Application of Cooperative Principle in the Translation of Business English Correspondence

Abstract

As an indispensable communication tool, business English letters have been widely used in international trade. The translation of business English letters also plays an important role in promoting exchanges and achieving trade. The accuracy of business English correspondence translation has a great influence on whether the transaction can be successful. In the process of translating business English letter, the translation and original text may be discrepant due to different cultural background of the translator and the limited understanding of the business terms. Therefore, translators should abide by the conversational cooperation principle proposed by Grice.

This thesis is divided into four parts. The first part mainly introduces the theoretical basis--Grice’s cooperative principle, which includes four aspects: the maxim of quantity, the maxim of quality, the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner. The second part discusses the features of business English letters from two aspects--stylistic features and lexical features. The third part introduces the application of cooperative principle in the translation of business English letters. The fourth part mainly illustrates the violation of cooperative principle in translation. Through the analysis, this thesis points out that the translation of business English letters should be done by shunning the fuzzy expression and incomplete meaning, and puts forward some translation strategies in the hope of making the translation more accurate.

Key Words: cooperative principle; business English letter; translation; application