语料库辅助下礼貌原则在商务英语函电中的应用研究

A Corpus-Based Study on the Application of Politeness Principle in Business English Letters

摘要: 随着经济全球化的不断发展，企业间的商业往来变得比以往更加频繁密切。商务英语信函作为开展国际贸易的一种重要手段，在其过程中发挥着重要作用。然而，如何写好商务英语信函，准确、礼貌地传达商业信息仍是有待研究的问题。对此，本研究基于对外经贸大学王立飞教授创建的商务英语语料库，通过筛选语料，建立名为BEC的商务英语信函子语料库，以探究礼貌原则在商务英语信函中词汇和句法等方面的应用。研究发现：1) 词汇方面，礼貌原则的应用主要体现在积极词汇的使用、情态动词的使用、模糊词的使用和第二人称的使用；2) 句法方面，礼貌原则的应用主要体现在疑问句和条件句的使用；3) 在商务英语信函的写作过程中，每篇信函应主题明确，段落重点突出，语言严谨正式。在实际商务合作中，应尊重对方文化，及时回复，礼貌解决商务争端。此项研究在帮助人们更好地掌握商务英语信函写作技巧的同时，帮助人们建立友好的商务合作关系，扩大贸易往来。

Abstract: With the fast expansion of economic globalization, companies are increasingly involved in various business contacts. As an important means of conducting international business transactions, business English letters play an important role in facilitating international trade. However, how to deliver business information accurately and politely is still an important issue to be addressed. As for this issue, this research establishes a subcorpus of business English letters named BEC based on the Business English Corpus created by Professor Wang Lifei from UIBE to explore the application of politeness principle in vocabulary and syntax in business English letters. The results are as follows: 1) At the lexical level, the politeness principle is mainly applied in the usage of positive words, modal words, hedges, and the second person pronoun; 2) At the syntactic level, the politeness principle is mainly applied in the usage of interrogative questions and conditional sentences; 3) In terms of business English letter writing, each letter should have a clear theme and a well-formed structure, with rigorous and formal language. Besides, in actual business cooperations, one should respect the culture of the other party, respond promptly, and resolve business disputes politely. All these analyses would enable people to better master the writing skills of business English letters, to further establish a friendly business partnership, and to promote business transactions.