题目：英汉礼貌用语比较

湖北省高等教育自学考试英语专业

毕业论文

题目：英汉礼貌用语比较

主考学校：xxxxx 专 业：英语专业 指导老师：xx 考生姓名：xxxx 准考证号：xxxxxx 工作单位：xxxxxxxxx

2013年3月

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The Comparison of Politeness Language between English

And Chinese

xxxxx Tutor: xxxx

March 2013

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摘要

语言是人类传递信息和表情达意的工具。为了在听话者和说话者之间建立起一座更顺畅的交流的桥梁，为了建立良好的个人形象，为了避免交流中尴尬或冲突的出现，人们要使用礼貌用语。礼貌现象普遍存在于各种不同的文化和语言之中,它起着制约人们言行、协调人们交际活动的作用,是人们为达到良好交际效果所不能忽视的一个重要因素。为促进跨文化间的交际的顺利进行，本文将重点讨论英汉两民族在跨文化交际中礼貌用语的差异。

关键词： 礼貌用语, 语言对比, 语言的相互影响

Abstract

Language is a tool of human?s transmission of information and communication. In order to establish a bridge between the listener and the speaker which can make the communication easier, and to set a good personal image, to avoid embarrassment or conflict appears in the exchange, people need to use polite language. Politeness phenomena commonly found in a variety of cultures and languages, which serve as a constraint role of coordinating communication activities, are effects to achieve good communication and important factor not to be ignored. To facilitate a smooth cross-cultural communication, this article will focus on the English and Chinese peoples in politeness differences in cross-cultural communication.

Key words: polite words, language contrast, interaction of language

Contents

1． Introduction……………………………………………… 2． Addresses………………………………………………

2.1. The addresses between intimate people…………………… 2.1The Self Addresses……………………………………………

3． Greetings and Partings…………………………………

3.1. Real-Time Greetings……………………………………… 3.2. Partings……………………………………………………

4． Expressing thanks and apologies………………………

4.1. Expressing thanks ………………………………………… 4.2 Expressing apology………………………………………

5. Conclusion………………………………………………… 6. Works cited……………………………………………………

Ⅰ. Introduction

Nowadays, there are full of polite words, when we have a conversation with others, there is no way without polite words, since polite words are very important to show whether one is well educated or not. In recent years a lot of research papers have been published to show the research achievements in politeness studies. China has a history of over 5000 years, and there are many books left from our ancient time showing the importance of politeness. Politeness in Chinese culture plays a very important role in the established social code.

The English people, however, have a very different history and development of their language. And in the shaping of the Old English, the people of Britain were Christianized, which started the influence of Christianity in their language (?good-bye? means God with you). What did the Bible told them to do? It told their interaction to be polite with each other, showed their loyalty to each other. But the isles were constantly invaded by the outsiders before 1066 A. D. This made English a hodgepodge language which has taken in all kinds of sustenance for her growing into an international language.

Nowadays cross-culture study has been one of the most important subjects in our language education field. We are working hard to make the world accept our culture, which has a history of more than 5000 years. But in the process of

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the communication we are faced with some problems that always trouble both our Chinese and foreigners. As for the politeness of the Chinese and English, we should make it clear that the differences and notes when we talk with foreigners.

II．Addresses

Chinese has the most complicated system of address among all the languages of the world, while for English it has less items of address than Chinese. The address plays an important role in establishing friendship between speakers. In comparison with other maxims, the address maxim can be seen as being essentially an expression of linguistic politeness. 2.1. The addresses between intimate people

Chinese people always call each other by using their full names even among the family members. The English people, however, usually use their given names, or nicknames between their intimate friends or among their family. But there are other addresses like ?Darling? between lovers, and 老公(darling) used by Chinese. If a Chinese wife calls her husband ?老公(Lao gong)? she usually wants to show her tenderness to her husband and tries to attract his attention. Some scholars said that Chinese, unlike English people, seldom use given names to address people, this is not correct when the utterance happens among the intimate people: My parents always call my given

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name when I am in the family, and I call my sister and brother?s given name as well. The use of given name usually shows some kind of closeness and special friendship between the speakers. Sometime full name will be used among Chinese family members, even husband and wife would use full name to call each other.

British people, on the other hand, always use nicknames to call family members, even grandchildren address grandparent with nicknames. This shows a kind of democracy among all the family members. Chinese people usually have a strict concept of hierarchy, even in the family. So if a grandchild calls the name of his grandparents, he will be seen as rude and having not been well taught. When I meet foreigners I always use the given name to address them and they like to be addressed this way. If we address an English man with his full name or surname they would misunderstand it as a refusal against his initiative approach.

Now the naming of Chinese children is changing, and many families name their children with both husband and wife?s family name, i.e. put father?s family name in the head followed by mother?s family name. One of my college classmates had named his daughter this way. The present writer find there is some kind of influence of English in the naming activities of Chinese. 范徐丽泰, one of Hong Kong famous stateswomen, her name is influenced by western

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culture, which add the family name of her husband ahead of her own name. People in China always use different ways to address the old people when the addressees are not present, especially between intimate people. For example, we call our father ?father? at his presence, but we quote him as ?老爷子(old man)? or ?老汉 (that old man)?, which sounds less polite, when we talk about him without his presence. This does not show that our Chinese are not polite to our parents; on the contrary, the utterance involves some kind of respect in it. 2.2 The Self Addresses

In order to respect others or show respects to the addressees, our Chinese are especially capable of using self-denigrating method to address self or one?s own circle: ?老朽(lao xiu,) 鄙人(bi ren) 卑职(bei zhi) 小弟(xiao di) 寒舍(han she)? etc.

At the same time of denigrating self, the speaker elevates the addressee and fulfills the polite strategy. At the same time of self-denigration, we use elevation strategy to address the other: ?您贵姓 ?(nin gui xing?)? here ?贵?means ?honorable? or ?respectable?. In English there are less cases of the usage of this strategy, and people have no clear distinction of self and other in addressing, and they have no to-do?s distinction in modern English like Chinese ?您(nin), 你(ni)? distinction.

III． Greetings and Partings

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Greeting is another important factor that shows whether a person is polite or not. When we are trying to start a conversation or meet someone on the street we usually greet them by words or some kind of gestures. Meeting your acquaintances without greeting is seen as impolite or rude. Parting as a unit in the whole utterance should be studied together with greeting. ?Greetings and fare wells provide ritual brackets around a spate of joint activity? and ought to be considered together. 3.1. Real-Time Greetings

Real-time greetings are those used in close relation to the time of the day: each of them can only be used at a specific time of the day accordingly. English has: Good Morning! Good Afternoon! Good Evening! Good Day! Good Night! And we Chinese has the counterparts: 早上好(zao shang hao)! 下午好(xia wu hao)! 晚上好(wan shang hao)! 晚安(wan an)! We seem have no counterparts of ?Good Day!? in Chinese. In the English community we find ?Good Morning? is popularly used. No matter where the utterance happens you will always hear people say ?Good Morning? to each other. Chinese people, however, only use ?早(zao)!? or ?你早(ni zao)!? among people with a certain social distance, we seldom use? Good Morning’in a family greeting. Apart from these generally used greetings, we also have some greetings used on specific occasions: Happy New Year! Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday! 新年好(xin nian hao)! (Happy

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New Year) 圣诞快乐(sheng dan kuai le)!(Merry Christmas) 恭喜发财 (gong xi fa cai)!(Wish a Wealthy New Year) When people are introduced to others for the first time, the English have ?How do you do?? or ?Nice to meet you!? and Chinese has: ?你好 (ni hao)!? ?久仰久仰 (jiu yang jiu yang)!?(Having Known your honorable name for a long time). What makes English different from Chinese is that it has different regional greetings.

However, sometimes the answer is just a sort of perfunctory utterance and does not make any sense to the real meaning of it. For example, when Chinese people is greeted by: “你吃了吗(ni chi le ma)” the addressee, in order not to bother the speaker, would answer: “吃了(chi le)”. But actually, he/she has not had the meal. The answer can only be seen as a perfunctory response. So the westerners in China should learn that when Chinese people are saying something rather like a greeting, e.g. ?John, where are you going? ?Miss Smith, what are you doing? or ?Mr. Lee, Have you had your meal??, they need not take it too seriously, just tell the speaker what you want to say is OK. And Chinese would not take the answers seriously either. 3.2 Partings

According to Mr. Qian we have formal partings, informal parting, and familiar parting. Formal parting expressions are those used in important occasions such as formal interview and business encounters, for example:

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?Good day, Sir? ?Good morning!? ?Good afternoon? ?再见(zai jian)!? ?再会(zai hui)!? ?后会有期(hou huiyou qi)!?

Informal partings are those used in informal occasions such as frequent daily encounters: ?Bye-bye!? ?See you later!? ?回头见!(hui tou jian)?. ?Good morning and Good evening? can both be used in greeting and parting, but Chinese has no this kind of usage. Now in China a very interesting case is that more and more Chinese people, especially the youth, are using western style of parting: ‘Bye-bye? to each other. Whenever we are or wherever we are, the parting is always heard. We use it among friends, family members. It seems to dominate all sorts of partings. Bye-bye is an easy sound to make and it gives a friendly and intimate feeling to the addressees. It makes both sides comfortable with their positive face and negative face. The Chinese ?再见?(zai jian)becomes too formal and complicated in its pronunciation and is less used by the young people. So the present writer thinks it should have a Chinese version of Bye-bye: ?拜拜!?Bye-bye should have originated itself from ?Goodbye? which means ?God be with you!? and later adopts its present meaning. According to Mr. Qian?s research, ?Bye-bye? and ?Bye? are very popular used in the daily informal English conversations.

There are also differences among partings of showing somebody off. British people like ‘have a nice trip home!? but we Chinese use ‘慢走 (man

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zou)? which is said to be strange to English speakers, and a threat to the positive face of the addressees. One thing needs to be mentioned is that all the greetings and partings are often used with addresses, and only in this way can they be seen as more polite and formal in both English and Chinese conversations.

Ⅳ. Expressing thanks and apologies

As to express thanks and apologies, there is no doubt that we have different between English and Chinese. 4.1 Expressing thanks:

With the difference between the cultures, different countries have its unique form, vocabulary, scope and degree in expressing thanks. In the English speaking community, people never cherish their thanks to those who have really done a great favor for them, even the little deeds such as: showing the way, offering the seats, getting the changes, answering the inquiry, passing the objects, etc.. They offer thanks on many occasions: when they get the presents, when customers buy their goods, when people come to their party with your invitation and when they are complimented. Living with them, with all these words ringing around, you will have a comfortable and ease feeling in your heart.

What differs from Chinese customs is that not only do the native English speakers express their thanks towards their superiors, colleagues and strangers,

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but also they show their gratitude among their relatives, friends, parents and even their children. However, Chinese people also express their gratitude to their closer friends or relatives, but this is in different ways, For example, we often hear ?你累了吧(nilei le ba)? ？ ?辛苦了(xin ku le)? ! ?Thanks? would never be mentioned among these people otherwise an unfriendly distance will appear between them.

According to Chinese conventions the work done for superiors and seniors is their inferiors? duty and responsibility, so there is no need to thank them. In order to keep a good pubic relationship, including with close friends and relatives, the native English speakers must keep their thanks in their utterance. In addition, expressing thanks is mainly a symbol of politeness and their gentle manner, the meaning of thanks becomes less and less. --The forms and the rules

(1). Thanks awfully (colloquial).

(2). Thank you for your help (advice, information, explanation, attention, invitation, warm welcomes).

(3). we certainly appreciate your efforts (kindness, courtesies). (4). It is very kind (good, nice) of you to come and help me.

One thing worth mentioning is that the native speakers of English pay much attention to the appropriateness of the thanks. Too much or too less will

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make the addressee feel uncomfortable or hypocritical towards the speaker.

Chinese does not have as much sayings of thanks as English does. The following are some examples of thanks in Chinese:

(1). 太谢谢了 (tai xie xie le) 。 (2). 十分感谢 (shi fen gan ji) 。 (3). 万分感谢 (wan fen gan ji) 。

Apart from the above examples, we have other expressions instead of ?谢谢?:

(1). 麻烦您了 (ma fan nin le)! (2). 辛苦您了 (xin ku nin le)! (3). 您受累了 (nin shou lei le)!

The western people always feel puzzled that Chinese people even employ apologies to express gratitude. The above sentences (1) to (3) are exactly Chinese sayings when they receive a gift, when the guests have finished their meals, or when someone has helped and spent a lot of time on serving the speaker. By substituting apologies for gratitude, Chinese people not only express their thanks from the bottom of their heart but also exhibit their concerns and understanding for addressees. They tend to deal with issues from the standpoint of others. If one gets benefits from the other, the other must have cost something for bringing the benefits to the person.

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By recognizing the cost and apologizing for it, Chinese people find a balance for the benefits. In English, thanks are clearly expressed and apologies can not substitute for thanks. Where there are thanks, there will be responses. The mostly used English responses are:

(1). Not at all.

(2).It?s a/my/our pleasure. (3).That?s all right.

(4). I am very glad to have been of help to you.

(5). I am only too glad to have been of help (service) to you. (6). It is very kind of you to say so.

By contrast, Chinese people do not use thanking words regularly and they are less active in using the gratitude words. The following are some popularly used responses to the thanking words:

(1). 不客气 (bu ke qi) (2). 不用谢 (bu yong xie) (3). 谢什么 (xie shen me) (4). 没关系 (mea guan xi)

(5). 这算不了什么 (she sun but liar sheen me) 4.2 Expressing apology

In the English speaking countries, apology sometimes is done simply by

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saying ?I am sorry.? But sometimes it will include a series of activities: admitting the mistakes, explaining the reasons, taking the responsibilities, and even the promise not to repeat it again. Generally, the English apologies are divided into 3 groups: (1).apology expressing regrets: ?I am sorry.? ?Sorry for not phoning you.? etc.

(2). Apology begging for forgiveness: ?Please pardon me.? ?Please forgive me for having lost your book.?

(3). apologies: ?I apologize.? ?I have got to apologize for troubling you so much.?

Chinese people pay as much attention to apology as the native English speakers. In the daily communications, if something unpleasant happens, utterance of apologies, e.g. ?对不起 (dui but quiz)!? ?请原谅(sing Yuan ling)!? ?很抱歉(hen bao qian).? ?打扰了(da rao le)!? ?给你添麻烦了(gei ni tian ma fan le)? are heard everywhere. In order to save one?s positive face, some Chinese people would like choose indirect ways to apologize. They can find someone who is getting along quite well with the speaker and addressee, or apply non-oral ways to complete the task.

After the apologizing, the addressee must make a quick response so that the apologizer would feel some kind of relief and the friendship continues. What makes me worried is that Chinese people seldom respond to the

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apologies, and this always make the apologizer feel like a knot in his heart, and makes people think that they are not easily forgiven by the faults done. The English responses for the apologies are listed below: For English we often say:

(1). It doesn?t matter at all. (2). Forget it! (3). Please don?t worry. For Chinese we often say:

(1). 没事儿 (Mei shi er)! (2). 没关系 (Mei guan xi)! (3). 算了吧 (suan le ba)!

Many people are impressed that native English speakers tend to use more politeness formulae like ?thank you? and ?Excuse me? than Chinese people do and thus they draw up the conclusion that Western people are more civilized than Chinese people. It is true that there exist differences in frequency and distribution of these politeness markers and in some case Chinese people are reluctant to use ‘thank you? or ?I am sorry?. This situation is brought out by various social factors and this fact alone can not indicate the degree of civilization and politeness. Moreover, showing concern for others is an outstanding peculiarity of Chinese people?s politeness expression. Western

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people should keep in mind that sometimes the apologies made by Chinese people are actually expression of appreciation.

Ⅴ. Summarize

We have studied the differences between English and Chinese politeness apart from the theories concerning the use of politeness abroad and at home. In addition, we also have pioneered into the interactions between these two languages? politeness speeches. We need respect for the difference of the culture between each country, instead, we ought to learn from each other and try to tolerate the difference. Enhancing the communication of the countries and making the culture more colorful.

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Works cited

Blum-Kulka Shoshana, Elite Olshtain. 1984. Request and Apologies: Across-Culture Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns, Applied Linguistics

Bovillain, K. 1992, Language Culture and Communication, University of California Press Brown, Penelope and Levinson, 1987, Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage, Cambridge University Press

Goffman, E. 1967, Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face-to-Face Behavior. New York: Pantheon Books

Ho, David Youfai. 1975. on the Concept of Face. American Journal of sociology Wolfson, Nessa 1990, Rule of Speaking, Language and Communication

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