英語(yǔ)商務(wù)信函中的語(yǔ)用原則及應(yīng)用

隨著我國(guó)加入WTO,書信溝通在各種商務(wù)情景中扮演著極其重要的角色。如果業(yè)務(wù)人員對(duì)信函交際的語(yǔ)言特征及表達(dá)研究不夠,就會(huì)出現(xiàn)詞不達(dá)意,引起對(duì)方誤解,使企業(yè)形象及經(jīng)濟(jì)受損。那么,商務(wù)信函中應(yīng)該遵循哪些原則?如何用這些原則來(lái)指導(dǎo)商務(wù)信函以避免不必要的損失呢?本文將從語(yǔ)言學(xué)的角度來(lái)分析商務(wù)信函中的最基本的語(yǔ)用原則。一、商務(wù)信函中的語(yǔ)用原則語(yǔ)用學(xué)是研究在特定情景中的特定的話語(yǔ),研究如何通過(guò)語(yǔ)境來(lái)理解和使用語(yǔ)言[1](P6-10)。正如Yule所認(rèn)為的“Pragmatics

is

concerned

withthe

study

of

meaning

as

communicatedby

a

speaker(or

w

riter)and

interp

reted

by

a

listener(or

read2er).”(語(yǔ)用學(xué)所關(guān)心的是說(shuō)話人或?qū)懽髡咚鶄鬟f的和聽話人或讀者所理解的意義。)[2](P3)(一)合作原則美國(guó)語(yǔ)言哲學(xué)家Grice從形式邏輯和自然語(yǔ)言的邏輯之間的差別出發(fā),提出說(shuō)話人(或作者)所傳遞的和聽話人(或讀者)所理解的意義。[2](P3)在會(huì)話活動(dòng)中,為保證會(huì)話的順利進(jìn)行,談話雙方都必須遵守一項(xiàng)基本原則,即合作原則(Coopera2tive

Princip

le),簡(jiǎn)稱CP。他認(rèn)為,在任何有意義的言語(yǔ)交際過(guò)程中,交談雙方存在著一種默契,雙方說(shuō)話都能相互理解,共同配合[3](P45)。這種原則并非只在口語(yǔ)交際中適用,同樣也適用于書面交流。合作原則包括四條準(zhǔn)則:11數(shù)的準(zhǔn)則數(shù)量準(zhǔn)則(Quantity

maxim)給交際者在交際中使用語(yǔ)言的詳盡程度作了規(guī)定———使自己所說(shuō)的話達(dá)到所要求的詳盡的程度,既不缺少,也不超出所需要的信息。用簡(jiǎn)潔的語(yǔ)言來(lái)把信息完整地傳遞給對(duì)方,使接收信息者明確其意圖。例11Dear

Sirs:W

e

were

p

leased

to

receive

your

letter

of

M

ay1,1999

and

thank

you

for

your

interest

in

ourwomen’s

leather

shoes.A

s

you

know,p

rices

for

leather

are

now

on

theincrease

and

there

is

considerable

demand

for

leathershoes

at

home.Our

output

falls

short

of

the

dem

and

at

p

resent.However,for

the

quantity

you

men2tioned,we

are

p

leased

to

offer

as

follow

s,subject

toyour

accep

tance

reaching

here

by

M

ay

30,1999:400

pairswomenπs

leather

shoesColor:black

and

redSize:34,35&36Price:each

pair

at

USS＄40

C

IF

JakartaPayment:by

confirmed

irrevocable

L/C

at

sightShipment:30

days

after

receip

t

of

L/CW

e

look

forward

to

receiving

your

order.Yours

faithfully,M

ary

B

lake[4](P121-122)以上是一封報(bào)價(jià)函。全文圍繞報(bào)盤的主題,對(duì)女式皮鞋的數(shù)量、價(jià)格、規(guī)格、支付方式、裝運(yùn)時(shí)間等方面做了完整、明確的規(guī)定,無(wú)累贅之詞,讀者一目了然,達(dá)到現(xiàn)時(shí)目的要求的詳盡程度。21質(zhì)的準(zhǔn)則質(zhì)量準(zhǔn)則(Quality

maxim)要求“不要說(shuō)自己缺乏足夠證據(jù)的話”,不說(shuō)你認(rèn)為虛假的話。在商務(wù)信函中,交際者應(yīng)使用具體的,特別的詞來(lái)代替籠統(tǒng)的,模棱兩可的詞。要遵守量的準(zhǔn)則,措詞上應(yīng)力求準(zhǔn)確無(wú)誤,真實(shí)自然。例21We

expect

sales

to

rise

about

three

or

fourpercent

next

month.該例中,作者用了較籠統(tǒng),不確定的短語(yǔ),且有語(yǔ)法性錯(cuò)誤(見劃線部分)———“大約3%或4%”。about表示不確定之意,而or則表示選擇之意,讓句子內(nèi)容更令人迷惑。因此,可改為“a2bout

three”或“about

four”便顯得清楚、明白、具體。31關(guān)聯(lián)準(zhǔn)則關(guān)聯(lián)準(zhǔn)則(Relation

maxim)規(guī)定了“說(shuō)話要切題,不要說(shuō)與主題無(wú)關(guān)的事”。關(guān)聯(lián)準(zhǔn)則是交際中最重要最關(guān)鍵的準(zhǔn)則。Sperber和W

ilson認(rèn)為,“話語(yǔ)的關(guān)聯(lián)性越大,要求作的推理越少,交際的效率就越高;反之,關(guān)聯(lián)性越小,要求作的推理越多,交際的效率也就越低?！盵5]在商業(yè)活動(dòng)中,時(shí)間就是金錢,效率就是生命。涉外商務(wù)人員要力爭(zhēng)做到明確交際意圖,回信必須與來(lái)信相關(guān)聯(lián),以便繼續(xù)交際,直至達(dá)到目的,否則,正常交際只能中斷。例31We

would

like

you

to

send

us

details

ofyour

various

ranges,including

sizes,colors,p

rices,and

also

samp

les

of

the

different

qualities

of

m

ateri2alused.Reply:We

are

pleased

to

receive

your

inquiryand

would

like

to

inform

you

that

if

you

order

inquantities

of

not

less

than

500

dozen

of

our

p

roducts,we

shall

allow

you

a

discount

of

5%.Your

early

or2der

is

expected.在上例的回信中,作者沒有就來(lái)信提及的有關(guān)商品的具體細(xì)節(jié)向讀者提供相關(guān)信息,而提到了數(shù)量折扣問(wèn)題,這樣對(duì)方無(wú)法了解要訂購(gòu)的商品情況,一筆可能達(dá)成的交易就此告吹。41方式準(zhǔn)則(1)避免晦澀的語(yǔ)言。在現(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)商務(wù)信函中,避免用陳詞濫調(diào),否則會(huì)讓對(duì)方感到觀念上過(guò)于守舊,無(wú)創(chuàng)新意識(shí)。試比較:例41(過(guò)時(shí)):This

will

acknowledge

receipt

ofyour

letter

of

July

8.(現(xiàn)用):Thank

you

for

your

letter

of

July

8.(2)避免歧義。如一份信函中有歧義,會(huì)使讀者很費(fèi)力地去琢磨,或造成誤解,影響效率。例51(含糊):I

believe

that

Mr.Johnson’semp

loyment

record

seem

s

to

show

that

he

m

ay

be

ca2pable

of

handling

the

position.(清楚):Mr.Johnson’s

employment

recordshow

s

that

he

is

capable

of

handling

the

position.用“seems

to”讓讀者看起來(lái),不知是他認(rèn)為有能力勝任這項(xiàng)工作,還是懷疑沒能力勝任這項(xiàng)工作,讓人揣摩不透。而修改后的句子用了肯定的語(yǔ)氣就顯得清楚、明白多了。(3)避免贅述。商務(wù)信函中要求簡(jiǎn)潔明了的風(fēng)格,盡量使用言簡(jiǎn)意賅的短句,盡量簡(jiǎn)化沒必要復(fù)雜化的句子。句子字?jǐn)?shù)最好不超過(guò)20個(gè)字。例61(冗贅):Please

don’t

hesitate

to

call

up2on

us.(簡(jiǎn)潔):Please

write

us.(4)井井有條。文章要有邏輯性,敘述有條理,圍繞主題,由主到次層層展開,層次分明,這是寫作的基本要求。(二)禮貌原則Brown和Levinson認(rèn)為,人們言談中的言語(yǔ)行為都是一些“威脅面子的行為”(face

threateningacts),即人在言語(yǔ)交際過(guò)程中,他們的話語(yǔ)總是使對(duì)方或自己的面子受損,人們?yōu)楸Ｈ约旱拿孀?即使錯(cuò)在己方也會(huì)竭力否認(rèn),或找借口把責(zé)任歸咎于他人。他們?cè)诒Ｈ约好孀拥耐瑫r(shí)又損害了別人的面子[6]。這是“面子論”。Leech在“面子論”的基礎(chǔ)上,效法的合作原則,提出另一條語(yǔ)用原則,即禮貌原則(Politeness

Principle),簡(jiǎn)稱PP。合作原則是規(guī)定性的,禮貌原則是解釋性的。它既援救了合作原則,又能保住雙方的面子,

解釋了說(shuō)話人有意違反合作原則來(lái)含蓄地表達(dá)自己的真意,是出于禮貌的考慮使話語(yǔ)得體[7]。此項(xiàng)原則對(duì)外貿(mào)信函英語(yǔ)具有特別重要的意義。因?yàn)槿巳硕加小懊孀印?若在信函中不給對(duì)方“面子”,本來(lái)可以成交的買賣也會(huì)失去;反之,如能重視對(duì)方的觀點(diǎn),尊重對(duì)方的權(quán)利、愿望和需要,迎合對(duì)方的心理,能產(chǎn)生令人愉快的感覺,從而促成和擴(kuò)大對(duì)外貿(mào)易。禮貌原則包含以下準(zhǔn)則:11策略準(zhǔn)則和慷慨準(zhǔn)則策略準(zhǔn)則(Tactmaxim)和慷慨準(zhǔn)則(Generos2ity

m

axim)要求在商務(wù)交往中,使他人受損最小,受惠最大,而自身受損最大,受惠最小。例71(1)Send

us

a

fax,please.(2)Maywe

ask

you

to

send

us

a

fax?(3)Would

you

send

us

a

fax?(4)You

must

send

us

a

letter.此組句子受話人利益受損,而發(fā)話人得益,而(2)(3)相對(duì)而言禮貌些,受話人利益較小,而(1)是祈使句,雖句后有please,但與其說(shuō)是請(qǐng)求,還不如說(shuō)是命令式。用(4)用更有威脅意味,受話人損失大。因此,(1)(4)不可取。21贊譽(yù)準(zhǔn)則和謙遜準(zhǔn)則贊譽(yù)準(zhǔn)則(Approbation

maxim)和謙遜準(zhǔn)則(Modesty

m

axim)要求盡力縮小對(duì)受函方的貶損,夸大對(duì)受函方的贊揚(yáng),盡力縮小對(duì)自身的贊揚(yáng),夸大對(duì)自身的貶損,體現(xiàn)在信函和稱呼語(yǔ)和結(jié)束語(yǔ)中,在信函中多用“Dear

Sir”“Thank

you

for”“Wecould

app

reciate

it”“Yours

faithfully”等。31贊同準(zhǔn)則贊同準(zhǔn)則(Agreement

maxim)要求盡量縮小自身和受函方的分歧,盡力夸大自身和受函方之間的一致,商務(wù)活動(dòng)要求交際雙方具有高度的合作精神,謀求一致。其實(shí)同意或部分同意對(duì)方的觀點(diǎn)比反對(duì)別人更為禮貌。例81Your

proposal

is

reasonable,we

can

ac2cep

t

it.41同情準(zhǔn)則同情準(zhǔn)則(Sympathymaxim)要求發(fā)函方盡力縮小自身對(duì)受函方的厭惡,盡力夸大自身對(duì)他人的同情。商貿(mào)合作伙伴,當(dāng)對(duì)方受到損失時(shí),應(yīng)致函表示同情。如對(duì)方有幸運(yùn)之事,應(yīng)表示祝賀。例91(1)Congratulation

on

setting

a

sales

re2cord

last

month!(2)We

were

distressed

to

learn

from

thismorning’s

TV

new

s

report

that

your

managing

direc2tor

D

r.Holleyson

died

of

a

p

lane

accident.Bobbye在Business

Communication

Fundamen2tals一書中提出,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)寫作應(yīng)遵循6個(gè)C’s:正確(Correctness)、簡(jiǎn)明(Conciseness)、具體(Concreteness)、文采(Colorfulness)、得體(Consid2erateness)、連貫(Coherence)。國(guó)內(nèi)研究人士根據(jù)各自的觀點(diǎn)與實(shí)踐,歸納不一:閻善明的4C’s(完整、簡(jiǎn)潔、清晰、禮貌)[8](P3),范紅的10C’s(明晰、簡(jiǎn)潔、正確、禮貌、體諒、具體、誠(chéng)意、個(gè)性、完整、優(yōu)美)[3](P6-8),王興懿的7C’s(清楚、簡(jiǎn)潔、準(zhǔn)確、具體、禮貌、體諒、完整)[9](P1)等。其實(shí),以上各家觀點(diǎn)都是語(yǔ)用原則在商務(wù)英語(yǔ)信函的具體體現(xiàn)。商務(wù)信函語(yǔ)言特征中的“具體”、“完整”體現(xiàn)數(shù)量準(zhǔn)則;“準(zhǔn)確”體現(xiàn)質(zhì)量準(zhǔn)則;“清晰”、“簡(jiǎn)明”、“文采”、“連貫”、“優(yōu)美”均體現(xiàn)方式準(zhǔn)則;“禮貌”、“得體”、“誠(chéng)意”體現(xiàn)策略準(zhǔn)則和贊譽(yù)準(zhǔn)則;“體諒”體現(xiàn)慷慨準(zhǔn)則和同情準(zhǔn)則。可見,商務(wù)信函語(yǔ)言特征與Grice、Leech和Levinson等提出的語(yǔ)用原則的要求是一致的。二、語(yǔ)用原則在英語(yǔ)商務(wù)信函中的運(yùn)用商務(wù)聯(lián)系學(xué)Business

Communications中,根據(jù)receiver的利害關(guān)系,將商務(wù)活動(dòng)中所傳遞的信息分為肯定信息、中性信息、否定信息和勸服[10]。如何有效地傳遞這些信息呢?下面,將用語(yǔ)用原則來(lái)分析傳遞各種信息信函的寫作方法。(一)傳遞肯定和中性信息的書信肯定的信息有利于receiver,中性的信息無(wú)損于receiver,均屬于正面信息。為了達(dá)到心理的溝通,開拓更多的業(yè)務(wù)機(jī)會(huì),寫傳遞肯定和中性信息的書信時(shí)可運(yùn)用得體準(zhǔn)則和贊譽(yù)準(zhǔn)則,采取積極的態(tài)度,用直接表達(dá)法,即在信的一開頭就傳遞對(duì)方期待的信息,信文表現(xiàn)作者熱情友好的態(tài)度。例101Dear

Sirs,Thank

you

for

your

order

ofAugust

11

for

bicy2cles.A

ll

item

s

are

in

stock,and

we

can

guaranteeshipment

to

San

Francisco

well

before

Sep

tem

ber

30.A

s

requested

we

w

ill

inform

you

of

the

date

of

dis2patch

immediately

upon

comp

leting

shipm

ent.Yours

faithfully中性信息信函的讀者一般為常年客戶,目的和內(nèi)容只限于傳遞必要的信息;而肯定信息的信函讀者一般為新的業(yè)務(wù)伙伴,其目的和內(nèi)容是重點(diǎn)肯定那些讀者喜愛得到的信息,故語(yǔ)言較為細(xì)膩,感情色彩較為濃厚,以激勵(lì)讀者采取行動(dòng)。(二)傳遞否定信息的書信“好消息,人皆喜之;壞消息,人皆惡之。”在商務(wù)活動(dòng)中,在傳遞不愉快的信息時(shí),為讓收信人較為自然地接受其并不希望得到的信息,應(yīng)特別注意禮貌原則中的各項(xiàng)準(zhǔn)則。在拒絕時(shí),按得體準(zhǔn)則的要求,用間接表達(dá)法。根據(jù)慷慨準(zhǔn)則和贊譽(yù)準(zhǔn)則的要求,以您為重(You2attitude)的態(tài)度,[11]將起到疏通障礙的作用。寫傳遞否定信息的書信時(shí),可以以下行文結(jié)構(gòu)來(lái)進(jìn)行寫作。下面以一封現(xiàn)貨不足,無(wú)法供貨的訂貨回函為例,根據(jù)語(yǔ)用原則對(duì)其寫作結(jié)構(gòu)進(jìn)行逐條分析。例111DearMr.Clarendon,Thank

you

for

ordering

geranium

cuttings.Wewere

so

p

leased

that

when

you

thought

of

your

gar2dening

needs,you

thought

of

us.We

wish

we

could

fill

your

order,but

our

bestgeranium

cuttings

have

already

been

sold.M

any

ofour

customers

are

from

the

South,where

the

grow

ingseason

is

earlier

than

the

rest

of

the

country.Thisyear,according

to

our

orders,the

South

must

bebursting

w

ith

geranium

s.Enclosed

in

this

letter

is

a

brochure

on

gerani2um

grow

ing

and

p

ropagation

which

we

hope

you

w

illfind

helpful.W

e

have

also

taken

the

liberty

of

put2ting

your

order

in

for

the

first

and

best

cuttings

wehave

available

next

sp

ring.Our

fall

catalogue

is

in

the

mail

to

you

today.W

e

hope

you

w

ill

see

in

it

the

type

of

p

lantings

thatw

ill

make

your

flower

garden

comp

lete.M

ake

sureyou

notice

our

fall

savings

on

bulbs!Bestwishes

for

the

continual

expansion

of

yourbusiness!Yours

sincerelyRonald

WorthM

anager[9](P110)11緩沖開頭“好的開頭是成功的一半?！闭Z(yǔ)言本身的機(jī)制可以調(diào)整語(yǔ)氣的強(qiáng)調(diào),禮貌的級(jí)別可以將壞消息所帶來(lái)的消極影響降低到最低。文章先以“Thankyou

for……”“W

e

were

so

p

leased

that……”等句子婉轉(zhuǎn)開頭,符合得體準(zhǔn)則和贊譽(yù)準(zhǔn)則的要求。21解釋否定原因與內(nèi)容直接正面拒絕是不禮貌的行為,因其目的是使讀者受損,威脅著讀者的消極面子。如果在此以直截了當(dāng)?shù)姆绞骄芙^很不妥,所以有必要放棄方式準(zhǔn)則,采取禮貌原則來(lái)緩解這種面子威脅行為。例中,作者運(yùn)用謙遜準(zhǔn)則和同情則婉言拒絕“We

wish

we

could

fill

your

order,but……”表示作者真心希望能滿足對(duì)方的要求,用“but”直接引出拒絕話語(yǔ),避免了造成誤會(huì),之后娓娓道來(lái)脫銷的原因:南方天竺葵的生長(zhǎng)季節(jié)比其他地方早。這樣的表達(dá)照顧了對(duì)方的面子,避免了尷尬。31提供建議和可選性計(jì)劃解釋原因后,一個(gè)建議,一份可行性計(jì)劃都可為讀者證實(shí)他所處的境況,又可以善意地為他解憂,以補(bǔ)救收信人的損失。這種You2attitude的方式體現(xiàn)了禮貌原則中的慷慨準(zhǔn)則———使他人受損最小,受惠最大的要求相吻合。表面上,這不屬于答復(fù)范圍似乎違背了合作原則中量的準(zhǔn)則,但事實(shí)上它遵循了O’hair提出的質(zhì)量-數(shù)量準(zhǔn)則———“除非有特別顯著的理由,一旦聽話人(讀者)可能會(huì)對(duì)說(shuō)話人(作者)所傳遞的住處感興趣的話,后者都應(yīng)該給予一個(gè)較強(qiáng)力度的陳述而不是弱勢(shì)的陳述?！盵12](P45)這里的“力度”即是交際傳遞的信息量。[7](P85)上例中,對(duì)方訂不到貨,一定非常沮喪。這時(shí),一份有關(guān)種植和繁殖的說(shuō)明書、一份近期訂單目錄、以及部分商品秋季減價(jià)的消息,對(duì)商家來(lái)說(shuō),無(wú)疑是雪中送炭。這樣既不傷害對(duì)方,且留余地,尚有希望今后保持往來(lái)合作。由此可見,在商務(wù)活動(dòng)中,人們往往自覺遵循合作原則及其相關(guān)準(zhǔn)則。但有時(shí)因禮貌起見,常常會(huì)放棄方式準(zhǔn)則。41積極結(jié)尾結(jié)尾與開頭同樣重要,措辭也要注意把握分寸和策略,否則即使前面說(shuō)得再好,也會(huì)前功盡棄。上例使用“Bestwishes

for

the

continual

expan2sion

of

your

business!”結(jié)尾,幫助讀者更自信,以期今后保持更好的合作關(guān)系,符合贊譽(yù)準(zhǔn)則。(三)勸服信勸服信旨在勸說(shuō)對(duì)方按寫信人預(yù)定的計(jì)劃辦事,其前提條件是:讀者不情愿或可能拒絕寫信人的要求或建議。故采取先引起對(duì)方的注意,激起其興趣,增強(qiáng)其欲望,以使對(duì)方采取行動(dòng)。例121Dear

Customer:No

other

business

graphics

software

can

matchthe

versatility

and

flexibility

of

D

iagraph!Let

us

prove

to

you

that

Diagraph

is

a

break2through

in

business

graphics

software.Use

Diagraph

to

turn

your

ideas,plans,anddata

into

organization

charts,signs,flow

charts,di2agram

s,form

s,and

m

ap

s.D

iagraph

comes

w

ith

amoney2back

guarantee.U

se

it

for

30

days

and

weπre

certain

that

you

w

ill

have

discovered

so

many

usesfor

D

iagraph

that

you

wonπt

want

to

part

w

ith

it.And

now

you

have

two

choices:Diagraph/500for

only＄99

or

D

iagraph/2000

for＄395.Diagraph/500

files

are

fully

compatiblewithDi2agraph/2000

so

you

can

upgrade

it

to

D

iagraph/2000

at

any

time.W

hat’s

more,that

cost

of

D

ia2graph/500

is

credited

towards

your

purchase

of

D

ia2graph/2000.Sincerely,Gerald

FerhusD

irector,Custom

er

Services[9](P176-177)該促銷函一開始就提出了產(chǎn)品Diagraph的優(yōu)點(diǎn),以引起顧客的注意。接著又簡(jiǎn)明扼要地介紹了Diagraph的主要功能,激起顧客的興趣。之后,根據(jù)顧客的購(gòu)買心理,提出可試使用,不滿意可退款,且提供兩款選擇以及其它優(yōu)惠條件,增強(qiáng)顧客的購(gòu)買欲,讀者很可能毫不猶豫地采取行動(dòng)。三、結(jié)語(yǔ)在商務(wù)信函交往中,我們需要以合作原則與禮貌原則的策略來(lái)共同指導(dǎo)商務(wù)信函的寫作。但在實(shí)際運(yùn)用中,常常會(huì)為了達(dá)到禮貌只遵循質(zhì)量、數(shù)量、關(guān)聯(lián)準(zhǔn)則,而放棄了方式準(zhǔn)則,有時(shí)也會(huì)為了達(dá)到交際效率而舍棄禮貌,全面遵循合作原則,如催款函、索賠函。這兩種原則是互補(bǔ)的。不論