商务英语信函中模糊语言的语用功能lunwen+开题+综述.docx

商务英语信函中模糊语言的语用功能lunwen+开题+综述.docx

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商务英语信函中模糊语言的语用功能lunwen+开题+综述

BiYeLunWen

（20__届）

英语

模糊语在商务英语信函中的语用功能

ThePragmaticFunctionofVagueLanguageinBusinessCorrespondence

摘要

模糊与精确是人类语言的两种基本属性。

“模糊”的概念和理论自从提出后的几十年里，人们对模糊语言进行了系统的研究。

商务英语信函一贯要求内容和信息准确，所以商务英语信函中的模糊语一直被忽略了。

本文从四个方面对模糊语之前的研究进行了归纳，然后对商务英语信函做出分析。

最后探讨了以下两个问题：

（1）不同类型的英语商务信函中模糊语的使用情况

（2）在英语商务信函中模糊语具有哪些功能。

从对相关英语商务信函的分析和研究，模糊语在中性或好消息，传递不愉快和不确定答复的信息和说服信三种信函中，运用是不同的。

而且模糊语言在商务交际中有四个语用功能：

使商务语言更礼貌和更有说服性；提高商务语言的灵活性，增强商务语言的正确性和提高写信人自我保护功能。

关键词：

模糊；模糊语；商务信函；语用功能。

I

Abstract

Vaguenessandprecisionarethebasicattributesofhumanlanguage.SincetheconceptandtheoryofvaguelanguagewasproposedbyL.AZadehin1965,muchhasbeendoneinsystematicanddescriptivestudyofvaguelanguage.BusinessEnglishhasalwaysbeenrequiredtobeclearandconcrete,sothestudyofvaguelanguageinthisfieldhaslongbeenneglected.Theauthortakesareviewofpreviousresearchonvaguelanguagefromfourperspectivesandthenmakesananalysisonthebusinesscorrespondence.Thisstudyattemptstoexplorethefollowingtwoquestions:

（1）Howdoestheaddresserusevaguelanguageindifferenttypeofbusinesscorrespondence?

（2）Whatpragmaticfunctionsdoesthevaguelanguagemakeinbusinesscorrespondence?

Basedonthedefinitionanddelimitationofvaguelanguageinthepresentstudyandtheanalysisofthedata,itisfoundthattheuseofvaguelanguageisdifferentingood-newsandneutralletters,bad-newsletterandpersuasiveletters.Vaguelanguagehasfourpragmaticfunctionsinwrittenbusinesscommunication:

（1）makingthewritingmorepoliteandpersuasive,enhancingtheflexibilityofbusinesslanguage,makingtheexpressionmoreaccurate,andensuringself-protection.

Keywords:

vague;vaguelanguage;businesscorrespondence;pragmaticfunction.

II

Contents

Abstract……………………………………..…………………………………….Ⅱ

1Introduction…………………………………..…………………………………….1

1.1Overview………………………………………………………………………..1

1.2Rationaleofthepresentstudy……………………………………………….…...1

1.3Thespecificresearchquestions………….……………………………………….2

1.4Outlineofthethesis…………………………………………………….………...3

2Reviewofpreviousresearchonvaguelanguage…………………………………3

2.1Pragmaticperspective……………………………………………….……………3

2.2Philosopherperspective…………………………………………….…………….3

2.3Psychologicalperspective…………………………………………….………….3

2.4Semanticperspective…………………………………………….…………........4

3Businesscorrespondences………………………………………………………….4

3.1Definitionofbusinesscorrespondence…………………………….……………..4

3.2Classificationofbusinesscorrespondence……………………………………….5

3.3Principleforbusinesswriting…………………………………………………….5

4Specificcontextsofusingvaguelanguageinbusinesscorrespondence………6

4.1Employmentofvaguelanguageingood-newsandneutralletters……………….6

4.2Employmentofvaguelanguageinbad-newsletter…………………...…………8

4.3Employmentofvaguelanguageinpersuasiveletters………………...………….9

5Fourpragmaticfunctionsofvaguelanguageinbusinesscorrespondence….10

5.1Makingthewritingmorepoliteandpersuasive…………………….…………..11

5.2Enhancingtheflexibilityofbusinesslanguage…………………………….…...12

5.3Makingtheexpressionmoreaccurate……………………….…………………13

5.4EnsuringSelf-Protection……………………………………….……………….13

6Conclusion………………………………………………….……………………..14

6.1Majorfindings………………………………………….……………………….14

6.2Implications…………………………………………….……………………….14

6.3Suggestionforfurtherstudy……………………………………………………15

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………16

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………17

1.Introduction

Vaguenessandprecisionarethebasicattributesofhumanlanguage,bothofthemareveryimportant.Precisionisneededmostoftimewhenpeoplewanttoexpressemotion,whilevaguenessalsoplaysanimportantrolebecausesomethingsarevague.Infact,vaguelanguagedoesn’taffectcommunication;onthecontrary,ithasspecialfunctions,makingthewordsmorepoliteandflexible.Asthedevelopmentofinternationalbusiness,peoplepaymoreattentiononthevaguelanguageinbusinesscorresponds.Inthepresentthesis,theauthorfindsthatvaguelanguageisusedtorealizetheaddresser’scommunicativeintention,anditistheresultoftheadaptationtovariouscontexts.

1.1Overview

SinceZadehfirstproposedtheconceptandtheoryofvaguelanguage,peoplehavedonemuchsystematicdescriptivestudyonvaguelanguage.Manylinguiststhinkvaguelanguageplayanimportantroleincommunication.Whetheronecanproperlyusevaguelanguageshowsone’slanguageperformance,becausevaguelanguageisaninseparablepartoflanguagecommunication.（Zhang,1998）

Itcanbeeasilyfoundthatvaguelanguagehasalwaysbeenusedasacommunicativestrategyinbusinessactivities.Theaddressershowshiscommunicativeattentionbyit.Anditalsoprovidesaddresseewithaguidelineforunderstandingtheaddresser’sintentions.CrystalandDavy（1975）givefourreasonsforvagueness:

（a）memoryloss-thespeakerforgetsthecorrectword;（b）thelanguagehasnosuitableexactword,orthespeakerdoesnotknowit;（c）thesubjectoftheconversationisnotsuchthatisrequiresprecision,andanapproximationorcharacterizationwilldo;（d）thechoiceofavagueitemisdeliberatetomaintaintheatmosphere.Channel（2000）arguesthat“vaguenessinlanguageisneitherall‘bad’norall‘good’.Whatmattersisthatvaguelanguageisusedappropriately.”Ifitisusedproperly,vaguelanguagewouldleadunexpectedsuccess.

1.2Rationaleofpresentstudy

Theauthorchoosesthevaguelanguageinbusinesscorrespondsastheobjectofthepresentstudymainlybecauseofthefollowingreasons.

Firstly,althoughvaguelanguagehasbeenacceptedextensively,andtheresearchesaboutitaremoreandmore,thereisstillalittleresearchaboutthevaguelanguageinbusinesscorresponds.Maybeitisbecausethetraditionalideathatbusinesscorrespondsshouldbeclearlyandaccuratelywithoutanyambiguity.Howeverthisstudyarguesthatpropervaguelanguagehasthespecialcharacteristicsotherwordscan’tinstead.

Secondly,thestudyonvaguelanguageinbusinesscorrespondshaspracticalsignificant.Peoplecanusevaguelanguageperfectlyiftheycomprehendit.Theaddressercanshowhisintentionwithvaguelanguageandthereadercanunderstandingtherealmeanoftheletter.

Thirdly,intraditionalopinion,writingbusinesscorrespondsshouldfollow7Csprinciple,thatis,beclear,concise,correct,courteous,conversational,convincingandcomplete.However,insomesituation,the7Cscan’tmeetthedemandbecausenoteverythinginbusinessiscertain.Sometimes,peoplewilladoptvaguelanguageratherthanfollowstrictlythe7Cssoastoavoidunnecessarydisputesortofacilitatebusinessdeal.

1.3Thespecificresearchquestion

Thepresentstudyhasfocusedontheemploymentofvaguelanguageinbusinesscorrespondence,andinsodoing,ithassetouttoworktowardsanswerstothefollowingtwoquestions:

1.Howdoestheaddresserusevaguelanguageindifferenttypeofbusinesscorrespondence?

2.Whatpragmaticfunctionsdoesthevaguelanguagemakeinbusinesscorrespondence?

1.4Outlineofthethesis

Thisthesisconsistsofsixchapters.Chapteroneisageneralpictureofthevaguelanguage.Itintroducesthevaguelanguageandtherationalofthestudyandtheresearchquestions.Chaptertwoisareviewofpreviousresearchonvaguelanguage.Andtheauthormainlyfocusesonpragmaticperspective.Chapterthreegivesaresearchonbusinesscorrespondence.Anditmainlyfocusesontheclassificationofbusinesscorrespondenceand7Cprinciplesinbusinesscorrespondencewriting.Chapterfourdescribesthedifferentuseofvaguelanguageindifferenttypeofbusinesscorrespondence.Inthischapter,theauthorusesmanybusinesscorrespondencesasexamplestoshowthatvaguelanguageusedineachtypeofletteristheresultofadaptationtoitsspecificcontext.Theemploymentfrequencyisdifferentingood-newsandneutralletters,bad-newsletterandpersuasiveletters.Inchapterfive,theauthorgetsfourpragmaticfunctionofvaguelanguageinbusinesscorrespondence:

makingthewritingmorepoliteandpersuasive,enhancingtheflexibilityofbusinesslanguage,makingtheexpressionmoreaccurate,andensuringself-protection.Thechaptersixisaconclusionwhichsummarizesthemajorfindingsofthepresentstudy.Atthesametime,somesuggestionsareprovidedforfurtherresearchonvaguelanguage.

2ReviewofPreviousResearchonVagueLanguage

Thefollowingisabriefsurveyoftherelatedstudiesonvaguelanguagesincethepresentstudyisabouttheemploymentofvaguelanguageinwrittenbusinessdiscourse.Vaguelanguageisaninterdisciplinarysubjectwithfourperspectives,namelyphilosophicalperspective,psychologicalperspective,semanticperspectiveandpragmaticperspective.Anditwillmainlyfocusonpragmaticperspective.

2.1Pragmaticperspective

Whatpragmaticsfocusesonistherelationshipbetweenlanguageandlanguageusers,andthepragmaticprincipleofthelanguage.Atmosphereisveryimportanttothisrelationship.Peoplealwaysenhancethespeakingeffectwithvaguelanguage.

Channelisoneofthemostfamouslinguistinthisaspect.ShethinksthatusingvaguelanguageisalanguagepolicyfornativeEnglishspeakers.Inhervaguelanguage,Channellistseightsituationsorpurposesforpeopletousevaguelanguage:

givingtherightamountofinformation;deliberatewithholdinginformation;lexicalgaps;lackingspecificinformation;displacement;self-protection;powerandpoliteness;informationandatmosphere;women’slanguage（Channel,2000:

194）.Thevaguelanguage’spragmaticfunctioncanbeseenfromtheabovereview.Andapragmaticperspectiveisnecessaryinthepresentstudyforthepurposeofexploring