摘　要

随着经济发展，商务信函逐渐成为一种不可或缺的商务沟通方式。人们可以在商务信函中交流信息、联系业务、商谈贸易、谈判和解决问题等。商务信函写作包括七大原则，礼貌原则就是其中之一。众所周知，在当今文明社会，礼貌是一种必需的品质。与他人交流时,人们总是使用礼貌原则来严谨行为以便建立良好的形象。同样,在商务工作中,礼貌原则也能促进两方之间的沟通顺利进展。故本文将从礼貌出发来阐述什么是礼貌原则，礼貌原则的重要性和作用，以及按照礼貌原则的六大准则来分析在商务信函里的运用和注意事项。礼貌原则是否合理有效地运用,直接影响到贸易能否顺畅进行。因此,人们在商务信函写作中不仅注重礼貌原则的形式要求,也注重其实现的准则和策略。礼貌原则的运用有助于双方在平等互利的基础上建立友好长久的贸易关系。它是商务英语信函中一定要遵循的且不可忽视的语用原则之一,在指导撰写商务信函时必不可少。

关键词：礼貌原则；英语商务信函；实际运用

Abstract

With the development of the economy, business English letters are more and more indispensable as the main means in business communication. People can use business English letters to change information, contact and discuss business, negotiate and solve problems, etc. What is more, it helps embody the business image of a company. There are seven principles in writing business letters including the Politeness Principle. It is acknowledged that politeness is a necessary quality in today’s civilized society. When communicating with others, people always use Politeness Principle in order to build a good image. Similarly, Politeness Principle makes business letters perfect to build a nice company image and helps the communication proceed successfully between two parties.
Thus, this paper will start from the ideas of politeness to simply illustrate what the Politeness Principle is, as well as the importance and functions of the Politeness Principle. Moreover, according to the six maxims, this paper will analyze the application of Politeness Principle and some matters need be noticed in the practical application. The reasonable and effective application of Politeness Principle will affect the process of trade directly. Therefore, people always pay attention to the requirements of the Politeness Principle’s form as well as the guidelines and strategies for its implementation. Politeness Principle helps both sides establish friendly and long-term trade relations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. It’s an important principle which cannot be ignored. Thus, it’s essential to use the Politeness Principle as an important guide in writing business letters.
 
Key words: Politeness Principle; business English letters; practical application

1.    Introduction

This paper studies the Politeness Principle in the business English letters. It includes the introduction of the Politeness Principle and its application in business letters. As everyone knows, politeness exists everywhere in our daily life, and it is playing an important role when people have negotiations or discussions and other things. Today, English is a major language around the world. People from other countries regard English as their second language such as Chinese, Russians and so on. Actually, speaking politely is a kind of pragmatic strategy. Native people can tolerate the accent of non-native people and grammatical errors in communication. But they can not tolerate words which violate the speaking principle, or impolite behaviors caused by cultural differences. In their opinions, these behaviors are intolerable, impolite, and even rude. So what is politeness and how can we explain it objectively? According to the Chinese dictionary, we can get the answer. Politeness is a performance that is showed in the verbal actions which are humble and respectful. What is more, it is a common phenomenon that all ethnic groups have.