英语委婉语在商务信函中应用的必要性.docx

1、英语委婉语在商务信函中应用的必要性The Necessity of the Application of English Euphemism in English Business Letter英语委婉语在商务信函中应用的必要性学 院 郑 重 声 明本人的学位论文是在导师指导下独立撰写并完成的，学位论文没有剽窃、抄袭等违反学术道德、学术规范的侵权行为，否则本人愿意承担由此产生的一切法律责任和法律后果，特此郑重声明。 学位论文作者(签名)年 月 日Abstract: Some people think euphemisms are implicit and hard to understand,

2、 in my opinion, with the highly-civilized development of the society, more and more euphemisms will be applied into practical use. People will be more aware of the politeness during communication. This thesis first explores the definition of the English bushiness letter and euphemism. On the basis o

3、f the definitions, we can know more about English euphemisms such as its origin and classification. Then it discussed what the Politeness Principle is, what the relation between English euphemism and Politeness Principle is and how English Euphemisms work under the Politeness Principle. Finally, we

4、get the conclusion that the appropriate usage of English euphemism can reveal the most power of politeness.Key words: English euphemism; English Business Letter; Politeness Principle 摘要：本文主要阐述了什么是委婉语，以及商务英语信函。在此基础之上， 又讨论了委婉语的产生的原因及其分类。由使用委婉语的目的与礼貌原则相一致， 逐步讨论了英语委婉语, 在礼貌原则的指导下，在具体的商务英语信函语境中， 如何取得礼貌的效果

5、。关键词：英语委婉语；商务英语信函；礼貌原则ContentsPart One. Introduction 1Part Two. Definition of business letter 2Part Three. Definition of English euphemism 3Part Four. The Origin and the classification of English euphemism 3 4.1 The Origin of English Euphemism 34.1.1 The psychological influence 34.1.2 The cultural r

6、eason 5 4.2 The classification of English euphemisms 5 4.2.1 English euphemisms in a narrow Sense 6 4.2.2 English euphemisms in a broad Sense 6Part Five. The necessity of the application of the English euphemism in English business letter 85.1 The Politeness Principle 85.2 The necessity of using Eng

7、lish euphemisms 10 5.2.1 Choice of word 10 5.2.2 Subjunctive mood 11 5.2.3 Passive voice 12Part Six. Conclusion 14Bibliography 15The Necessity of the Application of English Euphemism in English Business LetterPart. IntroductionThe years from 2008 to 2010 have been the hardest period for foreign trad

8、e, because the whole world has been suffering from “economic crisis.” It is said that the economic crisis is an inevitable phenomenon for capitalized society. However, that is not the key point in this thesis. The point that matters is the saying of the “economic crisis”. When people talk about the

9、crisis, the Great Depression in year of 1930s will come into their mind. And then, the associated words which have negative meaning such as hunger, poverty, emotional upset and laid-off works will attack peoples nerve continuously, which makes people nervous. These kinds of words make people feel un

10、comfortable. Most people intend to use some words which sound much softer in expressing the negative words in a pleasant way. For instance, the usage of economic downturn, economic slump or recession is obviously a good substitution for the economic crisis. The nervousness caused by the word “crisis

11、” disappeared. That is the magical function of English Euphemism. Some people argue that English Euphemism is implicit and even hypocritical to some degree because, on one hand, people utter the pleasant words covering their real negative intention to please others; on the other hand, euphemism turn

12、s the simple and clear communication into the complicated situation. However, I do not agree with that. I think it is more than necessary to use English euphemisms in every corner of social life. It is well known that people at all classes no matter you are Chinese or American, have their face. What

13、 they say or write will definitely influence their relation with others. And also, People use euphemism to be polite in that a lot of sayings expressing in a direct way will probably be rude. For instance, when referring peoples death, we can compare the two cases as following: A.I am sorry to hear

14、your husband.B.I am sorry to hear your husbands death.Try to imagine if you are in this context, which saying you think is acceptable? No doubt that the first one is more acceptable. The speaker avoids using the word “death”, which equals desperation and hopelessness, then avoid hurting the hearers

15、feeling again. From the cases above, we can see that most people would like to use some positive words to substitute for the negative meaning words. Especially, in business world such kind of formal occasion, English Euphemism is used intentionally to please others as a result of the fierce competit

16、ion in business world. The business world is like a battle field, and appropriate usage of English euphemism is like having a sword at hand, it helps to get the final victory in this field.Part. Definition of Business English LetterIn foreign trade, business letter plays an important role. Because t

17、he customer and the seller cannot talk to each other face to face, the business letter shoulders building up the new overseas relationship, and the first impression of the inland company for the overseas customers to get is the bushiness letter from the seller. So, people will try their best to be p

18、olite so as to attract the customers attention. Since it is so important, we should know it better. What is bushiness letter? Business letters literally refer to the letters which can be used as a means of formal communication among the corporations, the government and the official organizations. Fr

19、om where I stand, I would like to mainly focus on the English business letters which means the formal contact between companies in foreign trade. According the quality of the information the correspondences take, there are the letters functioning as to build up a cooperation relation, to quote, to m

20、ake an order, to confirm sales, to claim and to give thanks, etc. During each phase of their further relationship development of the two parties, English euphemisms can be seen. Using English euphemisms has a very clear purpose for businessmen, and it is because of this clear purpose and function of

21、 business letter which decide the way it expresses. The way of expressing things reflects the attitude of the person who wrote the English business letter and the image of the whole company, whats more, it has the power to determine whether the two parties have the chance to cooperate and to be succ

22、essful. Therefore, in order to start the business and cooperate friendly, English euphemisms are used very often in English bushiness correspondence. Since using English euphemisms is a trend, we need a comprehensive understanding of them. Part. Definition of English Euphemism.1 The Definition of En

23、glish EuphemismsThe euphemism is defined in dictionary as a rhetorical device:”substitution of a mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or blunt or direct one”(Concise Oxford Dictionary, 7th edition, 1982). It also has a concrete meaning: “a polite, tactful, or less explicit way used to av

24、oid the direct naming of an unpleasant, painful, or frightening reality” (Websters Third New International Dictionary, 1961).According to these two definitions, the euphemism is defined as “an expression” or “a way,” which is not necessarily restricted to the lexical level. Theoretically, many lingu

25、istic means such as phonetic, grammatical, semantic, pragmatic means and rhetorical devices can be applied in order to achieve an aim. Therefore, we should not think that the euphemism only should be restricted to the lexical level. Actually, in our daily life, euphemisms can be seen and heard every

26、where. Its function determines the scope of its usage. In each field, people would try to be polite and leave people a good impression. No one wants to be rude. Therefore, euphemisms are largely used. A language without euphemisms would be a defective instrument of communication (Enright, 1985).Part

27、. The origin and the classification of English euphemism After a fierce discussion of the definition of the euphemisms, we need move to the phase which could tell how the English euphemism came into being and how it is classified.4.1 The origin of euphemismThere are two main factors which contribute

28、 to the origin of English euphemism. The first one is the psychological reason, and the other is the cultural reason.4.1.1 Psychological reasonIn ancient times, the science technology is backward. The ability for people to explore nature is very backward either. The mysterious nature is a myth for p

29、eople to understand. They cannot understand where the wind comes, how the lightening came into being, not mention to understand the natural phenomenon such as volcanic eruption, tsunami and earthquake. This kind of ignorance leads to fear to nature and the fear to nature gradually turns into superst

30、ition. Meanwhile, lack of knowledge on language causes the condition that people think that the language has supernatural power and language itself is treated as a symbol of either good luck or bad luck. As a result, people combine the language and the superstition, that is to say, the language they

31、 speak has the supernatural power. It can either bless someone or destroy it completely. So, when speaking, people are very cautious in using words expressing weal and woe. People are frightened by the supernatural power represented by language. Just like a saying “Speak of a Devil and he appears.” people will try not to speak of the Devil. If he has to speak it, he will use another way to express it. Then, from psychological angle, people will feel comfortable and safe, because he did not speak of the devil directly, the devi