The Influences of Differences between Chinese and Western Cultures on Polite LanguageWord下载.docx

The Influences of Differences between Chinese and Western Cultures on Polite LanguageWord下载.docx

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culturaldifference

中西文化差异对礼貌用语的影响

【摘要】语言是人类最重要的交际工具。

语言负载着深厚的民族文化涵。

自人类进入文明时代，礼貌用语就被各文化社团及学者所广为重视。

一方面，它是社会文明和进步的象征；

另一方面，它又能帮助人们建立和维持良好的人际关系。

作为一种可观察得到的社会现象，礼貌是一种表面现象，是由所有社会所认同的一种规。

人们在交流时，都会努力做到礼貌。

同时，礼貌具有文化特性，是特定文化价值在语言中的折射。

由于文化价值的影响，表示礼貌的方式方法，以及人们用以判断礼貌的标准也会有所不同。

因此在跨文化交际中，会出现一些误解，这些误解常常会导致交际失误乃至失败。

本文试图从文化角度来对比中西礼貌用语的用法，阐述文化差异对语言的巨大影响以及人们在不同文化之间的交流上要注意的问题。

【关键词】礼貌用语；

文化特性；

文化价值；

跨文化交际；

文化差异

1.Introduction

Whatispoliteness?

Wemightsayitisshowingcourtesy,respectandconsiderationtootherpeople,acknowledgingthem,andnotimposingunnecessarilyonthem.Politenessiseverywhere.Itcanbeshowedintwoaspects:

verbalformandnon-verbalform.Throughallitsverbalandnon-verbalaspects,“languageembodiesculturalreality”.[1]Indailylife,itisveryeasytogiveapileofexamplesofpoliteness.Forexample,tosay“Thankyou”toonewhohasofferedyousomehelpispolite,andtotakeabookfromyourroommate’sprivatebookshelfwithoutfirstaskingforpermissionisconsideredimpolitebehavior;

togreetyourelderswithappropriateaddresstermsispoliteandtoenterafriend’sroomwithoutknockingatthedoorisimpolite.

Allculturesrequireandvaluepoliteness.Althoughthenotionofpolitenessisuniversal,ithasdifferentoriginsandthusdifferentconnotationsindifferentcultures.Inthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury,Europeanlinguistsbecameawarethatformsoflinguisticbehaviorthatwemaynowlabelas“polite”deservedattentioninthestudyoflanguage.Fromthenon,linguistshavemadeeveryefforttodefine“politeness”asasubjectofstudy.Theyconcentrateonitssupportivefeaturesandsaythatpolitenessisforreaffirmingandstrengtheningrelationships.Politenessisadeviceusedtoavoidoffenseandreducefrictioninpersonalinteraction.Afterthat,EnglishlinguistLeechdeliveredhissixcriteriaofpolitenessin1983,whichiscalled“PolitenessPrinciples”（PP）.ThemaximsofthePPproposedbyLeech（1983:

133）goinpairsasfollows:

（I）TactMaxim（inimpositivesandcommissives）

Minimizecosttoother,maximizebenefittoother

（II）GenerosityMaxim（inimpositivesandcommissives）

Minimizebenefittoself,maximizecosttoself

（III）ApprobationMaxim（inexpressivesandassertives）

Minimizedispraiseofother,maximizepraiseofother

（IV）ModestyMaxim（inexpressivesandassertives）

Minimizepraiseofself,maximizedispraiseofself

（V）AgreementMaxim（inassertives）

Minimizedisagreementbetweenselfandother,

Maximizeagreementbetweenselfandother

（VI）SympathyMaxim（inassertives）

Minimizeantipathybetweenselfandother,

Maximizesympathybetweenselfandother[2]

ThemostapproximateChineseequivalenttotheEnglishword“politeness”is“limao”,whichisderivedfromtheoldChineseword“li”.Theseriousstudiesofpoliteness（limao）inChinabeganintheearly1980s.AmongtheChinesescholarswhohavecontributedsignificantlytothestudyofpoliteness,themostimportantoneisProfessorGuYueguoofBeijingForeignStudiesUniversity.Throughathoroughstudyandcomparisonbetweenancientandmodernpoliteness,GuholdsthattherearebasicallyfouressentialnotionsunderlyingtheChineseconceptionof“limao”:

respectfulness,modesty,attitudinalwarmth,andrefinement.Inhistheory,Prof.GuhastracedtheoriginofthenotionofpolitenessinChineseculture,andalsoformulatedadifferentsetofpolitenessmaxims,whichhethinksaremoresuitabletotheChineseenvironment.TherearetheSelf-denigrationMaxim,theAddressMaxim,theTactMaxim,theAgreementMaximandtheGenerosityMaxim.[3]Amongthem,theSelf-denigrationMaximisthesignificantcharacteristicofChinesepolitenessandindicatedgreatlyinpolitelanguage.

Whileadmittingtheuniversalnatureofpoliteness,weshouldatthesametimebeawarethatthewaystorealizepolitenessandthestandardforitsjudgmentvarycross-culturally.Suchdifferencesarisefromthedifferentoriginsofthenotionofpolitenessandtheculturalvalueorientations,whichhavebeengraduallyformedinthecourseofhistoryundertheinfluenceofvariousfactors.

2. 

Considerableitemsrelatedtopolitelanguage.

Theeffectofcultureondailylivesislargelyunrealized.Perhapsawaytounderstandculturalinfluenceisbywayofanalogywithelectroniccomputers:

aspeopleprogramcomputerstodowhattheydo,culturetoagreatextentprogramspeopletodowhattheydoandtobewhattheyare.

Culturehasbeen,fromtheverybeginning,aspecialprovinceofanthropologists.Theywerethefirsttoexploretheterm“culture”.Forthem,culturestandsforthewayoflife,attitudesandbehaviorpatternsofapeople.[4]Later,scholargaveitdifferentdefinitionsfromdifferentaspectsofresearch.Itisestimatedthattherehaveexistedabout300definitionsofculture.AsIhavementionedinthepreviousparagraph,politelanguage,asalanguagephenomenon,isgreatlyinfluencedbyculturalfactors.Theyareasfollows:

2.1Culturalvalues

Althougheachofushasauniquesetofvalues,therealsoarevaluesthattendtopermeateaculture.Thesearecalledculturalvalues.Culturalvaluesgenerallyarenormativeinthattheyinformamemberofaculturewhatisgoodandbad,rightandwrong,trueandfalse,positiveandnegative,andsoon.Despitetheirimportanceinthecontrolofculturalbehaviors,valuescannotbeseen,heard,tastedorexperienced.Valuesareinsidepeople,intheirmindsandawayofthinkingabouttheworld.[5]Therefore,theyarementalprogramsthatgovernspecificspeechchoices.

China’straditionalcultureemphasizesthegreatesteemforharmonyamongpeople,betweenpeopleandnature,whichisprofoundlyinfluencedbyConfucianismandTaoism.Confuciusadvocatedtherestorationof“li”,whichreferredtothesocialhierarchyandordersoftheZhouDynastyandeachindividualmusthavehisplaceaccordingtohissocialposition.Itcanbetracedbacktotheperiodoffeudalism,whichlastedmorethantwothousandyears.Chinesevaluewasgreatlyinfluencedbytraditionalphilosophies.InChina,itispolitetogiveothersfaceandatthesametimeavoidlosingone’sownface.Chinesearereservesandunwillingtobeconspicuous,fortheybelievethesayingsthat“Thenailthatsticksupishit”,and“Birdsthatcomeforwardwillbeshotfirst”.SincethefoundingofthenewChinain1949,thefeudalsystemhasbeenabolishedandaneworderofsocialstructurehasbeenintroduced,thiscertainlyhashadsomeeffectonpeople’sstatus,butthesocialrelations,ingeneral,arestill“verticallines”.

ButintheWest,peoplebelievethateachpersonisrationalandcapableofmakingchoices.Eachoneshouldberesponsibleforhim.Consequently,theydevelopthemselvesfreely,emphasizeonindividualintelligenceandability,andholdthatgroupbenefitsshouldmakeaconcessiontoindividualones.TherearemanyaspectsshowingthethoughtofindividualismamongtheWesterners.Justasthewordscomposedof“ego”or“self”,suchasegocentric,egoism,egoideal,andsoon;

self-control,self-confidence,self-dependence,self-reliance,ect.

Thedifferencesdiscussedaboveareshowedclearlyinthepolitelanguage.Chineseusuallygiveadvicetoshowtheirconcernandthe“we”thinking,suchas“Eatmore”and“Putonmoreclothes”.Butwhenyousaythesetoawesterner,heorshedoesnotlikethatandwillthinkthatyouareordering.

2.2Socialnorms

Socialnorms,asoneelementofculture,arerulesaboutwhatpeopleshouldorshouldnotdo,say,orthinkinagivensituation.Accordingtothescholars,normsarepatternsofappropriatewaysofcommunicating.Itisimportantnotonlytospeakwithsymbolsthatareunderstood,butalsotousethesymbolsatacceptabletimeswiththeappropriatepeople,withthefittingintensity.Forexample,patriotismisavalue;

showingrespectfortheflagisanorm.Normsdescribehowpeopleshouldbehave.Normsarestandardsthataresharedbymembersofacertainculture.Theyprovideguidelinesforeveryactivity:

birthanddeath,whattoeatandwhattowear,andwhenandwheretomakeajoke.Normsareformedinalongperiodofdevelopment.Theyarerulesnotwrittenintoalaw,butrealizedbypeople’shabitualbehavior.Sometimes,evenpe