Atti linguistici che esprimono la funzione competitiva nella lettera commerciale italiana
Speech Acts Expressing the Competitive Function in Italian Business Letter

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the application of speech act theory and pragmatics in Italian business letter, focusing specifically on the competitive function. The discussion drawson the theoretical frameworks of Leech (1983) and Brown & Levinson (1978) to understand relational dynamics in business communication. The analysis shows how competitive acts, such as requests and orders, are mitigated in Italian business practice to preserve interpersonal relationships. Both direct modes, which use the performative verb pregare, and various indirect strategies are illustrated. The latter employ more nuanced linguistic structures to mitigate the potential threat to the recipient's socialimage, using constructions expressing interest, epistemic verbs, conditional sentences,or formulas expressing the idea of expectation.

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