Abstract

A business letter is a letter written for business communication, which functions as not only a useful means to exchange information but also an important tool to build and enhance business relations. Because of its characteristics and functions, politeness in business letters is very important and should be paid more attention. This thesis mainly investigates the application of politeness strategies in good-news business letters based on Leech’s Politeness Principle. It is composed of three parts. Firstly, it gives a brief introduction to the studies of researchers at home and abroad about the application of politeness strategies in business letters. Secondly, it presents the definition, functions and characteristics of business letters. Most importantly, the application of politeness strategies in good-news business letters at lexical, syntactic and discourse level is investigated. Thirdly, a conclusion is drawn that the use of politeness strategies can make good-news business letters more polite, effective and direct.

Key words: good-news business letters; three Cs; politeness strategies

摘 要

商务信函是商务交流的一种重要方式，不仅具有传递信息的功能，还担负着建立、加强业务联系的重任，其特点和功能决定了商业信函中必须注重礼貌策略的运用。本文以利奇的礼貌原则为主要理论框架，探讨了礼貌策略在好消息商务信函中的应用。全文分为三个部分。第一部分，简要介绍了国内外学者所开展的礼貌原则在商务信函中的应用研究以及本研究的目的和意义。第二部分，阐述了商务信函的定义、功能和特点，并且描述了礼貌的重要性以及礼貌原则的内容。另外，分别从词汇、句子和篇章结构三个层次探讨了礼貌策略在好消息商务信函中的应用。最后一个部分，得出如下结论：礼貌策略的应用能够使好消息商务信函更礼貌、有效、直接。

关键词：好消息商务信函；3C；礼貌策略