Abstract

Culture, as a social phenomenon, is the product of long-term creation. Politeness, as a universal cultural phenomenon, can show the full range of national history and cultural awareness and life characteristics. Politeness is common to different nationalities and the main symbol of human social civilization, and it exists in the national language and culture. The successful completion of the inter-cultural communication and the development of the society are inseparable from the use of courtesy language. But courtesy language has cultural differences in different cultures and also has different ways of expression. Chinese and Western courtesy cultures have their own characteristics, and China and the UK have wide differences in politeness. This paper will be based on the comparison of the two and reflects the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western politeness principle. The paper will also expound the focus between the two, as well as the reasons and countermeasures. The study of this subject can conduct people to respect and pay attention to the differences in politeness and use the politeness principle correctly, avoiding the pragmatic mistake, which can guarantee the inter-cultural communication to carry on smoothly. 

Key words: courtesy language; politeness principle; cultural differences

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1.Introduction.1

2.Different Politeness Principles in Chinese and English.2

2.1Politeness Principles of Chinese Courtesy Language2

2.1.1The Chinese Tradition of Politeness3

2.1.2Gu Yueguo’s Chinese Politeness Principles.4

2.2Politeness Principles of English Courtesy Language.5

2.2.1Brown and Levinson’s “Face” Theory.6

2.2.2Leech’s Politeness Principle.7

3.A Comparison Between Chinese and English Politeness.8

3.1Terms of Address9

3.2Terms of Privacy10

3.3Terms of Greeting.11

3.4Terms of Thanks.12

3.5Terms of Goodbye13

3.6Terms of Invitation.14

4.Reasons for the Differences and Countermeasures.15

4.1Reasons for the Differences .15

4.2Countermeasures for the Differences16

4.2.1Countermeasures in English Teaching16

4.2.2Countermeasures in Communication18

5.Conclusion19

References.20