英语本科毕业论文-礼貌原则的应用.doc

河北工业大学毕 业 论 文作 者： 学 号： 103203 系 ： 外语系 专 业: 英语 题 目： 礼貌原则的应用 The Application of Politeness Principle 指导者： 讲 师 评阅者： 讲 师 2012 年6 月14日 礼貌原则的应用 摘要： 礼貌是体现人类文明的一种常见现象，它存在于所有的语言和文化中，并且在人们的交流中扮演着十分重要的角色。它帮助维持和巩固和谐的人际关系，促进和谐的社会交际。礼貌原则是语用学中至关重要的研究课题，在人们日常交际中有着重大意义。1967年美国格赖斯提出了合作原则，并在哈佛大学的威廉詹姆斯课堂上演讲发表，然而著名的英国语言学家里奇杰弗里认为合作原则是不充分不全面的。于是里奇于1983年提出了礼貌原则以拯救陷入困境的合作原则。然而在中国礼貌原则的真正的研究始于80年代。此时语用学才刚刚传入中国。现在，中国在此领域的代表性的人物是顾曰国，他提出一系列自己的礼貌原则理论。 基于里奇提出的礼貌原则，本文阐述了礼貌原则的定义及其相关理论，包括里奇的礼貌原则和顾曰国的五个中国礼貌原则，还进一步说明了礼貌原则在英语和汉语中的应用差异。本文指出，英语学习者应该重视礼貌原则的重大意义和文化特色，从而达到提升人格魅力，创造优雅的交流氛围的效果。总的来说，通过了解每一个国家的文化价值,更好地理解礼貌原则，可以帮助英语学习者游刃有余的进行跨文化交际。关键词： 礼貌 礼貌原则 里奇理论 文化差异 毕业论文中文摘要毕业论文外文摘要Title The Application of Politeness Principle Abstract Politeness is a universal phenomenon, that embodies human civilization. It can be observed in all languages and cultures and plays an important role in human communication. It helps establish, maintain or consolidate harmonious interpersonal relationships and facilitate harmonious social interactions. Politeness Principle,an essential research topic in thePragmatics, is greatly meaningful in peoples daily communication. In 1967, H. P. Grice, American philosopher and linguist, proposed the Cooperative Principle (abbrev.CP)in William James lecture and delivered at Harvard University. However, Geoffrey N. Leech, the famous British linguist, considered it is not sufficient and thorough. In 1983, Leech proposed Politeness Principle (abbrev. PP) so as to rescue the CP from serious trouble. In China，however the real study of politeness only began in the 1980s when pragmatics was introduced into China.In modern times, the most important figure in this area is Gu Yueguo.He puts forward his own set of politeness maxims in his Politeness.With a theorelical basis of Politeness Principle put forward by Leech, this paper explains the definition and relevant theories of Politeness Principle, including Leechs Maxims and Gu yueguos Five Maxims of Chinese Politeness Principle. This paper is also about the different application of politeness principle in English and Chinese. This paper states that English learners should attach much significance to politeness principle and cultural characteristics and raise peoples consciousness so as to help English learners beautify their personality and create an elegant conversation atmosphere. In general speaking，through the revealing to the value of each national culture and better understanding of Politeness Principle can help English learners succeed in cross-cultural communication.Key words： politeness politeness principle Leechs maxims different culture Contents1 Introduction12 Politeness and Politeness principle 22.1 What is Politeness22.2 The Development of Politeness principle 32.3 The Definition of Politeness Principle42.4 The Features of Politeness Principle53 Leechs Maxims53.1 Six Maxims63.2 the Relationship Between the Maxims93.3 Face and Polliteness Strategies94 The Chinese Politeness Principle104.1 The Development of Chinese Politeness Principle104.2 Five Maxims of Chinese Politeness Principle115 Different Application of Politeness in English and Chinese125.1 Different Maxim is Chosen Because of Different Culture145.2 Collectivism145.3 Confucianism and Hierarchy16Conclusion20Bibliography21Acknowledgements23 河北工业大学2012届本科毕业论文 1Introduction Politeness as a social phenomenon can be observed in all languages and cultures，and it has long been made an important object of study in linguistics.The really serious study of politeness in the Western linguistic circles can be traced back to the German Romantic Movement in the early 1920s.In recent years，along with the rapid movement towards pragmatics，politeness has become the central theme.As a common social phenomenon，politeness is not only a universally highly valued virtue，but also a widely employed strategy to realize tactful and effective communication.Despite its universality of politeness，the ways to realize politeness，and the standards of judgment differ in difference cultures.Being unaware of such differences would probably lead to trouble or failure in cultural communication. In 1983, on the basis of Cooperative Principle put forward by American philosopher H. P. Grice, English linguist G. N. Leech set forth influential Politeness Principle, considering aspects of rhetoric and stylistics. Being independent of Cooperative Principle, Politeness Principle is a necessary complement for Cooperative Principle, explaining the reasons why the speaker use Politeness Principle to express his real intention implicitly on some occasions. There are many applications of politeness principle which are totally different in the East and West, Because they have different culture backgrounds. Based on the application of PP,it also have developed in china,and has formed Chinese Politeness Principle. This paper explains the definition and relevant theories of Politeness Principle, including Leechs Maxims and Gu yueguos Five Maxims of Chinese Politeness Principle. this paper is also about the different application of politeness principle in English and Chinese. This thesis states that we should attach much significance to politeness principle and cultural characteristics and raise peoples consciousness so as to help people beautify his personality and create an elegant conversation atmosphere. In general speaking，through the revealing to the value of each national culture and better understanding of Politeness Principle can help people successfully in cross-cultural communication.On the other hand, through the different applications of the Politeness Principle, the connotation of different countrys culture is deeply explored.Such as ,in China, there are Collectivism, Confucianism and Hierarchy as the thought essence. however,in the Western countries the thought is tend to be individualism, equality and openness.That is another application of Politeness Principle.2Politeness and Politeness principle Politeness is a universal phenomenon, for it can be observed in all languages and cultures. It plays an important role in human communication; it helps establish, maintain or consolidate harmonious interpersonal relationships and facilitate social interactions. Politeness as an observable phenomenon is something superficial and a reflection of specific cultural values in the language. Politeness Principle, an essential research topic in pragmatics, is greatly meaningful in peoples daily communication The politeness principle is a series of maxims, which Geoff Leech has proposed as a way of explaining how politeness operates in conversational exchanges. Leech defines politeness as forms of behaviour that establish and maintain comity. That is the ability of participants in a social interaction to engage in interaction in an atmosphere of relative harmony. 2.1What is PolitenessWhat is politeness? This sounds like a simple question. In daily life, people often make judgments about what is polite and what is not polite. For example, to offer your seat to the elderly on a bus is considered polite behavior, and to interrupt when someone is talking is considered impolite; to greet someone the first time you meet him in the morning is polite and to stand up to reach for the dish you want at a dinner table is impolite. So politeness can first of all be conceived as a phenomenon, an observable social phenomenon. Politeness is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. It is a culturally defined phenomenon, and what is considered polite in one culture can often be quite rude or simply strange in another. While the goal of politeness is to make all of the parties relaxed and comfortable with one another, these culturally defined standards at times may be manipulated to inflict shame on a designated party.Sociolinguists Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson identified two kinds of politeness, deriving from Erving Goffmans concept of face: Negative politeness: Making a request less infringing, such as “If you dont mind.” or “If it isnt too much trouble.”; respects a persons right to act freely. In other words, deference. There is a greater use of indirect speech acts. Positive politeness: Seeks to establish a positive relationship between parties; respects a persons need to be liked and understood. Direct speech acts, swearing and flouting Grices maxims can be considered aspects of positive politeness because: they show an awareness that the relationship is strong enough to cope with what would normally be considered impolite (in the popular understanding of the term); they articulate an awareness of the other persons values, which fulfils the persons desire to be accepted.2.2The Development of Politeness Principle In 1967, H. P. Grice, American philosopher and linguist, proposed the Cooperative Principle (abbrev. CP) in William James lecture delivered at Harvard University. He thought that in order to make the conversation go on, we should obey some basic principles, especially “Cooperative Principle”. This new theory brings about a great development in the concept of conversational implicature, and has been attached great attention to in the linguistic circle. Some critics set such high value upon the notion that they regard it as a breakthrough in pragmatics. However, Geoffrey N. Leech, the famous British linguist, considered that： the CP in itself is not sufficient to explain “ why people are often so indirect in conveying what they mean”The Cooperative Principle alone cannot fully explain how people talk. Itexplains how conversational implicature is given rise to but it dose not tell us why people do not say directly what they mean. Why, for instance, do people say “Could you give me a lift?” instead of “Give me a lift”? The reason has to do with another principle which applies to conversation in addition to the Cooperative Principle-the Politeness Principle. In 1983, Leech proposed Politeness Principle (abbrev. PP) so as to rescue the CP from serious trouble. Leech believes the main reason that why people violate Cooperative Principle intently is the consideration of politeness, so he develop a series of maxims that we called Politeness Principle In most cases, the indirectness is motivated by consideration of politeness. Politeness is usually regarded by most pragmatists as a means or strategy which is used by a speaker to achieve various purposes, such as saving face, establishing and maintaining harmonious social relations in conversation. Leech looks on politeness as crucial in accounting for “why people are often so indirect in conveying what they mean”. He puts forward the PP so as to rescue the CP, in the sense that politeness can satisfactorily explain exceptions to and apparent deviations from the CO. Therefore, his Politeness Principle is not just an addition to Grices CP, but a necessary compliment needed for cases where the CP fails to offer a reasonable expiation.2.3The Definition of Politeness Principle The politeness principle is a series of maxims, which Geoff Leech has proposed as a way of explaining how politeness operates in conversational exchanges. Leech defines politeness as forms of behaviour that establish and maintain comity. That is the ability of participants in a social interaction to engage in interaction in an atmosphere of relative harmony. In stating his maxims Leech uses his own terms for two kinds of illocutionary acts. He calls representatives “assertives”, and calls directives “impositives”.2.4the Features of Politeness Principle As a principle which should be followed during the process of verbal communication, Politeness Principle has three features, including Gradation, Conflict and Appropriateness. Gradation has a relationship with social relation and authority. There is gradation in the polite language of communication, in whose application attention should be paid to two cases. First the politeness gradation of the language itself. Second, the politeness gradation of observing the principle. It suggests that indirect discourse is more polite than direct discourse. Conflict means among the six maxims, one of them will conflict with the others in the same discourse. Appropriateness requests that people choose different ways of communicating according to different situations.Gradation has a relationship with social relation and authority. There is gradation in the polite language of communication, in whose application attention should be paid to two cases. First the politeness gradation of the language itself. Second, the politeness gradation of observing the principle. Conflict means among the six maxims, one of them will conflict with the others in the same discourse, for example, sometimes expressing disagreement is inevitable, then speakers attempt to soften it in various ways, by expressing regret at the desagrement,under this circumstance, Agreement Maxim cant be used but the tact maxim. Appropriateness requests that people choose different ways of communicating according to different situation.In communication, polite ways should be chosen and polite gradation should be chosen and polite gradation should determined according to the context (object, content,occasion,etc.)3Leechs Maxims In 1983, on the basis of Cooperative Principle put forward by American philosopher H. P. Grice.Leech holds the view that CP is necessary, but CP can not full explain conversational implicature. Politeness principle explains what CP can not explain. It is the complementary of CP, and it can explain conversational implicature. Politeness principle saves CP.So English linguist G. N. Leech set forth influential Politeness Principle, considering aspects of rhetoric and stylistics. Being independent of Cooperative Principle, Politeness Principle is a necessary complement for Cooperative Principle, explaining the reasons why the speaker violates Cooperative Principle to express his real intention implicitly on some occasions.3.1Six Maxims Following Grices presentation of the Cooperative Principle, Leech puts forward six maxims of the Politeness Principle which runs as follows: Minimize (other things being equal) the expression of impolite beliefs and maximize (other things being equal) the expression of polite belief （1）Tact Maxim: minimize the cost to other, maximize the benefit to other. （2）Generosity Maxim: minimize the benefits to yourself, maximize the benefits to other. （3）Approbation Maxim: minimize dispraise of others, maximize praise of other. （4）Modesty Maxim: minimize praise to yourself, maximize dispraise to yourself. （5) Agreement Maxim: minimize disagreement with others, maximize agreement instead. （6）Sympathy Maxim: minimize ill feelings, maximize sympathy. Briefly, this principle requires speakers to minimize the expression of impolite beliefs. These maxims can help to explain, among other things, why certain forms are more acceptable than others.In British culture, for example, the Politeness Principle probably accounts for the use of “white lies” in conversation. For instance, if someone invites another person to party and that person want to decline the invitation, rather than saying “No, I dont want to come” the person might pretend to have another engagement and say “Thank you, but Im going out that evening”. Of course, after repeated invitations which are repeatedly declined with statements like “Im afraid Im busy” or “I have another engagement”，the inviter will probably “get the massage” and stop inviting. White lies must of course be properly deceptive. Imagine someone who declined an invitation for dinner the following weekend by saying “I think Im going to have a headache”. In its transparent this “white lies” is a failure-it breaks the Politeness Principle and is perhaps even more impolite than a simple direct refusal. Very often a superficial view is taken of politeness in spoken language-it is associated with being superficially “nice”, and with formal, mechanical extras such as the words please and thank you and the use of special constructions such as Would you mind.or could you.or I wonder if you could.But politeness is a pervasive principle and also involves the content of conversation. The Maxims of Approbation will explain why a compliment like “What a marvelous meal you cooked!” is highly valued while “What an awful meal you cooked!” is not socially accepted. Thus when criticism is inevitable, understatement is preferred as a show of reluctance to dispraise(Cf. “Her composition was not so good as it might have been”). The maxims of modesty accounts for the be nigh nature of utterances like “How stupid of me!” and the offensive nature of“ How clever of me!” Regulated by the maxim of agreement, people tend to exaggerate their common ground first, even when much difference is to follow: A: The book is very well written. B: Yes, well written as a whole, but there are some rather boring patches, dont you think? In the following example, notice how much effort speaker B puts into trying to hide the fact that speaker A thinks one thing (the female being discussed is “small”) and he thinks the opposite. A: Shes small, isnt she? B: Well, shes s