Abstract
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 Holliday, 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 analyzes 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
在經濟全球化的今天，國際貿易在一個國家和地區的發展中起到了越來越重要的作用。作爲國際貿易業務運作的有效溝通渠道，商務信函正在發揮越來越重要的作用。本文試圖運用韓、禮、德的功能語境(情景語境變量)理論對商務英語信函的詞彙特色進行探討和分析。文章共分四個部分。第一部分簡單介紹了商務英語信函在國際貿易活動中的地位。第二部分討論了韓、禮、德的功能語境(情景語境變量)理論。第三部分運用韓、禮、德的功能語境(情景語境變量)理論分析總結商務英語信函的.詞彙特徵。第四部分針對商務英語信函的上述特徵，提出寫好商務英語信函的一些在詞彙運用方面的策略。
On the Vocabulary Features of Business English
Letter
Ⅰ. Introduction
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. It becomes not only a necessary 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-term 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 rhythm, is to communicate with customers (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 vocabulary is now an issue that draws more and more attention.
Business Letter has its own vocabulary features. The selection and application of vocabulary relates to the characteristic of different parts of the business process, and also reflects writer’s tone and intention. Therefore, the choice of vocabulary can help the entire Business Letter, and also can destroy the entire Business Letter. That is, the choice of vocabulary will greatly change the trend of business.
In this paper, vocabulary features of Business Letter will be discussed from the viewpoint of Holliday, the theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics (also theory of Variables of Situation Context). English as a cosmopolitan language has a broad application in International Trade, and especially most business letters are written in English, therefore this paper mainly analyzes the features of English vocabulary in Business Letter.