Differences in Politeness Principles Between Chinese and English Cultures英语论文.doc

Differences in Politeness Principles Between Chinese and English CulturesAbstract: politeness is universal but culturally specific.it shows different characteristics in different cultures.from the angle of cultural differences，this paper reviews chinese and western”politeness principles”put forward by gu yueguo(顾曰国)and leech，intends to compare on some of the important differences on politeness between Chinese and western cultures. understanding the differences can avoid the pragmatic failures and achieve success in cross-cultural communication. It can also help English learners to develop and improve their pragmatic competence.Key words：politeness principle Chinese culture English culture differences1、introductionwith the development of science and technology,communication among people from different countries and different cultures is more frequent and important.our world is multicultural.when we communicate with people from another culture,we are not only affected by the difference of language,but also disturbed by the difference of culture.to ensure a successful understanding and communication,we should pay attention to politeness,one of the most universal phenomena in intercultural communication.politeness,which is a symbol of human civilization,is a very important part of every national culture.it plays a key role in establishing and maintaining social harmony,and prescribing individualsbehaviors.people from different cultures may have different views on what politeness is and how to be polite.in cross-cultural communication,some languages or linguistic expressions are considered to be polite,while others were found to be discourteous.differences of polite language exist in because of differences between oriental historical and cultural background,geographical environment and thinking manner.chinese and western cultures are two different types,they have their own different features and focus.2、the different definitions of politeness chinese and western culturesin the english-speaking culture and the western world in general,politeness has been closely related to the behavior typical of a certain social location and a certain social group. to be polite means to live up to a set of conventionalized norms of behavior (he zhaoxiong,1995:3).in modern chinese,the equivalent of politeness is limao, which is believed to have evolved in history from the notion of li(礼).li originally refers to the various rules or practices employed in ancient sacrificial rites.the ancient philosopher and thinker confucius advocates restoring li,which refers to the social hierarchy and order of the slave system of the zhou dynasty.it has ever since become an essential feature of the chinese notion of politeness and has remained at the core of politeness in the chinese culture.(he zhaoxiong, 1995:3-4)“after the analysis of the differences between chinese and english cultures,l.r.mao concludes that politeness refers to ideal social identity in the chinese culture and it refers to ideal individual autonomy in the english culture”. (朱玲麟. 2005, 3: 51）3、the differences between chinese and western politeness principles3.1 leechs western politeness principlein grices opinion,in all verbal communication,in order to achieve specific aims,there is a tacit understanding between the speaker and hearer,a principle that should be obeyed by speaker and hearer.he called this principle as the cooperative principle（cp）.there are four maxims in cooperative principle：quantity maxim,quality maxim,relevance maxim and manner maxim.（jiang wangqi，2000：38-40）but in real communication,in order to be polite or something else,the participants often flout the cooperative principle. however,the cp fails to give a reason why people are frequently indirect in expressing what they mean,so that they use implication.geoffrey leech(1983),the famous british linguistician, added and enriched grices cooperative principle,proposed politeness principle (pp) to explain why people violate the cooperative principle (grice,1967) in conversations.he divides the politeness principle into six maxims,each consisting of two sub-maxims.they are as the follows:(1)tact maxima.minimize cost to other;b.maximize benefit to other.(2)generosity maxima.minimize benefit to self;b.maximize cost to self.(3)approbation maxima.minimize dispraise of other;b. maximize praise of other.(4)modesty maxima.minimize praise of self;b.maximize dispraise of self.(5)agreement maxima.minimize disagreement between self and other;b.maximize agreement between self and other.(6)sympathy maxima.minimize antipathy between self and other;b.maximize sympathy between self and other.”(leech, from he zhaoxiong,2003:534-535)leech notes that not all the maxims are equally important. “tact maxim is perhaps the most important kind of politeness in english-spoken society”3.2 gu yueguos chinese politeness principleleechs politeness principle is proposed according to western culture.some of them are not suitable to chinese culture,because china has its own culture characteristics which are quite different from western culture.according to the characteristic of chinese culture,chinese scholars,prof. gu yueguo has proposed four sides of politeness:respectfulness, modesty,attitudinal warmth and refinement and five politeness maxims:(1)self-denigration maxim：denigrate self and elevate other.(2)address term maximaddress your interlocutor with an appropriate address form;(3)refinement maximuse refined language,including the use of euphemisms and indirectness,and avoid foul language;(4)agreement maximmaximize agreement and harmony between interlocutors, and minimize disagreement between them;(5)virtues-words-deeds maximminimize cost and maximized benefit to other at the motivational level,and maximize benefit received and minimize cost to self at the conversational level.(gu,1992:11-14)comparing leechs pp with gus pp,we can find some similarity between them.for instance,tact maxim and generosity maxim of leechs pp are similar with virtues-words-deeds maxim of gus pp.however,there are still some differences between them,because of the different cultural backgrounds.self-denigration maxim has the most chinese characteristics.4、the differences of politeness between chinese and western culturescultural differences on politeness between western and chinese can be found in many aspects of daily communication, including addressing,greeting,compliments,apologies,thanks, etc.in the following,we will look at some cultural differences between china and western.4.1 addressingin the verbal communication，we meet address problem at first，so addressing is a very important mark of politeness. westerners have strong sense of equality,the family structure is simple,by the parents and minor children of the nuclear family,while the chinese pay attention to hierarchy and stronger family structures more complicated,so the terms of address are very different between chinese and english cultures.in chinese culture,addressing obeys the rule”上下有义，贵贱有分，长幼有等”.to address senior people directly by their names including his parents,grandparents and teachers is considered to be impolite in chinese culture.while to westerners,to be addressed by their names is universal.in informal occasions,even a professor or a chairman prefers himself to be called with his given name to show intimacy to others.and they tend to call others like this.chinese often use ones occupation to address him to show respect,either in formal or informal occasions when their social status is considered to be high or respectful.e.g.李教授，张老师,王经理,etc.if their social statuses are considered to be low,such as barber,cleaner,technical worker, cook,plumber and most people in service profession,people will often call themshifu（师傅） instead of their occupations to be polite.to westerners,this is not the same.in formal situations,they often address people who hold high social status with their professions as:professor green,chairman johnson etc.but they never address people withteacher or manager.besides some addressing terms are considered to be polite in chinese rather than in english.in china,”小+姓”or”老+姓”is an address to show intimacy but we cannot address foreigners in such a way.for example,we usually address young man”小李”or”小张”and the old man”老李”or”老张”in chinese.however,in western countries，we cannot address others”little brown”or”old jones”in english.the addressing terms used for strangers are also different. chinese people like to use family terms to address strangers or people elder than them. for example,children are told to address adults with阿姨or叔叔;call old people奶奶or爷爷,even at the first time they meet.but westerners never call a family outsider with those items.the termsmr, miss,mrs,sirandmadamare widely used among people.4.2 greetinggreeting is used frequently in our daily life,its a universal behaviour to show politeness.people from different cultures often have different ways of greeting.chinese often greet people like this”have you eaten?”“where are you going?”“what are you doing here?”“how much have you earned?”“how old are you?”or”are you married or single?” when they meet.all these reflect chinese attitudinal warmth. the chinese think that they are being polite by showing concern for the other person,and asking all these questions will help shorten the social distance between themselves and their interlocutors.to western people,should they be asked all such questions,they would feel their interlocutor is rudely encroaching upon their privacy.it is common to see that the westerners often greet others with a cheerful”hello!”or something like”how are you?”if they are talking with a stranger,they tend to talk about the weather as a way of greeting.because individualism is considered of great value in western culture.what is considered as an act of politeness in chinese culture might simply be regarded as an intrusion into a persons privacy by an english-speaker.4.3 compliment & responsecompliment is an expression showing ones admiration and approval.nearly all the people more or less have a psychological inclination to hear compliments.in responding to compliment,chinese people and english people are absolutely different.individualism is considered of great value in the english-speaking culture.westerners worship personal struggle,are especially proud of the achievements of individuals. and they never cover up their self-confidence,when being complimented,an english speaking person would accept the compliment by saying something like”thank you”to show his appreciation of the praise.chinese people view the group orientation as their most important values.chinese place country and family above their own selves.in chinese culture,people usually denigrate self to show respect to others.as have been mentioned,self-denigrating has been at the core of the chinese politeness for over two thousand years.the chinese usually underrate his achievement and deny the truth of others compliment in order to show modesty,which is the opposite in the english culture.for example:when hearing the praise:you did a good job.westerners would answer: thanks a lot.chinese would answer:no,i havent done enough.the achievement is the result of joint efforts.from the above conversation,we can easily perceive chinese and westernersdifferent attitudes towards compliment, which are in consistent with the group and individual orientation.on the other hand,the english-speaker is very confident about himself.when his praise is denied,he may feel his self-esteem is being hurt and his ability is doubted.he is being polite to the extent that by accepting and showing appreciation of the compliment,because he avoids hurting the positive face of the person who makes it.however,the chinese speaker is showing modesty by denigrating himself,ignoring the factuality of the compliment given to him.in intercultural settings,the chinese modesty or self-denial will create communication problems. sometimes even,chinese peoples modesty will be regarded as hypocritical and incapable by westerners.4.4 leaving-takingwestern and chinese cultures have different ways to deal with leave-takings.firstly,in english society,during the closing phase of an encounter,from”i”perspective.typical comments are associated with expressions of apology,such as “i am afraid i must be off,i have to relieve the baby-sitter” etc.western people believe that to be willing to visit and converse with someone is to have respect for him,to terminate the visiting is not of ones own free will,but because of some other arrangements,therefore they always try to make their leaving sound reluctant by finding some reasons and apologize for it to make the leaving acceptable for both parties.english speakers often signal several times before leaving.”well,its been nice to see you again.i do enjoy our talk and the lovely dinner,but i must be going soon”.”thank you very much.i hope well be able to get together again before long”in chinese society,during the closing phase of and encounter,usually,from a”you”perspective,such expressions include“你挺忙的，我就不多打扰了。”“你一定累了，早点休息吧，我要告辞了”,“对不起，打扰了。”“对不起，占用你不少时间。”etc.and the host would say”go slowly”,”walk well” or”drop in often if free”.these are not suitable to english. to english people,we often say”thank you for your inviting. i have a good time.”5、conclusionunderstanding differences of chinese and english polite principles become an important premise of successful intercultural communication.different cultures result in differences between chinese and english politeness.politeness is a characteristic of culture to some extent;to explain the cultural character of politeness,what one needs to do is to explore the specific values of the cultures concerned.that is to say,when we are communicating with people from different cultures,it is best to consult what is appropriate in their culture and act accordingly,so as to avoid misunderstandings and pragmatic failure.and that will help english learners develop and improve their pragmatic competence and achieve success in cross-cultural communication.References1何兆雄.study of politeness in chinese and english culturesj.外国语,1995,(5):2-8.2何兆雄.新编语用学概要m.上海:上海外语教育出版社,1999:211-242.3姜望琪.语用学理论及运用m.北京:北京大学出版社,200:35-43.4leech,g.a survey of the interpersonal thetorica.edited by he zhaoxiong.selected reading for pragmaticsc.shanghai:shanghai foreign language education press, 2003:534-560.5顾曰国.礼貌、语用与文化j.外语教学与研究,1992,(4):10-17.6tian jin-ping and zhai jian-hong.on the influence of culture on politenessj.journal of xingtai,vocational and technical college,2005,(2):32.