Abstract

Today we have come to an era of globalization and it seems that we live in a “globalized village”. To people who do work in commercial activities, language communication has become a great challenge facing them. English, as the world’s official language, has undoubtedly become the most used language in international commercial activities. However, due to the differences in culture, region, and so on, there are many problems in business English writing, which caused many misunderstandings and then indirectly affected the development of commercial activities. Lexicon is an integrated part of language and it is difficult to choose right words to write a business letters. Therefore, it is of great significance to have a good knowledge of them. This thesis mainly introduced the definition of business English writing, background. Moreover, we focused on the characteristics of the lexicon in business English writing so as to provide some suggestions to learners of business English writing and improving their ability to do a better job. 

  Key words: Business English letters, writing principles, lexical features

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction.1

2 Description of business English correspondence.1

2.1 Definition of business English correspondence . .1

2.2 Assortment of business English correspondence-2

2.3 Function of business English correspondence-2

3 Basic writing principles for business correspondence.3

3.1 Politeness-3

3.2 Conciseness and completeness-4

3.3 Clearness, concreteness and correctness-4

4 Lexicon and writing principles of business correspondence4

4.1 The definition of lexicology-4

4.2 Review of studies on lexical features-5

 4.2.1 Review of studies on lexical features in English for specific purposes-5

4.2.2 Former studies on lexical features of English business correspondence-6

4.3 The Lexical features represented in courtesy and consideration-6

4.3.1 Use polite words-6

4.3.2 Use positive words-7

4.3.3 Hedges-7

4.3.4 Use more modal verbs-8

4.4 The lexical features represented in conciseness and completeness-8

4.4.1 Choice of concise wording-8

4.4.2 Synonyms in pairs-9

4.4.3 Use affix-9

4.4.4 Use abbreviations-10

4.5. The Lexical features represented in clearness, concreteness and correctness-10

4.5.1 Choice of precise wording-10

4.5.2 Preference of concrete words to abstract words-11

4.5.3 Use simple words to make sure of clearness-11

5 Conclusion.12

References14