商务英语信函的词汇特征

On the Vocabulary Features of Business English Letter

商务英语信函的词汇特征

A b s t r a c t

With the globalization of economy, international trade is playing more and more important roles for the development of a country or an area. In international trade, one effective channel of communication is Business Letter. In this paper, vocabulary features of Business Letter will be discussed from the viewpoint of H olliday, the theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics (also theory of Variables of Situation Context). This paper can be divided into four parts. The first part gives a brief introduction to the position of Business Letter in International Trade. In part two, Holliday’s theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics (also theory of Variables of Situation Context)is introduced. Part three anal yzes the features of vocabulary in Business Letters. The last part concludes paper and details the strategies in the choice of vocabulary in Business Letters.

Key words:Business English Letter; Vocabulary Features;

International Trade; Situation Context

摘要

在经济全球化的今天，国际贸易在一个国家和地区的发展中起到了越来越重要的作用。作为国际贸易业务运作的有效沟通渠道，商务信函正在发挥越来越重要的作用。本文试图运用韩、礼、德的功能语境（情景语境变量）理论对商务英语信函的词汇特色进行探讨和分析。文章共分四个部分。第一部分简单介绍了商务英语信函在国际贸易活动中的地位。第二部分讨论了韩、礼、德的功能语境（情景语境变量）理论。第三部分运用韩、礼、德的功能语境（情景语境变量）理论分析总结商务英语信函的词汇特征。第四部分针对商务英语信函的上述特征，提出写好商务英语信函的一些在词汇运用方面的策略。

关键词：商务英语信函；词汇特征；国际贸易；情景语境

On the Vocabulary Features of Business English

Letter

Ⅰ. Introduction

With the globalization of econom y, international trade is pla ying more and more important roles for the developmen t of a countr y or a n area. In international trade, one effective channel of communication is Business Letter. It becomes not only a necessar y tool for the communication in business, but also a powerful vehicle for the expression of business information. Business Letter of high quality will help establish long-ter m customer relations, lead to more business in the future, and also avoid the risk and dispute. The direct objective of writing business letter,in the international trade of quick rh yth m, is to communicate with custo mers (including potential customers) effectively. And to a certain degree, the quality of Business Letter affects the result of communication and business. Therefore, the selection and application of vocabular y is now an issue that draws more and more atte ntion.

Business Letter has its own vocabulary features. The selection and application of vocabular y relates to the characteristic of different parts of the business process, a nd also reflects writer’s tone and intention. Therefore, the choice of vocabulary can help the entire Business Letter, and also can destro y the entire Business Letter. That is, the choice of vocabular y will great ly change the trend of business.

In this pa per, vocabular y features of Business Letter will be discussed from the viewpoint of H ollida y, the theor y of S ys temic Functional Linguistics (also theor y of Variables of Situation Context). English as a cosmopolitan language has a broad application in Inter national Trade, and especially most business letters are written in English, therefore this paper mainly analyzes the features of English vocabulary in Business Letter.