浅析商务英语语体审美取向英文毕业论文.doc

宁波理工学院毕业设计（论文）题 目 浅析商务英语语体审美取向 姓 名 学 号 专业班级 2004级英语6班 指导教师 分 院 外国语分院 完成日期 2008 年 5 月 20 日 Aesthetic Criterion in Judging the Manners and Styles in Business EnglishByStudent Number: Supervisor: A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in the School of Foreign Languages,Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University May 20, 2008AcknowledgementsIn the long processing of composing, I wish to extend my heart-felt gratitude to all my teachers and professors who have helped in my academic development. My special gratitude first goes to Professor Zhang Zhenmei, my supervisor, who has given me invaluable insights, commentaries and criticisms on this thesis. Her patient instruction and hearty encouragement have enabled me to fulfill and improve the quality of my paper.My appreciation also extends to my classmates and friends who provided me with reference books and other hardware devices. These materials and devices do great help to my completion of the paper. And finally, I would like to thank my family for their psychological support and all endeavors.AbstractAs a kind of English for Specific Purpose, business English differs from English for General Purpose in aspects of lexical, syntax, rhetoric and understatement. In lexical aspect, it differentiates from others in aspects of nominalization, polysemy, and in using acronym words, technical or legal terms, polite words and fuzzy words; In syntax aspect, conditional sentences, imperative sentences, and interrogative sentences are most commonly used in contracts, advertisings, and business letters respectively to achieve good results. In rhetoric aspect, rhetoric of politeness, pun, repetition, parallelism, simile, metaphor, alliteration, and end-rhyme are frequently applied to beautify the language of business English. In understatement aspect, past tense mode, subjunctive mode, and passive voice mode are adopted to express business English in negotiable tones. The author attempts to research the topic from a special aspectmanners and styles of business English by quoting examples from a great number of materials concerning business English, and by analyzing variety of lexical, syntax, rhetoric features. This paper is composed of three parts including introduction, main body, and conclusion. The main body could be divided into four parts, which analyze the manners and styles of business English from aspect of lexical, syntax, rhetoric and understatement. These manners and styles of business English are vital for the development of business for both the senders and receivers of business information. If the information senders understand these characteristics better and apply them for practical business, and the receivers also understand what the senders mean, the business between them will go on more smoothly and better.Key words: business English; lexical; syntax; rhetoric; understatement 摘要商务英语作为一种专门用途英语与普通英语存在着较大区别，主要体现在词汇、句法、修辞以及低调陈述等方面。在词汇方面，商务英语的独特之处有名词化现象、一词多义现象以及使用略缩词汇、专有名词、礼貌词汇和模糊词汇；在句法方面，商务合同、商务广告和商业信函分别大量地使用条件句、祈使句和疑问句来达到各自最好的语言效果；在修辞方面，商务英语经常应用礼貌修辞、双关、反复、排比、明喻、暗喻、头韵和尾韵等手段来美化其语言。在低调陈述方面，商务英语经常采用过去时、虚拟语气和被动语气等商量的口气来表达意思。本文作者引用大量有关商务英语的实例，试从一个独特的角度商务英语语体风格特点，来分析其在词汇、句法、修辞等方面的特点。本文有三部分组成：引言、正文和总结。其中，正文部分又分四个小部分，分别阐述了商务英语词汇、句法、修辞以及低调陈述方面的风格形式。商务英语的这些风格形式，对于商务信息的发出者和接收者的业务发展都是非常关键的，如果信息的发送者掌握了这些特点并将其应用于实际商务活动，而且信息接收者也明白信息发出者的意思，那么他们的业务将会进行地更顺利更红火。关键词：商务英语；词汇；句法；修辞；低调陈述Contents1 Introduction11.1 Research Background11.2 Research Purpose22 Aesthetic Criterion in Judging the Manners and Styles in Business English32.1 Lexical Aspect32.1.1 Nominalization32.1.2 Acronym Words42.1.3 Technical or Legal Terms52.1.4 Expression of Politeness62.1.5 Fuzziness of Words72.1.6 Polysemy72.2 Syntax Aspect82.2.1 Conditional Sentence82.2.2 Interrogative Sentence82.2.3 Imperative Sentence92.3 Rhetoric Aspect92.3.1 Rhetoric of Politeness102.3.2 Pun102.3.3 Repetition112.3.4 Parallelism112.3.5 Figure of Speech Mode122.3.5.1 Simile122.3.5.2 Metaphor122.3.6 Rhyming Mode132.3.6.1 Alliteration132.3.6.2 End-Rhyme142.4 Understatement142.4.1 Past Tense Mode142.4.2 Subjunctive Mode152.4.3 Passive Voice Mode153 Conclusion16Bibliography171 Introduction 1.1. Research BackgroundNowadays, international business and trade are getting more and more popular around the world, and of course, English will also play more and more important role as a bridge in international business, economy and culture between different nations. Recently, business English, the English used in the business environment has already become the research theme that people are mostly concerned about. (蒋清凤 et al 2006) However, what is business English about? The term has an extensive meaning which is not so clearly definite to us. It refers to the English used in business letters, business contracts, business advertisings, business travels, business negotiations, business exhibitions, and so on. Business English is an applied and cross-disciplinary branch of the linguistic science, focusing on English used in some specific fields such as commerce, trade, etc. (蒋清凤 et al 2006) Business English is an important variety characterized by brevity, stability, preciseness and vagueness. As an important branch in ESP, it has become increasingly indispensable in promotion of cultural communication and business interaction among different cultures and countries in the world. With the globalization of the world, scholars both at home and abroad pay much attention to the researches on business English in some specific aspects. In Cheng Yumins revised book, Linguostylistics of English, mainly deals with manners and styles of English, forming his own theory on this topic. In Xian Xibings book, An English Course in Business English, he emphasizes on writing various forms of business English, like emails, letters, advertisings, and business contracts, ect. English-Chinese Translation for International Business (张新红 et al 2003) is a book focusing more words and comments on translating business English than analyzing its styles and manners. The Interplay of Influence (Pathleen et al 2004) is a book which shows the functions that language and cultures could do to the communications in business English.Business English is getting more and more crucial around the world since late 20th century. Nearly all the industries in a nation use business English to do national or international business for their further development. It is clear that the international communications in all aspects such as international economic trading and international tourism development drive the business English to a more important role. As a largest developing country in the world, China plays more and more important role in the world economic development, and it is excited to see that more Chinese people speak English well, however, it still does not meet the economic development demand. So in the same time of learning more English, we should go on study on the English for Specific Purpose. The problem is that most Chinese linguists and researchers make all their efforts to do the study on the business English on its general idea or general usages on specific environments or professions. They teach people how to copy what others use, or how to use what foreigners use which can only make people a general understanding of business English, and which may also cause a wrong understanding of what business English is. 1.2 Research PurposeNowadays business is almost everywhere. There are businesses between companies, between countries and there are even businesses going on in universities. When a business is under process, there are many procedures to go through, for instance, intention, bidding, signing contracts, shipping, payment, etc. All of these demand knowledge of business and knowledge of business language. Now that China has entered WTO and opened its door wider than ever before to the outside world, more and more foreign enterprises and companies are coming into China. It is important for China to establish business relations with foreign companies to promote its economy. It is also noted that foreign companies need customers from China. International business relations have expanded international communication, and business English plays a major role since most of the businesses in the world are carried out in English.Any languages are formed to be belonged to a certain style of language, and any usages of a language are restricted by its styles. The restriction is that the aims for language communications have to go on with certain rules and regulations, and to be adjusted to the styles so that the communications could be finished perfectly. (胡裕树 1991) Business English as a branch of ESP, is specifically used for business. It is formed in its own styles and it is also restricted by its styles. For example, business contracts are precise in logic and correct in language, while business letters are concise in content and mild in tone. So in the activities of using business English, information senders have to follow the rules of communicating while the information receivers become conscious about the rules and styles of what they receive that they can understand the meaning. This is crucial in communication in business. Thus, this is just what my paper is written for. This author has consulted many relevant books and journals on business English and formed his own idea on it. With new aspects in researching the manners and styles in business English, people will get to know more about the basic rules and features in business activities. As a result, both the sender and the receiver of business information will be more aware of the skills in communicating. This paper tries to analyze the manners and styles of business English as thoroughly as possible, hoping that it could do some help to the learners or businessmen who take English for the second language. 2 Aesthetic Criterion in Judging the Manners and Styles in Business English2.1 Lexical Aspect Business English is a style of language developed from the merchandise production and trading which reflects the linguistic content of business activities. It is essentially the same to general English, but it is also professionally belong to the business in its content. Business English is aesthetically beautiful in many aspects such as clear logics, rigorous thoughts and structures, but all these aspects are reflected back to the small and basic unitlexical aspect. So the lexical features of business English differ from the normal English words in many ways.2.1.1 Nominalization Halliday (1985) stated in his An Introduction to Functional Grammar that nominalization is the lexical metaphor over the grammar aspect which is also the main source of the grammatical metaphor. The process of nominalization is to change the process and phenomenon into an object, and change the process into an entity who is the participant of the process, which is also called the process of concentration. (张慧清 2007:111) The following shows the process of transfer the processfulfill into the entityfulfillmentfulfillsis fulfillingfulfillingfulfillmentThe nominalization is consciously and widely used to replace the verbs, such as the following two sentences:a) That both parties fulfilled the contract satisfactorily will be the basis to develop business and cooperate further. (2007:112)b) The satisfactory fulfillment of the contract by both parties will be the basis for the development of business and further cooperation. (2007: 112)The fulfill, develop and cooperate in the first sentence are verbs showing the substantial process, but in the second sentence these words are changed from the unequal or metaphor verbs into abstract nouns, which shows the function of nominalization. Nominalization has become an important feature in business English. There are mainly two forms of nominalization, one of which is named deverbal noun whose end is added with -al, -sion, -tion, -ment, such as: (顿官刚 2002:37)c) the conclusion of difficult negotiationsd) the involvement in international economy and trade activitiesAnd another one is named conversion noun which is changed without adding any suffixes, such as:e) A decline in industrial production and a marked upturn in inflation. (2002)However the form is, the function that the nominalization do to business English is nearly the same. These forms play a crucial role in making business English simpler and easier to understand by the reader. Besides, nominalization forms also contain large amounts of information which are important for business.2.1.2 Acronym WordsAcronyms are words usually formed from the initial letters of words that make up a descriptive phrase or a proper name. Acronyms are widely used in business English because they exhibit many striking features, such as expressing much in few words with a clear and succinct effect of purpose. See some typical examples:a) OPECThe Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (顿官刚 2002：39)b) LCLLess than Carload Lot (ibid. 2002)c) L/CLetter of Credit (ibid. 2002)d) FOBFree on Board (ibid. 2002)Acronyms shorten the long words or names exist in business English, which is concise and easy to remember and time saving. Besides, Dun Guangang (2002:39) stated that new acronyms are also freely formed in business English, particularly for names of organizations.2.1.3 Technical or Legal Terms The most crucial features of the business English in lexical lies in its technical terms, and because of this characteristic, one may not understand business English even if he is good in his English skills, or sometimes he knows all the word in the business material, but he cant understand the whole meaning of the sentence. In addition, the meaning of general English is absolutely different in business English, like the following sentence:a) This bill of exchange shall be accepted first and then can be honored by the acceptor. (孔建华 2007:65)The words in this sentence are very familiar to us, but the meanings of words “accept” and “honor” are different from their general meaning. This is common in business English. The meanings of some English words vary from normal ones in the circumstance of business. (ibid. 2007:65)Most technical terms are worldwide used to describe the processes and relevant documents or contracts in business