Abstract

Politeness is a universal phenomenon which is usually referred to as good manners. Politeness is the mark of human civilization. It is also a culturally defined concept because what is considered polite in one culture can sometimes be quite rude or simply strange in another. The thesis is based on the studies of the different principles of politeness in Chinese and English. Aiming at reducing misunderstanding and cultural conflicts and promoting successful cross-cultural communication, the paper begins with introducing politeness principles in Chinese and English, contrasting the pragmatic discrepancies of the two types of principles through three basic parts and analyzing the causes for the differences in Chinese and English. The last part is the significance of knowing such discrepancies.

Keywords: politeness principle； pragmatic discrepancies； causes for differences;   cross-cultural communication

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

3.The Politeness Principles in English-2

3.1 Tact maxim-2

3.2 Generosity maxim-3

3.3 Approbation maxim-3

3.4 Modesty maxim-3

3.5 Agreement maxim-4

3.6 Sympathy maxim-4

4. The Politeness Principles in Chinese-4

4.1 The maxim of denigrating oneself and elevating the others-5

4.2 The addressing maxim-5

4.3 The refinement maxim-5

4.4 The agreement-seeking maxim-5

4.5 The virtue, speech and act maxim-6

5.The Pragmatic Discrepancies of the Two Types of Politeness Principles-6

5.1 The conflicts between the praise maxim in English and the maxim 

of denigrating oneself and elevating the others.-6

5.2 The discrepancies in address forms and greetings-7

5.3 The discrepancies between Chinese and English privacy language 

and taboo-8

5.4 The discrepancies between Chinese and English apologies-9

6.The Causes of These Discrepancies-10

7.Significance of the Knowledge of the Discrepancies of the Two Types 

of Politeness Principles-11

8.Conclusion-12

Works Cited-13