Abstract

As an important means of business communication, business letters constitute an essential part for business activities. And those bad-news business letters (denial, complaints, claims, etc.), are quite difficult to handle because of their negative influence on the reader. In this sense, negative politeness strategies play a very important role in conveying bad news courtesy and maintaining good business relationships.
This paper analyzes the application of Brown and Levinson’s negative politeness strategies in bad-news business letters at the word, sentence, and discourse levels. Through systematic analysis of a large number of examples, the writer intends to discuss bad-news business letters should adhere to the negative politeness strategies to save the counterparty’s face

Key words: bad-news business letters, negative politeness strategies, negative face

摘要

作为商务交流的一种重要方式，商务信函是商务活动的重要组成部分。然而，由于会对读者产生消极影响，坏消息商务信函（拒绝，抱怨，索赔等）相当难写作。在这种情况下，消极礼貌策略在得体传达坏消息，并维持好的商务关系上扮演着至关重要的角色。
本文基于布朗和列文森的消极礼貌策略，从字词、句子、篇章的角度分析消极礼貌策略在坏消息商务信函中的运用。通过对大量例子的系统分析，本文试图探讨在坏消息商务信函写作中一方应运用消极礼貌策略以挽救交易另一方的面子。

关键词：坏消息商务信函；消极礼貌策略；消极面子

1. Introduction
1.1 Bad-news business letters
1.1.1 The importance of business letters
With the globalization of world economy and the popularity of the Internet, English business letters, including not only traditional letters but also emails and facsimiles, are widely used. Nowadays, business letters contribute a lot to making the world of business run efficiently and effectively. They are effective ways to exchange information as well as build up and maintain harmonious business relationships. Without business letters, business activities are less likely to go on smoothly.
1.1.2 The classification of business letters and bad-news business letters
Business letters may be classified from various perspectives. The most common
way to classify business letters is based on the needs of the writer. In this paper, the author follows the classification made by Steward. There are four different kinds of letters in terms of its effect on the writer’s needs: good-news business letters, neutral -news business letters, bad-news business letters, and persuasive letters.