Formal business correspondence

Formal business correspondence

A few centuries ago people knew only a few kinds of communicational means. They could either speak to each other or send letters.

Nowadays, we are acquainted with various means of communication, as mobile phones, phones, computers, Internet, fax, etc. And each of these instruments gives us ability to converse with a help of letters.
Although, writing is not only way of communication and contact, but also a record of affairs, information, events, etc. So it is necessary to feel the spirit and trend of the style in order to write a perfect letter [4].
Needless to say, the huge percentage of our lifetime takes work, therefore, it is business letter which is of a major importance for us.
Every grown-up, who is involved in any kind of business, comes across business correspondence at least a few times a day.
Moreover, in many cases it replaces the face-to-face communication.
Naturally, letter-writing is not the same as casual conversation, it bears only the same power of thoughts, reflections, and observations as in conversational talk, but the form may be quite different. What makes the correspondence so attractive and pleasing is not always the message of the letter; it is often the manner, form and style in which the message is written .
Taking everything into consideration, we suggest that the business correspondence research is urgent problem, and it is essential to study it with both approaches: semantic and paradigmatic.
Thus, with semantics we will pay attention on the rule systems of the letter writing that determine the literal meanings presented in the pieces of writing. And with pragmatics we will look for both literal and non-literal aspects of meaning, which are determined by principles that refer to the physical or social context.
To put it in another way, semantics deals with the physical form and meaning of letters that leads us to the observation of types, styles and structure of letter. And pragmatics deals with the influence of these letters on the reader, and with the reader’s attitude to the letters that means we will study the style of language, etiquette and other means of influence on the reader.
Although, English business correspondence is very common and essential in the international trade, the research of business English is very limited.
Due to that fact we decided to describe and analyse business correspondence in its great variety, in order to corroborate our supposition that the outlook and certain content of the letter can strongly influence the recipient.