如何写慰问信
慰问信是公司间友好往来的信种之一。商业伙伴出了事故或是公司要人去世,都应该写一封慰问信,以表示关心。这样的友好往来也会给双方的关系带来好处。
慰问信一定要注意措词和语气。下面是写慰问信需要注意的几点:
1. Start with a statement of sympathy.
2. Follow with sentences about mutual experiences or relationship.
3. Close with some expressions of comfort and affection.
下面是一封悼念业务伙伴的慰问信,可供参考:
Dear President Anderson
We were distressed to read in the Times this morning that your Chairman, Mr. Yonga had passed away and I am writing at once to express our deep sympathy on behalf of my colleagues.
I had the privilege of knowing Mr. Yonga for many years and always regarded him as a personal friend. By his untimely passing our industry has lost one of the ablest leaders. We at the representative office in London recall his many kindnesses and the pleasure of doing business together with him. Mr. Yonga will be greatly missed by all of us who have known him and worked with him in building a better community between our two businesses.
Please accept our deepest sympathy and convey our best wishes to Lady Yonga and her family.
Kevin Smith
Chief Representative
London Office
L&L Industry Co. Ltd.
第二篇:应用语域理论分析外贸英语的写作技巧
西安电子科技大学
硕士学位论文
应用语域理论分析外贸英语的写作技巧
姓名:刘金英
申请学位级别:硕士
专业:外国语言学及应用语言学
指导教师:杨跃
20100101
摘要
我国实行改革开放以来,沿海各大城市乃至内陆各地区的对外经济贸易业务迅速发展。进入2l世纪,尤其是中国加入WTO以后,外贸事业更是发展迅速,这对中国经济乃至世界经济都贡献巨大。随着我国对外贸易的不断发展,外贸英语发挥着越来越重要的作用,对外贸人才的需求也随之越来越大,而现在对外贸英语的研究还远不能满足社会的需求。
在对外贸易中,交易双方来自不同国家,不同文化,他们可能对同一表述产生不同的理解,从而产生纠纷。因此,外贸英语的书面语比口语更为重要。这也是作者要把该论文的重点放在外贸英语的书面语臣lJ#b贸信函上的原因,所以对外贸英语写作的研究既有理论意义又有实用意义。
经过大量的调查作者发现,现在对外贸英语的研究重点大部分都在外贸英语教学与外贸英语翻译上。而对外贸工作者来说,成功的撰写外贸英语更为重要,是从事外贸的人员必须具备的专业技能,所以本论文旨在研究外贸英语的书写技巧。另外,作者认为外贸英语属于特殊用途英语,有其特定的使用语境,用功能语法的语域理论为依据来对其进行分析,更为合适。
作者对《新编外经贸英语函电与谈判》一书进行了细致的研究,并从中随机抽取了40篇外贸信函进行了统计分析。应用语域理论对这些外贸信函进行分析,总结出外贸英语的写作特点,然后又从词汇、句子及语篇三个方面引用大量例子对其进行了详细说明。
但由于时间及篇幅的限制,作者没有搜集到更多的材料,对外贸信函的研究也限于其正文部分。虽然仍有不足之处,但作者尽力总结出了外贸英语写作应注意的三个方面,并希望该论文能对外贸英语学习者有所帮助。
关键词:功能语法语域理论外贸英语写作技巧
Abstract
SinceChinatookthepolicyofreformingandopeninguptotheoutsideworld,theinternationaltradehasdevelopedrapidlyinthebigcitiesalongtheseasideandintheinlandplaces.Enteringthe21stcentury,especiallyafterChinaentryintotheWTO,theinternationaltradedevelopsmorerapidly,whichcontributesalotbothtoChineseeconomyandtheglobaleconomy.Astherapiddevelopmentofinternationaltrade,thefunctionofforeigntradeEnglishismoreandmoreimportantandtheneedforqualified
onforeigntradeoperatorsisbiggerandbigger.However,theanalysisforeigntrade
Englishisfarfromenough.
Ininternationaltradetransaction,thebuyersandsellersarefromdifferentcountries,
cantheymayhavedifferentunderstandingofthesameexpressionwhichgiveriseto
disputes.Insuchcircumstances,thewrittenformof
overforeigntradeEnglishtakespriorityalethespokenform.Thus,formosttransactionsspokenactivitiesgenerallyaccompanied谢t11wriRenones.Therefore,thispaperisdevotedtothewrittenEnglishforinternationaltrade.Besides,theauthorconsidersthat
aforeigntradeEnglishbelongtovarietyofEnglishforspecialpurpose,andhasitsuniquecontext,therefore,analyzing
tradeEnglishbasedonforeigntheregistertheoryoffunctionalgrammarismoreproperly.
ThisdissertationisbasedontheanalysisonthebookofBUSINESS
authorhasCORRESPONDENCEANDDIALOGUESwrittenbyQiYunfang.The
haveailstudiedthebookcarefullyandselected40lettersatrandomto
statisticsmethod,and
thewritingskillsofanalysis、^,itlltheandsummarizedanalyzedtheseletters而mthetheoryofregisterforeigntradeEnglishfromthereaspectsi.ethelexicallevel,thesyntacticallevelandthetextuallevel.
Becauseofthelackoftimetheauthorhasnotcollectedmorematerial,andtheanalysisislimitedtothebodypartofaforeigntradeleaer.Althoughthisdissertationhassomeshortcomings,theauthorhasmanagedtosummarizethewritingskillsofforeigntradeEnglish,withthehopetohelpthosewhoarelearningandusingFTE.Keywords:FunctionalGrammarRegistetsTheoryForeignTradeEnglish
WritingSkill
西安电子科技大学
学位论文独创性(或创新性)声明
秉承学校严谨的学分和优良的科学道德,本人声明所呈交的论文是我个人在导师指导下进行的研究工作及取得的研究成果。尽我所知,除了文中特别加以标注和致谢中所罗列的内容以外,论文中不包含其他人已经发表或撰写过的研究成果;也不包含为获得西安电子科技大学或其它教育机构的学位或证书而使用过的材料。与我一同工作的同志对本研究所做的任何贡献均已在论文中做了明确的说明并表示了谢意。
申请学位论文与资料若有不实之处,本人承担一切的法律责任。
本人签名:鑫l金羹
西安电子科技大学
关于论文使用授权的说明
本人完全了解西安电子科技大学有关保留和使用学位论文的规定,即:研究生在校攻读学位期间论文工作的知识产权单位属西安电子科技大学。学校有权保留送交论文的复印件,允许查阅和借阅论文;学校可以公布论文的全部或部分内容,可以允许采用影印、缩印或其它复制手段保存论文。同时本人保证,毕业后结合学位论文研究课题再攥写的文章一律署名单位为西安电子科技大学。
(保密的论文在解密后遵守此规定)
本学位论文属于保密,在年解密后适用本授权书。
导师签名:———二垂址本人签名:叁)垒墓
I.Introduction
LIntroduction
1.1TheImportanceofForeignTradeEnglishinInternationalTrade
ForeigntradeEnglish(FTE)referstoaspecifickindofEnglishemployedininternationaltrade.Astherapiddevelopmentofinternationaltrade,Englishhasfoundwideuseinthisfieldandhasbeenplayingamoreandmoreimportantroleininternationaltrade.
111etwopartswhoparticipateintheactivityofinternationaltradearefromdifferentcountriesanddifferentcultures,especiallytheyspeakdifferentlanguages.HowCantheycommunicate、^,imeachother?IfpeopleCannotcommunicate、析mandunderstandeachothertlleyCandonothingtogether,nottrade.Therefore,thereisaevencooperateininternationalusedandgreatneedofakindoflanguagewhichCanbeunderstoodallovertheworld.Witlltheglobalizationofeconomyandthedevelopment
hasbeenofmultinationalcooperation,Englishincreasinglyacceptedas
wantachiefmeansforintemationalbusinesstransaction.Consequently,ifwetocompetein
ofinternationaltradeandmakebenefitfrom
tradeEnglishisaforeigntrade,a900dcommandforeignbasicandnecessaryskill.
SinceChinatookthepolicyofreformandopeninguptotheoutsideworld,theinternationaltradehasdevelopedrapidlyinmostofthebigcitiesinChina.Inthe21stcentury,especially
developsafterChinaentryintotheeverWTO,internationaltradeinaChinamorerapidlythan
tobefore,anditcontributeslotbothtoChineseeconomyandtheglobaleconomy.Astherapiddevelopmentofinternationaltrade,
thefunctionofforeigntradeEnglishismoreandmoreimportantandtheneedforqualifiedforeigntradeoperatorsisbiggerandbigger.
ofinternationaltradeinChinahasgreatlynerapidgrowthenhancedthebusiness
communicationbetweenimportersandexporters.Amongbusinesscommunication,writingbusinessintemationaltradeandremainsverylettersisaa、7Iriderangeofmeansofbasicactivityinvolvedinofelectronicimportantintheage
letterscommunication.nowadaysMillionstoofbusinesslettersarebeingsentbyfaxesandespeciallybye-mailscarryouttraderoutineefficiently.nearewrittennotonlyforinformation
orexchangebetweenbuyersandsellers,but
contract.alsoasanarrangementevidenceofa
Inforeigntradebusinesscommunication,clearandwell-structuredlettersCanget
usebetterresultswithspeedandaccuracy.Thewordsthatwritermayandthewaytllat
writermaypresentthemgiveimportantsignalsaboutbusinesstoaddressees.SowritingtherightletterisveryimportanttotheSuccessininternationaltrade.
1.2ThePurposeoftheThesis
WecanunderstandclearlytheimportanceofforeigntradeEnglishfromtheaboveepisode.Alargepartofinternationalbusinessisconductedbymeansofcorrespondence;therefore,itisoftheutmost
NowEnglishhasbecome
isnotsimply
universal
InaimportanceforUStolearntowritegoodbusinessletters.worldbusiness.ItoraanintemationaUyacceptedasalanguageinthesecondorusedasanativelanguage,butforeignlanguagelanguageforinternationalcommercialpurpose.word,、^rimtheglobalizationofeconomyandthedevelopmentofmultinational
asacooperation,Englishhasbeenincreasinglyacceptedchiefmeansforinternational
businesstransaction.AlthoughFTEisregardedasabranchofBusinessEnglish,itsacademicstudyisnot80common.ThisbringsbomtheoreticalandpracticalsignificancetoFTEstudy.
Thegrowing
broughtwitllitimportanceofEnglishastheinternationalbusinesslanguagehasforallanincreasingdemandup-to-datestudyonbusinesswriting.YetmanyteachersandstudentsfeelthattheteachingandlearningofEnglishforbusinessistoospecializedforthem
people.Thetodosuccessfully.Thisthesisisallattempttohelptwogroupsoffirstarethepresentemployeesofinternationalcompanies,andthesecondarefutureemployeesofsuchbusinesses,atpresentperhapsstudentsofbusinessorevenoftechnicalsubjects.Theauthorhopesafterthereadingofthisessaytheywill
FTE,especiallythewrittenbecomequalified、Ⅳitlltacklingtheproblemsinvolvedin
formofit,thatistosaythe
aforeigntradecorrespondence,namely,FTC.transaction,noThecompletionofmatterwhattypeoftrade,internalor
intemational,generallyinvolvesbothspokenandwrittenactivities.However,writtenactivityrunsthroughthewholetransaction,especiallyininternationaltradeforthereasonthatintheinternationaltradetransaction,thebuyersandsellersa陀fromdifferent
whichcountries,theycausemayhavedifferentunderstandingofthegameexpression,Candisputes.Insuchcircumstances,thewrittenformofthetermstakes
arepriorityoverthespokenform.Thus,in
forinternationaltrade.mosttransactionsspokenactivitiesgenerallyaccompaniedwithwrittenones.ThatiswhythisdissertationisdevotedtothewrittenformofEnglish
I.Introduction3
Inordertobe
involvedininternationaltrade,therelevantpartsshouldbe
proficientinwritinglettersinEnglish.Forexample:1.How
Can
non-nativeEnglish
speakers
writebusinessletters
as
effectively
as
nativeEnglishspeaker?2.Isthereany
compositionalconventiontofollowinwritingagoodbusinessletter?
Thispaperwillsolvetheseproblemsbyanalyzingthedetail
language
featuresofFTEin
a
using
theRegistertheoryandget
a
conclusion
on
howtowrite
goodforeign
tradecorrespondence.
1.3The
MethodologyandArrangementoftheThesis
1.3.1The
Methodology
dissertation
iS
ofThisThesis
Thisbased
on
the
analysis
on
thebookofBUSINESS
CoRREsPoNDENCEANDDIALOGUESwrittenbystudiedthe
QiYunfang.’n∞authorhas
all
hook
carefullyand
selected40lettersatrandomtohave
analysiswiththe
methodofstatistics.Afteranalysingtheseletters、^,iththetheoryofRegisterofFunctionalGrammar,theauthorsummarizedthewritingskillsof
on
foreigntradeEnglish
threelevels.
Statisticsisconsideredbysometo
be
a
mathematicalsciencepertainingtothe
collection,analysis,Interpretation
consideritto
or
explanation,andpresentationofdata,whileothers
be
a
branchofmathematicsconcernedwith
collectingand
interpreting
data.Because
ofitsempiricalrootsandits
a
focus
on
applications,statisticsis
usually
considered
tobedistinctmathematicalsciencerather
thanabranch
ofmathematics.
Statisticsprovidestoolsforprediction
andforecastingusingdataandstatistical
models.Itisapplicabletoa、析devarietyofacademicdisciplines,includingnaturaland
socialsciences,government,andbusiness.
Infunctionalgrammar
languagehasthreemeanings/functions:theideational
function,theInternationalfunctionandthetextualfunction.AndRegisterisdefmedby
Hallidayasvariation
accordingto
use.Ithasthreefactors,i.e.field,mode
that
ale
and
tenor.
nlefieldmainlydeterminestheexperiential/ideationalmeanings
tenormainly
expressed;the
determinestheinterpersonalmeanings;andthemodemainlydetermines
thetextualmeanings.
Foreignforeigntrade
adequately.
tradeEnglishis
anEnglishvarietyused
can
ininternationaltrade
andanalyze
English、析tlltheRegistertheory
displaythelanguagecharacteristics
4
AnAnalysis
on
the
WritingSkill—so—fForeignTradeEnglishBased
on
theRegisterTheory
1.3.2TheArrangementoftheThesis
Thewholethesisconsistsoffive
chapters.Andtheorganizationofthisdissertation
goes弱follows:
ChapterOneis
all
introduction
to
thethesis,includingtheimportanceofforeign
tradeEnglishininternationaltrade,thepurposeofthethesis,themethodologyandthe
arrangementofthepaper.Afterreadingthispartthereaderthewholethesis.
ChapterTwoisliteraturereview.Firstlytheauthor
Call
get
a
roughpictureof
introduces
thestudysituation
of
foreign
trade
English.And
thenthe
importantconceptsin,thisdissertationa∞
introduced,such鹪thenotionofinternationalGrammarandthetheoryofRegister.
trade,foreign
tradeEnglish,Functional
ChapterThreeisthelinguistic
tenor
analysis
on
FTEfromthethreevarietiesofRegister,skillsof
i.e.field,modeand
andpredictthewriting
foreigntradeEnglishbased
on
thefeatureofpredictabilityofRegister.TheauthorsummariesthewritingskillsofFTEfromthree
aspects.And
itdrawsforththe
next
chapter'Chapter
supported
Foura
by
a
further
of
explanationofthewritingskillsfromthesethreeaspects
mount
examples.
ChapterFour
threedifferent
expoundsthewritingskillsoflevelsandeverylevelconsists
by
FTEbased
on
ChapterThree
from
ofseveralsub-levelsfordetailedfrom
the
book
explanation,supported
plenty
of
examples
ofBUSINESS
this
CORRESPONDENCEANDDIALOGUESwritten
byQiYunfang.Afterchapter,
thereadersCanunderstandthelanguagefeaturesofFTEclearlyandmastersome
writingskillsofFTE,which
Can
dosomehelptotheirwritingofFTE.
Chapter
paper
Fiveis
a
conclusionofthedissertation.Itsummarizesthefindingsofthis
writing
andofferssomeimplicationsfor
foreigntradeEnglishlettersinthelight
oftheresultsobtained.Atthesame
time,thelimitations
are
pointed
out
andsome
suggestionsaregivenbytheauthorforfurtherresearch.
II.LiteratureReview
5
II.LiteratureReview
2.1TheStudySituationofFTE
Internationaltradeplays
moreandmoreimportantrulein
a
a
country’Seconomy
anditstandsfor
plays
a
a
country’S
national
powerhave
insomeextent.AsforeigntradeEnglish
to
very
on
importantpartforeign
ininternationaltrade,itisofgreatneed
beensomestudies
haveanacademic
analysis
tradeEnglish.There
alreadyfortunately,but
thestudies
on
FTEarenotenoughforthe
Da
readers.
analyzedthe
reasons
FanLianying,from
occurrences
LianHaiShiUniversity,has
forthe
ofthe
high
frequencyabbreviationsandsummarizesthespellingrulesof
hispaperofAnalysis
the
on
abbreviations
Abbreviations
intelexinforeigntrade
in
Foreign
Trade
Englishin
the
English
in
2001.From
classificationof
abbreviationsin
Englishforinternationaltrade,formation
abbreviations
featuresandoccurring
are
occasionsoftheseabbreviationsin
are
revealed,andconclusions
drawnthat
Englishforinternationaltradearedifferentfrom
abbreviationsin
generalEnglishintermsofnumber,word—formationandpartsofspeech.
trade
JinXinhasanalyzedthetranslationofforeign
correspondenceand
exactness
has
proposed
paper
thetranslationstandardofbusinessEnglish---faithfulnessand
The
Register
inhis
Trade
of
Theory
and
English
Translation
of
Foreign
Correspondencein2007.Inthepaperhe
to
pointed
text
outthat
theChineseversionshouldtry
achieve
equivalence诵tllforeign
trade
will
theoriginalinfunction,namely,intheideational,
registerapproachthatappliesto
a
interpersonalandtextualmeaningof
Englishfor
register.The
provides
correspondence
play
an
new
perspectivetobusiness
mle
in
the
cultural
translation,which
increasingly
important
communicationintheageofglobalization.
Han
Ronghasoffered
a
a
detailedinvestigation
on
thecriteriaandmodelofFrE
translationby
brief
contrast
betweenBusiness
English
and
FTE.Thetranslation
a
criteria:“faithfulness'’,“exactness’’and‘'customariness’’aresuggested,and
explanationisalsogiven.
detailed
LiLifromZhejiangNormalUniversityhasstudiedpresenting
a
foreigntradeEnglishby
genre
analysis
ofauthenticletterswrittenbyChinese
andAmericansin
internationaltradepractice.Theresearchgoesfurthertoprobeintothelinguistic
featuresofdiscoursebyemployingthe
politenesstheory.Thestudyshowsthestriking
differencesinthepolitenessstrategiesusedbyeachgroup.AlthoughtheChinese
writersshow
all
awarenessofvarioustypesofpolitenessstrategies,thelanguageusedto
expresspolitenesstendedtobelessflexibleandmoredirectthanthatofthewriters.Thestudydemonstratesthe
AmeriCan
factthatbusinesswritinginEnglishbynon-native
the
speakers,eventhatwhichisgrammaticallyflawless,mayreaderbecauseoftheinappropriate
Aswehaveknown
a
use
beperceivednegativelyby
ofpolitenessstrategies.
a
goodcommandofwritingforeigntradeEnglishleRersis
basicandnecessaryskillininternationaltrade,however,noneofthethesisbeforeisfocused
on
thewritingskillofforeigntradeEnglishletters.
2.2APreliminaryStudy
InternationalTrade
on
SinceforeigntradeEnglishisanEnglishvarietyusedininternationaltrade,itis
necessaryfor
US
tohaveagoodunderstandingon
international
trade.The
authorwill
introduceinternationaltradeindetailinthesecondpartofthis
Trademeansbuyingandsellinggoods
exchange
isdone
or
chapter.
all
exchanginggoodsforgoods.Ifsuch
or
betweenpersons
or
ofdifferentcountries
regions,wecallthis
theexchangeof
to
internationaltrade
foreigntl"oIde.Inotherwords,internationaltradeis
or
capital,goods,andservicesacrossinternationalborders
ofgoods
territories.Itrefers
exports
andservicesby
a
a
firm
toa
foreign-basedbuyer(importer).Inmost
famous
recent
countries,it
represents
significantshareofgrossdomesticproduct(GDP).Whileinternational
Silk
tradehasbeenpresentthroughoutmuchofhistory,forexamplethe
Iba也
its
economic,social,andpoliticalimportance
Industrialization,
havebeen
on
theriseincenturies.
advanced
are
transportation,all
globalization,
on
multinational
corporations,andoutsourcinghaving
a
majorimpact
to
theinternationaltrade
system.Increasingintemationaltradeiscrucial
itis
a
thecontinuanceofglobalization.And
a
major
sourceofeconomic
revenue
foranynationthatisconsidered
limited
to
worldpower.
Withoutinternationaltrade,nations
wouldbe
thegoodsandservices
produced
withintheirOwnborders.
isinprinciple
not
Internationaltrademotivation
different
in
fromdomestictrade
a
as
the
andthebehaviorofpartiesinvolved
on
tradedoes
or
not
change
fundamentallydepending
whethertradeisacross
a
border
not.The
main
differenceis
reasonisthat
thatinternationaltradeistypicallymorecostly
a
thandomesticWdde.The
tariffs,timecostsdue
bordertypicallyimposesadditional
costssuchas
II.LiteratureReview
7
to
borderdelaysand
ora
costs
associated谢mcountry
differencessuch
aS
language,the
legalsystem
differentculture.
internationaltradeisthatfactorsof
a
Another
differencebetweendomesticand
productionsuchascapitaland
across
labor
are
typicallymoremobilewithincountrythan
ingoodsand
countries.Thus
onlyto
internationaltradeismostly
a
restricted
totrade
or
services,and
lesserextenttotradein
capital,labor
as
a
otherfactorsof
production.Then
factorsof
tradeingoods
and
services
Canservesubstitutefortradein
production.
factor
ofproduction,a
InsteadofimportingthecountryCanimport
goodsthat
makeintensive
USC
ofthefactorofproductionandthusembodytherespectivefactor.
An
exampleistheimport
of
labor-intensive
goodsbytheUnitedStatesfromChina.
IIlsteadofimportingChinese
were
labortheUnitedStatesis
importing
a
goodsfromChinathat
produced嘶tll
Chinese
labor.International
tradeisalsobranch
ofeconomics,
which,togethereconomics.
with
international
finance,forms
thelargerbranchofinternational
Internationaltradeisrathercomplicated,becauseithas
a
longhistory
andthere
arc
manycommercialpracticesandtrade
terms.These
trade
terms
havestandardand
commonlyacceptabledefinitionsandmaybeinterpretedindifferentwaysbydifferent
countries.Therefore,itis
Besides,we
necessaryfor
usto
studycarefullythesepractices
andterms.
have
toget
familiar晰tllcountries
commercialhabits,customsregulationsand
as
othertradeproceduresofthe
Trading、历mother
Athome
a
wearedealingwitll.
trading
countriesisnotthesame
within
one’S
own
country.
company
isfamiliar、jl,iⅡlitsownpeople,laws
a
andbusiness
practices.
laws,
Abroadthepicturebecomescomplexone.Languagebarriers,differencesin
rate
insurancecoverageandexchange
Tradeabroadisalso
a
fluctuations
all
add
toa
company’Sproblems.
and
risk
becausethesellerusuallydoesn’t
create
knowthebuyer.Time
distancearefactorsthatmayproblemsincommunicationandinthesalabilityof
goods,especiallythosewhichare
Ininternationalwade,the
perishable.
isin
one
importercountry
andthe
exporter
isinanother.getto
Theyare
and
findHow
separatedsometimesbythousandsofmiles.How
an
Cananimporter
know
exporter?How
andSO
can
anexporter
find
whoisinthemarketforthis
can
goods?
CantheimporterPayforthegoods
on
hehas
bought?How
is
the
exporterreceive
thecommonly
thepayment?So
acceptable
trade
forth.Therefore,it
砀e
procedures
important
of
tofollow
procedures。
international
all
trade
consistof
establishingtraderelationship,makinginquiry,making
offer,onprice,ordering,
.8,———...—.........——A......n......A.......n....a...
concluding
a
transaction,makingshipment,insurance,negotiatingpayment,lodging
can
a
claim,etc.thefollowingdiagram
ItiS
presenttheproceduresin
a
more
concreteway.
according
to
to
theproceduresofinternationaltradethattheauthorselectsher
covers
material
beanalyzed.Andthematerialinthispaper
thewholeactivityofan
internationaltrade.
Intoday’S
complexeconomicworld,no
nationis
self-sufficient
and
to
no
nationhas
allofthecommoditiesthatitneeds.Therefore,itisveryimportant
promotethe
developmentofinternationaltradeforeverycountry.Nationshaveutilizeddifferent
economicresources;peoplehave
worldtradeand
Inthe
developeddifferentskills.Thisisthefoundationof
economicactivity.
are
contemporaryworld,scienceandtechnology
to
developing
one
fast.Therefore,
tolauncha
countrieshave
depend
onone
another.ItiSimpossiblefor
electronic
country
spaceshuttlewithoutanothercountry’S
technology.Also,even
country,it
still
thoughthe
large
UnitedStatesproducesmoreautomobilesthanother
imports
numbersofautosfromGermany,Japandemandsmorestylesandmore
Foreigntradeisofvital
andSweden,primarily
becausetheUSmarket
innovationsthanit
Canprovide
itself.
trades
importance
toanation’S
economy.Everycountry
withotherChina’S
countries.China
isnOWtrading
with
morethan150
countriesand
regions.
reformsand
openinguptotheoutsideworldarebound
togiveimpetustothe
advanceofhereconomy.
Whenever
a
country
or
a
companyattemptstowinintheworldtradeitwill
market.Growinginternational
to
participateinthesharpcompetitionintheworld
cooperationineconomic,monetary
andpoliticalmatterswillcertainlycontribute
the
flouringoftheworldtradeintheyearstocome.
2.3TheIntroductiontoFTE
Thispaperisfocusedof
on
analyzingthelanguage
aspect
characteristics
andwritingskills
foreigntradeEnglishfromthe
oftheRegister
theory.Consequently,itisof
a
greatnecessaryto
on
understand
theconceptofFTE.Wemayhave
verybriefimpression
what
foreigntrade
author
EnglishiSfromthe
former
partofthisthesis,however,itiSnot
enough.The
partofthis
willillustrate
tousindetail
foreigntrade
Englishinthefollowing
chapter,withtheexplanationoftherelationshipbetweenFTEandBusiness
Englishformanypeopleareconfusedaboutthem.
II.LiteratureReview
9
2.3.1TheConceptofFTE
English,astheinternationalcommunicationmeans,nowplaysforeigntrade
entranceinto
our
or
animportant
rolein
internationaltrade.WiⅡltheeconomicglobalizationandChina’S
tradeEnglishisplaying
a
WTO,foreign
life.
moreandmore
important
rolein
economic
Simply
speaking,foreign
a
trade
English
refers
to
Englishemployed
in
internationaltrade.Itis
a
sub-varietyofESP(Englishforspecialpurpose)andincludes
goodsin
largevarietyofstylesconcernedwitllthesaleof
commercial
foreign
countries,suchas
salespromotion,inquiryofprice,businessdiscussion,trading
correspondence,insurancepolicy,marketing,packingandshipment,ete.
111ecompletion
of
a
transaction,nomatterwhattypeoftrade,internal
or
international,generallyinvolvesbothspoken
andwrittenactivities.However,written
activity
runs
throughthewholetransaction,especiallyininternationaltradeforthe
are
reasonthatintheinternationaltradetransaction,thebuyersandsellers
different
from
countries,they
mayhavedifferentunderstandingofthesameexpressionwhich
givesrisetodisputes.Insuchcircumstances,thewrittenformofthe
over
termstakespriority
aregenerally
the
spokenform.Thus,for
written
mosttransactions
spokenactivities
accompanied谢tll
ones.Therefore,this
paperisdevotedtothewrittenEnglish
forintemationaltrade,namely,foreigntradeletters/correspondences.
2.3.2TheRelationshipbetweenBEandFTE
Peopleusuallyfeelconfused
aboutBusiness
English
andForeign
itisnecessarytodistinguishtheminthisofthis
paper.Wehavelearned
minthe
TradeEnglish,SO
frontpart
chapter,andthen
wewilllearnBusinessEnglishinthefollowingpart.
Business
EnglishreferstothekindofEnglish
a
usedinbusinessactivity,that
business
istofield.
say,BusinessEnglishbelongsto
n
specialEnglishvarietyappliedinthe
is觚area
of
ESP(EnglishforSpecificPurpose),but
a
itdiffersfromothervarietiesof
a
ESPinthatitisoften
mixtureofspecificcontext(relatingto
particular
job
areaor
industry)and
general
context(relating
to
general
abilityto
communicate
more
effectivelyinbusinesssituations).
ItWassinceBusinessEnglishisbusiness
1980sthat
a
Business
Englishhas
becomepopularinthe
world.
varietyofEnglishforspecialpurposeservingfortheinternational
ofthreeelements,i.e.theknowledge
business
on
and
it
consists
usedinthefieldofbusinessandthe
communicationskills.Thelanguageused
business,thelanguage
10AnAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedonth——eR——egister.....Theor—y—inspecificsituationisdepended
skills;thecontextonthebackgroundofbusinessandcommunicationofbusinessdeterminesthechoiceofbusinessterms;the
SOoncommunicationskillsdeterminesthesentencepattern,textstructure,style,tone
andSO
Itforth.coversaseriesofwideEnglishvarietiesinbusiness,such
TVastheforeigntradeEnglish,printadvertisements,jobapplicationletters,and
calladvertisements.Finally,WedrawaconclusionthatFTEandBEbotharevarietiesofEnglish
forspecialpurpose,i.e.ESP.Thenwhatparticularfeaturesdothey
ofhaveasspecialtypesEnglish?ⅢSiStheproblemthisdissertationwinSOlve.
2.4TheNotionofFunctionalGrammarandRegisterTheory
2.4.1AnOverviewonSystemicFunctionalGrammar
aSystemicfunctionalgl'ammaristhemostwell-knowncomponentofbroadsocial
semioticapproachtolanguage.Systemic—functionallinguisticsisoriginallyarticulatedbyHallidayinthe1960s.Systemic?functionalgrammarisconcernedprimarily、加吐lthechoicesthataremadeavailabletospeakersofalanguagebytheirgrammaticalsystems.
toconcreteThese
formschoicesareassumedofatObemeaningfulandrelatespeaker’Sintentionstypicallydividedintothreebroadlanguage.Meaningsareareas,calledmetafimctions:theexperiential,grammarforrepresentingtheworld;theinterpersonal,grammarforenactingSOcialrelationships;and
texts.thetextual,grammarforbindinglinguisticelementstogetherintobroader
Systemic-functionalgrammarisstillunusualinitscommitmenttodealing、析tllalloftheseareasofmeaningequallyandwithinthegrammaticalitself.Thetheorysetsouttoexplainhowwordingsmakemeanings.ThisissignificantlydifferentfromthequestionaskedbyNoamChomsky:‘'whatisthefinite
arulesystemwhichgeneratesallandonlythegrammaticalsentencesin
alanguage?'’Hallidayinvestigateslinguistics舔sub—branchofsociology.Systemic?functionalGrammarthereforepaysmuchmoreattentiontopragmaticsanddiscoursesemantics.
Thebasicconceptisthatof‘'contextofsituation",originally
byFirthinhissuggestedbyMalinowski(1923)andsubsequentlyelaboratedpaperofPersonalityand
onlylanguageinsociety.Essentiallywhatthisimpliesisthatlanguagecomestolife
whenfunctionsinSOmeenvironment.Wedo
wedidSOwewouldnotrecognizeitasnotexperiencelanguageiniSOlation--ifalwaysinrelationtoalanguage-butscenario,somebackgroundofpersonsandactionsandevents,fromwhichthethingswhichare
II.LiteratureReview
saidderivetheirmeanings.Thisisreferredtoasthe“situation".Solanguageissaid
whichfailstobuildintofunctionin‘'contextofsituation'’andany
situationasanaccountoflanguagetheessentialingredientislikelytobeartificialandunrewarding.Inanother
areword,theconceptof‘‘contextofsituation'’referstothosefeatureswhich
thespeechthatistakingplace.relevantto
Whenpeopleu∞languagetoexpressmeanings,theydo
useSOinspecificsituations,andtheformofthelanguagethattheyisinfluencedbythecomplexelementsof
thosesituations.SituationalSOaffectstheexpressionofmeaninginwrittenEnglish.Abusinessletterrequestingpaymentofadebtislikelytobeverydifferentinformatandstyle舶m
isused.aletteronasimilartopicwrittentoanoldfriendwhoowesthewriterSOmenotonlymoney.ThesituationdoesaffectthechoiceofwordsbutalSOthegrammarthat
Thesituation
developsclearcanhavesuchaconstrainingeffectonlanguagethatsocietyoftenorconventionsofuse
belikethoseassociated、析tllbusinesslettersformalgreetingswhichhavetolearnedbeforethenewcomersofthecircumstancesCan
behave
andappropriately.lastpoiIltisaThereflectionofthecontextsofsituationinwhichlanguageisused,thewaysinwhichonetypeofsituationmaydifferfromanother.Typesoflinguistic
onesituationdifferfromanother,broadlyspeaking,inthreerespects:fixstly,whatis
actuallytakingplace;secondly,whoistakingpart;andthirdly,whatparttheisplaying.Thesethreevariables,takenlanguagetogether,determinetherangewithinwhichmeaningsareselectedand,theformswhichareusedfortheirexpression.Inotherwords,theydeterminethe‘'register'’.
2.4.2AnIntroductiontotheTheoryofRegister
AswehaveknowfromtheanteriorpartofthisdissertationthatthetheorywhichsupportsthestudyisthetheoryofRegister.Inorderto
ofthetheory,theauthorwillhaveacorrectandclearcomprehension
episode.illustrateittothereadersinthefollowing
2.4.2.1TheConceptofRegister
Languageisalwaysusedforcertaincommunicativepurpose
aondifferentoccasions.Inordertomeetthedifferent
whichcommunicativeneeds,wehavelotoflanguagevarietiesformthecategoryofregister.Theterm‘'register'’Wasfirstusedinthissensethat
12——AnAnalysis
on
the
Writ—i—n—gSk—ills
ofForeign
Tra—de—En——gl—i—sh——B——as——ed...o..n....。t...h....。e.......R.。...e....g.....i...s...t...e.....r......T.......h.....e.....o......r.—y—
of
textvarietyby
Reid,andthentheconceptwastakenupanddevelopedby
Jean
Ure,
andinterpreted
withintheframeworkofHill’SInstitutionalLinguisticbydrew
a
Halliday.
(1964).Halliday
primarydistinctionbetween
asa
twotypesoflanguagevariety:
dialect,whichtheydefined
varietyaccording
to
theu∞f’andregister,whichthey
a
defined
as
varietyaccordingtotheuse.Thedialectiswhat
person
speaks,determined
whatheisdoing
a
bywhoheis;theregisteris
at
what
a
personis
can
speaking,determinedby
thetime.Thisgeneraldistinctionbeaccepted,insteadofcharacterizing
register
largelybyitslexica-granunaticalproperties.
Whenlanguageisused,itisalwaysusedin
a
a
context.Whataresaid
andhowthey
aresaidarealwaysdictatedbygenerallyandconsistentlyvarietiesoflanguage
ona
varietyofsituations.Somesituationsseemtodepend
regularsetoflanguagefeatures
SO
thatsomedistinctive
occur.
The
constantfeaturesof
thesituationalcircumstancesofspeech
usuallyfallinto
events
which
can
beconsistentlyrelatedtovariationsinlanguage
groupoffeaturesrelatetothereasonably
two
maingroups:one
permanent
to
characteristicsoftheUSersintheusers’u∞oflanguagein
speechevents.The
othergroupoffeaturesrelates
particularevents.Andthentherearethedialectalanddiatypic.
two
mainkindsofsituationalvarieties:
Dialectalvarietiescommonlycalleddialectsarelanguagevariationsthatare
associated、析tlldifferent
in
users
ofthelanguage.AstheUSersin
a
society
call
bedefined
rangeof
and
terms
oftheindividual,temporal,regional
andsocialaffiliationsandtheir
intelligibility,SOvarietiesCanbedividedinto
standardvarieties
individual,temporal,regional,social
respectively.Thesearerelativelypermanentfeaturesofthe
‘
language
userin
a
speech
event.
Diatypicvarieties
commonlycalledRegisterarelanguagevariations
thatare
associatedwitllthe
use
different墩towhich
thelanguage,but
on
theyareput.Suchvarietiesdo
notdependon
thepeoplewho
theoccasionwhenitisused.TheoccasionsCan
presenting
beclassified
partplayed
alongthreebythe
dimensions,each
andmode.
anaspectofthesituationandthe
languageinthem.Inthisway,registersmaybedistinguished
accordingto
field,tenoris
Register
definedbyHalliday(Halliday&Hassa,1985/89)asvariation
use
according
toUSe:thatiswetypicallycertainrecognizableconfigurationsoflinguistic
resoBrcesincertaincontexts.1fllerearethreemaindimensionsofvariationwhichcharacterizeany
register:what
is
beingtalkedabout(thefield);thepeopleinvolved
in
II.LiteratureReview
13
thecommunicationandtherelationshipbetweenthem(thetenor);andhowthelanguageisfunctioningintheinteraction,whetheritiswritten
or
spoken(themode).
to
nenotionofregisterisvery
language
wespeak
or
simpleandverypowerful.Itrefers
to
thefactthatthe
use
writevariesaccording
todiscover
thetypeofsituationinwhichwe
it.
11他theoryofregisterattemptsvariation,SOthatwe
ale
thegeneralprincipleswhichgovemthis
abletounderstandwhichkindofsituationalfactorsdetermines
a
whichl(indoflinguisticfeatures.Itisfundamentalpropertyofalltypesoflanguages
thatitdisplaysvariationaccordingtouse.However,littleisyetknownaboutthenature
ofthevariationinvolved,largelybecauseitisdifficultfactors.
Allofthe
to
identifythecontrolling
language
functionsinsomecontextsofsituation,anditisrelatetothose
contexts.Thequestion
is
notwhat
peculiaritiesof
vocabulary
or
grammarof
pronunciationCanbe
directly
accounted
forbyreferringtothesituation,butwhich
kindsofsituationalfactor
determine
a
whichkindsofselectioninthelinguisticsystem.
ne
notionofregisteristhusformofprediction:giventhatwe
know
thesituation,the
social
context
is
oflanguageuse,we
ail
canpredict
occur.砸s
importantfeatureof
registe叩dictability
on
a
greatdealaboutthelanguagethatwill
anditisbased
on
this
featurethattheauthortradeEngliSh.2.4.2.2
undergoestheanalysisthelanguagecharacteristicsofforeign
Metafunctions
Infunctionalapproachestogrammarweessentiallyequatemeaning、析tllfunction.
GeoffThompsonsummarizedthethreekindsofmeaningsthatweinan
have
SO
faridentified
informal
1.People
way
use
as
follows:(GeoffThompson,2000;P.28)
totalk
language
about
events
our
experience
oftheworld,includingtheentities
worldsin
our
own
minds,todescribe
use
andstatesandtheinvolvedinthem.
andmaintain
on
2.Peoplealsolanguage
to
interact
with
other
people,to
establish
relations、ⅣitIlthem,toinfluencetheirbehavior,to
intheworld,and
一
●
express0111"ownviewpoint
things
3.Finally,musinglanguage,peopleorgafllZeourmessagesmwayswluchindicate
●
●
●
…‘
toelicitorchange
‘
theirs.
‘
‘‘‘‘o
howtheyfitinwimtheothermessageswhichwearetalkingorwriting.
around
them
and、析m
above
the
widercontext
in
InHalliday’SFunctionalGrammar,thethreecategories
areusedasthebasis
theyallowthe
forexploringhowmeaningarecreatedand
understood,because
matchingofparticulartypesoffunctions/meaningswithparticulartypesofwordings
ail
to
extent
thatothercategorizationsgenerallydo
can
not.
oneor
Allthemorespecificfunctions
beassignedtO
to
otherofthethreebroad
as
functionsoutlinedabove;andhencewerefer
The
thesebroadfunctionsmetafimctions.
labelsforeachthemetafunctionsarereasonablytransparent:thefirstisthe
theinterpersonal
experiential/ideationalfunction;thesecondis
thetextualfunction.
function;andthetllirdis
Withinthelinguisticsystem,itisthesemanticsystem
a
thatisofprimary
concernin
sociolinguisticcontext.What
ale
thesefunctionalcomponentsofsemanticsystem?
Theyarethemodesofmeaningthatarepresentineveryuseoflanguageineverysocial
context.Atextis
a
productofallthree;itismelodies
are
a
polyphoniccomposition
to
inwhichintegrated
differentsemanticinterwovenfunctional
berealized
as
lexica-grammatical
structureto
structures.Each
componentcontributes
a
bandof
thewhole.
observer.
Theexperientialfunctionrepresentsthespeaker’Smeaningpotential嬲an
Thisisthe
component
throughwhichthelanguageencodestheculturalexperience,and
as
a
thespeakerencodeshisownindividualexperience
expressesthe
memberofthe
culture.It
are
phenomenaoftheenvironment:thethingsoftheworldwhich
therelationsof
itself,and
our
creatures,objects,actions,events,qualities,states,and
consciousness,including
the
phenomenon
ale
own
of
language
alsothe
metaphenomena,thethingsthatalreadyencoded嬲factsandreports.
The
isthe
interpersonalcomponentrepresentsthespeaker’Smeaningpotential嬲an
intruder.Itistheparticipatoryfunctionoflanguage,language船doingsomething.This
component
throughwhichthespeakerintrudeshimself
intothe
context
ofthe
situation,bothexpressing
attitudes
hisownattitudesandjudgmentandseeking
role
toinfluence
andbehaviorofothers.Itexpressesthe
those
that
a他defined
relationshipsaSsociated、^,imthe
of
situation,including
bylanguageitself,relationships
questioner-respondent,informer-doubterandthelike.Theseconstitutethe
meaningoflanguage.
interpersonal
The
whichwhich
textual
componentrepresentsthe
speaker’S
text-formingpotential;it
in
a
isthat
makeslanguagerelevant.Itisthecomponentwhichprovidesthemakesdifferencebetweenlanguagesandlanguagethatisoperational
texture
and
context
ofsituation.Itexpressestherelationoflanguagetoitsenvironment,includingtheverbal
environment—whatwere
component
said
or
wriaenbefo玎争—-andthenonverbal
to
environment.
two
Hencethetextual
has
animportantfunction、析mrespect
theother
II.LiteratureReview
15
functionsthatitisonlythroughthecombination、析tllthetextualmeaningsthattheideationalandinterpersonalmeanings
Eachofthesethreesetsof
Canbe
actualized.
optionsischaracterizedbystronginternalbutweak
externalconstraints,foreffect
on
example,anychoicemadeintransitivitysystemshasverylittlemood
or
the
choiceswithinthe
themesystem.Hencethe
COle
functional
organizationofmeaninginlanguageisbuiltintothe
ofthelinguisticsystem嬲the
mostgeneralorganizingprincipleofthelexicogrammaticalstratum.2.4.2.3RelationshipbetweentheThreeVariablesand
Astheauthorhasillustratedinthe
Metafunctions
arethree
anteriorparts,there
dimensionsof
variationsdistinguishingregisterwhich
kindsofmeanings
are
field,tenorandmode.Andtherearethree
are
i.e.metafunctions,whichtheexperiential/ideationalfunction,the
interpersonalfunction,andthetextualfunction.Consideringthattheybotllconsistof
threeelements,thenwhatiSthe
Thefactthatthereareall
relationshipbetweenthetwoconcepts?threecomponents
toone
arc
ofthe
two
conceptsisnotaccidental
sinceeachofthe
variationscorrespondsofthemetafunctions:thefieldmainly
determinestheexperientialmeaningsthatexpressed;thetenormainlydetermines
theinterpersonalmeanings;andthemodemainlydeterminesthetextualmeanings.Thefollowing
diagramCanillustratetherelationshipin
a
concreteway.
Varietyofregister
Metafunctions
ExperientialInternational
Textual
ofutterances
on
Field
Tenor
Mode
Halliday
makesthepointthattherelationshipbetweentheforms
a
and
thetypesofmeaningtheyCanexpressis
thatwhat
complex
one
whichisbased
ale
theprinciple
speakerssaymakessen.∞inthecontextinwhichthey
sayingit.Halliday
a
claimsinaddition,however,that甜ladultlanguageisorganizedround
offunctionalunderlieall
smallnumber
componentswhich
use
correspond
tometafuctionsor
thepurposeswhich
language
andthatthesemetafunctions
have
a
systematicrelationship
、^,itIlthelexicogrammarofthelanguage.
By
andlarge,it
istheideational
componentoftenor,andthe
systemthatisactivatedbythe
choiceoffield,theinterpersonalbythetextualbythemood.Thereis,inencodingtherole
otherwords,ageneraltendencywherebythe
speaker,inrelationships
inthesituation(thetenor),draws
on
theinterpersonalcomponentinthesemantic
16
AnAnalysis
on
the
WritingSkillsofForeign_TradeEnglishBased......t...h.....e........R.......e.....g.....i...s....t....e....r.......T.......h.....e.....o...r.—y—
system,realizedforexamplebymood;inencodingtheactivityincludingsubject-matter
(thefield),draws
on
theideationalcomponent,realizedfor
examplebytransitivity;and
SO
inencodingthefeaturesofthechannel,therhetoricalmodeand
on
on(themode)draws
thetextual
componenL
realizedfor
examplebythe
informationfocus.
2.4.2.4TheFeatureofPredictabilityofRegister
All
language
functionsin
are
contextofsituation,and
isrelatetothosecontexts.But
whatfeaturesoflanguage
determinedbyregister?Whichkindsofsituationalfactors
determine
language.
whichkindsofselectioninthelinguisticsystem?Asshownintheabove,the
a
elementsofregister,field,tenor,andmode,in
l孤gepart
are
thedeterminantsof
Through
manyresearches,theSystemicway:languageisfinally
FunctionalGrammar
represents.the
Registerinthis
determined
can
bythecontextviathesemantic
system.Ontheotherhand,thesituationtypeforms.Thesemanticsystemis
an
alsobepredictedfromthelinguistic
interfacebetweenthecontextofsituationandthe
linguisticsystem.Itisalsorealizedbythelexicon-grammaticalsystems.Itisinthis
perspectivethat
semanticsystem
is
a
maybecome
accessible.
a
Therefore,register
bom
as
theoryofsocietyinwhichlanguageplays
as
centralpart,
thedeterminerandthe
determined.Language
iscontrolledbythesocial
structure,andthesocial
Hence,itoffersthe
structure
ismaintainedandtransmittedthroughlanguage.
foundationforinterpretingprocessesofsemanticchange.
Understandingtheinterrelationshipbetweencontext,semanticsand
Hallidayfurthershisnotionofregister:thenotionofregisterisgiventhatweknowthesituation
linguistics,
thus
a
formofprediction:
we
ale
andthesocialcontextoflanguagelanguage
thatwill
using,we
canpredict
ofbeing
a
greatdeal
about
the
ocCUI',withreasonableprobability
right.(Halliday,1978).ThisisthepredictabilityofRe西ster.obviousthatlanguage
isusedin
a
Itis
multitudeofdifferentways,for
a
multitude
ofdifferent
purposes.The
as
selectionoflanguagemust
conform
TV
to
theca'tainspecific
a
situation,suchwhichlanguage
will
bepreferredinclassroomteaching,in
TVadvertising
or
weatherhand,
conversation,inthebusinessworld,in
theactual
textor
news.Ontheother
theactual
linguistic
realizationCanaswellpredicttheactual
context.
That’sthemutualpredictionprocessandthatisalsothecrucialapplicationofRegister
in
our
reallife.
m.The
LinguisticAnalysis
on
ForeignTradeEnglish
17
Ⅲ.The
LinguisticAnalysis
on
ForeignTradeEnglish
InthischaptertheauthorwillanalyzethelanguagecharacteristicsofFTEindetail
fromthepointoftheRegistertheory,andthensummarizethewritingskillsofFTE.
3.1AGeneralAnalysis
FTEfromthePerspectiveofRegister
clearillustration
are
on
InChapterTwo,theauthorhasalreadygivenUS
aon
Functional
GrammarandRegisterTheory.Weknowthattheremainlythreevarietiesof
Register,i.e.field,modeandtenor.Andtherea托threemainfunctionsoflanguageinfunctionalglanlmar,i.e.theideationalfunction,theinternationalfunctionandthe
textualfunction.
Field'relatedtotheideationalfunctionoflanguage,isthedomainwhere
isused;mode,relatedtothetextualfunctionof
a
variety
a
language,isthe
wayandchannel
language
isused;tenor,relatedtotheinterpersonalfunctionoflanguage,hastwo
levels
ofmeaning:onelevelistheusers’statusandrelationship,theotheristhepurposeofthe
user
toIn
usea
variety.
a
word,itistheideationalfunctionoflanguagethatisactivatedbythechoiceof
thetextualbythe
field,theinterpersonalbythetenor,and
tendencywherebythespeaker,in
mood.There
is
a
general
encodingtherolerelationshipsinthesituation(the
inthe
tenor),draws
exampleby
on
on
theinterpersonalcomponent
semantic
system,realizedfor
mood;inencodingtheactivityincluding
for
subject-matter(thefield),draws
theideational
component,realized
example
and
SO
bytransitivity;andinencoding
on
the
featuresofthechannel,therhetoricalmodeon(themode),draws
thetextual
component,realized
forexamplebytheinformationfocus.
Inthebusinesscommunitytoday,the
even
importanceofgoodcommunicationskillsis
USe
morestressed,asitisessentialthatemployeesCan
to
thetoolsoftheevolving
informationtechnology
communicateclearly,accuratelyandeffectively.
one
Foreigntradeletterisistheprincipalthrough
ofthemost
a
importanttypesofforeigntradewritings.It
customers
meansusedby
businessfirmto
ke印intouch晰mits
and
thelettersthecustomers
form
their
impression
ofthe
firmandtheir
transactions.
Theform
offoreigntradelettershas
a
slight
a
differenceinpattemfrom
ordinary
letters.Weknowthatthetheory
weknowthesituation
ofregisterhasfeatureofpredictabilitythatgiventhat
andthesocialcontextofthe
language
we
are
using,WeCan
predict
a
greatdealaboutthelanguagethatwilloccur.Thatisthepredictabilityof
willfindhowthethreevarietiesofregisterpredicatethe
Register.We
languageusedin
foreigntradeEnglishcorrespondenceinthischapter.
3.2TheLinguisticAnalysis
ForeignTradeCorrespondence
on
Allcommunicationismadeupofsenders,receivers,messages,channels,feedback,
noiseandsetting.Everytimepeoplecommunicate,theseelements
are
going
tobe
somewhat
different.
Thesenderengagesthesource;themanagerandtheencoderdeveloptheinternal
and
externalmessages.Thetransmitterthruststheexternalmessageintothechannel.messagemovesthroughtime
The
and
spacetothe
receiver.The
receivingapparatus
theinternal
pickupthe
message.The
decoder
anddestinationandmanagerconvert
a
messageinto
meanings.Then
thereceiverbecomes
sender,initiatesfeedback,andthe
spiralcontinuestogrow.
Accordingly,thehumanoperation
communication
author’Sanalysis
appliedtointernationaltradehasthesame
on
mechanism.The
theFTEisbased
on
theoperation
mechanismaswell.
3.2.1TheFieldofFTEandtheLanguageFeaturesPredicted
Field,relatedtotheideationalfunctionoflanguage,isthedomainwhereis
a
variety
used.Due
to
thevast
concerns
ofmodem
business,buyingand/orsellingare
preceded
goods,
蜥tIl
otheractivitiessuch
as
seekingandprovidinginformation,promoting
services,and
butto
goodwillinorder.Inmanycases,weare
notto
sell
a
particularproduct
createa
favorable
imageofthecompanythatproducesthe
product.Thuswhat
trddeletters.
peopleactually
doinsuchsituationsdeterminesthe
languageoftheforeign
Nowadays,thebusinessworldisbusilyrunning.Everyday,thebusinessmenwill
handle
a
lotoftelephonecallsandtransactions.Andtheyshouldacknowledgethatthey
诚nberathercarefulandconsideratewith
theircustomers.Otherwise,theirmistake
or
or
carelessfault
willpossibly
resultinfailure
greatlossintheir
business.Therefore,
do
todeal、析tllthe
theyshouldalwayskeeptheirsubjectinmind.Whatthey
a
will
signingofthecontract?Isitappropriatetowritehandlethe
letterinthisway?Isiteconomicalto
businessin
this
way?HowCanIremainthe900dandlong?standing
all
relationshipwithmy
customers?啊№businessmentake
to
thesefactorsinto
considerationandthendecidehow
managethem.111esefactorsformthefieldofthe
Ⅲ.The
LinguisticAnalysis
on
ForeignTradeEnglish
19
businessletter.Thefieldofthebusinessletterisbetweenthepartiesinvolved,andtheresponses
to
obtaincompleteunderstanding
first
required.The
objective
can
be
achievedthroughclarityofexpression;theseconddemandstherightapproach.Thismeansthatthebusinessmenshouldbe
courteous,honest,tactful
and
genuinely
account
interestedinpromoting
a
mutuallybeneficialbusinessarrangement,takinginto
theircustomers’requirements,levelofinformation.
understanding,and
probable
reactiontothe
Becauseofitsstrongprofessionalpurpose,thefiledofFTEisusuallyestablishedbyconvention,forexample,formalthanks
are
used
at
thebeggingof
a
letterandthenit
comestothesubject.Takethe
DearMr.Wang:
letter
on
page48for
example.
ThankyouforyourletterofFeb.15tIl,2001andtheenclosurerequisitionquotesforpartsforthecaptionedmachine.
Asrequested,weplaceyourorderwitll
ale
submittingOurquotationintriplicateand、^,iShforyouto
possible
us嬲earlyas
becausewe
have
a
largebacklog.
We
await
your
decision.
Sincerely,
Sander
DeHaan
InternationalSales
Manager
a
111isletterhasemployedtheappropriatestyleof
n^C.111e
firstparagraphofthis
ofthe
letterexpressesthewriter’Sthanks,thesecondparagraphisthethelastparagraphistheclose.n圮writeruses
a
subjectletter,and
seriesofwordstoexpresshonesty,
friendshipandgoodwillinthisletter,suchasthank
you,wish,await,etc.
cooperation,situation
would
Sometimesthe
formerbusiness
activities,good
of
intemationalmarketandthereflectionoftheclientsand
ordertopromote
a
SOon
bementionedin
request,whichis
a
l【indofcommunicationstrategy.
FTCisalwaysaboutonethingwithdisagreement谢meachother,such
as
a
on
price,
insurance,termsofpayment,date
isdeterminedbythecontext
ofshipment.Itisobviousthatthefieldof
discourse
andthewriters’experienceandwritinglevel.Besides,itis
alsodeterminedbythestepsoffollow
our
a
businessactivity,forinstance,makingtheopponent
pace,promoting
a
request,counterattackintime,breakingthedeadlock.
Forexample:
ItisnaRu'althatallparents、^,ishto
strong
see
theirsoILSanddaughtersgrowuptobe
cases
andhealthypersons;however,many
as
failtheirexpectations.…doctors
diagnosethesymptom
lackof
nutrition….Now
a
newl(indofnutritionalsupplement
our
forchildrenhasbeenproduced...(Makingtheopponentfollow
…Ifyouhavechildren,domake
a
pace);
a
poimtobuy
a
bottleforthem(promoting
request);
Theevidenceyouhaveprovidedisinadequate,therefore,wecannot
consider
your
claim
as
requested(counterattackintime);
WeshallmeetyouhalfwaybyreducingOurpriceto…(Breakingthedeadlock)
(Fromhttp://wgyxy.hutc.zj.cn/old/swyyxz/ReadNews.asp?NewslD=521)
3.2.2TheTenorofFTEandtheLanguageFeaturespredicted
The
tenor
oftheforeigntradelettersrelatestotherelationshipbetweenthe
socialroleshavealreadybeenobserved
participantsinsuchsituations.The
andwell
defined,i.e.customerandseller,consumerandproducer,etc.Consideringtheultimatepurposeoftheseller
Peoplearein
or
producer,there
is
a
lotof
persuasiontoeffect
a
transaction.
businesstomakemoneyand
a
nottowaste
time.This
paramount
to
concern
、析meffecting
functionof
business
transactionandmakingmoneyaffectstheinterpersonal
thestatusof
language.However,thisfunctionisrealizeddifferentlydue
theclientineach
case.The
rulethataffectstheinterpersonalfunctionisthat‘'the
turn
customerisalwaysright'’whichin
shopkeeper’s
determinesthedegreeofpoliteness
ofthe
on
language.Thisiscloselyrelatedtothedegreecustomeris
knownto
the
seller.A
offormalitythatisbased
tone
howwell
a
cordial,cooperative
in
correspondenceCando
are
muchhelptoestablishsatisfactoryrelations,andsuchrelations
importantin
business.
ItisfoundthatthetenorofFTEconsistsoftwo
typesofrelationship.Oneisthe
long-standrelationship,i.e.thefirstorderofsocialrole;andtheotheristheand
temporary
dynamic
relationshipwhich
isalsocalledthesecondorderofsocial
role(Halliday,
1978).
(1)Seenfrom
theviewoflong-time
the
and
static
relationship,tenor
referstothe
participants’rolerelationshipin
context
ofculture,whichmeans
therelative
III.TheLinguisticAnalysis
on
ForeignTradeEnglish
21
features
compared诚tll
otherparticipants,nottheindividualcharacterabsolutely.Itis
a
nodeinthenetofcomplexsocialrelationship.TheinterpersonalrelationshipinFTE
involvestherelationshipbetweenthewriterandtheaddressee,therelationship
between
SOon.
thebuyerandtheseller,therelationshipbetweentheinsuredandtheinsurerand
Actuallytheconceptoftenor
extentof
Canbeclassifiedinto
threehypo-categories,i.e.status,the
status
pfirticipationandthefeelings.Status,includingequal
suchasthedegreeof
andunequalstatus,
is
affectedbythefactors
toitsstatusis
familiarity.Therefore,thelanguage
refersto
whichisfit
thelanguageharmonious、^,itllthesituation.
pointoftemporary
(2)Viewedfromtheanddynamicrelationship,tenor
therolerelationshipoftheparticipantsinthecontext.AccordingtoHalliday’S
functionalgrammar,there
are
twotypesofrolesinthecontextofinternationaltrade
which
are
givingandasking,formingtwopairsofrole
relationship,i.e.offer/receiver
bedividedinto
two
andrequester/provider.Besides,theexchangeofgoodscouldalso
types,i.e.informationandgoods&services.Allthe
goodsthathavebeenexchanged
Canbe
desirable
or
undesirable,profit
or
nonprofit.Desirabilityiscloselyrelatedto
benefit,andnley
havethe
can
relationshipofsubjectivereflect(desirability)andobjective
influencethe
result(benefit)which(Zhanggoods
communicativecour∞andthelanguageused
Delu,1989).For
example,in
FTC,withthepurposeofaskingfor
information,
persuadethe
andservice,peopleinonepartoftenparttoofferthose
usethemethod
ofpersuasionto
opposite
information,goodsand
on
service.Oneofthemainfunctions
ofFTCistohavean
influence
theattitudeandbehaviorofthe
oppositepart,so
the
methodofpersuasioniswidelyused.
Thepersuasionmethodcallmake
fire
the
opponent
believethat
Ourproductandservice
ofhigherquality
and
lower
price,andOur
requestisreasonable,anditisbeneficial
tocooperate、析tllus.Themostsuitablelanguageshouldbeusedaccordingtothe
opponentand
thecontexttoform
a
harmoniouslanguagesituationandachievethebest
communicationeffect.Hereisanexample.
The
compete
priceswequoteabovefirethelowestwefireable
well、^,itllothers
to
offer.Ourproductswill
isrising
brandsbecauseofoursuperiorquality.Sincedemand
to
andpricesfire
bound
togoup,weurgeyoumakeyourdecisionasearlyaspossible.
(Page80)
Thepersuasionmethodused
customerbelieveinwhatwesaidand
Generally
intheabovesentencewill
probably
makethe
makeanorderwithus.
a
speaking,allthewords
should
helptoform
friendlyatmosphere
our
makingthepotential
customerhappyandacceptableandthusrealize
writingaim.
22
AnAnalysis
on
the
Writing
SkillsofForeign
T—r—a—d—e——E—ngli—sh
acts
—..s...e....d.......o....n.......t..h.....e......R......e...g.....i..s...t...e....r.....T.....h.....e...o.....r.—y—
Suchconsiderationsinthetenoroftheforeigntradelettersbusinesscommunicationmayincludeotherselling.Promoting
inaddition
to
are
verynecessary,as
theactsofbuyingand
goodwill,complaining,apologizing,accepting,rejecting,claiming,
arc
demandingandmanyotheractSpartand
parcelofsomebusinesscommunication
situations.SuchactSassumespecialsignificancewhenweconsiderdifferencesinthemode
ofdiscourse.i.e.inwrittenbusiness
communicationthereare
already
well-establishedsub-varietiessuchaslettersofcomplaint,lettersofapplication,ete.
Asthebuyervery
andthesellerhaveboth
commonandcontradictoryinterests,itiS
important
tokeep
inmindthedistinctionbetweencertainoverlappingconcepts:amount
to
Courtesyoverdone
may
obsequiousness;sincerityoverdonemay
amount
to
naivety.Inshort,proprietyistheprincipleindistinguishingtherightwrong.
coursefromthe
3.2.3The
Mode
ofFTEandtheLanguageFeaturesPredicted
is
Modeisthewayandchannel
a
language
used,as
thisthesisfocuses
on
the
writtenformforeigntradeEnglish,thetransmissionchannelisthroughthewritten
correspondences.
Foreign
trade
correspondence(FTC)is
a
specialvarietyofwrittenEnglishwith
carefulplans.Therefore,ithasitsuniquestylisticfeaturesinthechoiceofwords,sentencesandthetextual
FTC,as
preciseness
a
structure.
formalvarietyofEnglish,hastherequirementofsobriety,elegance,
and
formalness.And
nOWwewill
illustratethe&ldof
text.
FTEfromthree
aspectsinthefollowingpart,theaspectsofglossary,syntaxand
1.Intheaspectofglossary,FTChasitsownfeatures.
(1)FTCoften
uses
differentwordstoexpressthesame
we
arc
meaning埘tIl
ordinary
English,andtheordinarywords
familiar
with
ale
givennewmeanings.For
example,thewriteruSe“forward'’takesplaceof“send'’.
(2)FTCand
uses
longer
andmore
formal
lexicalphrases,suchasinaccordance
with
inthemarketfor.
TI抡u∞ofthephraseinaccordancewithand加themarketfor
can
make
a
sentencemoresolemnandformal.
(3)FTCfrequently
Pleasequote
uses
wordswithbusinesscharacter,such
as
thetermofCIF.
US
CIFNewYorkincluding3%commission.(Page64)
Ⅲ.TheLinguisticAnalysis
(4)FTC
FOB(freeononForeignTradeEnglish23oftenusesmanyabbreviations,forinstance,L/C(1etterofcredit),board),W.P.A.(withparticularaverage),B/S(balancesheet),A.R.(allrisks),A.N.(arrivalnotice),A.P.(accountpayable),A/S(accountsales),B/L(BillofLading),av,a/v(average),b/d(broughtdown),C.O.d.(cashondelivery),C.W.O(cash诵morder),D/P(documentsagainstpayment),D/O(deliveryorder),gr-wt.(grossweight),ETA(estimatedtimeoforrival).
canThatfactisthatthewriteravoidtheprolixexplanation,simplifythe
useprocessofbusinessactivityandmaketheworkefficient、析tlltheproper
terms,especiallytheconciseandcomprehensiveabbreviations.
2.Insyntax,FTC、析tllofbusinessEnglishgrandstnlc眦ismoresuitablethanthatoforalform.
USForexample,thesentencethat‘'AsweareinthemarketforyourelectricSaWS,weshouldbepleasedifyou
USwouldsendyourbestquotations.”isbetterthanitsoralformorethat“Pleaseoffersyourbestpricesbecausewe
onreadytobuyyourelectricSaWS.’’Astheforeigntradelettersmainlyfocusthematterstobehandledatonce,the
presenttenseandthefuturetensearepreferabletothepasttense.
Besides,thebusinessmenallpaymuchattentiontoinformationandeffectiveness,SOtheshortsentencesalefrequentlyusedinforeigntradeEnglish.
fig3.Intheconstructionofatext,FTChasitsspecialformatwell鹊itsparticular
meRnstorealizeitsparticulartextualfunction.Inordertosavetimeandachievethepurposeofeffect,foreign
totradelettersoreallshortandbrief.Businessactivitiesincludetheproceduresrelatingnumbersandtradeitems,andthebestwaytoconstructatext
istodemonstratethedatafordatademonstrationCanenhancetheefficiencyofinformationdelivery.Forexample:
Thankyouforyourletterof
b.Quantity:300metrictons
tonFOB15thMay.Weoregladtoofferyouthefollowing:a.Commodity:Soybeans,Heilongjiangorigin,2002cropc.Price:US¥600permetricDalian
d.Packing:Inordinarysecond-handgunnybags
e.Shipment:InOctober,2002
payablebydraftat£Payment:Byconfirmed,irrevocableL/Csight
(Page80)
3.3WritingRequirementsof
ofthechaptertheFTEIntheformerpartauthorhasillustratedthelanguage
characteristicsofFTEfromtheperspectiveofRegistertheoryaccordingtothethreefactorsi.e.field,modeandtenor.Althoughthisis
someextent.onlyaroughpicture,wecouldalsounderstandthefeaturesofFTEin
3.3.1TheRequirementsof3Cs
SomeyearsagotherewastendencytowritebusinessletterusingawhatWasknownas“commercialese.’’Nowithasgivenwaytomoremodemapproach,whichisdirectandconcise.Therearecertainessentialqualitiesofbusinessletters,whichCanbesummedupintheThreeCprinciple,i.e.Clearness,ConcisenessandCourtesy.
sothat1.Clearnessmeansthatthe
thereaderwillwritermustattempttoexpresshimselfclearlyunderstandcorrectly.Toachievethispurpose,heshouldkeepinmind
correctthepurposeofhiswritinganduseappropriatewordsin
conveyhismeaning.sentencestructuresto
Inaword,tomakethemessageclear,thewritermustpresentitinwell-constructedsentencesandparagraphs.
2.Courtesystemmingfromasincereyou-attitudeisnotmerepoliteness.Thecourteouswritershouldbesincere,tactful,thoughtfulandappreciative.
Firstly,accordingtothisrequirement,thelettershouldbepoliteandeuphemistic.Secondly,thewritershouldconsiderthingsfromthesituationofhispartner,theexpressionsof‘‘You'’.‘‘Yourbusiness'’and‘‘Yourneeds’’andsoonshouldbeused
thisway.
orfrequently.ThereaderwillfeelthathisbenefitisputinthefirstplacethroughWeCangetaconclusionthatthewritershouldavoidirritating,offensive
belittlingstatements,andifanapologyismadeintheletter,itshouldbemadegraciously.
3.Concisenessmeanssayingthingsinthefewestpossiblewords.AconciseF1’Ewritingshouldsaythingsbrieflybutcompletelywithoutlosingclarityorcourtesy.
Theobjective
AllofofFTEwritingisdoingbusinessandgainingtheresponsesrequired.theseCanbeachievedthroughclarityofexpressionandtherightapproachsuch
aascourteous,honest,tactfulandgenuinelyinterestedinpromoting
foreigntrademutuallybeneficialbusinessarrangement,takingintoaccountthereader’Srequirement,level
reactiontotheofunderstanding,andprobableinformation.
HI.TheLinguisticAnalysisonForeignTradeEnglish25
Alettercanbemadeclearer,easiertoreadand
amoreattractivetolookatbycarefulparagraphing.Aparagraphforeachpointis
stressgoodrule.Itshouldhardlybenecessarytotheimportanceofcourtesyinthecorrespondence.Oneofthemostimportantthingsispromptness.Punctualitywillpleasethecustomerwhodislikeswaitingfordaysbeforehegetsareplytohisletter.
3.3.2PredictionoftheWritingRequirementsfromtheRegisterTheory
Basedonthelinguisticsituationalanalysisabove,theauthorroughlypredictsthelanguageoftheforeigntradelettersfromthefollowingthreeaspects.
1.nlelexicallevel
Firstly,aleRershouldbeofclarity.Toaccomplishthisgoal,thedictionshouldbeshort,familiar,andconcreteandtrytoavoidthebig,complicatedandabstractwordsandphrases.
2.Thesyntacticlevel
Asentencenormallycontains
Inasubject,averborverbphraseandacomplement.foreigntradeletters,inordertoachieveclarityandcompleteness,thesentenceshould
topic.Andtrytoavoidthelongbeshortandcomplete.Onesentence
theuseisfocusedononeandcomplicatedsentenceandofsentencefragments.
3.Thetextuallevel
Abusybusinessmanoftenselectstheshortestandsimplestletterinfrontofhimto
aanswerfirst,SOitiseasytounderstandthevalueofclarityandbrevityinforeigntrade
controltheEnglishletter.Therefore,thewritershouldatleasttrytobeconciseandto
lengthofaleRer.Asaresult,shortparagraphsarepreferable.Eachparagraphshouldbe
oneplannedlogically、Ⅳitllparagraphaboutonetopic.Furthermore,thetoneoftheletter
shouldbenoted,which
ofclosing.
AwillberepresentedatthebeginningofsalutationandattheendpointthatisambiguousinaletterwillcauSetroubletobotllsidesandftu'therexchangeofletterforexplanationwillbecomeinevitable,thustimewillbelost.Therequirementisthatwhenpeoplealesureaboutwhattheywanttosay,sayitinplain,simplewords.Good,straigIltforward,simple
letters.ClearnessEnglishiswhatisneededforforeigntradeandconcisenessoften
helptogohand-in-handandtheeliminationofwordybusinesstermscallmake
aaletterclearerandatthesameatimemoreconcise.Aavoidconciseletter
whiledealingisnotnecessarilyshortone.SometimesletterCannotbeinglongwithamultiplicityofmatters.Ifconcisenessconflictswithcourtesy,then
26AnAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegister亚orymakealittersacrificeofconciseness.Generallyspeaking,people
ones.willgaininclearnessandconcisenessbywritingshortsentencesratherthanlong
Inaword,thepurposetowriteaFTEistosolvetheproblemsinbusiness
activities,includingthepragmaticfunctionofestablishingtraderelations,inquiresandoffers,claimsandarbitration,and
gosmoothlyand
goSOon.Thefinalpurposeistomakebusinessactivitiesistomakeprofit.Thebusinessworkersknowdeeplythat“noadvanceshouldbeback.”andtimeisthemoney,andthereintemationallyacceptableprinciplestomakepeople、析tlldifferentculturesandmotherlanguagesbeabletocommunicatewitlleachothermorequicklyandsmoothly.Theseconsciousnessand
usebehaviorsprinciplesleavestylemarkerinFTE.Specificity,theFTEtheyhasstrong
alepurpose,appropriatewords,politeness,clearmeaningandbriefstructure.Thesethe
varietyofforeigntradeEnglishformedinthespecificsituationofinternationaltrade.
IV.Studies
on
the
WritingSkills
ofFTEBased
on
theRegisterTheory
27
IV.Studies
●
on
the
WritingSkills
ofFTEBased
-
on
theRegister
Theory
Intheanteriorpartofthedissertationtheauthorhasillustratedthelanguage
characteristicsofFTEfromtheperspectiveoftheRegistertheory.Ⅵ佬knowthatFrEis
a
particularvarietyofEnglishusedinthefieldofinternationaltrade,andithasitsown
to
requirements
write.1f1圮authorwillillustratethewritingskillsofFTEinthe
on
followingpartindetailsupportedbyabundantexamplesbasedtheanalysisabove
fromthreedifferentaspectswhicharethelexicallevel,thesyntacticlevelandthe
textuallevel.
BusinessWe
is
a
verycomplicatedtransactioninvolvingseriesofdifferentprocedures.
haveknownalreadythatthe
proceduresofinternationaltradeincludingestablishing
all
traderelationship,makinginquiry,making
offer,onprice,ordering,concluding
a
a
transaction,makingshipment,insurance,negotiatingpayment,lodging
claim,etc,and
foreigntradelettersexistineverystepofthetradeactivity.Duetodifferentfields
(purposes)of
the
foreign
trade
letters,tlley
Canbe
dividedintodifferent
categories--lettersofestablishingletters
on
business
relations,leRersofinquiries
on
and
offers,
price,lettersofordering,letters
on
termsof
payment,letters
on
contracts,
lettersofshipment,letters
Afterstudythewrittenby
insurance,together、^,imlettersofclaimsandarbitration.
ofBUsINEsscoRREsPONDENcEAND
DIALOGUES
book
QiYunfang,the
authorhasselected205sentencesin40lettersof
foreign
tradeEnglishatrandomfromthisbookcoveringalmosteverystepoftheproceduresof
foreigntrade,andanalyzed
has
themcarefullyusingthemethodofstatistics.Andtheauthor
usedsampleexamples
fromtheselettersto
a
support
her
point.
on
Afterthischapter,thereadersCanhaveofFTE,and
a
betterunderstanding
trade
thewritingskills
good
commandofwritingsuccessfulforeign
4.1TheLexicaILevel
correspondences.
ThefieldofinternationalwadedeterminesthelexicalparticularityofFTC.For
example,the
phrases
frequentuseofprofessional
terms,abbreviations,un-ambiguity
words
and
and
SOon.
Weknow
thatFTE
a
onone
handcharacterizedbycertainspecialvocabulary;onthe
otherhand,itissubsetofthegeneralEnglishwhichformspartoftheknowledge
of
28AnAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegisterTheorymostEnglishspeakers.Therefore,FTE,atthesametime,sharesthevocabularyofthegeneralEnglishandhasthespecialvocabularyofitsown.
TheauthorwillillustratethefeaturesofthevocabularyofFTCindetailinthefollowingpartofthechapter.
4.1.1FrequentEmploymentofAbbreviations
ThefrequentemploymentofabbreviationsisthemostoutstandingfeatureofFTE.SotheauthorwillpaymoreattentiontoabbreviationsusedinFTEinthispaper.
Becauseoftheadvantagesofconciseness,precisenessandpracticalityovertheirfullforms,abbreviationsarefrequentlyusedinEnglishforinternationaltrade,i.e.FTE.Theuseofabbreviation
orsavestime,foritismuchmoreeconomicaltonameaprocessthantodescribeituseitsfullform.SincetheinitialissueofIncoterms1936,
abbreviationsoftradetermsinintemationaltradehavebeenusedmorefrequentlythan
astheirfullforms.Eveninratherformalwritingscontracts,abbreviatedtradetermscan
maketheirwayintouse,suchas"FOB(freeonboard),CIF(cost,insuranceandfreight),C&F(costandfreight).Furthermore,manygenerallyacceptedabbreviationshaveratherllighfrequencyofemploymentininternationaltransactions,suchas,B/L(BillofLading),战(LeaerofCredit),D/P(DocumentsagainstPayment),WTO(WorldTradeOrganization),dz(dozen),1jF(footorfeet),50onand50forth.Inaddition,highlyfrequent眦ofabbreviationsisanoutstandingfeatureoftelegramandtelexwhichplayanimportantroleininternationaltrade,especiallyin1970sand1980s.Many
assoonasabbreviationsareuniquetotelegramandtelexsuchasadasap(advise
possible),mfg(manufacturing),cbl(cable).Thefrequentlyusedabbreviations
uniquetothedomainofEnglishforinternationaltradeorareeitherareaendowed、析tllstrongeconomicfavor.
Forexample
(1)Inorderto
stipulationsareinavoidsubsequentamendments,pleaseseetoitthattheL/Cexactaccordancewiththetermsofthecontract.为了避免日后的修
152)
L/C,payableat改,务必注意信用证条款应严格按照合同规定。(PagePleasenotethatOurtermsofpaymentarebyirrevocablesight
againstpresentationofshippingdocuments.(Page50)
Paymentwillbe
ThemadebyL/CinNewYorkagainstdocuments.付款凭单据在纽creditwhichisa约以信用证支付。(Page95)abbreviation‘‘L/C’’inthesesentencesmeansletteroftermof
IV.StudiesontheWritingSkillsofFTEBasedontheRegisterTheory29
payment?
(2)PleasequoteUSCIFNewYorkincluding3%commission.请报至纽约成本价保险、运费价(到岸价格)包括3%的佣金。
WewillopenallirrevocableL/CinyourfavorthroughtheFirstNationalCityBank,NewYork,tocoverthetotalCIFvalueofthisorder.(Page64)
Theabbreviation“CIF”intheabovesentencesstandsforcost,insuranceandfreight.
(3)Asagreed,thetermsofpaymentfortheaboveordersareletterofcreditof60days’sightorD/Psightdraft.双方同意,上述订货货款以60天信用证或即期付款交单方式支付。
BuLinviewofourfriendlyrelations,wewill,as
onallexceptionalcase,acceptpaymentforyourtrialorder
willacceptD/PatD/Pbasis.(Page125)InordertopavethewayforyourpromotionofOUrproductsinyourmarket,wesightasaspecialaccommodation.为有助于在贵地市场推销我方产品,作为特殊照顾,我方将接受见票即付的付款交单方式。(Page152)
abbreviationofD/Pintheabove
aThewhichissentencemeansdocumentsagainstpayment,
againsttermofpayment.enclosingthecertificateofsurvey,alsothePolicy,whichis(4)Weare
F.P.A.(Page243)
The
whichisabbreviationintheabovesentencemeans“freefromparticularaverage”,akindofinsurance.
aS(5)Asfar
inIknow,theinsurancecompanyacceptscoverageofthegoodspackedcardboardcartonsagainstTPND.(Page427)
The
aabbreviationintheabovesentencestandsfortheft,pilferageandnon-delivery,kindofinsurance.
4.1.2TheChangingoftheMeaningofSomeCommonWords
InforeigntradeEnglish,manycommonwordsusedin
setourdailylifemayhavetheirmeanings,slightlydifferentfromtheirordinaryones.Forexample:
trade1)(a).“Claim'’meansinforeign
considered
Weone’sEnglish‘'demandorrequestforathingdue”.onclaimedthatshippingcompanyforthelossinvolved.
claimonWetherefore,compelledtoyoutocompensateusfortheloss,¥27,500,
whichwehavesustainedbythedamagetothegoods.
30AnAnalysisontheWritingSkil——lsofForeignTra.d....。eEnglish..B。..as...e.d.....on。.h...e.....R。...e..g....i...s...t....e....r......T.......h.....e..o...r.—y—
Consideringthisdamagewasdue
weclaimedontothetoughhandlingbythesteamshipcompany,themforrecoveryofthelOSS.(Page245)
asa(b)Itis
Wealsofondthat“claim'’isoftenusednoun.Forexample:onsentyouapreliminary
anoticeofthecaptionedclaimAugust17,2001,andherebyfiledetailedclaimfor¥l,700.00.(Page244)
or2)“Reference”means‘'personsfL'mSnamedbyacustomeraskingasupplierfor
credit,fromwhomthesupplierCangetinformationaboutthebusinessreputationofthecustomer,i.e.cautioners”.
MyreferencewillprovetoyouthatIamefficientanddependable.
not3)111emeaningof‘'trust'’is
We
WetrustthatthistrusttobelieveinbuttohopeinforeigntradeEnglish.proformainvoicewillsuityourresponse.(Page108)thisorderwillbethefirstofaseriesofdealsbetweenus.(Page105)Weappreciate
toyourcooperationandtrustthatthefirstpartialshipmentwhichhisbeeffectedearlymonthwillturnout
Wetoyourcompletesatisfaction.(Page163)andtrust
turna陀gladtohavefilledyourorderafterlongdelaythatthegoodstoyourwillreachyouintimetomeetyoururgentneedandthatthey
191)willoutcompletesatisfaction.(Page
Wetrusttheaboveinformationservesyourpurpose.(Page220)
notto4)mmeaningof‘'cover'’is
Ifyouinsist
elsewhere.
Inordertocoverouronhidebuttopurchase,topayforandtoinsure.youroriginalquotation,wewillhavetocoverOurrequirementsorder,wehavearranged、j ̄ritlltheBankofChina,Shanghaiacreditfor¥l,000.
Wewill
Bank,NewopenanirrevocableL/CinyourfavorthroughtheFirstNationalCityY0比tocoverthetotalCIFvalueofthisorder.(Page103)
notto5)111emeaningof“establish'’isbuildupbuttoopen.
aAfterthesaidlicenseisapproved,weshallestablish
ItisL/Cinyourfavor.understoodthataletter
orofcreditinourfavorcoveringthecaptionedmerchandisewillbeestablishedon
notaboutthe25mofthemonth.(Page163)a6)‘‘Forward'’iS
Pleaseanadverb,itiSverbmeaningtosendortoconvey.informusofyourtrade
UStermsandforwardsamplesandproductbrochures.Pleaseinformofyourtradetermsandforwardsamplesandproductbrochures.
(Page23)
7)“Effect'’isnot
Thesellershallanoun,butaverbmeaningtorealize,toproceed.effectmarineinsuranceagainstAllRisksandW盯Risks.
IV.StudiesontheWritingSkillsofFTEBasedontheRegisterTheory31
We
t0beappreciateyourcooperationandtrustthatthefrostpartialshipmentwhichhiseffectedearlymomhwillturnouttoyourcompletesatisfaction.(Page163)
Pleaseopentheletterofcredittelegraphicallywithoutdelay,SOastoenableUStOefj白ctshipmeutduringOctober/November.(Page50)
suggestion,butthenotice,andaccordingly,theword‘‘advise'’8)‘‘Advice’’is
meansgiveanotanotice,letknow.
anL/C.Wehavedulyreceivedtheadviceofopening
USPleaseadvisewhenthegoodsarereadyforshipment.(Page81)
not9)‘'Collection'’is
Wewill
collectiondrawtOgathertogether,butakindofaccountingmethod.OUrbank,ononyoubydocumentarydraftatsight,throughbasis,withoutL/C.(Page125)
En酉ishmeansbusiness.
1935,andtherefore10)“Line”iIlforeigntradeWehavebeeniIlbusinesssincehave、)I,ideexperiencesiIlall
thelineswehandle.(Page23)
11)“Policy”inforeign
takeoBrtradeEnglishmeanstheinsurancebill.WeshallinsuranceatthisendunderOUrOpenPolicy.
onThispolicyisissuediIlduplicateatShanghaithe7恤dayofMayintheyeartwo
thousandandone.(Page222)
WeareholdersofPolicyNo.54321issuedbyyouragentson1,000casesofteavaluedatStg.25,500.55.(Page243)
12)‘‘Agalust'’isnot‘‘negative’’butis‘‘onthebasisof'’.
ThegoodswerecheckedagainstOUrorder.
PleasenotethatOurtermsofpaymentarebyirrevocableL/C,payableatsightagainstpresentationofshipping
Indocuments.exceptionallyacceptdeliveryagainstD/Pat
acompliancewimyourrequest,wethisshouldnotbesight,butmgardedasprecedent.
PaymentwillbemadebyL/Ci11NewYorkagainstdocuments.(Page95)
atPleasenotethatOurtermsofpaymentarebyirrevocableL/C,payablesight
beagainstpresenmtionofshippingdocuments.(Page50)Ourusualtermsofpaymentarecashagainst
acceptabletOyou.(Page117)documentsandwehopetheywill
13)‘‘Order'’means‘‘orderforgoods'’not‘‘command'’.
Ifthefirstshipmemturnsoutsatisfactory,weshall
orderbeabletOplacesubstantialwithyou.
WeexpecttOfindagoodmarketforthesecottonslargerorders、析tllyouinthenearfuture.(page117)
l4)‘‘o髓r"means‘'theoppositetOinquiry",not“provide”.PleasemakeUSanofferCIFLondonfor20metrictOnsgroundnuts.(Page49)4.1.3TheFrequentUseofPhrases
InforeigntradeleRem,inordertOaddanairofformalityandseriousness,somephrasesfrequentlyoccurinthelettem.Suchas:
Infavorof,priortO,asper,inaccordancewith,inthemarketfor,inapositiontO,
ainreceiptof,uponreceiptof,underseparateCOVe',subjecttO,tobeofinterest,、^,iⅡl
viewtO,oftheopinionthat,muchtoourregret,inurgentneedto,toOurdisappointment,as/uponrequest,etc.
Forexample:
/naccordancewiththecontract,youarekindlyrequestedtoopenwithintendaysafterreceiptforthispreliminaryshippingLetterofCreditinadvice,晰也thetoUSBankofChina,therelativeOurfavor,tobeadvisedbytheUnionBankofSwitzerland,Zurich.(Page124)
Weareinthemarketforelectricsaws.(Page49)
aHowever,atpresentweneed
enclosedlargequantityofparts/accessoriesasperthelist.(Page47)
withthenliscertificateofsilkproductsisissued/ncompliance
request.(Page1consignee’S75)
areAsrequested,we
placesubmittingOurquotationintriplicateand、析Sh内ryoutOayourorder、ⅣimUSasearlyaspossiblebecausewehave
tolargebacklog.(Page48)Tllisofferisfinn,subject
endofthismonth.(Page53)
But,inviewyourreplywhichshouldreachUSnotlaterthantheofOurfriendlyrelations,we
onwill,asanexceptionalcase,acceptpaymentforyourtrialorderD/Pbasis.(Page125)
4.1.4Frequently-UsedFormalWordsorPhrases
Formalwordsfrequentlyappearinpresentedfully、丽吐ItheuseforeigntradeEnglish,theseriousnessofFTEisoftheseformalexpressions.
IV.Studies
on
the
Writing
SkillsofFTEBased
on
theRegisterTheory
33
Hereis
a
compare、析tllexpressionsusedinforeigntradeEnglishandthoseusedin
a
colnmonEnglish.Whenwrite
properexpression.
FTEInsteadof
foreigntradecorrespondence,it
isbetter
tou:se
the
CommonEnglish
say
CommunicationPurchaseTerminate
Utilize
Inthenearfuture
Ietterbuy
end
嘴
soon
a
Cometodecision
decide
youconsider
at
Yourgoodself
Takeintoconsideration…Inaccordancewith
Inviewofthefactthat
Intheamountof¥20AtthepresenttimePriorto
since
for¥20
now/atpresent
before
abouttheinquiryafteryourcall
assoon
With
respecttotheinquiry
SubsequenttoyourcallAtyourearliestconvenienceEnclosed
OnlytoopleasedtoPlease
aspossible
I/,Weenclose
Verygladto
be
goodenoughtoadvise惦Please
separately(orby
let
US
know
UnderseparatecoVer
ThereinafterAggregateto
registered
post)
inthefollowing
totalamount
Inthelightof
accordingtomake(acontract)
CalTyout
Conclude(acontract)
Implement
Forexample:
(1)./n
accordancewiththe
contract,you
be
ale
kindlyrequestedtoopenwithinten
daysafterreceiptforthispreliminaryshippingrelativeLetterofCreditin
advice,晰tll
US
theBankofChina,the
Our
favor,to
advisedto
by
theUnionBankof
Switzerland,Zurich.(Page124)
34AnAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegisterTheory
(2).Enclosedisourpricelist.(Page79)
relations,wewill,asall(3).But,切viewofourfriendlyexceptionalcase,accept
paymentforyourtrialorderonD/Pbasis.(Page125)
4.1.5TheFrequentUseofBusinessTerminology
Therealemanyexpressions、析mbusinesscharacteristicsusedinforeigntradeEnglish.Forexample:
1.Therealemanyterms
ononpriceinforeigntradeEnglish.ale(1)FOBmeans“free
ataportboard'’.ThegoodsplacedonboardashipbythesellerorofshipmentnamedinthesalescontracLTheriskoflossofdamagetothegoodsistransferredfromthesellertothebuyerwhenthegoodspasstheship’Srail.
YouarekindlyrequestedtoquotetheFOBNewYorkrate.请报纽约船上交货价。(Page47)
(2)CFRmeans“costand
t0bringthefright'’.Thesellermustpaythecostandf试ghtnecessarydamagetothegoodstothenameddestination,buttheriskof
Slossoforgoods,as
thewellofanycostincreases,intransferredfromthesellertothebuyerwhenship’Srailintheportofshipment.
USgoodspassthePleaseprovidewithquotesforthegoodslistedontheenclosedinquirysheet,
givingyourpricesCFRJakarta.(Page49)
freight'’.Thistermisbasicallythesameas(3)CIFmeans"cost,insuranceand
CFRbut、^,itlltheadditionthatthesellerhastoprocuremarineinsuranceagainsttheriskoflossofordamagetothegoodsduringthecarriage.Thesellercontracts、^,imtheinsurerandpaystheinsurancepremium.
PleasequoteUSCIFNewY0rkincluding3%commission.请报至纽约成本价保险、运费价(到岸价格)包括3%的佣金。(Page64)
WewillopenallirrevocableL/Cinyourfavor
thetotalC1FvalueofthisthroughtheFirstNationalCitySank,NewYork,tocoverorder.(Page70)
2.Thetermsofpaymentandfmance.
(1)Outstandingaccounts:accountsthatare
Wehopetheoutstandingaccountcanoverdueforpaymem到期未付的账thismonth.Otherwise,ourbesettledwithin
accountingdepartmentwillconsiderchangingtheconditionsofpaymentforfutureorders.我们希望你方本月能将欠账结清,否则,我方财务部将考虑改变定单支付条件。
IV.StudiesontheWritingSkillsofFTEBasedontheRegisterTheory35
(2)Debitnote:anoteinaformsimilarto锄invoicebutusedwhereallinvoicewouldnotberightforthepurpose.Thedebitnoterelatestocharges,such
extra
allasfreight,toamountsalreadyinvoicedforgoods,andisalsousedtocorrectmistakessuchasanamountunder-chalgedininvoice.
Weshallofcourserefundtoyouthepremiumuponreceiptofyourdebitnoteor,if
onusyoulike,youmaydrawatsightfortheamountrequired.一收到你们的索款通
知单,我们当立即把保险费还给你们。如果你们愿意的话,也可以开即期汇票向我们收取所需金额。
(3)L/C,letterofcredit.信用证
Pleasenotethatourtermsofpayment锄℃byirrevocableL/C,payableatsightagainstpresentationofshippingdocuments.(Page50)
PaymentwillbemadebyL/CinNewYorkagainstdocuments.付款凭单据在纽
约以信用证支付。(Page95)
Inordertoavoidsubsequent
aleinexactaccordance诵tlltheamendments,pleaseseetoitthattheL/Cstipulationstermsofthecontract.为了避免日后的修改,务必注
account.承兑交单
on意信用证条款应严格按照合同规定。(Page152)(4)D/A,documentsWe
(Page125)againstacceptance,ordepositregretthatweareunabletoconsideryourrequestforpaymentDIAterms.
(5)D/P,documentsagainstpayment.付款交单
But’inviewofOurfriendlyrelations,wewill,asallexceptionalcase,acceptpaymentforyourtrialorder
willacceptD/PatsightasonD/Pbasis.(Page125)promotionof0111"productsinInordertopavethewayforayouryourmarkeLwespecialaccommodation.为有助于在贵地市场推销我方产品,作为特殊照顾,我方将接受见票即付的付款交单方式。(Page152)
3.Theterms
TherealeofinsurancemanyinsurancetermsusedinforeigntradeEnglish,suchas,totalloss,partialloss,generalrisk,freefromparticularaverage(F.P.A),withparticularaverage(W.P.A),allrisk(A.R),additionalrisk(A.R),theft,pilferageandnon-delivery(TPNT),船shwaterandraindamage(F.W.R.D),riskofshortage,riskofleakage,riskofclashandbreakage,hookdamage,Warriskstrikesrisk.
againstallrisk¥100,000,valueof5,000setsof“Butterfly”
shippedatShanghai,onboardS.S.“Fengching”,sailingforNew(1)PleaseinsureUSSewing
YorkonMachinesMay20m.(page219)
36AnAnalysisontlleWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegisterTheory
(2)Weareenclosingthecertificateofsurvey,alsothePolicy,whichisagainstF.P.A.(Page243)
(3)AsfarasIknow,theinsurancecompanyacceptscoverageofthegoodspackedincardboardcartonsagainstTPND.(Page427)
4.Thephrasesandexpressionsregardingpaymentof
oftechnicalityterms,forchargesmostlyarenewwords.Fromtheuseinstance:honor'cover,levy,collect,
one’Scharge,tobeborneby,foraccountof,bepayable,atexpenseandetc,wecansee
thedegreeofformality
Forexample:andsolemnityofstyle.
(1).ThisL/CwillbehonoredonlyifthesellersubmitsaIetterortelexfromABeCompanycertifyingthatall
compliedwitll.termsandrequirementsunderL/CNo.631005havebeen
(2).Weknowthataccordingtoyourusualpractice,youinsurethegoodsonlyfor10%overinvoicevalue,therefore,theextrapremiumwillbeborne砂US.(Page232)
theBankofChina,(3).Inorderto
ShanghaiacoverOurorder,wehavearranged谢tllcreditfor¥1,000.(Page80)
Fromtheexamplesabove-mentioned,togetthedeepunderstandingofbusinessvocabulary,themasteryofthemeaningofcommonEnglishwordsisfarfromenough,what’Smore,themeaningofwordsinthecontextofbusinessEnglishshouldbeattachedmoreimportance.
4.2.TheSyntacticalLevel
BesidesthelexicalrequirementsofforeigntradeEnglish,thespecificfeaturesofforeigntradeEnglishanditswritingrequirementscouldalsofindtheembodimentsinsyntacticallevel.Thefollowingepisodeisadetailedanalysisabouthowtowriteasuccessfulforeigntradecorrespondence谢Ⅱlappropriatesentences.4.2.1TheMixedUseoftheLongSentencesandtheShortSentences
Intheforeigntradeletters,wemayfindthelongandshortsentencesareinteractivelyused.Thelongsentenceshavethecomplicatedstructure,whichcanconveytherather
structm'ecomplicatedmeanings.WhiletheshortsentenceshavethesimpleCallandgrammar,whichareeasiertounderstandandachievetheactiveandconciseeffect.
IV.StudiesontheWritingSkillsofFTEBasedontheRegisterTheory37
Wecallseethedifferenteffectachievedbyusinglongsentenceandshortsentencetoexpressthesamemeaningfromthefollowingexample.
Iaminreceiptofyourletterofthe9thinstant,relatinginparttothestenographerandtype-writerexaminationsnextspringandalsothequestionoflocalappointmentsinconnection谢mexaminations,concerningthelatterofwhich1wouldsaythat、^,imtheexceptionoftherouteexaminationswhichareconductedbythevariousdistrictsecretaries,theexaminationsarcheldbyemployeesoftheconductingofCivilServicethepostofficesatthedifferentplacesofexamination,whohavebeenspecially
adesignatedforsuchpurposeunderprovisionoftheCivilServicerules.
Thereaderwhogetsthesentencemusthavefelt弱ifheisperusingarailroadtime-table.TocauseyourreaderorcorrespondentunnecessarymentallaboristhegreatestofallblundersinBusinessEnglish.11圮morepatiencehespendscatchingyourthought,thelessinteresthewillhaveforyourproposition.LetUSturnthatallegedsentenceintoaparagraph.Therea他severalversionsthat
ofthem:mightbemade.Hereis
Ioneversionhaveyourinquiryof
nextJuneninth.Youaskfirstaboutthestenographerandtype-writerexaminationsspring.(Here
inlethimanswerthatinquiry.)Youinquirealso弱tolocalappointmentsconnection、^,itlltheconductingofCivilService
examinations.ne
11坨othersareheldrouteexaminationsareconductedbythevariousdistrictsecretaries.atthedifferentplacesofexaminationbypost-officeemployeeswhohavebeenspeciallydesignatedforsuchpurposeundertheCivilServicerules.
111esinglesentencehasninety?fourwordswhilethecorrespondingparagraphhasonlyseventy,althoughitcontainsfivesentences.Apparently,theparagraphismucheasiertograspthanthesentence.111eparagraphgivesthewriterroom.ItallowshimtotakebreaththatheCanproceedinaleisurelymariner
tothetomakeonepointandthenanother.toAndprecisely嬲theseareadvantageswriter,theyareadvantagesthereader.
Becauselongsentenceswitllcomplexstructurestaketoomuchtimetounderstand,theyarenotsofrequentlyusedinforeigntl'adeEnglish.Accordingtotheauthor’S
205sentences,onlytakingupresearch,thereareonly15longsentences
7.32%.amongthetotal
1.Thelong
thesentencesusedintheforeigntradelettersareusuallythecomplexandtostringcompoundsentences,诵tll
subordinationandthewordand,but,so,therefore,etconetheideastogether,whensomeoftherelatedideaSshouldbeplacedinusesentence.Intelligentofco-ordinationCangivesmoothness,varietyandunitytothewriting.
38
AnAnalysis
on
the
WritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBased
on
theRegis——te—r—T——heory
Forexample:
(1)if,whetherduringthe
whetherbefore
or
executionoftheworks
or
or
aftertheircompletionand
aftertherepudiation
otherterminationofthecontract,betweenthe
out
EmployerandtheContractorarisesanydisputeinconnectionwith,orarising
Contract
or
of,the
theexecutionoftheworks,includinganydisagreementbyeither
or
party谢tll
anyaction,inaction,opinion,instruction,determination,certificate
valuationofthe
Engineer,themattershall,inthefirstplace,berefen'ed
to
theDisputesReviewBoard.
无论是在工程执行过程中,还是在工程完成以后,也无论是在放弃合同或其他终止合同之前或者之后,如果业主与承包商之间出现任何与合同或工程执行有关的或因合同或工程执行而引发的争端,包括任何一方对工程师的任何行动、不行动、意见、指示、决定、证书或评价所产生的异议,那么该争端应首先提交争端审核委员会。(Page175)
(2)Shouldthequality,specifications,quantityconformity、Ⅳitllthestipulationsoftheorder,due
theinsurancecompany,shippingcompany,airlinesthestrengthofsurvey
goods
or
weight
be
found
not
in
tocauses
or
otherthanthoseforwhich
postofficeareliable,weshall,on
reportissuedbytheaforesaidBureau,havetherighttorejectthe
delivered.如果发现质量,规格,数量或重量与订单中规定不符,且不是保
险公司,轮船公司,航空公司或邮局的责任,我们有权根据上述检验局的检验报
告拒收运来的货物。(Page173)
Firstly,“Shouldthe
quality…arereliable'’isalladverbialclauseofcondition;
causes
secondly,‘'those'’in“dueto
otherthanthoseforwhich…reliable’’refersto
‘'causes”;Thirdly,‘'onthestrengthofsurveyserved
as
reportissuedbythe
aforesaidBureau'’
parentheses.
Then,therelationship
betweenthecomponentsis
muchclearer.
on
BusinessEnglishfailsintothecategoryofthestyleofLaw,whichstressesthoughtful
castof
mindandwell—knit
structure.
(3)Weherebydeclarethat
correct
thisinvoice
amounting
toUSD4500
isinallrespects
andcontainsfulland
or
true
statementoftheparticularsofthegoodsandofthe
priceactuallypaid
that
no
tobepaidforthesaidgoodsandtheactLlalquantitythereofand
or
otherinvoicehasbeen
no
will
befamishedto
or
anyone
or
else,and
will
thatthegoodsare
ofChineseorigin,andthat
thatshown
on
discount
rebatehasbeen
beallowedotherthan
this
invoice.我们兹声明,本#5@p金额4500美元是正确的:#5@p对本
批货物和所说货物及其实际数量已付或将付的价格的所有的详细情况的陈述是全面和真实的:同时我们声明没有其他的#5@p已经或将提供给其他任何人;同时申明货物是中国产;除了本#5@p上所示,我们没有或将会给予折扣。
IV.Studies
on
the
Writing
SkillsofFTEBased
on
theRegisterTheory
39
Thisis
a
specialtermin
a
L/C.Thethemestructurebringsaboutfour
object
clauses,whichexemplifythefollowing:
WeWe
herebydeclarethatthisinvoice...herebydeclarethat
no
otherinvoice…
WeherebyWe
111e
declarethatthegoods…
no
herebydeclarethat
discount…
difficultpointistheparallel
component
inthefirstobjectclause.Three
prepositions“of'’,three‘'and”and‘‘or"areused
decoded
as
after"contains".These
couldbe
follows:
The
statementabouttheparticularsofthegoodsisfullandtrue;
,nlestatement
about
theparticularsofthepriceisfulland
a
true;
Theterm‘‘o,behind‘'price”is
as
parallel
component,whichmodifies
as
the"price”
object.Therefore,We
(4)Referring
to
couldtranslatethesentence
follows:(#5@p对)本批货物和
价格的所有详细情况的陈述是全面和真实的。
Our
lettersandtelexesinrespecttoOrderNo.2170for1,000
metrictonsofTinFoilSheets,SOfarwehavenodefinite
information
fromyou
about
deliverytime,althoughthesegoodsarecontractedforshipment
beforetheendoflast
month,and(Page192)
our
L/CWas
opened谢tll
theBankofChinaasearlyasinMarch2001.
The
main
sentence
is‘‘SOfarwehave
no
definiteinformationfmmyou
an
about
deliverytime",‘'referringto…Sheets,”isusedasthesesgoods…2001.”is
a
adverbial
clause,and‘'although
clauses,
concessiveclausewhichconsistsconjunction.
your
oftwoparallel
‘'although”isthe
(5)Weare
concessive
gladtohavefilled
orderafterlongdelayandtrustthatthegoods
willreachyouintimetomeetyoururgentneedandthattheywill
turnoutto
your
completesatisfaction.(Pagel91)
The
mainsentenceis"weare酉adto…andtrust…”.“We'’isthesu巧ectand“are
glad’’and‘'trust'’arethepredicate
verbs.The
predicateverb‘'trust"is
followed
bytwo
objectiveclausesintroduced
(6)Withinspecifications
or
bytheword‘'that'’.
90daysafterthearrivalofthegoodsatdestination,shouldthequality,quantity
be
found
not
inconformity、析tllthestipulationsofthe
or
Contractexceptthoseclaimsforwhichtheinsurancecompanyvesselareliable,theBuyersshall,onthestrengthofthetheChina
theowllersofthe
Inspection
Certificate
issuedby
claimfor
Import
and
ExportCommodity
goods,or
for
InspectionBureau,havetheright
to
replacement、ⅣitIlnewcompensation,and,alltheexpenses,(suchas
40AnAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegisterTheoryinspectioncharts,freightforretumingthegoodsandforsendingthereplacement,insurancepremium,storageand
thesellers.(Page175)
’nlissentenceloadingandunloadingcharges,etc.)shallbebornebyisacompoundcomplexsentence.‘‘’]【’heBuyers'’and‘'allthe
borne'’arethe
areexpenses'’arethesubjectsrespectivelywhile‘‘have"and“shallbepredicates.“Witllin90daysafterthearrival…ortheownersofthevesselliable'’is
theadverbialclauseoftimeinwhichcontainstheconditionalsub-clause(should)andtheattributivesub-clause(Which).Andinthepredicateofthesentence,thereisanotherconditionalsentence‘‘onthestrengthof'’.
2.However,theforeigntradelettersshouldconveytheconcise,correctandcompleteideas.Therefore,theshortsentencesarepreferable,suchastheclosing
190shortsentences.Accordingtotheauthor’S
total205sentencesanalysistherearesentencesamongtheanalyzed,takingup92.68%.
sheet.We
Weareenclosinghere丽tll锄inquirylookforwardtohearingfromyouinthenearfuture.
hopetohearfromyouassoonWeaspossible,asthisisamatterofsomeurgency.1waityourearlyreply.
Yourcompliancewillbehighlyappreciated.
oftheshipment.
aPleasesendUSconfirmationWe
耶1etrustthisorderwillbethefirstofuseseriesofdealsbetweensentencesUS.mixedofthelongandshortwilldef'mitelyenrichtheeffectivenessofthewholeletter.Onreadingsuchletters,thereaderwillnaturallyacknowledgewhatshouldbedone,whatshouldbetakentoneheresponsibilitiesandinwhatshouldanswertheletter.
Intheforeigntradeletters,eachsentenceshouldcontainonlyasinglethoughtoraunitofclearlyrelatedthoughts.Unrelatedideasshouldbeputinseparatesentencesandirrelevantmaterials
shouldshouldbeomitted.IftheideaCanbeexpressedinfewerwords,wenot峨themorewordsandcutoffunnecessarywordstomakethewholelettercomplete,conciseandclear.
4.2.2TheTenseUsedinFTE
Theforeigntradelettersmainlyfocusonthematterstobehandledatonce,asaresult,thepresenttenseandthefuturetensearepreferable.Inforeigntradeletters,we
IV.StudiesontheWritingSkillsofFrEBasedontheRegisterTheory41
oftenfindthepresenttenseorthepresentcontinuoustenseisusedinsteadofthefuturetense,whichhasalreadybecomethestrikingcharacteristicsoftheforeigntradeletters.
1.Presentsimpletense
useIntheclosingparagraph,thewritersoftenthecomplimentarysentencesof
presentsimpletensetoexpress
as:hisattitudeorhiswillingnesstoestablishrelationship、^,iththeothers,such
We
We
We
Welookforwardtoreceivingyourenquirylooksoon.forwardtoaproductivetrade.cable.awaityouracceptancebypleasureanticipatetheofhearingfromyoubeforelong.2.PresentcontinuoustenseInforeigntradelettersthefuturetensecanbeexpressedinthewayofthepresenteontinuonstense,forexample:
WealeenclosingOurConfirmationofPurchaseinduplicate.(Page105)InreplytoyourfaxdatedApril2,weareenclosingthisorder,No.SX/0014.(Page81)
Wearesending
(Page25)
Asrequested,wearesubmittingOurquotationintriplicateplaceyouunderseparatecoverbyairmailacopyofthelatestcatalog.and丽shforyoutoyourorderwithus
areasearlyaspossiblebecausewehavealargebacklog.(Page48)SuchlossescuttingdownOursmallprofitandanysuchshortagemustnotbe
allowedtohappenagain.4.2.3TheVoiceIsUsedDiscriminately
Theactiveandpassivevoiceshavetheirownfunctions.Theactivevoiceputemphasisonthepersonswho
awillperformsomeactions.Generallyspeaking,theactivevoiceseemstobemorenaturalanddirectapproachandmoreforceful.
1).Thepassivevoice
Comparatively,thepassivevoiceisusedwhenthewriterwantstoputtheemphasis011thereceiveroftheaction,softenthetoneoravoidmentioningthepersonresponsible
addingtheirfortheaction.(1)The
confirmation.advisingbankisrequestedtonotifythebeneficiarywithout
42AnAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeignTrade—En—glishBasedon—t—h—eRegister———T—h——eo—r—y
(2)The
addingtheiropeningbankrequeststheadvisingbanktOnotifythebeneficiarywithoutconfirmation.我们(开证行)请求通知行通知受益人没有加具它们的保
findthethepassive兑。Comparingthetwo
voice,givesallsentencesabove,wecallsentenceusingatmosphereoffriendshipandpolitenessthusitismorelikelytObeaccepted.
Generallyspeaking,thepassivevoiceisusedinthefollowingways.
1.Thepassivevoiceisusedwitll
Forexample:
Itisanimpression“it'’asthesubject.hopedthat、^,itllyoursupportweshallbeabletOexplorethepossibilityofbusinessinsomeotheritems.
ItwasanticipatedthattheL/CwouldhavereachedUSbynow.
ItshouldberecognizedthattheintentofthisagreementistObenefitbothparticipants.
Itisunderstoodthataletterofcredit
onorinOurfavorcoveringthecaptionedmerchandisewillbeestablishedaboutthe25mofthemonth.(Page163)
Intheeventofdamage,it
alewillbesurveyedbytheJohnsonSurveyCo.andclaimspayableatShanghai.(Page222)
conveyaTheabovesentences
performer.kindofcourtesyandtactfulnessbyusingthepassivevoiceandbYputting‘‘it'’astheformalsubjectwithoutmentioningthespecific
2.Thepassivevoiceis
Forused丽tIlthesecondperson‘‘you”asthesubject.example:
areYoukindlyrequestedtOquotetheFOBpricesNewYork
intherate.(Page47)usedforThemoodabovesentencegives
aamoreorlessimperativeair,beingpolitecommandandforleavingfavorableimagefortheotherside.
toIfwechangetheabovesentenceintotheactivevoicethat‘‘Werequestyou
quotetheFOBpricesNewYorkrate.”themoodwillsoundtO
probablyleadthebusinesstransactionintofailure.
InordertosoftentheforcefuleffectofthebetOoforcefulandwillabovesentence,theword“kindly'’isusuallyusedbeforeorafter‘‘request'’,suchas‘‘Youarekindlyrequestedto...’’and“YouarerequestedkindlytO…’’
3.The
Yourpassivevoiceisusedwitllthephraseof“your…”asthesubject.compliancewillbeappreciated.(Page106)
1V.StudiesontheWritingSkillsofF1'EBasedontheRegisterTheory43
Yourpromptattentionandcooperationinthismatterwillbetliglllyappreciated?(Pagel24)
Yourcompany’SnamehasbeengiventoUSbytheChamberofCommerceofLondon.(Page24)
4.Thepassive
theproduct.
ThispolicyisissuedinduplicateatthousandandvoiceisusedwithanounasthesubjectsuchasthecompanyandShanghaionthe尹dayofMayintheyeartwoone.(Page222)
casesTheshipencounteredheavyweather,and252weredamagedbyseawager.
(Page243)
Abookletincludingageneralintroduction,thescopeofbusinessandothertopicsisenclosedforyourreference.(Page37)
2).Theactivevoice
Thepurposetowriteaforeigntradeletteristobuyorsellgoods,ortoprovideinformation,therefore,thewriterusuallyusetheword‘'we’’asthesubjecttoexpresshis/hercompany’Sstandpoim.Besides,theexpressionsproductareof‘'our…’’andasnounsabouttheusedasthesubjectaswell,buttheyarenotusedfrequentlyastheword‘'we”.
Accordingtotheauthor’S
205analysisthereale97activesentencesamongthetotalsentences,takingactivesentencesup47.32%.And83sentencesofthetotalusetheword‘'we’’勰theirsubjects,takingtheup40.49%ofthe205sentencesand85.57%oftotal97activesentences.
I.Thesentencesareused、Ⅳimthesubjectof‘!we”.
countriesanddistricts.Weare
(Page37)
Weare
foreign
flexibleactiveinthetradeandfinancialcirclesofvariousstrivingtoexpandeconomicutilizecooperationandexchangeoftechnologywithacountries,andwillway.(Page37)commonandreasonableinternationalpracticesin
2.Thesentences
ofbill.areusedwiththesubjectofnounssuchastheproductandakind
Ourcompanyimportsgeneralmerchandise.(Page23)
HongOurbankers
CorporationofareChaseManhattanBankandtheKong&ShanghaiBankingHungKong.TheycallprovideyouinformationaboutOUrbusinessandfirlance.(Page23)
ChinesetableclothsaleverypopularinEurope.(Page65)
44AnAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegisterTheory4.2.4TheClausesofCondition
Whenwerequestademandtheproper殴oftheconditionalclauses
ourrequest.Forcallsoftenthetoneofthesentencesandmakethereaderhappytoaccept
USexample:(1)Pleasesendsampleswithinthisweek.
USWewillappreciateifyoucansendsampleswithinthisweek.
(2)PleaseinformUSbyfaximmediately.
WeshallbegladifyouinformUSbyfaximmediately.
above,weComparingthetwogroupsofexamplescanfindthatthetoneofthe
second
makingsentencesusingtheconditionalclauseissofterandmoreeuphemistic,thUSthereaderfeelverycomfortable,andthepossibility
atorealizeourpurposeismuchbigger,besides,itisbettertoremain
Thereale900drelationship.mainlyfourpattemsofconditionalclausesinforeigntradelettersaccordingtotheauthor’Sresearch.
1.Theconditionsentencesaremostlyintroducedbythe
(Page24)
PleaseletUSword“if'’.aIfyouCansupplythistypeofmerchandise,kindlyairmailussampleandcup.knowiftherealeanyitemswhichareofinteresttoyouwewillsendyouquotesandsamples.(Page25)
yourordernoButifyouplacelaterthantheendofthismonth,wewouldensure
promptshipment.(Page65)
2.There
foralegreatdealsofphrasesusedintheclauseofcondition,suchasincaseof,onlyif,onlyafter,provided,unless,if,inviewof,onconditionthat,providingthat,example:
But/nviewofOurfriendlyrelations,wewill,asanexceptionalcase,acceptpaymentforyourtrialorderonD/Pbasis.(Page125)
SOInsuchcase,theBuyersmay,ifrequested,sendasampleofthegoodsin
questiontotheSellers,providedthatsamplingisfeasible.(Page175)
3.Sometimestheterm“if’isomittedandthesentenceisinverted,whichislikelytobeseenintheformalstyle.
Forexample:
beadvisedofstoppingrenewalShouldthenegotiatingbanknotwithin15days
aftereachnegotiation,theunusedbalanceofthiscreditshallbeincreasedtotheorigilaalamount.(Page172)
IV.StudiesOntheWritingSkillsofFTEBasedontheRegisterTheory45
ShouldtheSellersfail
ontoloadthegoodswithinthetimeasnotifiedbytheBuyers,onboardthevesselbookedbytheBuyersatlcritsarrivaltheportofshipment,allexpensessuchasdeadfreight,demurrage,etc.,andconsequencesthereofshallbebornebytheSellers.(Page173)
4.Someidiomexpressionsareused,forinstance:ifany,ifpracticable,ififrequired,ifavailable,ete.
Forexample:possible,
Signedcommercialinvoiceissuedin2/3original,1coPycertifyingissuanceinstrictconformity、析mProformaInvoiceregardingtheunitpriceandifavailabletrademarkofthemanufacture.(Page135)
Claims,/fan),,shouldbe
London.(Page232)
Insuchcase,theBuyerssettledagaimtthesurveyreportfromaLoydsAgentinmay,/fSOrequested,sendasampleofthegoodsinqueaiontotheSellers,providedthatsamplingisfeasible.(Page175)4.2.5TheEllipticalSentence
Ellipticalsentencesmainlyincludetheomissionofthesubject,the
SOomissionoftheauxiliary‘‘be”andtheomissionin
sentencescantheclauseofcondition,andon.Theellipticalmakethecommunicationofinformationmoreconvenientandfaster,however,ifusedtoomuch,theyCancausesomedifficultydealing、杭mthe
becontrolledinainformation,therefore,the
1.Theuseoftheellipticalsentencesshouldproperamount.omissionofthesubject
arcn坨lettersallbetweenthebuyersandthesellers,thustheomissionofthe
notcause蛐bjec一‘、Ⅳe”and“you'’_Can
themostdisagreement,andthiskindofomissionisamongFTC.
ofyourtradetermsandforwardsamplesandproductPlease(You)informus
brochures.(Page23)
2.Theomissionoftheauxiliary‘'be”iSalsoverycommoninFTC.(1).Paymentwillp砂madebyirrevocableL/Cat
137)sight.(Page81)(2).Partialshipment(is)allowed.(Page
(3).Certificateoforigin倒induplicate.(Page136)3.Theomissionintheclauseofconditioniscommonlyusedforthesakeofconciseness.WcCanunderstandthesesentencesaccordingtothecontext.
46———A—nAnalysis
011
the
WritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegisterTheory
(1).Claims,/faro,,should
inLondon.(Page232)
besettledagainstthesurveyreportfrom
a
LoydsAgent
(2).Insuchcase,the
Buyers
may,/fSOrequested,send
a
sampleofthegoodsin
questiontOtheSellers,providedthatsamplingisfeasible.(Page175)
as
(3).ShouldtheSellers
Buyers,onboardthevessel
failtOloadthegoodswithinthetimenotifiedbYthe
ofshipment,
booked
bytheBuyersafteritsarrivaltheport
all
on
expensessuch勰deadfreight,demurrage,etc.,andconsequencesthereofshallbe
borne
bytheSellers.(Page173)
4.2.6ThePreferencetoDeclarativeSentences
TherearefourtypesofsentencesinEnglishi.e.thedeclarative,theinterrogative,
theimperativeandthe
accordingtOher
exclamative
on
sentences.The
authorhaSdrawn
at
a
diagram
analysis
the205sentenceschosenfromthebookrandom.
Typeofsentences
No.ofsentences
O180023205
Percentage
0
Exclamative
sentences
DeclarativesentencesInterrogativesentences
87.80%
0
Imperative
Total
sentences
11.22%
sentences
The
sentences
table
above
showsthatthedeclarativesentences
are
usedthemost
frequently
amongthefourusual
sentences.Imperative
sentences
are
usedsometimes;exclamative
and
interrogativesentencesarenotfoundinuse.
To
a
greatextent,theforeigntradelettersare
used
ale
forthebusinessnegotiations
tostate
betweenthe
two
parties.Almostallthesentences
performed
thefacts
or
conditions,tO
expressthesincerityto
cooperate诵m
the
others,ortoconvey
thehopeof
finalizingtheorderandbenefitingbomparties.Thepurpose
or
oftheforeigntradeletters
no
isratherclearanddefinite.Theinitiator
responderhaStogive
othersbut
one
response
totheletter.Based
on
suchbusinesssituations,thedeclarative
sentencesare
muchmorepreferable.
Besides,accordingtotheauthor’Sresearchtheimperativesentencestheexpressionsof‘‘pleaSe’’and‘‘kindly'’and
Forexample:
SO
on
are
used谢th
tOSORenthe
tone
ofthesentences.
(1).PleaSedispatch
one
sampletineachofthesixqualitiesreturn.
byairparcel
immediatelyand,meanwhile,confirmyouracceptanceby(Page103)
IV.Studies
on
the
Writing
SkillsofFTEBased
on
theRegisterTheory
47
(2).Please
advise
US
whenthegoods
are
readyforshipment.(Page95)
(3).Kindlymail
US
yourcataloganddetailsof
sentences
yourspecifications.(Page49)
whatwehavedoneand
WhatiSmore,theaflhmativeareusedmuchmoreoftenthannegative
sentences.Specificallyspeaking,weshould
stresson
what
we
Candoinsteadofwhat
we
have
notdone
and
whatwe
see
cannotdone.
theimportanteffectbyusingthe
Fromthefollowingtwosentenceswecan
a伍rmative
sentence.
(1)WeCannotship(2)Wewill
yourorderuntiltheendofnextmonth.
shipyourorderattheendofnextmonth.
anegative
on
Sentence(1)is
a
sentencefocusing
on
whatwe
callnot
do;sentence(2)is
isthe
sanle
positivesentencefocusing
what
we
cando.Theinformationconveyed
inthe
two
sentences,butthesentence(1)is
theirfocusisdifferent.Thenegative
positiveandsentence(2)isnegativedueto
word‘'no’’and“not'’willcausethereaderfeel
makethereaderfeel
unpleased.While
go
on
the
positivesentencewillfollowingtwo
can
comfortable.Then
we
tocomparethegroupsofsentences.
draw
a
Fromtheanalysisabove,we
conclusionthatweshoulduse
fits
positive
sentencesinsteadofnegative
sentencesS
possible
we
can.
4.3TheTextualLevel
4.3.1.ShortLetterswithShortParagraphs
Accordingtothe
analysisinChapterThree,weknow
that
a
busybusinessman
will
oftenselecttheshortestandsimplestlettersinfrontofhimtoanswer.Therefore,one
shouldatleasttrytobeconciseparagraphs
ale
and
to
controlthe
lengthof
a
letter.As
a
result,short
one
preferable.Eachparagraphshould
toneof
beplanned
logically、柝tll
paragraphfor
one
topic.Furthermore,the
thelettershouldbenoted,which
will
berepresentedatthebeginningof
salutation
on
and
attheendofclosing.
Accordingtotheauthor’Sresearcherthe40letters,thereare128paragraphsand
in
205sentences.So,onaverage,thereare3.2paragraphsineveryletter,5.12sentences
everyletter,and1.60sentencesineveryparagraph.
Typeofletter
No.ofletter
No.ofwordNo.ofsentence
AverageNo.of
word
Letterofestablishing
4
342
24
14.25
4墅jnAnalysisOntheWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegisterTheoryrelationship
Letterofoffer54192616.12andinquiries
Letteronprice
Letterof64585392382215.3917.82ordering
Letteronterms32751419.64ofpayment
Letteron43611721.24contract
Letteron45172322.48shipment
Letterof42071612.94insurance
Letterofclainls64362517.44andarbitration
Total403534
a20517.24is17.24.FromtheseThediagramshowsthattheaveragenumberofsentence
figureswecanseetheconcisenessoftheforeigntradeletters.
4.3.2.TheLayoutofaForeignTradeLetter
Toagreatextent,foreigntradelettersareformalletters,SOthereareconventionalstylesaboutthelayout.AmongthestylesofbusinessEnglishlettersthemostcommonletterlayoutsremaintheblockstyle,modifiedblockstyle,andsimplifiedstyle.TheauthormayUSewhicheverofthemaccordingtothepreferencesandtraditionsofhis/herorganization.
(1)Blockstyle
Blockstylerequiresthewritertoplacealloftheletterelementsflushagainsttheleftmargin,theletterbodyinthemiddleofthe
notpage,andthelettertextbeginonthefinalpageafterthetopmarginand
Fortocenteritiftheletterislongerthanononepage.example
Inathefirstletterofthisbookstylepage23.(2)Modifiedblockmodifiedblockstyleletterthewritershouldplacethedateontheright-handside;centerthesubjectheadingoverthebodyoftheletter;placethecomplimentary
IV.StudiesontheWritingSkillsofFTEBasedontheRegisterTheory49
close,thesignatureandthetypednameeitherontherightorinthemiddleofthepage;
onsecondletterplaceallotherpartsagainsttheleftmargin.Forexamplethepage24?
(3)Simplifiedstyle
asThesimplifiedstylefollowsthesamerulestheblockstyleinplacingtheentire
letteragainsttheleftmargin.Thedifferencesa陀thisstyleofletteromitsthesalutationandthecomplimentaryclose,butput吐lethethemeclearer.ForsubjectonlineinthefrontoftIlebody,makingexamplethetiffrdletterpage25.4.3.3TheTextStructureofForeignTradeLetter
foreigntradeletterformalthanksusedatthebeggingofthereturn,or
totheInaareagoodrelationshipismentionedinthefirstparagraph,andthencomes
suchasansubject,offer.Andattheendofaletterthanksareexpressedagain.Forexample
DearMr.Wang:
ThankyouforyourletterofFeb.15m,2001partsforthecaptionedmachine.andtheenclosurerequisitionquotesfor
Asrequested,we
placeyourorderarcsubmittingOUrquotationintriplicateandwishforyoutoawithus缌earlyaspossiblebecausewehavelargebacklog?
Weawaityourdecision.
Sincerely,
SanderDeHaan
InternationalSalesManager
(Page48)
~liIlall,thefeaturesofthetextofforeigntradecorrespondencecouldbesummarizedinthefollowing‘‘7C’’principle,thatis,‘'correctness,completeness,concreteness,clearness,conciseness,courtesyandcomidemtion'’.Wherein,themostrepresentativecharacteristicsareconsiderationandcourtesy,whichindicatethatmoreattentionsshouldbepaidtotheetiquetteandmoderatewording.
50AnAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeign————a————d————e——————E————.n.———g—.—l———s———B———d——————o....—n————..t..。h—...e......R......e....g.....i..s..。t...e...r.....T.....h.....e....o....r.—y—
(1)Completeness
Whenwewriteaforeigntradecorrespondence,weshouldmakesurethecontentiscomplete,whichdemandsthatthelettershouldcoVeralltheconditionandproblemsneedingthereader’Spositiveresponse,orallthequestionsandrequeststheclienthasasked.Whenweordersomegoods,weshouldwriteclearlywhatwebuy,whenweneedthegoods,theaddressee,theplaceofdeliveryandthetermofpaymentsoforth.onandSO
(2)Conciseness
Peoplewhoworkinbusinessfield
enoughtimetoreadaareusuallyverybusyandtheydon’thavelongbusinessletter,SOtheFTCshouldbeconciseonthebaseofincludingalltheinformationnecessary.Thefactisthatthetwofeatures,completenessandconciseness,aredependedoneachother.
(3)Concreteness
Theforeign
FTCshouldtradelettersshouldavoidambiguityandabstract,thatistosaythebeconcrete.Forexample,whenwewriteinquiries,offersandclaims,weshouldusesomefiguresandrealfactors.Thenounsandverbsshouldbeusedwithclearmeanings.
(4)Correctness
Abusinesslettershouldbeexpressed、Ⅳimcorrectlanguageformandbusinessconventionwithoutanymistake.Otherwise,youmaycausegreateconomiclosstoyourcompany.
(5)CIarity
Business
worthoflettersarepurpose-oriented,andtheyshouldbeofclearlevelsandcontentsbereading.Theshouldbeeasilyunderstood,withoutambiguityandhackneyedandstereotypedexpressions.Inordertomeettherequirementoftheclarity
letter.ofFTE,sometimes
Andthesamples,illustrationsanddiagramsshouldbeattachedtotheuselanguageshouldbesimple,direct,perspicuous,andfamiliarphrasesasmoreaspossible.
understandthe(6)ConsiderationConsiderationmeansweshouldthinkinthepo缸ofyou-attitudeto
client’Sneed,willingandfeelings,anddiscussaproblempositivelyandavoidnegotiatingnegatively.
(7)Courtesy
Bysayingthewordcourtesywemeanthatabusinesslettershouldbehonestand
andofproperwording.polite.Andtheexpressionshouldbeeuphemistic,positive
IV.StudiesontheWritingSkillsofFTEBasedOntheRegisterTheory5l
Besides,rigorousnessisalsofoundintheEnglishbusinesscorrespondence.Theprepositionsorepexegesistodescribetime
orareusedtoconfineandavoidambiguity.Forafter'’,‘'tillandexample,thephrases‘'on
November5”:theamountexpression
codebefore”,‘‘onandincluding",‘‘from(on)”,‘'bothdaysincluded'’,‘'promptly”,“immediately'’,“asofmoneyandorsoon硒possible",“aboutcountrynumbershouldbenoticed嬲well,thereiStheof“say…oIlly,’beforeorafteramountinwords,andthelettemofnumberabbreviationletterofcurrencyshouldbeaddedbeforethecurrencysymb01.
Inaword,inpracticalFTEwriting,someprinciplesshouldbefollowed.Asforthe
greatemphasisispaidonchoiceofwords,theaccuracythanrhetoric;asforthe
syntacticstructures,muchattentionispaidtotheformula.Andthepassagewrittenisrequiredtobecourtesy,clarity,andconciseness.
V.Conclusion
V.Conclusion
5.1Conclusion
Winl
itsdoortotherapiddevelopmentoftheinternationalbusiness,Chinahaswidelyopenedtheoutsideworld.EspeciallywiththeentranceintoWTO,theinternationalbusinessbecomesmoreandmoreprosperous.Withthe
thedevelopmentofmultinational
asaglobalizationofeconomyandcooperation,Englishhasbeenincreasinglyacceptedchiefme龇塔forinternationalbusinesstransaction.Therefore,theforeigntradeEnglishwillobviouslybecomemoreandmoreimportant.HowtolookattheforeigntradeEnglishandhowtomakefulluseofitinpracticebecomesrathercrucial.
Languageisconsideredtobemorethanlexical,grammatical
systemsandstructures.Wecanmgarditasorphonologicalinabehaviorsrelatingtotheparticipantsspeecheventtotheirenvironment,toeachotherandtothemediumofcommunicationitself.
FromthedissertationweknowthatForeignTradeEnglishisanEnglishvarietyusedinintemationaltrade;itisasub-catalogueofESP.neriseofESPhasledtoarevolutioninthelinguistics.Traditionally,theaimoflinguisticshadbeentodescribetherulesofEnglishusage,thatis,thegrammarandthesurfaceforms.However,latestnewstudieshaveshiftedattentionawayfromdefiningtheformalfeaturesoflanguageusagetodiscoveringthewaysinwhichlanguageisactuallyusedinrealcommunications.Byapplyingthetheoryof
theoryspecifically,to
theviewthatthereareasystemic-functional‘衲mmar,thelinguisticRegistergreatextent,determinestheforms.础sgives
tworisetoimportantdifferencesbetween,say,theEnglishofcommerceandfieldsarequitethatofengineering,becausethesituationtypesoftheabove
different.
Infunctionalgrammarlanguagehasthreemeanings/functions:theexperiential
andtheorideationalfunction,theinternationalfunction
threefactors,i.e.field,modetextualfunction.Andregisterhasandtenor.nerelationshipisthatthefieldmainly
tenordeterminestheexperientialmeaningsthatareexpressed;themainlydetermines
theinterpersonalmeanings;andthemodemainlydeterminesthetextualmeanings.
ForeigntradeEnglishisanEnglishvarietyusedininternationalwade,andRegisterisdefinedbyHallidayasvariationaccording
theRegistertheorycanto眦.AnalyzeforeigntradeEnglishwith
toanalyzepresentthelanguagecharacteristicsthoroughly.Therefore,inthisdissertationtheauthorusesRegistertheorythelanguagefeaturesofFTE
竺垒里垒望型y啦里璺尘皇!塑t.里墨skillSofForeign
Trade
Engl—ishthe—Register
Based
on
Theory
andsummarizessomewritingskills晰tllthehope
to
helpthosewho
are
studyingFTE
andusing
FTEatwork.
5.2LimitationsoftheThesis
ne
authorhasillustratedindetailthelanguagecharacteristicsofFTEfromthe
on
perspectiveofRegistertheory,andsummarizedthewritingskillsofFTEbased
the
theory.Becauseoftimeandlengthlimited,theauthorhasonlyanalyzedindetailthebookQtBUslNESsCoRREsPoNDENCEANDDIALOGUESbyQiYunfang,andmade
a
statistics
on
40lettersofthebook,SOthere
on
are
someshortcomingsofthisdissertation.
Andtheauthorhasonlyfocusedwhich,ofcourse,playsavery
notthe
thelanguageofthe
inwriting
a
body
offoreigntradeletters,
importantpart
successful
business
letter,but
whole.
a
Inordertowrite
goodforeigntradecorrespondence,there
are
someotheraspects
shouldbepaidattentionto.Forexample,thewritershouldpayattentiontotheletterhead,theinsideaddress,thesalutation,thecomplementaryclose,thereference
signature,
initials,enclosure,postscript,the
space
andmargin,the
paper
used,ete.
(1)mletterhead
neletterhead
isusuallycenteredatthetopofaletterpaper.Sometimesthename
ofthefilmisprintedinthemiddleandotherinformationisgivenontheleftandright
sidesunderthename
as
well.Ifyouarewriting
ona
pieceofplainblankpaperwithout
a
primedletterhead,youshouldtypetheletterheaddoublespace
over
on
therightcornerofthepaper
thedateline.
帅atiS
arrangement
more,never
or
omit
thedatelinebecauseitplays
disputeincourtsof
a
roleofevidenceof
isusuallytyped
all
contractinc舔eof
a
law.n圮date
on
thefighthandsidedoublespacebelowthelastlineoftheletterhead.
(2)111eImideNameandAddress
,nIeinside
na.rne
andaddressnormallyrequire
three
or
fourtypewrittenlines;flush
witlltheleftmarginatleastfourlines
below
the
date
line.111ewritershouldalways
writeboththenamesofthepersonandthecompanytowhomtheletteriswritten
properly.The
styleshouldbe
governedbythestyleoftheletterhead.Besides,donot
omitcountrywhentheletteriswrittentosomeoneinanothercountry.
writing,youshouldu∞it
arc
Whenyouknowthename
、析tlIhis
or
ofthe
persontowhom
you
are
hertitleinsteadof‘'theManager'’.Thewaysinwhichtitles
usually
writtenareasfollows:Ifweknowthe
personwearewritingtoareordinarymenand
V.Conclusion
wome玛we
Call
writethetitlesinthisway,such
as:Mr.BarbaraEvans,Mrs.June
writeto
Smith,Miss
Nana
Wang,andMs.SerenaLiu.Ifwe
men诵tll
titles
or
or
degrees,
thetitlesshouldbewritteninthisway:SirJohn
Smith(NotSirJ.Smith
Sir
Smith),
or
Dr.B.Brian
or
Dr.Bruce
Brian,ProfesS0r
MartinHastings.Ifweare
writingtotwo
moremen,weshouldwriteIikethis:MessrsMacDonald&Evans.Whenwriteunmarriedwomen
Chen;writeto
use
to
MissElizabethWimpole,MissE.Wimpole,andMiss
Judith
marriedwomenwithMrs.SusannahSmith,Mrs.Nana
statuses
Chou;writeto
womenwhosemarital
areunknownuseMs.McrryLawrenceetc.
(3)The
Salutation
threetyping
nlesalutationshouldbeplaced
address
spacesbelowthelastlineoftheinside
andtypeditflush
winltheleRmargin.Anditmustagree、析ththeinside
address.
(4)111eComplimentaryClose
Thecomplimentaryclose
goodimpression
on
endstheletterwith
a
politeway,consequentlymaking
a
thereader.Tllecomplimentarycloseshouldbealwaysplaced
a
doublespacebelowthebodyoftheletter,preferablyaligning、析tllthedateline
or
conforming
to
thestyleoftheletterused.Andthe
complimentary
closeshouldmatch
thesalutation.MostEnglishlettersendinthe
Person
followingways:
Close
Yourssincerely
Addressed
Salutation
Mr.T.Smith
Dr.A.Smith
砀eManager
n圮Secretary
DearMr.SmithDear
Dr.Smith
Madam
Yourssincerely
YoursfaithfullyYoursfaithfullyYourssincerelyYourstruly
DearSir
Dear
Ms.Smith,Secretary
MessrsSmithand
Jones
DearMs.Smith
Gentlemen
or
DearSirs
(5)ne
writesthe
Signature
Everybusinesslettermustbesignedbyitswriter,thus
a
tellingthereaderwhodouble
letter.And
therulesare:signthelettercustomarilyspacebelowthe
complimentaryclosewitllthetypewrittennameundemeath;four
job
spacesareallowedfor
thehandwrittennameofthewriter;putthewriter’Sdepartment
or
title,nameofthewriter’S
divisioninthe
companyforcompany’S
whichheworksimmediatelyfollowingthe
type?written
name;put
or
the
nameeither
immediately
belowthe
complimentaryclosebelowthetypedname
a
andthetitlesofthewriterinallcapital
nRnle
letters;don’tputanycourtesytitlefor
manbeforetheman’s
inthesignatureline
堑垒nAnalysisontheWritingSkillsofForeignTradeEnglishBasedontheRegisterTheorybuttheabbreviationsofhisacademic
adegrees;typeprofessionalratingsafterthesigner’Stypewrittenname、柝mcommabeinginsertedbetweenthem.
(6)ThePapertoBeUsed
The
thatthewritershouldalwayswriteletters、^,itllpaperofgoodquality,andmakesureenvelopeandthesecondsheetofthesameletteralwaysmatchtheletterheadstationeryinquality.
(7)TheSpacing
(a)ThespacingandtheMargin
Thewriter
shortshouldtypetheletter、Ⅳimsinglespacebetweenlines,typesextremelyandoneparagraphedletters诵mdoublespacesbetweenlines,andalwaysleaveadouble-spacedlinebetweenparagraphs.
@Themargin
Marginsare
shouldleaveatnecessaryaastheframesofapicture.Itisrequestedthatthewriterleastone-inchmarginattheleftsideoftheletterandkeeptheright
onemarginroughlythesame;leaveatleast
atthebottomofthepage;leaveatleastandone—halftimesthatofthesidemarginsoneandone-halftimesthatofthesidemarginsthetopmarginofplainpaperwithout
Exceptfortheknowledgealetterhead.writershouldmentionedabove,thebefamiliar、Ⅳitllthe
internationaltrade,knowledgerelatingtointernationaltrade,suchastheprinciplesof
thelawofinternationaltrade,internationaleconomyandinternationalfinance.Sincetheyarenottheobjectiveofthisresearch,theauthorwillnotillustratetheminthisdissertation.
Inaword,ifwewanttowriteareallygoodbusinessletterweshouldpayattention
usetomanyaspects,rangingfromthelanguagewe
eveninthelettertothestyleofthelettertheenvelopandthepaperweuse.Theauthorhasstudiedthelanguagefeaturesof
outsomeFTEbasedontheregistertheory,andpointedrespectsremainedtObestudied
inthisdissertation.Becauseoflackingoftime,theauthordoes
determininganotstudyalltheaspectssuccessfulletter,andthematerialanalyzedisverylimited,however,theauthorhasmanagedtosummarizethewritingskillsanddoeshopeherstudyhelpfultothosewhoarestudyingandusingF,rE.willbe
Acknowledgements57
Acknowledgements
TheauthorwouldliketoacknowledgethevaluablecommentsandsuggestionsofhersupervisorProfessorYangYue.Without
SOhisl【indhelptheauthorcouldnothaveaaccomplishedthedissertation
Thanksalsogotoallmywellinsuchshorttime.taughtmeduringthepastthreeyears,teachers,whohave
aandallmyfriendswhohelpedmelot.Andthesincerethanksgototheteacherswho
onhaveexaminedmypaperandgivemanyadvices
Thanksaremypaper.alsoowedtomyclassmatesespeciallytomyroommates,becausethey
only、析tllmystudybutalso、^,itllmyeverydaylifeinthisuniversity.helpmealotnot
AspecialgratitudeisexpressedtomyclassmatesYangHongandKongNannan,fortheirhelpgiventomeduringthosedayswhen1wasnotinmyuniversitybecauseofworkingoutofXi’a11.
Finally,、Ⅳimagreatsenseofdebt,Ithankmyfamilyverymuch,for廿leyhavebroughtmeupandgivenmetheopportunitytostudyintheuniversityandcontinuetopursuemymaster’Sdegreeafter
Igraduation.AnditistheywhomakemewhatIamnow.Cannotimaginethelifewithouttheirsupport.
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Publications
Publications
【l】刘金英.从社会语言学角度浅析中国式英语【J】.西安电子科技大学学报社会科学版,2008(3).P:128—130
【2】刘金英.语用学视角下的小说语言阴.西安电子科技大学研究生学术年会人文学院论文集社会科学版,2009(12).