小議商務英語信函中的模糊語言

1、小議商務英語信函中的模糊語言1、 IntroductionThispaperaimstostudyvaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishletters，anddiscusswhenpeopleusevaguelanguageandwhypeopleusevaguelanguageonactualcontexts.Atthesametime，wealsolearntheactivefunctionsandnegativefunctionswhicharethevaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishletterscausing.Basedonthetwo

2、functions，wediscusshowtousevaguelanguageandavoidnegativefunctioninthebusinessEnglishletters.（1） IntroductiontothestudyL.A.Zadeh，aprofessorofCaliforniaUniversityandanexpertofCybernetics，firstputforwardhisconceptandtheoryoffuzzysetsin1965.Fromthenon，therearemanystudiesonvaguelanguage.Linguistsreachaco

3、mmonsensethatvaguelanguageplaysasignificantroleinhumancommunication.EnglishlinguistChannel（2000：194）claimsthat"whetheronecanproperlyusevaguelanguageshowsone'slanguageperformance，becausevaguelanguageisaninseparablepartoflanguagecommunication."AChineselinguistWuTiepingfirstbroughtvaguene

4、ssintoChinaandthenhisfirstInvestigationofFuzzyLinguisticscametothepublicin1999whichremarksthebeginningofresearchingvaguelanguageinChina.Therearealargeamountofresearchesonvaguelanguagefromsemanticandpragmaticanglessoonafter，suchasPracticalFuzzyLinguisticsbyLiQianJvin1996，OnFuzzySemanticsbyZhangQiaoin

5、1998.Althoughtheexistingorspreadingofvaguelanguageeverywhere，litterstudyonitinbusinessEnglishlettershasbeenfoundbecauseofthedisputesorevenlawsuitscausingbyvaguelanguage.Asweknow，theprinciplesofbusinesswritingrequiretheusageofitslanguageprecise，exactandclear，butvaguelanguageisalwayscommonusedinbusine

6、sswriting.So，weshouldstrivetostudyclearlythevaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishletters，especiallyinspecificcontextsaboutitseffectofappropriatenessandwideapplicability.（2） DataCollectionandResearchMethodThedataofthispaperarebusinessEnglishletterswhichareexpectedtopointoutwhenandwhypeopleusevaguelanguagean

7、ditsactivefunctionsandnegativefunctionsinbusinessEnglishletters.ThesematerialsarecollectedmainlyformbooksandarticlesonbusinessEnglishlettersandbusinesscommunication.Theauthoralsohascollectedsomeexamplesfromotherauthorsrelevanttothecurrentstudy.Infact，theseexamplesinthispaperareintheformofsentencesfo

8、rmtheletters.Thereare20samplesofbusinessEnglishlettersbeingnotattachedtothestudyduetothelimitedlengthofthepaper.AqualitativemethodisusedinthispapertostudythedeliberateuseofvaguelanguagebyusingbusinessEnglishlettersasexamples.Basedonthetheoreticalprerequisites，thestudyexplorestheessentialreasonsofwhe

9、nandwhypeopleusevaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishletters.2、 LiteratureReviewThereisnotacommonsensewhatisvaguelanguagefromthebeginningtotoday.Theoriginatorofthenotionofvaguenessinlanguage，afamousphilosopherPierce，showedhisinterestinnaturallanguagein1902.Thephilosophicalstudyonvaguenessofnaturallanguageb

10、roughtaboutthisphenomenoninthelinguisticfield.Fromthenon，fuzziness，ambiguity，generalityandvaguenesshavebeenmadetodefinetheconfusingtermsbylinguists.Thischapterplaysmuchattentiontothedefinitionofvaguelanguageandtherelationshipofsomeconfusingterms.（一）ADefinitionofVaguelanguageAlthoughagreatnumberofres

11、earchesonvaguelanguagehavebeencarriedout，adefinitioncannotcometoconsensusinthelinguisticfield.Therearetworeasonstoexplainthedifficulty，oneisthevaguelanguageiscomplexareaofstudytheotheristhelargenumberofdifferentconceptionsofvaguelanguage.Therefore，itisurgenttodelimitatethepresentstudytowardsthedefin

12、itionofvaguelanguageaccordingtothedefinitionbyWuTiepingandChannelareasfollows：Somewordsorsomesentencesarevague，theyarenotindependentbutinthecontext.Vaguelanguageisvagueprobetothevaguenessofitselfandthevaguenessofacknowledge，itaimstolanguagecommunicationandchoseloosely.Thelatterstudyofvaguelanguagein

13、businessEnglishletterswillbefirmlyfellowtheabovedefinition.ComparisonofSomeConfusingTermsInordertodistinctthefourtermsamongvagueness，fuzziness，generalityandambiguity.Itissosignificantthatmuchefforthasbeendoneonthismatterinlinguistics.Thispaperwillcontinuethisprojectforsakeofbetterunderstandingofther

14、esearch.1 .VagueLanguagevs.FuzzinessThetwowordsareusedexchangeablebysomeresearches.LinguistslikeBlackRussell，F(xiàn)illmore，Ullmann，Deese，Channelandetc.allsubstitutevaguenessforfuzziness.Actually，theresearchaboutthishasnotbeenworkedout.Kempson（1979），aEnglishlinguistclassifiesvaguenessintothefollowingfourt

15、ypes（qtd.inZhangQiao17-18）.（ 1） Referentialvagueness，wherethemeaningofalexicalitemisinprincipleclearenough，butitmaybehardtodecidewhetherornottheitembeappliedtocertainobjects；（2）Indeterminacyofmeaning，wherethemeaningofanitemitselfseemsindeterminate；（ 3） Lackofspecificationinthemeaningofitems，wherethe

16、meaningisclearbutisonlygenerallyspecified；（ 4） Disjunctioninthespecificationofanitem'smeaning，wherethemeaninginvolvesaneither-orstatementwithdifferentinterpretationpossibilities.Astheabove-mentionedclassification，wewilldiscussthreetypesbecausethelasttypeisbeyondourstudyinthispaper.Thefirstislack

17、ofclearboundaries.Forinstance，wehavenoideatorecognizethereferentialboundarylike“l(fā)and”or“floor”；“theground”or“theearth”.Thesecondisthattheborderlineofawordisuncertain.Forexample，howbeautifulis“beautiful”？Howsmallis“small”？Theseborderlinesarenotclear.Thethirdistheuncertaintyinaphraseorpropositioninclu

18、dingtheindeterminatemeaning.Forexample，"mybrother'staxi"isindeterminate.Sincewecannotdistinguishwhetheritisusedtoexpressthetaximybrotherowns，thetaximybrotherdrives，thetaximybrotherrents，thetaximybrotherisgoingtocatch，orthetaximybrothergoestoworkonandetc.Tosumup，becauseoftheunclearbound

19、aryandtheindefinitecriteria，additiontoitacontinuousrangeofvalues，themeaningoffuzzinessisapartoftheexpressionvagueness.Atthemomen，tvaguenessisuseditsbroadestsensewhichisalsothepointweuseinthispaper，includingthecominganalysis.2 .Vaguenessvs.AmbiguityAlthoughthetwotermsaredifferent，somepeopleoftenconfu

20、sethem，tosuchanextentthat，theyuseambiguousexamplestointerpretvagueness.AccordingtoZhangQiao，heholdsthatambiguityisexpressionwithmorethanonecompetingbutdistinctmeaning；whileforvagueness；distinctmeaningcannotbeidentified.Itseemsthatvaguenesshasborderlineandasinglemeaning.Therefore，homonymyandpolysemou

21、swordsleadtoambiguitynotvagueness.Forinstance，“Itisgoodwhether”isvaguebecauseoftheonemeaningof“good”，andwedonotknowhowgooditis.“Shehasagoodleg.”isambiguousbecauseoftheseveralmeaningof“good”.Wecannotdecidewhetheritmeans“athletic”or“healthy”or“beautiful”（liao1）.Theanswervariesfromcontexttocontext，from

22、individualtoindividual.Comparewithvagueness，ambiguitiesarelessuseinactualtexts，becausecontextualcluesgenerallymakeclearwhichmeaningisappropriate，butvaguenessispossibleinmanycausesbecauseitexpressesonemeaningwhichisnotclearordistinct.Forinstance，"Janehasmybook."hasonemeaning：Janehasmybook，b

23、uttheexpressionisnotclear.Doesitmeanabookwrittenbyme，orownedbyme，orborrowedbyme？Sothatthesentenceisvaguebutnotambiguous.（Liao2）3.Vaguenessvs.GeneralityWuYaxindefinesgeneralityisasfollows："anexpressionisgeneralifitisthesuperordinatetootherrelevantexpressions，whichareconsideredasitshyponym."

24、WithZhangQiao'sviewongenerality“themeaningofanexpressionisgeneralifitdoesnotspecifycertaindetails，i.e.generalityisanunspecifiedmatter.”inmind，MsWugivesherviewpointabove；sheaddsherideathatifweuseunspecifiedwordhere，itwouldbedifficulttodrawademarcationlinebetweengeneralityandvagueness.Forinstance，

25、“Rosegotarose.”isgeneralandcauseanunclearmeaningifwewanttoknowwhetherRosehasared，orawhiterose，ayellowrose，orablackrose.GeneralitycoversHyponymy，theverticalrelationshipexistingbetweenaspecificandageneralexpressionistheconnotationofhyponymy.Forexample，“sweet”and“chocolate”，thesemanticfieldof“chocolate

26、”lieswithin“sweet”.Inthiscase，itiscleartosee"chocolate"belongsto“sweet”，butsometimesgeneralityisameansandvaguenessistheresultofit.Forexample，achildisexpectinghismothertobuychocolatetohimsaysinvaguenessbyusingthegeneralterms："HowIwishsomeonetosendmechocolateandIwillhavetheconfidencetog

27、etfullmarksinthiscomingexam."三、TheFunctionsofVagueLanguageinBusinessEnglishLettersAsiswellknown，businesslanguagerequiresprecisionbutavoidvagueness.Infact，bothvaguenessandprecisionaretheinnatecharacteristicsofnaturallanguage；businesslanguageisnotanexception.Sometimes，inordertorunthebusinesstrans

28、actionswell，vaguelanguageisusedforparticularanddiversifiedreasons.ItshouldconcernthefollowingcommunicativepurposesandintentionsbyChannel（173-192）：（ 1） Givingtherightamountofinformation（ 2） Deliberatelywithholdinginformation（ 3） Usinglanguagepersuasively（ 4） Lexicalgaps（ 5） Lackingspecificinformation

29、（ 6） Displacement（ 7） Self-protection（ 8） Powerandpoliteness（ 9） Informalityandatmosphere（ 10） Women'slanguageThisstudyconcentrateonthedeliberateuseofvaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishletters，soonlytheseuses：givingtherightamountofinformation；deliberatelywithholdinginformation；usinglanguagepersuasive

30、ly；self-protesters；powerandpoliteness；informalityandatmosphere；women'slanguage，givenbyChannelwillbediscussedasthefunctionsofvaguelanguage.Asweallknowthatitisdifficultforatheorytobeperfectedalinguisticphenomenonoracompleteinterpretation.Everytheoryhasitsstrongpointsandweakpoints.Therefore，inthiss

31、tudy，theChannelstheoryissupposedtoconstructthetheoreticalframeworkfortheanalysisofvaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishletters.Withthesefunctionsofvaguelanguage，businesspeoplemayusevaguelanguageasacommunicativestrategyindifferentcontextinordertomaintainthegoodwillbetweenthepartiesinvolved.Vaguelanguagemayt

32、urnouttobeapowerfultoolingoodbusinesswritingandsuccessfulbusinesstransactions.However，vagueexpressionsinsomecontextsareusedtoconfusetheaddresseedeliberately，thismaycausetomisunderstandingorcheating.Thissectionassociateswithsomeactualarticlesandmaterialstomakeatrytoexploreandsummarizeboththepositivea

33、ndnegativefunctionsofvaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishletters.（一）AnoverviewofBusinessEnglishLettersAsweknow，businesscommunicationwillreachapossibleagreementatlast，nomatterwhatmannersbothsidesuse，itisbasinedonthecommoninterestsandconflictinginterestsputthecooperationfurtherorbreak-up.Walldefinesthatbusi

34、nesscommunicationisaprocessthroughwhichtwoormorepartiescoordinateanexchangeofgoodsorservicesandattempttoagreeupontherateoftheexchangeforthem.Businesslettersisakindofcommunication，specifically，“apieceofconversationbypost”（Yang，15）.Theparticipantstaketurnsasbeingtheaddresserandtheaddresseehavetheirspe

35、cialaudienceanddefinitepurpose，sothecommunicationiscarriedonbywrittenforms."businesslettersaredifferentfromotherliterarydiscourses，BrownandYulesaidthat"theydonotcallfortheelegantlanguageofliteratureandthemaindifferencebetweenbusinesslettersandothertypesofdiscoursesliesinthelanguageandstyle

36、."ItseemsareasonableanswertothetraitofbusinessEnglishlettersfromalargenumberofarticlesandmaterialswhichotherpeopleresearch.Businesslettersarehardtoclassifybecausetherearegreatclassificationsfromdifferentangles，suchasthedifferentfunctions，thecontentoftheletters.Itseemsthatitisimpossibletocarryou

37、tacompleteandperfectclassificationforthebusinessletters.Therearethesamethingsamongsometypesoflettersaboveifwefoundcarefully.Sometimes，itisdifficulttodistinguishoneletterfromanother.Therefore，thereisaneedtogiveageneralclassificationforthefollowinganalysisofvaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishletters.Accord

38、ingtoStewart(qtd.inYang，17)，therearefourdifferentkindsofinformationintermsofitseffectonthereadersneeds：goodnews，neutralnews，badnewsandpersuasion.Accordingly，therearegood-newsletters，neutral-newsletters，bad-newslettersandpersuasiveletters.Inaddition，orderletters，inquirylettersandrepliestoinquiresanda

39、djustmentletterscanbesub-classifiedintogood-newsorneutral-newsletters，Refusingletterscanbeclassifiedintobad-newslettersandsaleslettersandcollectionlettersintopersuasiveletters.四、FunctionsofVagueLanguageinBusinessEnglishLettersandSomeSuggests（一）PositiveFunctionsofVagueLanguageinBusinessEnglishletters

40、Itisknownthatvaguelanguageplayinganimportantroleinthelinguisticcommunicationowntovagueness，communicationoperatessmoothly，sodoesbusinessEnglishletters.Thebusinessmenoftenusevagueexpressionspurposelyfortheircontributiontothemessages.Generallyspeaking，positivefunctionsofvaguelanguageinbusinessEnglishle

41、ttersareasfollows：1.1 ncreasingtheAccuracyofLanguageExpressionsTheAmericanphilosopherGricesaidthatinthecommunicativeactivities，partiesshouldobservesomebasicnormsinordertoensurethecommunicationgoingonsuccessfully.Sincetherearesituationsinwhichoneisreluctanttobeverypreciseoraccurate，businessmenmaymake

42、useofvaguelanguageintentionally.Intheobjectivereality，therearetoomany“boundaryphenomena”，inotherwords，thingsandphenomenathatbelongtoobjectiverealitymanifestindeterminacy.Vaguenessissometimesanimportantmeansofappropriatelystatingorexpressingtheseindeterminateuncertainthingsandphenomena（Hyland440）.Acc

43、uracyattributestovaguenessinsomecontexts，businessmenusevaguetermstoseekaccuracyofexpressionsinbusinessEnglishletters.Forinstance：（ 1） “ingeneral”ourpaymenttermsarebyirrevocableletterofcreditatsightandwedonotacceptD/Pterm.“Ingeneral”isusedtoqualitythevalidityofthestateofaffairsexpressedinthemessage.T

44、hehumbleexampleindicatesthatthevagueexpression“ingeneral”weakenstheforceofcertainty，thusitguardsagainstpossiblerefutationandenhancestheaccuracyofexpression，astheysuggesttheobjectivityinconveyingthesensethattheinformationmaybeheldtobetrue.So，thebusinessmanensuresthattheinformationheprovidesonlyrepres

45、entshisownopinion，butnotothersopinion.Whethertheinformationistrueornotisunclearduetotheuseof“ingeneral”.（ 2） Theresponsibilityforthelossesmanyrestwiththeshippingcompanyandwesuggestyouyourselfmaketheclaimforcompensation.“May”expressesthetoneofinference，butnotclearlyhowdeeplythepossibilityis.Theaddres

46、serdescribeshisviewobjectivelyandshirkshisresponsibilityofthelosses.Thetoneof“suggest”issorelaxedthatothersidesfeelavailableeasily.Insteadofsayingabsolutely，thebusinessmenusevagueexpressionstomakethesentencemoreaccurate.Therefore，wecanseethatvaguelanguageiscommonlyadoptedwhenpostingdevelopingtrendso

47、rpredictingfuturesituationsinordertoavoidabsoluteness.2.EnhancingtheFlexibilityofLanguageExpressionsandAchievingtheSelf-protectionAccordingtoChannel，thespeakerstrytohaveself-protection，namely，thespeakersusevaguelanguageinordertoavoidbeingconsideredtoofferwronginformationtoothersinthefuture.Inthespec

48、ialsituation，whentherepliestosomequestionsarebeyondyourauthorityoritistheimpropertimetoanswerthesequestions，theuseofvaguelanguagemaybeconsideredasagoodchoicebecauseitcanofferyouarelativelyflexiblespacetomovebackandfro.Forexample：1）Shouldyourpricebefoundcompetitiveanddeliverydateacceptable，weintendto

49、placealargeorderwithyou.（YiXiaoying，45）Thevaguewords“competitive”，“acceptable”and“alarge”havenotbeendefinitemeaningwhichgivescertainfreedomfortheaddresserinthebusinessexchange.Thepurposeistolettheaddresseeinterpretmessagesthewayhewantstoandthengivetheaddressertheleewayforfurtherchangeaccordingtothem

50、arketfluctuation.2 2）Atpresentweareinterestedinyourcosmetics，detailsasperourEnquiryNoteNo.1345attached，andshallbegladtoreceiveyourlowestquotationassoonaspossible.（YiXiaoying，50）Thevagueexpression"assoonaspossible"servesasstallingtactics，althoughtheboard'sopiniontopromisestoaccepttheadd

51、resser'slowestquotation，whichquotationisthelowestisunclear.Sotheresultofthedisposalcanbemanipulatedflexiblybytheaddresseeaccordingtoactualsituation.Fromtheaboveexamples，wecanseethatthebusinessmenmayhaveflexiblemanipulationthroughvaguelanguage.Atthesametime，thetonesoundssincerewhenusevaguelanguag

52、eandthevaguelanguagewillenhancethecooperationbetweenthetwoparties.3 .DeliberatelyWithholdingInformation，PromotingtheTradeCooperationVaguelanguagemakestheexpressionsmoremeasuredandtactful，especiallysomesensitiveitems，suchasbothsides'benefit.Concealingthetruesituation，avoidingconflictsandexpressin

53、gyourownideasarethefunctionsofvaguelanguage.Basedonthepolitenessandcooperationprinciples，theaddressernotonlymaintainhisbenefitbutalsoconsiderothersides'feelingfullyinorderthatbothsideskeeptheirtraderelationshipjustliketheusual.Forexample：Weshouldreverttothequestionofsoleagencywhenthebusinessbetw

54、eenushasdevelopedtoourmutualsatisfaction.Fromtheaboveexample，itseemsthattheaddresserispositiveandcooperated，but"mutualsatisfaction"actuallywithholdsnegativeinformation，namely，theaddresserrefusesothersides'demandof"soleagency".Thisvagueexpressionmakestheaddresserunderstandingt

55、hewithholdinginformationeasy，additionally，itisverykindlytoprotectothersides'facefrombeingthreatenedandmaintainthecooperativerelationship.Asweallknow，thebusinessmenoftendotheirbesttodeliberatelywithholdinformationinactualbusinesstransactions.Particularly，itisunchangeablewhenthepriceofthegoodsisgi

56、ventothecustomer.So，thebusinessmananswersthecustomers'inquirieswithvaguewords，especiallytheprice.Vaguelanguagegiveboththebusinessmenanopportunitytochangethepriceiseasytobechangedsothatcustomerscanmakerightresponsetotheprice.4.IndicatingYou-attitude，ExpressingBusinessCultivationCourtesyandamicabi

57、lityisknownasthegeneralprinciplesthatbusinesswritingmustconsider，soitisnecessarytousevaguelanguagebecausethatisoneofthebestwaystoexpresspoliteness.Simultaneously，theappropriationofuseofvaguelanguageisalsooneofthestandardstobalancetheprofessionalcharacterofthemembersofacompanyandimprovetheimageofthec

58、ompanyintothepublic.Forinstance：（1）I'mafraidthattheproposalyouputforwardisn'tuptoomuch.Theaddresserexpresseshisdisagreementthroughthevagueandnegativewords，avoidingcruellysay"Idonotagreewithyourproposal."andleavewellimpressionontheaddressee.Thereisnodoubtthatthisproperlettermakesthe

59、bestandfakeadvertisementforthecompany.Accordingtotheaboveanalysis，wecanseethatproperuseofvaguelanguagecanfullyindicateyou-attitudethatrequiresdealingwithbusinessfromothersides'standpointandsatisfyothersidesneeds.Therefore，vaguelanguageplaysasignificantroleinindicatingyou-attitudewhichwillenhancethecooperationbetweenbothsidesandgiveapositiveimpressionofyourcompanytotheaddresser.（2） NegativeFunctionsVagueLanguageinBusinessEnglishLettersVaguelanguage，justlikeeverythinghastwoantagonisticsides，isno