Abstract:In mutual communication, politeness is a common sense which exists in all social groups. In the exchange between China and foreign countries, self-modest terms are very valuable to be researched. Through research we can find that there are self-modest terms in broad sense between Chinese and English. But they are obviously distinguishable because of the differences of culture and language. So it is necessary to study the difference of self-modest terms between Chinese and English which will be helpful to improve our cross-cultural communication. The paper will study the definition and manifestation of self-modest terms, then, contrastive study of self-modest terms between Chinese and English in syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, to promote people to communicate with each other with different background and culture. 

The paper consists of four chapters. Chapter one is the background and some basic knowledge about self-modest terms. In Chapter Two, the definition of self-modest terms in Chinese and English and their examples are reviewed. Chapter Three makes a contrastive and comparative study of self-modest terms from perspectives of syntax, semantics and pragmatics. In the last chapter, a final conclusion is made.

Key words: self-modest terms; politeness; cross-cultural communication

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Background Information-1

1.2 The Method of Research-1

1.2.1 Comparative Study-1

1.2.2 Contrastive Study-1

1.3 The Framework of the Paper-2

Chapter Two Literature Review-3

2.1 Definition of “Ziqian Yu” in Chinese and Their Examples-3

2.2 Definition of Self-modest Terms in English and Their Examples-4

2.3 Linguistic Forms and Strategies in Self-modest Terms-5

2.3.1 Linguistic Forms of Self-modest Terms-5

2.3.2 Strategies for Expressing Self-modest Terms-6

Chapter Three Comparison and Contrast of Self-modest Terms Between Chinese and English-8

3.1 Comparison in Syntax-8

3.1.1 More Verbs Used in Chinese-8

3.1.2 More Adjectives Used in English-9

3.2 Comparison in Semantics-9

3.2.1 High Degree of Lexicalization in Chinese-10

3.2.2 Low Degree of Lexicalization in English-10

3.3 Comparison in Pragmatics-11

Chapter Four Conclusion-12

References-13