中西禮貌對比

[作者簡介]董靜:山東大學外國語學院外國語言學及應用語言學專業2007級研究生。徐芬:山東大學外國語學院外國語言學及應用語言學專業2007級研究生。陳偉紅:山東大學外國語學院英語語言文學專業2007級研究生。

[中圖分類號]G2 [文獻標識碼]A [文章編號]1009-5489(2010)01-0133-02

Language is the most important communicative tool for human beings，and different nations may have some diversity in language use as well.Language and culture are inseparable，for language is not just the medium of the culture but also part of it.Thus，when people from different cultures communicate，since they may lack recognition of the diversity in cultural backgrounds and value orientations，they would assumedly evaluate others'speech behaviors by their own cultural norms，which is the so-called phenomenon of pragmatic transfer.This kind of transfer may result in the communication failure.As for politeness，it is a ubiquitous phenomenon in human society，reflecting a nation's cultural quality and civilization.As a part of language，which is a very significant way to express politeness，politeness also restrains the use of language.Whether the speech is polite has a direct influence on the speech communication's effect，which in turn will directly affect the success of the verbal-communicated behavior.If the behavior is proper，and the effect is good，then they can achieve their communication goal smoothly and make their thoughts and emotions well communicated; whereas，it may result in the communication failure and hurt each other's feelings.

Although every language calls for politeness and also emphasizes it，its measuring standard may vary according to different cultural contexts in which the language is used.Consequently，if people from different cultures communicate with each other in the light of their own politeness principles，they may cause misunderstanding and troubles.Just as Leech puts it，politeness is a relative conception and is of obvious nationality; politeness assumed by one nation may seem impolite for another.Therefore，in order to apply language properly，only mastering the vocabulary and grammatical rules is far from enough.What's important for us is to go further to the underlying cultural aspect to explore the different cultural values so as to make the language use polite and proper.Only by doing so can we communicate smoothly and successfully.

About the polite language，it seems that all nations follow the politeness principle (PP) in the pragmatics.Leech，an English scholar introduces the politeness principle，which he regards as the same important as Grice's cooperative principle.And the main maxims of his PP are tact，generosity，approbation，modest，agreement and sympathy.And in China，the PP operating in Chinese speakers'conversation is proposed by Gu Yuedan，consisting four maxims，namely the self-denigration maxim，the address maxim，the tact maxim and the generosity maxim.Both of the PPs embody their own underlying culture.While as can be seen，besides some shared maxims，there are still some differences in their conceptions of PP，and even for those shared ones，different cultures may have variant interpretations.For those differences，the basic reason lies in the cultural psychology behind different languages.Therefore，in order to have a better understanding of the polite language use in the cross-cultural communication between the Chinese and the westerners，we'd better start by analyzing the cultural psychology behind them.

One obvious characteristic of Chinese cultural psychology is that it emphasizes the harmony of social relationship.It emphasizes the inhibition on the individual posed by the social group，focusing on the social group's functions instead of individual and individuality.By contrast，the western one is self-centered，stressing on the independent individuality and canonizing the individual's achievement and glory.Just for this reason，the Chinese prefer to apply the kinship names for those who are not their relatives to accentuate the intimacy of social relationship.And when Chinese people meet，they'd like greet each other by asking something about personal information.For example，they often ask questions about age，salary，martial status and so on，considering this as a manifestation of their close relationship and feelings between parties.While for the westerners，they think this is very nosy，for this kind of behavior seems to invade their privacy.What's more，the westerners hold that the Chinese modesty is very hypocritical.Since the western society emphasizes the competition and self-approval.It promotes their people's self-marketing in public，which is quite contrary to our traditional Chinese virtues of modesty.

These cultural differences may well be shown in their diverse polite expressions.For instance，on name and address，the Chinese salutation is generally divided into three categories.The first category is influenced by Chinese traditional ritual that \"there are differences between the ups and the downs，the old and the young\"，so they are very cautious of their personal status and the language use in the social occasion.That's the reason why the children can not call their parents'and the eldership's names，and neither can the underling directly call their boss's names.While for the westerners，they care much less about this and it's very common for them to call the others'names directly.The second category is about relatives'appellations.For Chinese people，blood relationship is of vital importance，so they have much more titles for the relatives compared with the western people.The third category is for identity.In formal occasion，the Chinese people prefer to call the others by their professional titles.While in the English-speaking countries，they rarely do so，and this situation is only limited to certain professions，such as doctor，professor and captain like Doctor Johnson，Professor Smith and Captain Beck.

In addition，when greeting each other，the Chinese would like to say some holiday words like \"Hello.\"，\"Have you eaten?\" or \"Where are you going?\"，which show our concern about the other people.However，these may sound bothering for the westerners，for they'd like to greet each other by saying \"Good morning!\"，\"How are you?\" or \"How is your life\".And when saying goodbye，besides the commonest \"goodbye\"，the Chinese host may say something like \"Please walk slowly\"，and the guest may respond \"Please stop here.\" Both of the two expressions can't find their equivalents in English，since the westerner don't have the habit to accompany the guests further from their homes.While for Chinese，it's a custom to walk with guests further from homes，so they may have expressions like that.Another obvious difference between their polite languages lies in their responses for the praise and when they receive gifts.When the Chinese receive others'compliment，they will show their modesty by saying \"No，I'm not that...\"，while for the westerners，they would accept it by saying directly \"Thank you.\" When receiving a gift，the Chinese often say \"You don't have to buy me a gift\"; while the westerners would gladly accept it by saying \"Than you.\"

As all the examples illustrate，different cultures have different standards for politeness.Language use is restrained by culture.Since different nations are influenced by diverse cultural psychologies，they may have different patterns for their polite expressions.And this difference may affect the people's efficient cross-cultural communication.Thus，in order to apply proper language in the communication，people should have a better understanding of each other's different cultural backgrounds.Different cultures embody variant polite standards，when communicating with people from a different cultural background，we should bear this in mind and respect the other's polite standard.

[參考文獻]

[1]Samovar，L，et al.Communication between Cultures.Wadsworth，1998.

[2]Stephen C.Levinson.Pragmatics.Cambridge University Press，2005.

[3]杜瑞請等:《跨文化交際學選讀》，西安交通大學出版社2005年版。

[4]馬文:《會話中的回指修正研究》，山東大學出版社2007年版。