A Contrastive Study of Politeness in English and Chinese Culture英语专业毕业论文.doc

A Contrastive Study of Politeness in English and Chinese CultureAbstract: Different languages and cultures of a country have different kinds of expression of polite. A deep understanding of the differences between Chinese and English politeness principle and its origin, which is helpful for cross-cultural communication and improving the ability to cross-cultural communicate. In this paper, it is begin with the different culture background of polite; discusses the origin of politeness; analyzes the reasons for these differences, and summarizes the differences in English and Chinese culture. Learning the different usages of English and Chinese polite is aims at pointing out that people can put the politeness into right usage only if people understand correctly about the usage of the politeness principle in different cultures; only in this way, we can avoid some mistakes, misunderstanding or even conflicts; thus, we can promote the cross-cultural communication going effectively and to be in the best condition. Key words: polite, different culture, use, communication1. IntroductionProbably, in subconscious mind, everyone may have strong desire for other people's respect and admiration. As a result, politeness appeared. As one of the basic criterions of communicative activities, politeness is a tool to maintain harmonious interpersonal relationship andit is an important symbol of human civilization. Due to the cultural differences, different nationalities have different understandings of politeness, and the polite principles they followed are greatly different, too. These factors, such as language courtesy, value orientation and mode of thinking are closely linked. It is necessary for people to know clearly about the differences of politeness principles in cross-cultural communication. If we understand the differences between English and Chinese culture and get the understanding of the target language culture. Then we are able to avoid pragmatic failure caused by the cultural differences during the cross-cultural communication; ultimately, we can avoid unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings caused by cultural differences to improve the interpersonal skills in cross-cultural communication and promote the development of harmonious society. 1.1 Brief Introduction of Politeness in EnglishThe meaning of politeness in England has changed a lot. During the past fifty years，many western researchers tried to define politeness. According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, politeness means the attempt to establish, maintain, and save face during conversation (1997:1531). Lakeoff holds the view that politeness is a method used in order to reduce friction in interpersonal communication (1974:292-305). Leech explains politeness as forms of behavior aimed at the establishment and maintenance of comity and friendship (1983:104). That is the ability of participants in a socio-communicative interaction engaged in interaction or communication in a relatively harmonious atmosphere. This point of politeness is to minimize the effects of impolite statements and to maximize the politeness of polite words (Liu R.Q. 1997). Sociolinguistics Research Group from the English Department of Japan Womens University describe politeness as “one of the constraints on human interaction or communication, whose purpose is to consider others feelings，and to establish levels of natural comfort, and promote rapport”(1957:273). Brown and Levinson view politeness as “a complex system for softening face-threatening acts” (1978a:56-289). Politeness is therefore a term to refer to strategies available to interactions to defuse and reduce the danger and to minimize the antagonism. It is well-known that politeness is a social cultural phenomenon; it can be defined as showing or appearing to show consideration of others.1.2 Brief Introduction of Politeness in ChineseIn China, the connotative meaning of polite also has a long history. At the beginning, the concept of politeness can be traced back to the notion of 礼(rite). It refers to the social hierarchy and order of the slave society of the Zhou Dynasty. In 礼记(a book of rite), which is one of the six Confucian classics compiled by Dai Shen, the classical Chinese notion of 礼 was described as “to humble yourself but show respect to others”(1386). The politeness in modern China is believed to be derived from this notion. China has long been known as a land of courtesy and civilization. It is really enough to estimate the quality of a person by polite. Professor Gu from Beijing International Studies University puts it that there are basically four notions underlying the Chinese conception of 礼貌(1990:237-257). They are：respectfulness, which refers to selfs positive appreciation or admiration of other concerning face, social status and so on; modesty, which is a way of showing self-denigration; attitudinal warmth, which involves selfs demonstration of kindness, consideration and hospitality to other; and refinement, which refers to selfs behavior to other which meets certain standards. These are the key components of Chinese concept of politeness.2. Different Origins of PolitenessThe original concepts of “polite” in various cultures have something in common. However, in different cultures，the expressions of politeness have some differences. These differences are gradually formed by influence of society, history, culture, geography and so on. Thus it is important for us to learn about the different origins of polite in English and Chinese culture.2.1 The Original Concept of Politeness in Chinese In China, the concept "politeness" has a long history. It originated in the ancient "礼(the ritual)", namely 礼制( ritual system). As is known to all, the 礼 of ancient Chinese philosophy is an important part of Confucianism, it is also one of the important concepts. In order to adapt to the requirement of the social life, Confucius tried to restore the "礼制( ritual system)". But Confucius' theory of "礼" does not refer to "礼貌", but refers to the social rank order of the slave society to the period of the Zhou Dynasty. After two to three hundred years, 礼制 had been completely established. And then the Confucius concept of "礼" has changed a lot, it is already close to the modern meaning of the "politeness" .Until the Western Han Dynasty,the concept of “礼” is concerning to the modern elements, such as "respect" and "esteem". And in " the book of rites(礼记)", self-belittling and others-esteeming is one of the characteristics about politeness in China(Gu Y.G. 1992:45). Therefore, the long history of modern concept "politeness" in Chinese culture determined that it is completely different from the "politeness" in English culture.2.2 The Original Concept of Politeness in EnglishThe meaning and evolution of "politeness" in English culture also has changed constantly. The concept of " politeness "in English is related to " court" and "city". First of all, from the etymology, the root of "politeness" and "polite" have direct connection with the root " polis, polit". Both the two root are derived from "polis" and "politeia" in Greek, and the two Greek roots are refer to the city or city orgovernment of city. Secondly, the English synonyms of polite are courteous, urbane and civil (Brown and Levinson,1978b). These words are originally used to refer to peoples good behavior in the court or in the city. He Z.X. pointed that a lot of researchers have proved politeness is closely related to court and city in words. For example, some kind of people's act is considered polite in the city in a certain period of the history, but another time in the court, the same one is considered to be impolite(1995:3).As mentioned above, in Chinese and English culture, the origin of the "politeness" is greatly different, this kind of difference will lead to the different connotation of "politeness", and politeness principles and criteria people followed are also different.3. Cultural Differences of Politeness in English and Chinese By cultural differences, this paper mainly refers to what happens to the cross language and cross-cultural communication in both Chinese and English. Different cultures will lead to different living habits; and in different living habits, principles of polite language also will be very different. Thus, different cultures have different opinions about the same thing. Lets take a dog as an example (Liu J.H. 2011a), Chinese always show contempt to dogs. In their opinion, dogs are timid and they are easy to betray their masters. So people hear frequently about "走狗", "狗腿子", "狗东西", "赖皮狗", "狗急跳墙", "狗仗人势", "狗眼看人低" and so on. But in English-speaking countries, people admire dogs' courage and loyalty. The commends，appreciations and praises to the dog are common occurrences. Sometimes people even compare man to dog， such as "a luck dog (幸运儿)"，"love me, love my dog (爱屋及乌)"，"Every dog has his day (凡人皆有得意日)". "Sick as a dog" is used to describe people who are sick. Dog-tired means very tired (Grice P H. 1975:122-134). On the contrary, Chinese like cats a lot. They use "馋猫" to describe a person who are gluttonous, but it is always including honeyed ingredients. However, in English culture, "cat" was used to characterize a woman who has a vicious motive.3.1 Different Living Environment The birth of language is closely related to people's everyday life and work. Britain is an island country, seafaring once was the leading industryin the world; But the Han Nationality live in the Asian continent, people cannot live without land. For example, wasting money or extravagance, it is "spend money like water" in English, but it is "挥金如土" in Chinese. In English, there are many idioms about ships and water. However, there are some idioms that are not completely corresponding in Chinese, such as "to rest on one 's oars " means "to have a rest for a while ", "to keep one' s head above water " means "to try to survive" , "all at sea " means "not knowing what to do" (R·SCodon.S.W.scollon 1983), etc. Chinese culture, "east wind（东风）" is "the spring wind". And summer often relates to the intense heat and hot. "赤日炎炎似火烧", "骄阳似火" is often used to describe the summer.On the contrary, Britain is located in the western hemisphere, north temperate zone, Marine climate. The sign of the coming spring is west wind. Also，a famous British poet Shelley's "ode to the west wind" is a song of praises to spring. And Britishs summer is warm and pleasant (2009). People often describe them with "cute", "moderate" and "beautiful". One of Shakespeare sonnet regarded summer as lover, it writes “Shall I compare thee to a summer 's day?”, “ Thou art more lovely and more temperate”(1998).3.2 Different Religion and Beliefs Buddhism was introduced into China one thousand years ago. People believe that "佛主 (the Lord Buddha)" is taking control of all over the world. There are many words about it,such as "借花献佛 (to present Buddha with borrowed flowers)", "闲时不烧香"，"临时抱佛脚" and so on. In many English-speaking countries, especially in British and American, people believe in Christianity. Their words are always related to God，such as "God helps those who help themselves " , "Go to hell! "3.3 Different Historical Allusions Both English and Chinese have a lot of historical allusions. These idioms are composed of simple structure, but its meaning is profound and far-reaching, we can not understand and explain it from literal meaning. Such as "东施效颦" "名落孙山" "叶公好龙" (Gu Y.G. 1992) and so on. And in English, Achilles' heel means the only fatal weakness; meet one 's Waterloo means completely failure; Penelope' s web means endless work; a Pandora's box stand for disaster, trouble, the root of evil(Jia Y.X. 1997:120-123) and so on.In a word, due to various reasons, there are many differences in Chinese and English culture. And such cultural differences have led to cross-cultural communication barriers. So it is very important to know and understand well about the differences between them in order to make a normal communication.4. The Different Use of Politeness in English and Chinese Since the different origins of politeness in the cultures and the cultural differences in English and Chinese, in different occasions, different people from different background and cultures will adopt different expressions of speaking；and the uses of politeness are greatly different. The following is mainly about the different forms of addresses, thanks, apologies, taboos and compliments in English and Chinese culture.4.1 The Form of Address Different address reflects the different national culture, reflects different cultural value, interpersonal relationship, and so on. China is famous for "state of ceremonies" in the world. Chinese always follow the complicated and complex principles of address. Consequently, there are a great number of addresses. In contrast, Western country advocate democracy and freedom, the forms of address are simple and clear (Cheng R. 1989:15). But Chinese culture advocates respecting their elders and obeying strict rules of generation in a family. Finally, various address forms come into being. For example, the address of their immediate family are complex, such as "舅舅(mothers brother)"、"伯父(fathers elder brother )"、"叔父(fathers younger brother)"、"姨父(husband of mothers sister)"、"姑父(husband of fathers sister)"、"舅妈(wife of mothers brother)"、"姨妈(mothers married sister)"、"姑妈(fathers married sister)", etc; The address of their peers, such as "堂哥(son of father s brother)"、"堂弟"、"堂姐(daughter of father s brother)"、"堂妹"、"表哥(son of fathers sister or of mothers brother or sister)"、"表弟"、"表姐(daughter of fathers sister or of mothers brother or sister)"、"表妹", etc. For instance, students cannot call their teacher's name; the subordinate cannot call the name of the boss. Otherwise, it will be regarded as a person who is lack of education in family, who has no upbringing. And for the traditional education in China, the child cannot call their parents or elders name. In English speaking countries, due to the different opinions of value, relatives appellations are general and simple. The addresses of precious generation are "uncle", "aunt", for their peers is "cousin". They often call their name between the younger and elders, peers. And they can even call their parents name directly(Hu W.Z. 1994:76-127). During social activities, Chinese addresses can be summarized into two kinds of expression: "family name + rank or position/sir/madam/miss/老" and "老小 +family name", such as "张局长", "王先生", "郑老", "老陈"(Jia Y.X. 1997), etc. However, the same address form in English may be rude, strange and ridiculous.For example, if you call "grandpa" to an old man in American, you may fail to communicate with him in that your address already made him dissatisfy; but in China, it is a way to show kind and respect