Comparative Study on Politeness in Chinese and English Languages 英语专业毕业论文.doc
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1、Comparative Study on Politeness in Chinese and English Languages Abstract:Politeness, as a symbol of human civilization, is a social-cultural as well as linguistic phenomenon that can be found in all societies all over the world. It has drawn much attention from linguists, psychologists, anthropolog
2、ists, sociologists since 1960s. As a result of the rapid development of the study of cross-cultural communication, people are now getting more and more interested in investigating what politeness is and how to be polite in cross-cultural interactions. As people from different cultures may have diffe
3、rent views on what politeness is and how to be polite, misunderstanding or even breakdown may occur if the cultural differences of politeness are neglected in cross-cultural communication. Therefore, it is necessary and of great significance for the Chinese learners of English to have a good knowled
4、ge of politeness in both Chinese and English. This thesis is intended to make a comparative study on politeness in English and Chinese from the perspectives of both the theoretical principles and the manifestations of politeness, and analyze that the different cultural values between them are the ma
5、in cause of such differences. The comparative study and analysis of polite behavior and politeness principles in English and Chinese are expected to be of some help to Chinese learners of English and English teaching as well.Key Words: Politeness English Chinese Culture ValuesIntroductionPoliteness
6、seems to be a social value that occurs in all civilized societies, even though the social norms relating to what is and what is not considered polite behavior may vary across cultures. Politeness has been a focus of interest in pragmatics for decades. As a common social phenomenon, politeness is not
7、 only a universally highly valued virtue, but also a widely employed strategy to realize tactful and effective communication. Despite its universality of politeness, the way to realize politeness, and the standards of judgment differ in different cultures. Being unaware of such differences would pro
8、bably lead to trouble or failure in cross-cultural communication. Therefore, it is necessary and important to study different concepts and manifestations of politeness in different cultures, so as to reduce the possibility of misunderstanding between the two sides and achieve a satisfactory result.T
9、his thesis attempts to make a comparative study of politeness between English and Chinese. Politeness can be realized in a number of ways, among which the use of language is an important one. With the development of pragmatics in the past thirty years or so, more and more attention has been paid to
10、the ways in which language is used to show politeness and also the differences between different languages and cultures. Comparative Study on Politeness in Chinese and English Languages Conception and Classification of Politeness1.1 Conception of politeness1.1.1 Conception of politeness in English-s
11、peaking cultures In the first half of the 20th century, European linguists became aware that forms of linguistic behaviors that we may now label as polite deserved attention in the study of language. From then on, linguists have made every effort to define politeness as a subject of study. Lakoff co
12、ncentrates on its supportive features and says that politeness is for reaffirming and strengthening relationships (1973:298). According to her, Politeness is a system of interpersonal relations designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the potential for conflict and confrontation inherent in
13、all human interchange. Leech goes for the protective side of politeness and proposes that it is used to avoid strategic conflict (1977:19). 1.1.2 Conception of politeness in Chinese cultureThe most approximate Chinese equivalent to the English word politeness is limao(礼貌),which is derived from the o
14、ld Chinese word li(礼). The classical notion of li(礼) was formulated by the ancient Chinese philosopher and thinker Confucius (551B.C.- 479B.C.), who lived at a time when the slavery system had already declined, and in an environment where there were constant wars between feudal states; From the abov
15、e brief exploration of the notion of politeness in both the English-speaking culture and the Chinese culture, it has become clear that while the notion of politeness is universal, it has different origins and thus different connotations in different cultures.1.2 Classification of Politeness1.2.1 Ver
16、bal politeness and nonverbal politenessSince there are two ways for human beings to communicate with each other, the manifestation forms of politeness can be verbal and nonverbal. So linguists divide politeness into verbal politeness and nonverbal politeness. Hudson remarks that, we speak with our o
17、rgans, but we converse with our entire bodies. Consequently, politeness is not limited to the form and does not only rely on the linguistic medium. There are linguistic verbal as well as non-linguistic/ nonverbal norms of politeness. Informative communication is mainly verbal, whereas rapport commun
18、ication involves much non-verbal behavior as well. 1.2.2 Positive politeness and negative politenessBrown and Levinson first put forth the face-saving view of politeness in 1978, interpreting polite behavior as being basic to the maintenance of face wants. Viewing the need to satisfy face as a basic
19、 human want, they propose five politeness strategies available to speakers about how to perform a face-threatening act (FTA), the choice of strategy depending on the estimated risk of face loss to the speaker or the hearer: (1) bald on record; (2) positive politeness; (3) negative politeness; (4) of
20、f-record, and (5) dont do FTA, among which positive and negative politeness are prominent. Brown and Levinson point out, positive politeness is oriented toward the positive face of the hearer, the positive self-image that he claims for himself. Positive politeness is approach-based; it anoints the f
21、ace of the addressee by indicating that in some respects, the speaker wants the hearers wants, e.g. by treating him as a member of an ingroup, a friend, a person whose wants and personality traits are known and linked. The potential face threat of an act is minimized in this case by the assurance th
22、at in general the speaker wants at least some of the hearers wants. Any indication that the speaker is asserting that he is closely connected to the hearer, or that the participants are showing their common attraction to each other may be considered positive politeness or a strategy of involvement.
23、Perspectives on PolitenessPoliteness is simply a well-understood concept that pervades human interaction and its manifestations are different from culture to culture. Linguists also hold different views on politeness. This part is to provide an overview of how scholars approach an account of politen
24、ess. On the treatment of politeness, there are four major perspectives: the social-norm view, the face-saving view, the conversational-maxim view, and the conversational-contract view.2.1 The social-norm viewThe social norm view assumes that each society has a particular set of social norms consisti
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