从礼貌原则视角谈被动语态在商务信函中的运用(3)

and figures, using specific words, using strong verbs, choosing vivid, image-building words and so on.

(8) Credibility. Credibility means being honest and fair in all business dealings. It means being ethical and honest, avoiding exaggeration, giving credit, avoiding euphemisms that cause doubt and confusion, avoiding withholding facts the reader needs to accomplish his/her goals, being fair and balanced by presenting pros and cons, and keeping confidential matters private and not spreading gossip.

Apparently, as a tool for communication, business correspondence conveys the writer?s views and ideas and plays an important role in business activities. Keeping the eight Cs in mind is of great help to the successful writing of business correspondence.

1.2 Classification of Business Correspondence

Business correspondence may be classified from various perspectives. The most commonly used ways of classification are as follows:

According to the contents of the letter, the business correspondence can be classified into request letters, letters answering requests, claim and adjustment letters, credit inquiry and collection letters, sales letters, em- ployment letters, social business letters and so on.

According to the functions in the process of a business traction of the

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letter, business correspondence can be grouped into quotation letters, negotiating letters, ordering letters, confirming ordering letters, payment letters, shipment and insurance letters, claim letters, adjustment letters and so on.

According to the nature of the information given, business corres- pondence can be divided into good news letters, neutral news letters, bad news letters and persuasive letters.

According to Leech?s categorizations of illocutionary acts, business letters are classified into four categories, competitive letters, convivial letters, collaborative letters and conflictive letters.

Competitive letters includes persuasive letters, such as letters of request, collection and sales, which aims at persuading the reader to do something accordingly. So in fact, it is impolite. However, this impoliteness can be shifted into politeness if the persuading skills are available.

Generally speaking, letters of approval, appreciation and invitation belong to convivial letters which aim at establishing favorable business relationships with the counter party through exchanging beneficial information.

Collaborative letters refer to letters of inquiry, offer, confirmation, notification, recommendation, instruction and directions. The messages these letters deliver are usually neutral news.

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And conflictive letters conclude letters of refusal, claims, adjustment, counter-offer and so on, which, if not written skillfully, may lead to a conflict or even ruin the bilateral cooperative relationships.

When dealing with different types of business correspondence, the writer needs to consider which it belongs to and then adopts relevant methods and strategies so that he/she can realize his/her goals.

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Chapter 2

An Overview of Politeness Principle

Politeness which is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette is a technique of communication. And the goal of politeness is to make all of the parties relaxed and comfortable with one another. Since people are living in different cultures, the understandings of politeness are different.

2.1 Definition of Politeness

The concept of politeness is very important in verbal communication. On many occasions, our friendly relationship is established and maintained through polite use of language, and so are our daily affairs, including business activities. As for the definition of politeness, different linguists have different understandings.

According to Lakoff, politeness is a form of behavior developed in societies to reduce friction in personal interaction in society, and it is a universal phenomena. According to Leech, politeness is a form of behavior to create and maintain harmonious interactions. According to Brown and Levinson, politeness is a form which allows communication to take place

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between potentially aggressive partners. Pan, Y. says in 2000, politeness is the ideology of how human relationships are perceived and how an individual is related to others in a certain context.

All in all, politeness is a quality of making peace with others, paying respect to others and living friendly and harmoniously with others. In this highly competitive world, knowing what politeness is will not only help restrict our impolite behaviors in the business activities and tell us which words sound polite and could be used in business correspondence writing, but also help us understand Politeness Principle better.

2.2 The Development of Politeness Principle

As a kind of communication skills, politeness plays an important role in people?s daily communication. It shows your attention to other?s face in a social interaction. Long time ago, many linguists have proposed their theories about politeness, among which Leech?s Politeness Principle is considered the most important.

In 1983, based on Brown and Levinson?s Face-Saving Theory, J. Leech proposed his Politeness Principle in the book “Principles of Pragmatics” which accounts for certain conversational behavior that Grice?s Cooperative Principle does not satisfactorily explain. In order to formulate the principle, Leech made a very careful observation of people?s

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