Chapter One Introduction

　1.1 A brief history of pragmatics

　1.2 Definitions of pragmatics

　1.3 Two basic notions in pragmatic study

　　1.3.1 Component vs.perspective

　　1.3.2 The scope of pragmatics

　1.4 Business English in general

　　1.4.1 Definitions of business English

　　1.4.2 Characteristics of business English

　1.5 Summary

Chapter Two Speech Act Theory

　2.1 The three-stage development of speech act theory

　2.2 Application: speech acts in business correspondence

　　2.2.1 Speech acts in letters of claim

　　2.2.2 Language strategies of speech acts in letters of claim

Chapter Three Conversational Implicature I: the Cooperative Principle

　3.1 Implicature

　3.2 The cooperative principle

　　3.2.1 The four conversational maxims

　　3.2.2 Observing the maxims

　　3.2.3 Non-observance of the maxims

　3.3 Application: cooperative principle in business negotiation

　　3.3.1 Observance of the maxims

　　3.3.2 Non-observance of the maxims

　　3.3.3 Strategies in business negotiation based on the violation of the maxims

Chapter Four Conversational Implicature II: the Politeness Principle

　4.1 The politeness principle

　4.2 Face theory

　4.3 Application I: politeness principle in C-E translation of business letters

　　4.3.1 Tact maxim in translation

　　4.3.2 Generosity maxim in translation

　　4.3.3 Approbation maxim in translation

　　4.3.4 Modesty maxim in translation

　　4.3.5 Agreement maxim in translation

　　4.3.6 Sympathy maxim in translation

　4.4 Application II: face theory in business negotiation interpreting

　　4.4.1 Positive politeness strategy

　　4.4.2 Negative politeness strategy

　　4.4.3 Off record strategy

Chapter Five Relevance Theory

　5.1 Relevance theory

　　5.1.1 Definition of relevance

　　5.1.2 Ostensive-inferential communication model

　　5.1.3 Contextual effects and processing efforts

　　5.1.4 Principles of relevance

　5.2 Application: relevance theory in E-C translation of business

　　correspondence

　　5.2.1 Business correspondence

　　5.2.2 E-C translation strategies based on relevance theory

Chapter Six Adaptation Theory

　6.1 Adaptation theory

　　6.1.1 Making choices

　　6.1.2 Three properties of language

　　6.1.3 Four angles of investigation

　6.2 Application I: adaptation theory in business English translation

　　6.2.1 Adaptation to the social-cultural world

　　6.2.2 Adaptation to the psychological world

　　6.2.3 Adaptation to the linguistic context

　6.3 Application II: adaptation analysis of euphemism in business communication

　　6.3.1 Adaptation to the mental world

　　6.3.2 Adaptation to the social world

　　6.3.3 Adaptation to the physical world

Chapter Seven Deixis

　7.1 Deixis

　　7.1.1 Definition of deixis

　　7.1.2 Classification of deixis

　7.2 Application.deixis in international business lease contracts

　　7.2.1 Business lease contract corpus (BLCC)

　　7.3.2 Deixis in BLCC

Chapter Eight Presupposition

　8.1 Presupposition

　　8.1.1 Historical background

　　8.1.2 Semantic presupposition

　　8.1.3 Pragmatic presupposition

　　8.1.4 Presupposition triggers

　8.2 Application I: presupposition in English advertisement

　　8.2.1 Definite descriptions

　　8.2.2 Factive verbs

　　8.2.3 Implicative verbs

　　8.2.4 Change-of-state verbs

　　8.2.5 Iterative

　　8.2.6 Verbs of judging

　　8.2.7 Temporal clauses

　　8.2.8 Cleft sentences

　　8.2.9 Comparisons and contrasts

　　8.2.10 Counterfactual conditionals

　　8.2.11 Questions

　8.3 Application II: Presupposition in business negotiation

　　8.3.1 Existential presupposition

　　8.3.2 Factive presupposition

　　8.3.3 State presupposition

　　8.3.4 Belief presupposition

　　8.3.5 Structural presupposition

　 8.3.6 Counter-factual presupposition

Chapter Nine Conversation Analysis

　9.1 Conversation analysis

　　9.1.1 Turn-taking system

　　9.1.2 Manner of turn-taking

　9.2 Application: turn-taking in Sino-US business negotiation

　　9.2.1 Turn-taking system in Sino-US business negotiation

　　9.2.2 Manner of turn-taking in Sino-US business negotiation

　　9.2.3 Characteristics of turn-taking in Sino-US business negotiation

Chapter Ten Conclusion: a Pragmatic Perspective Towards Vague Language

　10.1 Overview of vague language

　　10.1.1 Definition of vague language

　　10.1.2 Distinguishing vague language from other terms--fuzziness, generality

　　and ambiguity

　10.2 Vagueness in business negotiation--a perspective of cooperative principle

　　10.2.1 Cooperative principle

　　10.2.2 Cooperative principle and vagueness in business English negotiation

　10.3 Vagueness in business correspondence--a perspective of politeness principle

　　10.3.1 Satisfying the tact maxim

　　10.3.2 Satisfying the approbation maxim

　　10.3.3 Satisfying the agreement maxim

　　10.3.4 Satisfying the sympathy maxim

　10.4 Vagueness in business negotiation--a perspective of relevance theory

　　10.4.1 Business negotiation and the notion of relevance

　　10.4.2 Vague language in business negotiation under cognitive context

　10.5 Vagueness in business contract--a perspective of adaptation theory

　　10.5.1 Vague language as adaptation to contextual correlates

　　10.5.2 Vague language as adaptation to psychological motivations

References