Abstract

Using the least words to express the most abundant meaning meanwhile without making people difficult to understand or misunderstand the others is the tendency of language. The usage of abbreviations fully reflects the economy principle of language. With the rapid development of economy, the pace of people’s life is speeding up and abbreviations produced under the guidance of the economy principle of language are more widely used. At the same time, the importance of abbreviations also becomes greater and greater. Another new trend has appeared in people’s daily lives: people try their best to do the most things with the least energy in order to save time and strength. When it comes to language communication, people use economical and efficient language to express their thoughts effectively. In all aspects of information exchange, people use words “as abbreviated as possible” to convey the message without using complex forms. Abbreviations are widely used in business English not only in the letter, telex, telegram, but also in trademarks, advertisement and business cards. English abbreviations are used everywhere.

This paper tries to introduce the economy principle of language and the language abbreviations in business English with some examples listed to fully illustrate the theory.

Key words: application of abbreviations; business English; economy principle of language

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 The Economy Principle of Language-2

2.1 The Explanation of the Economy Principle of Language-2

2.2 The Influences on Linguistic Research-4

3 Abbreviations in Business English-4

3.1 Word-formation of Business English Abbreviations-4

3.1.1 Acronymy-5

3.1.2 Initialism-5

3.1.3 Clipping-6

3.1.4 Blending-6

3.2 The Linguistic Value of Abbreviations-6

3.2.1 Enhancement of Lexical Forms-7

3.2.2 Specialized Rhetorical Features-8

3.2.3 The Requirements and Needs for Communication-8

3.2.4 The Economy Principle of Language-9

4 The Economy Principle of Language in Business English Abbreviations-10

4.1 Linguistic Features of Business English-10

4.1.1 Strong Specialty in Business English-10

4.1.2 More Use of New Words-10

4.2 Appropriate Use of Abbreviations-11

5 Conclusion-12

References-14