商务英语信函的句法特征

商务英语信函的句法特征1.Introduction1.1 literature reviewThis study focuses on the morphological and syntactic features of English business correspondences. In order to finish this study effectively, I read some related literatures and this helps me a lot. Now I shall do a detailed analysis about the literatures.In the article “the features and application of English business correspondences in e-time”, the writer explained his main idea in accordance with the traditional principle “seven Cs”, that is Completen ess, Clearness, Concreteness, Conciseness, Correctness, Courtesy and Consideration. This article can be divided into two parts. The writer firstly makes an analysis of the business correspondences and makes sure that the readers are clear about the layout of business correspondences. And then the writer states the unique features of business correspondences in e-time. “This part is divided into two sub-parts to analyze the features, one from the aspect of the form of business correspondences and the other f rom the aspect of contents”[1]. At last the writer states the meaning of his study.The article “the grammatical features of English business correspondences” by Gao Jiayong “talks about the features from five aspects”[2], but he viewed the features just from the syntax. Articles written by other people also account for the features, such as “the lingual features of business correspondences and several important principles” by Wang Yuanyuan, “lingual features of English in business correspondences” by Tian Lan and so forth. All those articles analyze the features from their own points of view.1.2 purpose of this studyMy study aims to seek out the morphological and syntactic features of English business correspondences. Before my study, there have been many researches about this topic, but through my reading those articles, I find that they are more or less incomplete. So I intend to make an analysis as comprehensive as possible.Besides, as time goes by, everything is changing. The business nowadays can be somewhat different from that of before, and so are the English business correspondences. And they must have possessed some new features as they develop. This study also tries to find out these new features.To sum up the morphological and syntactic features of English businesscorrespondences, the writer hopes that this paper will do some help to business men. And this study shall be a useful instruction to guide people to write business letters. An expert business letter will surely lead to success and unquestionably will also spur the development of economy.This article is divided into five parts. The first part is instruction. The second part shall explain two basic related concept, morphology and syntax. The third part is about the morphological features of English business correspondences and the fourth part is about the syntactic features. The fifth part shall make a conclusion.2.some basic related concepts2.1clarification of morphologyMorphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed. “Just as the formation of sentences is governed by rules, so is the structure of words. Morphology is divided into two sub-branches: inflectional morphology and lexical or derivational morphology. The former studies the inflections and the latter is the study of word-formation”[3].2.2 clarification of syntaxSyntax is a subfield of linguistics. It studies the sentence structure of language. The term syntax came originally from Greek. It literally meant arrangement. It means that sentences are structured according to a particular arrangement of words. Well-arranged sentences are considered grammatical sentences. Grammatical sentences are formed following a set of syntactic rules.As a major component of grammar, syntax consists of a set of abstract rules that allow word to be combined with other words to form grammatical sentences. “A sentence is considered grammatical when it is in agreement with the grammatical knowledge in the mind of native speakers. Universally found in the grammars of all human language, syntactic rules comprise the system of internalized linguistic knowledge of a language speaker known as linguistic competence” [3].3.morphological analysis of English business correspondencesEnglish business correspondence is a kind of common style in trading activities. It serves varieties of business and reflects the main content of commerce, so its diction and sentences both possess some special features. In this chapter, the paper shall explain the morphological features of English business correspondences. And this chapter is divided into seven sub-parts: formal words, old English words adopted, commercial terms, words of politeness, word class shift, the usage of mandatory verbs and acronym.3.1 formal wordsEnglish business correspondence is a kind of formal style for correspondences. It is used to transmit business information and to state business situations. “English business correspondence is always concerned with economic benefits, so it is supposed to be direct, simple and understandable with as few as modification as possible”[4]. And it is avoided to choose dainty words when making sentences, but it is preferred to choose formal and grand words. “The formal words, inste ad of oral words or basic words, can show the formality and propriety of business correspondences completely”[5].Formal words are better liked than informal words. When drafting a business letter, people shall adopt “inform” rather than “tell”. “‘Inform’and ‘tell’are both accepted in a sentence, but “inform” is a formal word. And thus “inform” is used to make a sentence”. When the writer of a business letter wants to state the results brought by the former cause, he continues the sentence with the adverb “therefore” instead of the connective “so”. Because “so” is often used in oral language, whereas therefore is often employed in written compositions. In the sentence “we can not grant you insurance coverage of 15% of the invoice value”, “grant” has the sam e meaning with “give”, while “give” is often used in oral speech. The adoption of “grant” can make the letter looked formal and shows the serious attitude of the writer.In the sentence “the obligations shall be affected by the liquidation of the contrac t or by a premature termination of the same”, the words “liquidation” and “termination” are both formal words. Here “liquidation” has the same meaning with “cancel” and “termination” is very similar to “end” in meaning. However, the writer uses “liquidation” and “termination” rather than “cancel” and “end”, for the former are formal and can attract the readers to pay more attention.And from this example, we can also see that in many situations, a noun is more formal than its corresponding form of verb. There are also many verbs that are usually replaced by another verb with similar meanings, such as “commence” instead of “begin”, “manufacture” instead of “make”, “assist” instead of “help”, “purchase” instead of “buy”, “anticipate” instead of “expect”, “trust” instead of “believe” and so on.Some phrases may look more formal than other ones. In business letters, people like using “as for” or “in respect to” instead of “about”, “in view of” instead of “for”, for a phrase is always more formal and can attract more attention than a single word. Take the sentence as an example: “contracts shall be concluded in accordance with the principle of equality and mutual benefit and of achieving agreement through consultation”. In this sentence, the phrase “in accordance with” is identical with the word “by” and “under”, but “in accordance with” is preferred due to the formality ofbusiness letters. “According to” also has the same meaning with “in accordance with”, but it is not as formal as “in accordance with”. “According to” is better liked in oral speech.Not only can prepositional phrases be replaced by another one, but also verb phrases. For example, in the sentence “we are in the market for your chemical products”, the verb phrase “be in the market for” is similar to the phrase “want to buy”. However, “be in the market for” sounds formal and is suitable to be used in a business letter, whereas “want to buy” is more suitable in spoken language.3.2 old English words adoptedIn English business correspondences, there are many old English words adopted which are not or seldom used nowadays. And these old English words are almost complex adverbs. The most seen old English words used in business correspondences are these that begin with “here”, “there” and “where” as t he root and with one or several adverbs such as “by”, “after” followed. And the words with “here” or “there” and with a preposition followed are mostly adverbs. This kind of words is often used in a sentence as the adjunct. The words beginning with “where”and with a preposition followed are mostly connectives and relative adverbs. And they are used to connect sentences. Take an example: “provided such drafts are drawn and presented in accordance with the terms of this credit, we hereby engage with the drawers, endorsers and bona-fide holders that the said drafts shall be honored on presentation”. In this sentence, “hereby” is an adverb and used as an adjunct to modify the verb “engage”. In the sentence “we hereby confirm having sold to you the following goo ds on the terms and conditions as set forth hereunder”, the two words “hereby” and “hereunder” are both adverbs and play the role of adjuncts to modify the verbs “confirm” and “set forth” respectively. But the word “whereof” is a relative adverb to connect the whole sentence and it plays the role of the adjunct to modify the verb “have caused” in the sentence “in witness, whereof, the parties here to have caused this agreement to be executed in duplicate by their duly authorized representations”.This kind of complex words is difficult if one tries to understand them just from their Chinese translation. But it will make easier to understand their meanings after mastering the relation between their forms and meanings. In this kind of words, “here” is supposed to refer to “this”, “there” referring to “that” and “where” referring to “which”. And according to this assumption, “hereafter” should be understood as “after this”. It is the same with “there” and “where”, for “thereafter” can be interpreted as “after that” and “whereby” means “by which”. In the sentence “the said L/C has just come to hand, but regretfully we find that some of the clauses therein are not in agreement with what is stipulated in the contract”, the word “therein” means “in the said L/C”. T ake another example: further to our last discussion in Melbourne and the faxes exchanged thereafter on a joint venture in Australia, we were very pleased to receive your letter of December 12 with detailed proposals on the subject.In this sentence, the wo rd “thereafter” means “after that”, exactly “after the discussion and the faxes”.Sometimes, there is more than one preposition following “here”, “there” and “where”, such as the word hereinafter”. For example, in the sentence “in this agreement words and expressions shall have the same meaning as are respectively assigned to them in the condition of contract hereinafter referred to”, “hereinafter” means “in the following text”.The adoption of old English words can not only present the serious attitude of the writer, but also avoid some unnecessary repetition. And therefore the business letter becomes more conscious and clearer. Generally speaking, the proper adoption of old English words can make the whole letter looked formal, but the excessive adoption shall make the business letter hard to read.3.3 words of politenessCourtesy is the most important principle of writing an English business correspondence. Not only does this principle refer to the adoption of words of politeness, but also it is shown in the respect and consideration of the opposite party.A wise writer shall respect his trading company and view everything from the opposite party’s perspective to know his company’s misgiving. And by the way of respecting the opposite party, the writer will also get the respect from his company and then accelerate the trade to go on smoothly. “Even if some issues rise during their deal, the writer should also pay much attention to courtesy. And even when making a claim, the writer had better use polite words to provide a good basis for further cooperation”.When others helped you, in normal situation, you can just use “thank you” or “thanks” in your graceful letter. But in business letters, there are many forms that you can choose to show your thanks and different forms present different degrees of thanks. For example, if you want to the other party to ship the goods as early as possible, you can say in your letter: “we will appreciate your effecting immediate shipment.” And when asking for a low price, one may write the sentence “we will be obliged if you could quote us a favorable price”. “In the furious competition of business, the adoption of words of politeness often plays an important part”. So the writers of business correspondences should think a third time to use a word, and try to transform the harsh sentences into polite and periphrastic ones.。