中外文化差異對禮貌用語的影響

1、The In flue nces of Differences betwee n Chin ese and Wester n Cultures onPolite Lan guageAbstract Lan guage is the most importa nt com muni cati on tool for huma n beings. And in it is loaded the profound national cultural connotation. Since mankind headed into the era of civilizati on, polite Ian

2、guage has bee n highly valued in each culture, com munity and group. On one hand, polite Ian guage is an indication of being elegant and civilized, and on the other hand, it is helpful to establish and maintain a good relati on ship betwee n people. As an observable phe nomenon, polite ness is somet

3、h ing superficial and is recog ni zed as a norm in all societies. People in every culture are tryi ng to be polite whe n com muni cati ng. Furthermore, polite ness is culture-specific to some exte nt and a reflect ion of specific cultural values in the Ian guage. Due to the in flue nee of cultural v

4、alue orientations, the actual manifestations of politeness and the standards for its judgme nt differ substa ntially from culture to culture. Therefore, misun dersta ndings or even breakdow n may occur if the cultural differe nces of polite ness are n eglected in cross-cultural com muni cati on. Thi

5、s thesis aims to make a con trastive study on polite Ian guage betwee n Chin ese and the West in cultural perspectives and the points that people should be aware of in com munication between different cultural groups.Key Words polite Ianguage。cultural trait 。cultural value 。cross-culturalcom muni ca

6、ti on。 cultural differe nee中西文化差異對禮貌用語地影響【摘 要】 語言是人類最重要地交際工具 .語言負(fù)載著深厚地民族文化內(nèi)涵.自人類進(jìn)入文明時代,禮貌用語就被各文化社團(tuán)及學(xué)者所廣為重視.一方面,它是社會文明和進(jìn)步地象征；另一方面,它又能幫助人們建立和維持良好地人際關(guān)系.作為一種可觀察得到地社會現(xiàn)象，禮貌是一種表面現(xiàn)象，是由所有社會所認(rèn)同地一種規(guī)范.人們在交流時，都會努力做到禮貌.同時,禮貌具有文化特性，是特定文化價(jià)值在語言中地折射 .由于文化價(jià)值地影響，表示禮貌地方式方法，以及人們用 以判斷禮貌地標(biāo)準(zhǔn)也會有所不同.因此在跨文化交際中，會出現(xiàn)一些誤解，這些誤解常常會導(dǎo)

7、致交 際失誤乃至失敗.本文試圖從文化角度來對比中西禮貌用語地用法，闡述文化差異對語言地巨大影響以及人們在不同文化之間地交流上要注意地問題【關(guān)鍵詞】 禮貌用語；文化特性；文化價(jià)值；跨文化交際；文化差異b5E2RGbCAP1.In troduct ionrespect andWhat is polite ness? We might say it is show ing courtesy, unn ecessarily on them. Polite ness is everywhere. It can be showed in two aspects: verbal form and non-v

8、erbal form. Through all its verbal and non-verbal aspects,con siderati onto other people,ack no wledgi ngthem,and not impos inglanguage embodies cultural reality” . 1 In daily life, it is very easy to give a pileof examples of politeness.For example , to say “ Thank you ” to one who hasoffered you s

9、ome help is polite, and to take a book from your roommate s privatebookshelf without first asking for permission is considered impolite behavior。 togreet your elders with appropriate address terms is polite and to enter a friend sroomwithoutknockingatthedoorisimpolite.All cultures require and value

10、politeness. Although the notionof politenessisuniversal, it has differentorigins and thusdifferentconnotationsin differentcultures. In the first halfof the 20th cen tury, Europea n lin guists became aware that formsof linguistic behavior that we may now label as “ polite deserved attention in the st

11、udy ofIanguage. From then on, linguists have made every effort to define“ politeness ” as a subjectof study. They concen trate on its supportive features and say that polite ness is for reaffirm ingand stre ngthe ning relati on ships. Polite ness is a device used to avoid offense and reduce friction

12、 in pers onal in teract ion. After that, En glish lin guist Leech delivered his six criteria of politeness in 1983, which is called “ Politeness Principles (PP. The maxims of the PPproposedbyLeech(1983:133goinpairsasfollows:(ITactMaxim(inimpositivesandcommissivesMi ni mizecosttoother,maximizebenefit

13、toother(IIGen erosityMaxim(inimpositivesandcommissivesMi ni mizeben efittoself,maximizecosttoself(IIIApprobati onMaxim(inexpressivesandassertivesMi ni mizedispraiseofother,maximizepraiseofother(IVModestyMaxim(inexpressivesandassertivesMi ni mizepraiseofself,maximizedispraiseofself(VAgreeme ntMaxim(i

14、nassertivesMi ni mizedisagreeme ntbetwee nselfandother,Maximizeagreeme ntbetwee nselfandother(VISympathyMaxim(inassertivesMi ni mizean tipathybetwee nselfandother,Maximizesympathybetwee nselfand(other2The most approximate Chin ese equivale nt to the En glish word“1 (“I*”1 1 polite nessislimao , whic

15、h isderived from the old Chinese word li The serious studies of politeness (limao in China began in the early 1980s. Among the Chinese scholars who have contributed significantly to the study of politeness, the most important one is Professor Gu Yueguo of Beijing Foreign Studies Uni versity. Through

16、 a thorough study and comparis on betwee n ancient and moder n politeness,Gu holds that there are basically four essentialnotions underlying the Chinesecon cepti onof limao respectfu In ess, modesty, attitudi nalwarmth, and refin eme nt.Inhistheory, Prof.Gu has traced the origin of the notion of pol

17、iteness in Chinese culture, and also formulateda differe nt set of polite ness maxims, which heth inks are more suitabletotheChinese environment. There are the Self-denigrationMaxim, the Address Maxim, the TactMaxim, the Agreement Maxim and the Generosity Maxim. 3 Among them, the Selfdeni grati on M

18、axim is the sig ni fica nt characteristic of Chin ese polite ness and in dicated greatly inpoliteIan guage.2. Con siderableThe effect of cultureitemsrelatedtopoliteIan guage.While admitting the universal nature of politeness, we should at the same time be aware that the ways to realize politeness an

19、d the standard for its judgment vary cross-culturally. Such differences arise from the different origins of the notion of politeness and the cultural value orie ntati ons, which have bee n gradually formed in the course of history un der the in flue nce of various factors. p1EanqFDPwon d aily lives

20、is largely unrealized.Perhaps a way to understandculturalin flue nceis by wayof analogy with electroniccomputers:as people puters to do what they do, culture to a great exte nt programs people to do what they do andtobewhattheyCulture has bee n, from the very beg inning, a special prov

21、 ince of an thropologists. They were the first to explore the term“ culture er”，cFbu rth stands for the way of life, attitudes andbehavior patter ns of a people. 4 Later, scholar gave it differe nt defi niti ons from differe nt aspects of research. It is estimated that there have existed about 300 d

22、efinitions of culture. AsI have men ti oned in the previous paragraph, polite Ian guage, as a Ian guage phe nomenon, is greatlyin flue needby cultural factors. They are asareasfollows:2.1CulturalvaluesAlthough each of us has a unique set of values, there also are values that tend to permeate a cultu

23、re. These are called cultural values. Cultural values gen erally are no rmative in that they inform a member of a culture what is good and bad, right and wrong, true and false, positive and n egative, and so on. Despite their importa nee in the con trol of cultural behaviors, values cannot be see n,

24、 heard, tasted or experie need. Values are in side people, in their minds and a way of thinking about the world. 5 Therefore, they are mental programs that govern specific speechchoices.China s traditional cultu re emphasizes the great esteem for harmony among people, between people and n ature, whi

25、ch is profo un dly in flue need by Con fucia nism and Taoism. Con fucius advocated the restoration of“ li ” , which referred to the social hierarchy and orders of the ZhouDyn asty and each in dividual must have his place accord ing to his social positi on. It can be traced back to the period of feud

26、alism, which lasted more than two thousand years. Chinese value was greatly in flue need by traditi onal philosophies. In China, it is polite to give others face and at the same time avoid losing one s own face. Chinese are reserves and unwilling tobe conspicuous, for they believe the sayings that“

27、The nail that sticks up is hit” , and “ Birdsthat come forward will be shot first” . Sinceuttdirfg of the new China in 1949, the feudalsystem has been abolished and a new order of social structure has been introduced, this certainly has had some effect on people s status, but the social relations, i

28、n general, are still“ verticallinesBut in the West, people believe that each pers on is ratio nal and capable of making choices.Each one should be responsiblefor him. Consequently,they develop themselves freely,emphasize on in dividual in tellige nee and ability, and hold that group ben efits should

29、 make a con cessi on to in dividual on es. There are many aspects show ing the thought of in dividualism among the Westerners. Just as the words composed of“ ego” or “ self ” , such as egocentric,egoism, ego ideal, and so on 。 self-c on trol, self-c on fide nee, self-depe ndence, self-relia nee, ect

30、.The differe nces discussed above are showed clearly in the polite Ian guage. Chin ese usually give advice to show their concern and the“we” thinking, such as“ Eat more ” and “ Put on moreclothes ” . But when you say these to a west erner, he or she does not like that and will think thatyouareorderi

31、 ng.2.2 SocialnormsSocial no rms, as one eleme nt of culture, are rules about what people should or should not do, say, or thi nk in a give n situati on. Accord ing to the scholars, norms are patter ns of appropriate ways of com mun icati ng. It is importa nt not only to speak with symbols that are

32、un derstood, but also to use the symbols at acceptable times with the appropriate people, with the fitt inginten sity. For example, patriotism is a value 。 show ing respect for the flag is a norm. Norms describe how people should behave. Norms are sta ndards that are shared by members of a certain c

33、ulture. They provide guidelines for every activity: birth and death, what to eat and what to wear, and when and where to make a joke. Norms are formed in a long period of development. They are rules not written into a law, but realized by people s habitual behavior.Sometimes, even people themselves

34、do not know why they should follow certain norms.Norms are reflect ed in the polite Ian guage. Take greeti ngs as an example. In Chin ese,“ Haveyou eate n yet? ” and “ Where are you going? ” are the most com mon greeti ngs. The former is a greeting around mealtime, but in the West, it might mean an

35、invitation if you say to an En glish-speaker. The latter may use any time in Chi na whe n two acqua intances meet while in the West it is an in vasi on of their privacy, especially those who are in China but not familiarwith Chinese culture. Regarding the reason why Chinese like to greet people in t

36、his way, some scholars think that it has something to do with China backward economy and poor living standard in the past, therefore, it is natural to care for whether others have eaten or not.But no wadays, the two above-me nti oned greeti ngs are the habit of Chin ese and good wishbut not mean any

37、thing. So people just respond to it very vaguely. Greetings that are com monly used in the West are as follows: Hi, Hello, Morni ng,Goodmornin g/after noon/evening,andsoon.2.3 PatternsofthoughtThe men tal process, forms of reas oning, and approaches to problem soluti on prevale nt in a com munity ar

38、e ano ther major eleme nt of culture. They vary from pers on to pers on, but differ much more greatly between people from different cultures. For example, in writing a letter, Chinese address is different in order from the western one, which reflects the thinking differe nces. Chin ese and Wester ne

39、rs differ greatly in respect with patter ns of thought. Kapla n, an En glish lin guist, con cludes that the En glish speakershoughtptatter n is lin ear, while theOrientalpatternislikea“ gyre ” .6The dist in ctio n betwee n these two patter ns reflects cultural differe nces betwee n Chi na and theWes

40、t. Con seque ntly, com muni cati ons in differe nt cultural backgro unds are also differe nt.Take the response to an invitation for example 。 there is obvious differenee between them.Example(1:A:HowwouldB:(Ch in eseyoulikeMaybetocometoIwillmycomeparty?to.Butthe Westerners like givinga definite answe

41、r, and theresponsesare asfollows:A:Howwouldyouliketocometomyparty?B:Thankyouverymuch.Idloveto.OrThat s very kind of you, butI m afraidI ve alreadyhad anappo in tme nt.In the West, the speaker or writer orga ni zes his or her ideas and tries to send them explicitly and directly. In contrast, in China

42、 the listeners have to infer the intended meaning from the dialogue. According to an investigation, the majority of Chinese people first give reasons then raise a request, but th e Wester ners are the opposite. Some En glish idioms, such as“ Don tbeat around the bush ” ,“ Let s get dow nbos in ess ”

43、 and “ Get to the point ” , reflect wester nstyle. In a word, Chin ese are more in direct and ambiguous tha n the Westerners.2.4 ValueoffamilyThe manner in which a culture organizes itself and its institutions also affects how members of the culture perceive the world and how they communicate.As the

44、 smallest socialorga ni zati onin a culture, the family greatly in flue nces its members, in cludi ng the ways ofthi nking, the attitudes to everyth ing, and the ways of livi ng. From the an cie nt. Chin ese usually live in a big family. Many married young couples live with their pare nts. So they c

45、an take care of their parents. Filial piety is highly valued in China and considered part of morals. In a family, the parents are thea leaders ” . When children encounter problems, they always go back hometo consult with their parents. On the other hand, their parents can help take care of their chi

46、ldre n if they are busy with their work. The relati on ships betwee n Chin ese family members aremutuallycompleme ntaryandun shakable.In contrast, the vast majority of the Westerners live in nuclear families. Children live in their separate rooms, and they are en couraged to make decisi ons for them

47、selves and lear n to be resp on sible for things since they are very young. Whe n old eno ugh, they are en couraged to do some odd jobs, such as delivering newspapers, baby-sitting, cleaning the yard to get their own money. Thus, children may learn how to depend on their own from an early age.In dep

48、e ndence is a remarkable characteristic of Western life. Gen erally speak ing, the family plays a more important role in China than in the West. The difference takes very importants age “shushu, bobo,part in polite Ian guage. It i nflue nces the form of address terms greatly. For example, Chin ese c

49、hildren are told to address people at their father s age or grandfatheryeye, nainai to show their respect,although they haveno familiar relati on ship.But itdifferent in the West. compla in ed,IOnce there was an English-speakinglove China, but I hateold lady who visited China andto be called nainaiD

50、ifferent cultures cause differe nt views of values, which affects the criteria of polite ness and lead to differe nces of polite Ian guage in various aspects.DXDiTa9E3d3. Differe nces in polite Ian guage3.1 Ways to addressAddress reflects the relatio nships betwee n people and the values of differe

51、nt people. In the cross-cultural com muni cati on, it is very importa nt to address properly.China s emphasis on hierarchy can be traced back to the period of feudalism, which lasted more tha n two thousa nd years and in flue need China greatly. So Chin ese culture believes in a social order in whic

52、h each pers on has a rightful and protected place, and that hierarchy presumes existe ntial in equality. Either in formal or in formal occasi ons Chin ese usually use one s occupati on to address himto show respect whe n his social status is con sidered to be high or respectful. For example, Zhao En

53、gineer, Wang Doctor, ect. If their statuses are considered to be low, such as clea ner, plumber, blue-collar worker and most people in service professi on, people always call them“ shifu ” in stead of their occupati ons to showpolite. Among all the examples, “ surname + teacher ” is a typical form o

54、f address in China. Thousa nds of years of Chin ese traditi onal culture regard it as a virtue to show great respect to teachers and the elder in families, thus, Chin ese childre n seldom raise doubts for teachers, and expressi ons of disagreeme nt with pare nts are considered impolite behavior. The

55、re is such a saying: a teacher once, a father forever. Although great cha nges have take n place no wadays, childre n are stilltaught to follow the traditional virtue.But the Westerners believe in mi ni mizi ng social or class in equality, and reduci ng hierarchical orga ni zati onal structures. I n

56、 formal occasi ons they address people whose statuses are high with Professor Smith, Chairma n Brown, ect. But they n ever address them with “ teacher or man ager” . And on com mon occasi onsevery one prefers himself to be called with his give n n ame to show in timacy to others while Chin ese may f

57、eel un pleasa nt to be called in such a term by anun familiar pers on. For example, if an ordinary friend calls a Chin ese girl n amedZhang Qin li ngas “ Qinling ” orling ” , the girl will look on it as an insult.unclegran dpa“ Miss ”Besides, in China, there are many terms to address relatives. Just for anin English, there are“ bofu, shushu, gufu, yifu” in Chinese.The ways to address stra ngers are also differe nt. Chin ese people prefer to use family terms to address stra