German business letter from the perspective of language development

Abstract

Business letter is the basic form of written communication in business contact. In connection with modern technology development and newly emerging ways of communication this type of text has been gradually changing. This paper focuses on German business letter in terms of its development, function, forms, standards and the aspects of language. Through examples of authentic texts the paper seeks to demonstrate the current linguistic trends towards simplification in today business communication. Attention is also paid to the existing research in the field of business correspondence.