Abstract

In international trade, a letter of claim always act as a middleman to deal with trade disputes. As is known to all, claim is always unfavorable, thus writers are puzzled a lot on how to make a balance between claim and cooperation in writing. Speech Act Theory holds that we act through words. Since letters are words on paper, it can be concluded that in writing something, we can also act something. This thesis takes letters of claim as the research subject，adopts both qualitative and quantitative methods, selects several English business letters as examples, and probes into the pragmatic strategies to compose a well-organized letter of claim.
Through the analysis, we may arrive at a conclusion that three speech acts can be performed simultaneously in producing a well-organized letter of claim. First of all, the locutionary act, the writer must compose a readable letter. To be readable, a letter of claim should adopt commercial terms, concise sentence, clear organization, standard letter format and general structure. Then, the illocutionary act, that is, the writer should express his intention of lodging a claim between lines. It is found that the use of passive voice, the use of modal auxiliaries, the adoption of mild tone and you-attitude writing can help achieve the illocutionary force euphemistically. Lastly, the perlocutionary act, the writer should achieve possible effects on the readers, namely, to persuade the reader to accept the claim and then take quick measures. Through an analysis, conditional clause, want statement and imperative sentences are three effective strategies to realize the perlocutionary act.

KEYWORDS:letters of claim； Speech Act Theory； pragmatics analysis.

摘　要

在国际贸易中，商务索赔信函常被用于调解贸易摩擦。众所周知，索赔是令人尴尬的话题，所以索赔信函撰写者在如何权衡索赔和合作的关系上很受困扰。言语行为理论认为，我们能以言行事。既然信是书面的语言，我们可以得出在写作时，我们也能以言行事。本文以索赔信函为研究对象，以若干商务索赔信函为研究对象，采用定性与定量相结合的方式，探讨了书写一封得体的索赔信的语用策略。

通过分析，我们可以得出一个结论：在撰写得体的商务索赔信函时，我们可以同时实施三种言语行。第一，言内行为，书写者必须撰写可读性高的信函。为了增加可读性，商务索赔信函必须使用商务术语，符合句式简洁、结构清晰的写作标准，并且按照标准的信函格式和一般结构来组织语句。第二，言外行为，书写者须在字里行间清楚地表达出索赔这个写作目的。被动语态、情态动词、温和语气的使用，以及以读者为中心的写作方式可以帮助委婉地实现言外之力。最后，言后行为，书写者必须通过信函对读者形成一些影响，也就是，说服读者接受索赔并采取措施。通过研究得出，条件句，愿望陈述和祈使句的使用是三种实现言后行为的有效措施。

关键词:索赔信函；言语行为；语用分析