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【Abstract】 Based on the lack of study on vague language in English business correspondence， this thesis adopted Brown and Levinson’s Face Theory as well as the Politeness Principles to explain when and why people deliberately use vague language on these occasions so as to help us obtain a profound understanding of this language phenomenon and some effective language skills used to write effective English business correspondence to precipitate the success of business.
【Key words】English business correspondence； vague language； Face Theory
【中圖分类号】G64 【文献标识码】B 【文章编号】2095-3089（2014）27-0001-02
1. Introduction
Interests in language vagueness have arisen in recent years and people have taken great effort to do researches on the phenomena of vagueness from various aspects， while for quite a long time， it is believed that vagueness， ambiguity， imprecision， and generality are to be avoided.
However， human communication is not quite such a case， both in written and spoken form. Vagueness permeates in language with no exception in business English， this thesis will focus on the employment and pragmatic effects of vague language in different types of English business correspondence in the light of Brown and Levinson’s Face Theory.
2. Rationale of the Study
Vague language in business English correspondence is chosen as the object of the present study because of the following basic reasons. First， vague language is more and more pervasive in business English. How and why it is adopted in business English corres？鄄pondence to reach the intended purposes is still a wonder. Second， pragmatic theories can be used to analyze this language phenomenon to reason out the relation between the deliberate use of vague language and the addresser’s intention. Third， the study of vague language in business English is of practical importance. It leads us to a comprehensive understanding of business English that possibly helps us make smooth communication in business world.
Due to the above reasons， this thesis aims to solve the following problems：Which type of English business correspondence do they employ the technique of vague language？ How and why do they adopt vague language in the English business correspondence？ What are the specific pragmatic functions of vague language on these occasions？
3. Application of Face Theory to the Pragmatic Analysis
The employment of vague language in English business communication is due to the intention of communicating with others successfully in business world. This section will concentrate on why people use vague language as adaptation to different contexts based on Brown and Levinson’s Face Theory. 3.1Politeness and Vague Language in English Business Corres？鄄pondence
One of the principal features of business letter writing is the use of language politely and appropriately. However， in real business world， it is difficult for the addresser to achieve this goal. Under this circumstance， vague language is deployed as a politeness strategy to mitigate the effects of face？鄄threatening acts and meet the addresser’s intention of being politeness and satisfy his own purposes. For example：
Dear Sirs，
Some of your referees have reported that the last 12 months some payments have made up to one to two months late. We understand that the lateness of the payment might have been exceptional. Would you care to tell us about this so that we could still consider what credit could be arranged？
As we should like to keep your supplies， we shall hold back your order for 10 tens while we await your reply. （Zhang Qiao 58）
This is a reply sent to the addressee after investigation of financial credit. There are four vague expressions in this letter： “some”， “some payments”， “we understand” and “might have been”. The addresser knows clearly what is referred by the vague words “some” and “some payments” because he did the investigation of financial credit， while by employing the vague expressions， the addresser protects the third party， although the addressee knew he fell behind in paying the money， he would not blame the referee from whom the addresser got this information. The vague expressions “we understand” and “might have been” do not reflect the real attitude of the addresser. These two expressions can give the addressee an opportunity for explaining the reason of falling behind in paying the money on time and make the addressee have a feeling that the addresser only wants to confirm the credit and the credit standing is reliable in the addresser’s eyes. Through this example， we can see that vague language may serve as a kind of politeness strategy to enhance their business cooperation.
3.2 Addresser’s Face and Vague Language in English Business Correspondence
Addressers are expecting to avoid losing faces of their own and to save the addressees’ faces when they use vague language. Such vague expressions as “sort of”， “kind of”， “probably”， “almost” can be deliberately employed to maintain face and avoid disagreement. The use of vague language can make the addresser’s commitment much unclear than it really is and help the addresser deny the relevant responsibility， so that the addresser’s face can be saved. For example： Under the circumstances， we had better discuss the matter when opportunity arises. （Cheng Tongchun 77）
The addresser of example uses the vague expression “under the circumstances” to show his attitude or commitment vaguely， which mitigates the addresser’s full responsibility for the truth of the proposition. “When opportunity arises” is a kind of conditioned promise， which can make the opposing party have the favor and expectation of further cooperation.
3.3 Addressee’s Face and Vague Language in English Business Correspondence
In business communication， addressers often try to avoid threatening addressees’ faces while maintaining their own. For the sake of politeness and avoidance of face？鄄threatening， addressers often try to follow the politeness strategies to maintain addressees’ faces. Even if an addresser has to offend an addressee in a certain situation， the addresser will intend to mitigate it rather than express his idea boldly. In such a case， vague language is applied to make the addressee free from embarrassment and maintain his face. For instance：
Dear Sirs，
According to our records， you have not yet settled your account for electronic equipment supplied to you on 10th December and 20th January this year. … If， however， you have not yet settled this account， we would appreciate it if you would now do so at your earliest convenience for it has been outstanding for a considerable time.
We therefore look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Yours faithfully， （Zhang Qiao 58）
4. Pragmatic Functions of Vague Language in English Business Correspondence
From the above analyses， we can explore and summarize both the positive and negative functions of vague language in English business correspondence.
4.1 Positive Functions
（1） Enhancing the Appropriateness of the Expressions
（2） Granting More Flexibilities for the Businessman
（3） Deliberately Withholding Information
（4） Mitigating the Face？鄄Threatening Effects
（5） Self？鄄Protection
4.2 Negative Functions
Just as everything in the world has two dialectical sides， vague language is not always positive or desirable. Under some circums？鄄tances， for example： Will you please quote for the supply of approximately 100 reams of white poster paper suitable for auction bills and poster work generally？（Cheng Tongchun 74） vague language may lead to trouble for the parties involved. Thus， it is important that in actual practice， we should properly use vague language in English business correspondence to make full use of its positive functions and avoid its negative ones.
5. Conclusion
Though the pragmatic analysis of vague language in English business correspondence， people need to consider using vague language when necessary in business transactions especially in some tough situations to promote the success of the deal. At the same time， we should be aware of the negative functions of vague language in order to use it effectively.
Reference
[1]Channell， Jonna. Vague Language [M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2000： 1？鄄19， 173？鄄188.
[2]Hu Yingkun and Che Lijuan. Business English Writing [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2005： 97， 120.
[3]Yin Xiaoying. Business English Correspondence [M]. Xi’an： Xi’an Jiaotong University Press， 2004： 16-20， 46， 74.
[4]何自然，陳新仁. 当代语用学 [M]. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社. 2004： 46-52.
[5]李莹. 论模糊语言在外贸英文信函中的运用 [J]. 广西教育学院学报. 2 （2003）： 94-96.
[6]伍铁平. 模糊语言学 [M]. 王宗炎主编. 上海：上海外语教育出版社. 1999： 133-141， 183-185.
【Key words】English business correspondence； vague language； Face Theory
【中圖分类号】G64 【文献标识码】B 【文章编号】2095-3089（2014）27-0001-02
1. Introduction
Interests in language vagueness have arisen in recent years and people have taken great effort to do researches on the phenomena of vagueness from various aspects， while for quite a long time， it is believed that vagueness， ambiguity， imprecision， and generality are to be avoided.
However， human communication is not quite such a case， both in written and spoken form. Vagueness permeates in language with no exception in business English， this thesis will focus on the employment and pragmatic effects of vague language in different types of English business correspondence in the light of Brown and Levinson’s Face Theory.
2. Rationale of the Study
Vague language in business English correspondence is chosen as the object of the present study because of the following basic reasons. First， vague language is more and more pervasive in business English. How and why it is adopted in business English corres？鄄pondence to reach the intended purposes is still a wonder. Second， pragmatic theories can be used to analyze this language phenomenon to reason out the relation between the deliberate use of vague language and the addresser’s intention. Third， the study of vague language in business English is of practical importance. It leads us to a comprehensive understanding of business English that possibly helps us make smooth communication in business world.
Due to the above reasons， this thesis aims to solve the following problems：Which type of English business correspondence do they employ the technique of vague language？ How and why do they adopt vague language in the English business correspondence？ What are the specific pragmatic functions of vague language on these occasions？
3. Application of Face Theory to the Pragmatic Analysis
The employment of vague language in English business communication is due to the intention of communicating with others successfully in business world. This section will concentrate on why people use vague language as adaptation to different contexts based on Brown and Levinson’s Face Theory. 3.1Politeness and Vague Language in English Business Corres？鄄pondence
One of the principal features of business letter writing is the use of language politely and appropriately. However， in real business world， it is difficult for the addresser to achieve this goal. Under this circumstance， vague language is deployed as a politeness strategy to mitigate the effects of face？鄄threatening acts and meet the addresser’s intention of being politeness and satisfy his own purposes. For example：
Dear Sirs，
Some of your referees have reported that the last 12 months some payments have made up to one to two months late. We understand that the lateness of the payment might have been exceptional. Would you care to tell us about this so that we could still consider what credit could be arranged？
As we should like to keep your supplies， we shall hold back your order for 10 tens while we await your reply. （Zhang Qiao 58）
This is a reply sent to the addressee after investigation of financial credit. There are four vague expressions in this letter： “some”， “some payments”， “we understand” and “might have been”. The addresser knows clearly what is referred by the vague words “some” and “some payments” because he did the investigation of financial credit， while by employing the vague expressions， the addresser protects the third party， although the addressee knew he fell behind in paying the money， he would not blame the referee from whom the addresser got this information. The vague expressions “we understand” and “might have been” do not reflect the real attitude of the addresser. These two expressions can give the addressee an opportunity for explaining the reason of falling behind in paying the money on time and make the addressee have a feeling that the addresser only wants to confirm the credit and the credit standing is reliable in the addresser’s eyes. Through this example， we can see that vague language may serve as a kind of politeness strategy to enhance their business cooperation.
3.2 Addresser’s Face and Vague Language in English Business Correspondence
Addressers are expecting to avoid losing faces of their own and to save the addressees’ faces when they use vague language. Such vague expressions as “sort of”， “kind of”， “probably”， “almost” can be deliberately employed to maintain face and avoid disagreement. The use of vague language can make the addresser’s commitment much unclear than it really is and help the addresser deny the relevant responsibility， so that the addresser’s face can be saved. For example： Under the circumstances， we had better discuss the matter when opportunity arises. （Cheng Tongchun 77）
The addresser of example uses the vague expression “under the circumstances” to show his attitude or commitment vaguely， which mitigates the addresser’s full responsibility for the truth of the proposition. “When opportunity arises” is a kind of conditioned promise， which can make the opposing party have the favor and expectation of further cooperation.
3.3 Addressee’s Face and Vague Language in English Business Correspondence
In business communication， addressers often try to avoid threatening addressees’ faces while maintaining their own. For the sake of politeness and avoidance of face？鄄threatening， addressers often try to follow the politeness strategies to maintain addressees’ faces. Even if an addresser has to offend an addressee in a certain situation， the addresser will intend to mitigate it rather than express his idea boldly. In such a case， vague language is applied to make the addressee free from embarrassment and maintain his face. For instance：
Dear Sirs，
According to our records， you have not yet settled your account for electronic equipment supplied to you on 10th December and 20th January this year. … If， however， you have not yet settled this account， we would appreciate it if you would now do so at your earliest convenience for it has been outstanding for a considerable time.
We therefore look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Yours faithfully， （Zhang Qiao 58）
4. Pragmatic Functions of Vague Language in English Business Correspondence
From the above analyses， we can explore and summarize both the positive and negative functions of vague language in English business correspondence.
4.1 Positive Functions
（1） Enhancing the Appropriateness of the Expressions
（2） Granting More Flexibilities for the Businessman
（3） Deliberately Withholding Information
（4） Mitigating the Face？鄄Threatening Effects
（5） Self？鄄Protection
4.2 Negative Functions
Just as everything in the world has two dialectical sides， vague language is not always positive or desirable. Under some circums？鄄tances， for example： Will you please quote for the supply of approximately 100 reams of white poster paper suitable for auction bills and poster work generally？（Cheng Tongchun 74） vague language may lead to trouble for the parties involved. Thus， it is important that in actual practice， we should properly use vague language in English business correspondence to make full use of its positive functions and avoid its negative ones.
5. Conclusion
Though the pragmatic analysis of vague language in English business correspondence， people need to consider using vague language when necessary in business transactions especially in some tough situations to promote the success of the deal. At the same time， we should be aware of the negative functions of vague language in order to use it effectively.
Reference
[1]Channell， Jonna. Vague Language [M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2000： 1？鄄19， 173？鄄188.
[2]Hu Yingkun and Che Lijuan. Business English Writing [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2005： 97， 120.
[3]Yin Xiaoying. Business English Correspondence [M]. Xi’an： Xi’an Jiaotong University Press， 2004： 16-20， 46， 74.
[4]何自然，陳新仁. 当代语用学 [M]. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社. 2004： 46-52.
[5]李莹. 论模糊语言在外贸英文信函中的运用 [J]. 广西教育学院学报. 2 （2003）： 94-96.
[6]伍铁平. 模糊语言学 [M]. 王宗炎主编. 上海：上海外语教育出版社. 1999： 133-141， 183-185.