英语论文-A Comparative Study of Polite Language Between English and Chinese.pdf

毕业论文 设计 b a thesis a comparative study of polite language between english and chinese b a candidate xie shuilan advisor yang yingchun foreign language department jiaying university may 21 2008 毕业论文 设计 i acknowledgements i would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the teachers and friends who have offered me all kinds of help in accomplishing this thesis especially ms yang yingchun my supervisor who has given me constructive suggestions word for word scrutiny and other expert guidance without her painstaking instruction the completion of the present thesis would not have been possible i am equally indebted to all other professors who have enlightened me with their insightful lectures and instructive advice my thanks also go to the scholars who have done a lot of research work on polite language and to the authors whose works i have quoted directly and indirectly i am also grateful to my classmates and roommates for their psychological support and encouragement 毕业论文 设计 ii abstract this paper is a comparative study on the different use of polite language between english and chinese as an universal phenomenon politeness exists in all kinds of cultures which plays a vital role not only in maintaining friendly relationship between human beings but also in creating the harmonious atmosphere conversation as english speaking countries and china have different cultures they use different ways to express their own polite words and deeds and the different nationalities understanding of polite language always affects the effective trans culture between them what is more it would cause unsuccessful cross cultural communication a comparative study of polite language between english and chinese will urge english learners to reduce the faults in using trans cultural language and will simultaneously achieve effective human communication through using appropriate polite expressions this paper includes five parts 1 to review the definitions of politeness that have been proposed by scholars at home and abroad 2 to show some features of politeness 3 to analyze the differences in addressing greeting offering and inviting and apologizing and thanking by comparison 4 to analyze the specific cultural assumptions and put forward suggestions on how to improve the cross cultural communication 5 to make a conclusion as polite language is a specific tool for communication we as english learners should try our best to understand the cultural differences on polite language between english and chinese and make ourselves mutually respect in cross cultural communication 毕业论文 设计 iii key words politenesspolite languagecomparative study cultural differences 毕业论文 设计 iv 摘摘要要 礼貌是人们在频繁的交往中彼此表示尊重与友好的行为规范 礼貌现象存在 于各种不同的文化之中 对于保持人们之间的友好关系 建立和谐的谈话气氛起 着重要的作用 英汉国家由于受到不同文化的影响 会用不同的方式来表达自己 的礼貌言行 而不同的民族对礼貌的理解各不同 这就往往影响英汉双方进行有 效的跨文化交际 甚至会导致跨文化交际的失败 通过对比研究英汉礼貌用语的 差异 会促使英语学习者在跨文化交际中减少语用失误 同时达到使用恰当的礼 貌用语进行有效交际的目的 本文由五部分内容组成 一是引语 二是分析礼貌的概念和特征 三是采用 了比较分析的方法 研究英汉礼貌用语在称谓语 招呼语 邀请和给予语 致谢 与答谢语四个方面的差异 四是研究导致礼貌用语差异的主要文化观念 并就如 何采取有效措施进行良好的跨文化交际提出了若干建议 五是结束语 礼貌用语作为一种特殊的交际方式 作为英语学习者应该尽可能去了解英汉 礼貌用语的各方面交际差异 从而使自己在各种跨文化交际中 做到彼此的礼貌 和尊重 关键词 关键词 礼貌 礼貌用语 比较研究 文化差异 毕业论文 设计 v contents acknowledgements i abstract english ii abstract chinese iv contents v 1 introduction 1 2 ageneral survey of politeness 1 2 1 definitions of politeness 1 2 2 features of politeness 2 3 the comparative study of polite language between english and chinese 3 3 1addressing forms 3 3 1 1 different addressing forms in relatives 3 3 1 2 different addressing forms in social occasion 4 3 1 3 different use of given name 5 3 2 greetings 6 3 3 polite language for inviting and offering 11 3 4 polite language for apologizing and thanking 16 3 4 1 the different frequency of occurrence and distribution of apologies and thanks 16 3 4 2 the different use of expressing appreciation and show concern for others 17 4 the investigation of dominant cultural influence on politeness and strategies for 毕业论文 设计 vi improving cross cultural communication 19 4 1 the dominant cultural patterns which influence polite language 19 4 2 strategies for improving cross cultural communication 20 5 conclusion 22 references 23 毕业论文 设计 1 a comparative study of polite language between english and chinese 1 introduction politeness as a social phenomenon can be observed in all languages and cultures it is an integral part of our daily life and a crucial component of human communication the role played by politeness in social interaction can not be underestimated as members of social communities we address and greet each other payinvitationsandoffers expressthanksandapologies andsoon as english speaking countries and china have different cultures in some extent the cultural differences would influence the usage of polite language in cross cultural communication it is very important for us to analyze the differences in using polite language and make some strategies to achieve the goal of making a good communication with foreigners 2 ageneral survey of politeness before taking a look at the different polite language we need to know some fundamental elements about politeness the primary purpose of this part is to give a rough idea of what politeness is and the universal features of politeness 2 1 definitions of politeness what is politeness this notion is a very important subject of research in pragmatics and sociolinguistics watts 1992 offers us the definition of politeness as 毕业论文 设计 2 a form of social behavior a skill to be used to achieve special aims principal aim is the enhancement of ego s self esteem and his her public status in the eyes of others with supplementary aim of enhancing others self esteem lakoff 1979 holds the view that politeness is a device used in order to reduce the friction in personal interactions leech interprets politeness as forms of behavior aimed at the establishment and maintenance of comity i e the ability of participants in a socio communicative interaction to engage in an atmosphere of relative harmony 1983 104 in china the concept of politeness can be traced back to the notion of li 礼 in zhou dynasty during the west han dynasty the classical chinese notion of li was described as to humble yourself but show respect to other and in modern chinese limao 礼貌 is believed to be derived from this notion professor gu yueguo 1990 from beijing international studies university proposes that there are basically four notions underlying the chinese conception of limao respectfulness modesty attitudinal warmth and refinement these are the key components of chinese conception of politeness 2 2 features of politeness the chinese scholar he zhaoxiong has figured out the characteristics of politeness politeness is phenomenal instrumental and normative by nature 1995 according to gino eelen the features of politeness involve 1 evaluativity where he argues that politeness and impoliteness are connected to social values and always evaluative in nature 2 argumentativity meaning it is always associated with 毕业论文 设计 3 situations where there is something to lose or gain 3 politeness where he thinks that each individual considers himself and his cultural group as polite and others as impolite 4 normativity referring to the fact that politeness is the result of social norms 5 modality and reflexivity which refers to the optionality of polite interactional strategies for the actor hamza 2001 6 it is true that politeness is observable and evaluative as a universal social phenomenon individuals from a specific culture have a scale in their mind to judge the behavior of themselves and others according to their own understanding of politeness therefore it is very necessary for us to know the different polite language between english and chinese 3 the comparative study of polite language between english and chinese in the preceding part we have discussed politeness theoretically and in this part we will illustrate how polite language is differently used in daily communication in western and chinese cultures including how to address and greet each other how to give offers and invitations and how to express thanks and apologies let us start from the most commonly used polite language addressing forms 3 1addressing forms address plays an important role in establishing friendship between speakers the main function of addressing forms is to draw addressees attention and they also help to establish or maintain social bond strengthen solidarity or show deference the concrete addressing form is determined by culture society education belief age sex and so on the major distinctions of address lie in the following aspects 毕业论文 设计 4 3 1 1 different addressing forms in relatives chinese culture obeys old orders and every relative has strict addressing forms the son or daughter of 姑 姑 或 舅 舅 are called 表 兄 表 弟 表 姐 表妹 the children of 叔 叔 或 伯 伯 are called 堂 兄 堂 弟 堂姐 堂妹 and we have other relatives such as 伯 父 叔 父 舅 舅 姑父 姨 父 舅 母 姑 姑 姨 母 and so on these different addressing forms will make the native english speakers confused however in english the addressing forms of relatives are more general and ambiguous people use uncle and aunt to address all the relatives who are brothers or sisters of their parents cousin stands for all brothers and sisters of the person himself or herself and in the daily life english people usually omit uncle and aunt to call their names but this isn t seen in china 3 1 2 different addressing forms in social occasion in china almost all official and administrative as well as military titles can be used as addressing forms with family name on a formal or informal occasion chinese like adding a title to people s names such as wang chuchang 王处长 li juchang 刘局长 zheng zhuren 郑主任 zhang jingli 张经理 sun shifu 孙师傅 and so on these social titles are used to show one s respect and deference by indicating his ranks or positions addressing in title aims to emphasize the addressee s importance in social hierarchy this echoes the essence of chinese politeness elevate others and denigrate self but in english speaking countries people use mr mrs and miss on any 毕业论文 设计 5 occasion there are some official titles that can be used as addressing forms but they are quite small in number and less frequently used in face to face interactions sometimes the native english speakers even call names to show their kindness furthermore on campus of a university english students directly call the professor s name and this will not be considered to offend the teacher as for the social and occupational titles combined with family name which are common in china are unacceptable in english native english speakers do not say teacher kane engineer smith or general manager jones in english speaking communities there is no need to add titles to show the achievements importance or seniority of the addressees phrases like good morning teacher are never used in english 3 1 3 different use of given name given naming has a very high frequency of occurrence in english speaking countries most people use it between close friends relatives neighbors classmates and colleagues or even to strangers and people of different age and status it is true that the western culture allows status or age inferiors to address their superiors in given name for example students and employees may address professors and bosses in given name in contrast the chinese culture strictly forbids this in china a failure to address elders in a respectful way may be regarded as a sign of rudeness or a deviation from the established social order for example though my supervisor whose given name is yingchun and family name is yang treats me very well and we are good friends it is totally inappropriate for me to address her by her given name 毕业论文 设计 6 instead i always call her yang laoshi 杨老师 literally teacher yang in china the use of given names is strictly limited to status equals of the same sex and addressing by given names in china indicates a much closer relationship between speakers and hearers than it does in english chinese people do not forget to respect others and denigrate themselves even in addressing we would not call westerners by their given names but automatically add some titles in their family names because we consider it more polite than given naming as a matter of fact westerners may feel offended at not being called by their given names and conclude that chinese are unwilling to make friends with them 3 2 greetings when people get to know each other for the first time when acquaintances meet in the street when strangers have an intention of starting a conversation all of them have to find some appropriate and polite words to greet each other greeting is a sign of social norm in china it is intolerable to go straight ahead without saying anything to an acquaintance that kind of behavior may threaten hearer s positive face and more seriously it may be regarded as a provocation if speaker wants to build up the relationship with hearer he she must recognize the importance of greeting as an influential factor in interpersonal relationship there are some functionally equal greeting forms between english and chinese such as hi hello how are you good morning versus ai 哎 nihao 你好 and zaoshang hao 早上好 or only one word zao 早 all these forms are easy for second language learners to master but the common occurrence for two chinese who start 毕业论文 设计 7 asking about some personal questions as each other s age marital status offspring occupation and even income when they meet for the first time is not easy for foreigners to understand to generalize chinese greeting language has the following characteristics which are very different from greetings in english 1 greetings which compose of questions seem to ask for information but actually are to show attitudinal warmth of speaker questions such as ai na li qu 哎 哪里去 t hi where are you going wei chi fan le ma 喂 吃饭了吗 t hi have you had your meal as well as gan ma qu 干嘛去 t what are you going to do seem that speaker is asking for information from hearer but actually these questions are merely greetings whether hearer has taken something to eat or not does not make any difference to speaker and what hearer says is not important but the fact that hearer replies becomes crucial the response from hearer constitutes a complete and successful greeting between speaker and hearer suppose that a uses hi to greet b but b does not offer any reply that will leave a feeling unrewarded it is true that greetings like inquiry can also be heard in english such as how are you doing candy but the question s contents and motives are different let s look at some greeting examples in china a ai na li qu 哎 哪里去 t hi where are you going b you shi chu qu yi xia 有事出去一下 t i m out to run some errands a gan ma qu ya 干嘛去呀 t what are you going to do b qu ban dian shi 去办点事 t i ve got some business to take care of b qu mai dian dongxi 去买点东西 t go out to buy something 毕业论文 设计 8 b sui bian zou zou 随便走走 t take a walk for chinese the questions just like routine polite questions in most native english such as how is your family speakers may respond with fine thank you let take some greeting examples in english speaking countries a nice to meet you b nice to meet you too a how are you b fine thank you and you a it is a good day isn t it b yes it is in multi cultural interaction the outsiders of the chinese culture may feel strange about the contents of chinese greetings here i would like to share you with a vivid description made by an american girl when she was competing in a chinese speaking contest i love beijing her chinese name is rui xiaolan foreigners from twelve countries participated in this contest which was transmitted on june 20thof 2002 by beijing television when i first came to beijing and learnt to speak chinese one of my chinese friends asked me if i had had my lunch when we met on campus i was puzzled and curious about why he asked me this question in the beginning i regarded it as an invitation in the following days i was asked the same question again and again so i began to worry about my health i must be too thin or undernourished in their eyes so people are concerned that i was not eating enough 毕业论文 设计 9 this is a typical example of misunderstandings resulting from the differences in greeting it may be hard for westerners to understand chinese way of showing warmth and concern for others another characteristic of chinese greeting language is 2 greetings which compose of questions concerning what hearer is doing seem to be unnecessary another frequently use of greetings in china is asking questions which seem to be silly to westerners for examples if b is going to work in the morning a may greet him her by saying shang ban qu ya 上班去呀 t you are going to work aren t you if b is repairing his bicycle a may greet him her by saying xiu che ya 修车呀 t you are repairing your bicycle aren t you as long as the hearer is engaged in or has just finished doing something or is going to do something one may pose such kind of questions to hearer as a greeting and the content of the question depends on the real time situation but in english people will ask some questions whose answers are obvious when they meet if a says the nights are getting longer these days aren t they or talks with strangers it is a cold day isn t it no one can possibly disagree with a for an example a it is a nice day isn t it b yes it is compared with chinese people western people rarely repeat or describe what hearer is doing in most cases if people know one another well they will probably say hi and that is polite enough the third characteristic of chinese greeting language which is difference from english is 3 greetings which compose of questions involving the privacy of hearer to 毕业论文 设计 10 show speaker s concern in the western culture talking about the weather is a well known example of a greeting and an opening of a conversation but in chinese culture talking about age marital stat