| Business negotiation is essentially a kind of economic activity through language. Whether it succeeds depends largely on the use of language. Both parties have to cooperate with each other as well as being competitive against each oilier. Either party will endeavor to win the'most of benefits while maintaining cooperation with the other. Undoubtedly, this goal has to be achieved through an appropriate language. It is indispensable for one side to choose effective negotiating strategies and language in gaining advantages over the other. Among those strategies, politeness strategy and its relevant language are of great importance in negotiating. By resorting to the politeness strategy and its language from the pragmatic angle, we can reveal the theoretical and realistic significance in the context of business negotiation.To start with, the interrelation between the principles of business negotiation and its language necessitates the strategy of politeness language. As a negotiation expert called Cohen Herbert says, successful negotiation does not mean "winning by defeating the other party, but winning by getting what both l)arties want". Thus, an appropriate language is totally necessary. Politeness language coutphies with the politeness principle,owhich embodies the speaker's politeness to others, such as friendliness, esteem, sparing others' face, etc. The politeness principle somehow derives from the cooperative principle. The speaker deliberately violates some maxims of politeness principle to produce some illocutionary meanings. The politeness principle consists of tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and sympathy maxim. Different ways of expression ctiibody different politeness scales. Pragmatists think that all the speech acts are somewhat face-threatening acts (FTA). To properly deal with FTA and save the interlocutors' positive & negative face, it is totally necessary to use politeness and its language strategy appropriately. In terms of the linguistic expressions of politeness mainly used in business negotiation, there are vagueness, euphemism, understatement, and compliments.There are many ways of vagueness. The most commonly used in the business negotiations are hedge, authority limits, avoiding particular reference, giving an out, etc.. Vagueness may help sound out each other's intentions, soften the speaker's tone, weaken the face-threatening acts to others, and leave some leeway for himself, thereby increasing the negotiating flexibility.Euphemism shows not only politeness, softening the negotiating climate, but alsoVcultural and moral worth on the part of a speaker, so as to communicate much better. Especially in presenting different OpiIIiOnS, the speaker can avoid impairing others. lhius, this euphemistic presentation is morc acceptable to others.Understatement is a kind of way of presenting one's own merits. It is in a position not to make a self-important, arrogant and exaggerating impression upon others. However, it is not sort of self-depreciation, but a device for lowering others' distrust, even hostility. The blind self-basement only impresses on others the speaker's incapability, which impairs his face. Under such circumstance, there is no much possibility of agreement.Everyone seems to have a psychic longing for approval, with a desire for others' compliment more or less in the recess of his heart. Accordingly, appropriate compliments can meet the opponent's psychological meeds so that the speaker can win the opponent's friendliness and trust, and increase the percentage of success.These speech acts of politeness can be further explained from social-cultural and psychological perspectives. Politeness is a kind of social phenomenon as well as a linguistic one. There are regional qualities in different cultural areas;. moreover, many other social factors also influence politeness acts, such as power, status and distance, etc. What's more, politeness involves human cognitive psychology. To save face is interrelated...
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