Abstract

Politeness is one of the major features of business letter. It is crucial for businessmen to write business letters politely so that they can establish an equal and friendly trade atmosphere as well as enjoy mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. 

Taking some business letters as examples, the paper aims to analyze politeness in terms of writing attitude, lexical choice, euphemism, positive face and so on from perspective of Skopos theory. In addition, three rules of Skopos theory are separately used to guide business letters writing including the Skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule. Instead of focusing on vocabulary and syntax, the paper pays more attention to context and cultural diversity, which aims to do some help in effective message conveying and successful business activities conducting.

Key words: business letter; politeness principle; Skopos theory

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Literature Review of Politeness in English Business Letters-2

2.1 Combination of “Speech Act Theory” and Politeness in Business Letters-2

2.2 Leech’s “Politeness Principle” in English Business Letters-3

3 An Over-view of Skopos Theory-4

3.1 Definition of Skopos Theory-4

3.2 Translation of Business Letters in Light of Skopos Theory-5

4 Analyzing Politeness in English Business Letters from 

  Perspective of Skopos Theory-6

4.1 Using Courteous Words in Light of Coherence Role-7

4.1.1 Choosing Proper Address and Corresponding Close-7

4.1.2 Understanding Common Courtesy Expressions of the Other Party-8

4.2 Choosing Proper Person in Light of Skopos Rule-9

4.2.1 “Me-attitude” VS “You-attitude”-9

 4.2.2 Using “You-attitude” in Light of Skopos Rule..10

4.3 Considering Face in Light of Skopos Rule-11

4.3.1 Positive Politeness in Business Letters-11

4.3.2 Negative Politeness in Business Letters-12

4.4 Watching the Degree of Politeness in Light of Fidelity Rule-12

4.4.1 Avoiding Excessive Politeness-13

4.4.2 Avoiding Fusty and Fussy Expression-13

5 Conclusion.14

References.16