Abstract

Politeness principle is an important principle that people need to follow in daily life either in the East or in the West. Since 1970s, linguists have started to study the role of politeness principle in verbal communication. On the basis of Face Theory and Cooperative Principle, English linguist Geoffrey Leech put forward Politeness Principle in Principles of Pragmatics. As Politeness Principle is wildly applied into language use, it becomes one of the crucial achievements in pragmatics.
This thesis analyzes the application of politeness principle in business English correspondence on the basis of deep study of politeness principle and proposes some suggestions for writing English correspondence. In the first part, the author introduces Leech’s politeness principle and its relevant theories. The second part explores the application of politeness principle in business English correspondence in terms of six maxims, that is, tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and sympathy maxim. In the third part, the author gives some suggestions for writing three types business English correspondence from the perspective of Politeness Principle, which are competition letters, convivial letters and conflictive letters, and hopes that the application of Politeness Principle in business English correspondence can help bring about successful business activities.

Key words: Politeness Principle; business English correspondence; application

摘  要

不论是东方还是西方，礼貌是人们日常生活及交流中需要遵循的准则。自20世纪70年代起，语言学家就开始研究礼貌原则在言语交际中的作用。基于对面子理论和合作原则的研究，英国语言学家Geoffrey Leech在《语用学原则》一书中提出了在商务交际中运用的礼貌原则。由于礼貌原则被广泛用于语言运用中，使其成为了语用学的主要研究成果之一。
本论文在深入了解礼貌原则的基础上，分析礼貌原则在商务英语函电中的应用,并就如何运用礼貌原则写好商务英语函电提出建议。作者将本文分为三个部分：第一部分首先介绍多名语言学家提出的礼貌原则及其相关理论，使读者对礼貌原则有个大致了解。第二部分作者就六大准则分析了Leech的礼貌原则及其在商务英语函电中的应用，这六大准则分别是：策略准则，慷慨准则，赞扬准则，谦虚准则，一致准则，同情准则。第三部分，作者就如何运用礼貌原则写好和谐类、冲突类、竞争类这三类商务英语信函提出建议，期望礼貌原则的合理应用能促进商务活动的顺利进行。

关键词：礼貌原则；商务英语函电；应用