanswered promptly,which will leave bad impressions onhim andeven influencethe relationshipbetween twosides.For thoseletters of plaint andclaim inparticular,it isurgent toreply promptly,timely andclearly.If theresponsibility shouldactually beheld bythe sideofthe writer,he mustcorrect themistake timelyand triesto findout solutionstotheproblem;if resultsof investigationhas not been reached,he shouldfirstly replytheletterto informthe other side that they aregoing oninvestigations and trying to make upfor theloss;if unreasonablerequirements areproposed,he alsohas tobe calmand imposethem politely.Thus goodimpressions ofhigh efficiencyand sinceritywill beleft onclients12and friendlycooperative relationshipwillbe maintaine