ABSTRACT

Business English correspondence is a kind of special style, which has become an important way to communicate with the development of economy. After China’s entry into the WTO, English business correspondence has drawn more and more attention as international trade between China and other countries soars. A business letter stands for the image of the whole company. It not only delivers the literal business information but also conveys implicit interpersonal information between 1ines.A courtesy and decent business letter can help to build a favorable business image for the company and do business. Therefore, the courtesy of business letters is very important. A lot of polite expressions and self-depreciatory expressions will be found in business letters. Polite expressions are a kind of expression to show modesty, and self-depreciatory expressions are a kind of expression to show people’s respect to others in daily communication and correspondence. And the Politeness Principle, which was proposed by the English scholar G. N. Leech, cannot be only applied to verbal language, but also to formal style. Based on this theory, together with the characteristics of business correspondence, the application and significance of polite expressions and self-depreciatory expressions in writing of business English letter is discussed in this paper.

Key words:  Business Letters  Politeness Principle  Polite Expressions         Self-depreciatory Expressions

摘  要

商务信函是一种特殊的文体，并且随着经济的发展成为一种重要的沟通方式。中国加入世界贸易协会以来，商务信函在中外贸易中越来越受关注。一份商务信函代表着整个公司的形象，它不仅传递着商业信息，也暗含了人际间的信息。一封礼貌有加、措辞得体的商务信函可以帮助一个公司建构起良好的商业形象,进而做成一笔好生意。谦辞是指表带谦虚的言辞，敬辞则是表达人们尊敬他人的言辞。而英国学者G. N. Leech提出的礼貌原则不仅可以运用在日常口语中，也可以运用到正式的文体中。在这一理论基础上，结合商务信函的特点，本文探讨了商务信函中谦辞和敬辞的运用和意义。

关键词:  商务信函  礼貌原则  谦辞  敬辞

Chapter One     Introduction
Nowadays Business correspondence is a basic activity involved in trade that includes letters of application, complaint and response, invitation and response, memo                                 telephone, message, request, appreciation, apology and so on. The main purpose of business letter is to inform, persuade and deny. When writing business letters, euphemism, clearness, conciseness especially courtesy should be paid attention to. Politeness and politeness strategies are important motivating and mitigating forces in business letter writing. The impression created by a politely written business letter can be a crucial factor in successful communicating with our business counterparts.