4。1 Interpersonal Meanings Realized by Mood System 8

4。1。1 Declarative Clauses 8

4。1。2 Interrogative Clauses 9

4。1。3 Imperative Clauses 10

4。2 Interpersonal Meanings Realized by Modality System 11

4。2。1 Modal Operators 12

          4。2。1。1 Can/Could/May。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。12

          4。2。1。2 Will/Would/Shall/Should。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。14

          4。2。1。3 Must/Have to。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。15

4。2。2 Modal Adjuncts 16

   4。3 Interpersonal Meanings Realized By Person System 17

4。3。1 The First Personal Pronouns 17

4。3。2 The Second Personal Pronouns 18

V。 Conclusion 20

Bibliography 22

A Study of Interpersonal Meanings in Conflictive Correspondences of Business English

I。 Introduction

Conflictive correspondences are those letters that convey bad news。 However, they do not only express the writer’s unpleasant complaint, but also show the wish of maintaining harmonious relationships。 Thus, proper expressions and expression style is of great importance。 For instance, when a writer complains about the goods or services, if he/she writes in a polite way, it is likely that he/she will receive positive replies, and the letter will not mess up the relationships between the writer and the receiver。 To help the correspondence writers communicate with their business partners effectively, this thesis is a trial study on how the interpersonal meanings in conflictive correspondences are embodied。 论文网

This thesis can be pided into five parts: the first part is the introduction; the second part is literature review; the theoretical basis is the third part; the main body of this study is the fourth part, analyzing the interpersonal meanings in conflictive correspondences of business English。 In this part, the thesis plans to analyze the interpersonal meanings from the aspects of mood system, modality system and person system。 The purpose of the analysis is to find out the functions of declarative, imperative and interrogative mood in expressing conflictive information and how the modal operators and modal adjuncts are used to improve the interpersonal meanings。 Moreover, this analysis also concerns the frequency of use and functions of different personal pronouns。 The fifth part is the conclusion and the implication of this study。

II。 Literature Review

2。1 Previous Study on Interpersonal Meaning

This chapter will review the previous studies of interpersonal meaning, which has already aroused the interests of many scholars in both China and foreign countries。

2。1。1 Study on Interpersonal Meaning Abroad

Since Halliday put forward the Systemic Functional Grammar, many scholars abroad has been following his steps and trying to open new areas of the research。 Halliday (1994) concludes three meta-functions of language ideational function: ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function。 He states that interpersonal meaning is related to two aspects of the grammar, namely interactional and attitudinal grammar。 Interactional grammar is realized by the mood system, while attitudinal grammar is achieved by the modality system。 Martin (2000) is the successor of Halliday’s theories。 He improves Halliday’s attitudinal theory and puts forward the Appraisal System。 In the Appraisal System, Martin studies the speaker’s attitude and judgment evaluation。 It is believed that Martin has opened up a new study field of interpersonal meaning。 After Martin, Thompson (2008) expands the interpersonal functions in written discourse and finds that interpersonal meaning can be realized by person system。文献综述