A Brief Study on the Differences and Cultural Factors of English and Chinese Address Term.docx

A Brief Study on the Differences and Cultural Factors of English and Chinese Address Term.docx

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ABriefStudyontheDifferencesandCulturalFactorsofEnglishandChineseAddressTerm

ABriefStudyontheDifferencesandCulturalFactorsofEnglishandChineseAddressTerm

Acknowledgements

Iwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetoallthosewhohavehelpedmeduringthewritingofthisthesis.AspecialacknowledgementshouldbeshowntoProfessorFang,whofromwhoselecturesIbenefitedgreatly.Iamparticularlyindebtedtomydearclassmatesandtheworkersinourlibrarywhohelpmealottoaccomplishthisessay.Ihavecomeacrossalotofproblemsduringwritingthisessay.HoweverProfessorFangandmyfriendshavegivenmesomevaluableadviceandcourage,Igainalotfromthem.So,Iwanttoexpressmysincerethankstothosewhohelpme.What’smore,Igainagoodknowledgefromsomewebsites,soIwanttosendmysincerethankstoitandmyProfessorFang.

ABriefStudyontheDifferencesandCulturalFactorsofEnglishandChineseAddressTerm

Abstract

Addresstermisawordoracombinationofwordspeopleuseinaddressingeachotherinverbalcommunication.Itshowstherolepeopleplayincommunication,suggestinginterpersonalrelationshipsbetweenthem.Everylanguageandculturehasitsownsystemofaddressterms.Addresstermsarenotonlyanidentityofaperson,butalsoculturalmarks.Anappropriateaddressformpromotesinterpersonalcommunicationsmoothly.EnglishandChineseaddresssystemshaveobviousdifferences,whicharerootedindifferentsocialandculturalbackgroundsoftheirown.Frominterculturalpointofview,thispapermakesacomparisonbetweendailyEnglishandChineseaddresstermandanalysesthesocialandculturalelementsbehindthedifferencesonthebasisoffamilystructures,valuesandsenseofhierarchy.

KeyWords:

addressterm;comparison;socialandculturalinfluence

浅析英汉称谓语差异及其社会文化因素

摘要

称谓语在日常言语交际活动中彼此间当面招呼对方时使用的名称。

作为言语交际活动中不可缺少的成分,它不仅反映交际双方的诸多特征,如身份、年龄、职业等,同时也反映说话双方彼此的关系,对对方的思想、情感、态度等。

每种语言和文化都拥有自己一套独特的称谓语系统。

称谓语不仅是显示一个人的身份同时也是文化在人们身上的烙印。

恰当准确的称谓语可以大大促进人际间的交往。

英汉称谓语体系差异明显,而这些差异是其植根于各自不同的社会文化背景。

英汉两种语言在不同的历史条件，和社会文化下产生和发展，因此英汉称谓也就难免体现各自语言赖以生存、发展的社会文化背景和不同语言的两个民族人民的情感。

该文从跨文化交际的观点对日常称谓系统进行比较并分析以家庭结构、价值观念、等级概念为基础的社会文化方面的差异性。

关键词：

称谓语；比较；社会文化影响

Contents

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………..…I

Abstract…..………………………………………………………….……………..II

摘要……….……………………………….………………….……………….…III

Chapter1Introduction……………………………………………….….……........1

1.1LiteratureReview………………………..………………….…….....1

1.2TheSignificanceoftheResearch………………………………...…..1

1.3OrganizationofthisPaper…………………………….………….......2

Chapter2DifferencesinKinshipTerms...…………………………………....…..3

2.1DivisionsofKinshipTerms……………..………………………..…...3

　　　2.1.1TheDifferencebyPatriarchalandNon-Partriarch………………4

　　　　　2.1.2DifferenceofPaternalandMaternalKinshipTerms……………4

　　2.1.3DivisionsbyElder-youngerRelationandSeniorityOrderintheClan….…………..…...…………..………………………..…...5

2.2GeneralizationofKinshipTerms………………..……………...6

Chapter3DifferenceinSocialAddressForms………..……………………....….8

3.1UniversalinEnglish-speakingCountries……………………....……..8

3.1.1MoreComplicatedAddressFormsinChineseSociety……….9

3.1.2ReasonsoftheDifferenceinAddressForms..…………....….113.2HistoricalReasons…………..……............................................12

3.2.1ConceptsofFriendship……………………...………………..12

Chapter4Conclusion…………………………………..………………………...13

WorksCited..………………………………………...……………………………..14

ABriefStudyontheDifferencesandCulturalFactorsofEnglishandChineseAddressTerm

Chapter1Introduction

  Accordingtotheviewoflinguisticformationanddevelopment,ProfessorChang,inLanguageandculture,believesthatthereisverycloserelationshipinsocietycontexts（34）.

Forthesameword,peopleofdifferentculturebackgroundsmayhavedifferentimpressionsorunderstandings.Languageisthepresentationofculture.Withoutknowledgeofculture,itisdifficulttolearnlanguagewell.Obviously,Weintendtousecultureinordertofunctioninaparticularsociety.Therefore,“cultureisasystemofsymbol,andlanguageisonlyoneelementofthesymbolicsysteminthisnetwork.Anditisobviouslythatoneshouldthinkoflanguageincultureandnotjustoflanguageandculture”（Chang90）.

1.1LiteratureReview

ProfessorHuinShanghaiTransportUniversitystudyinthisfieldby makingsomecomparisonof thetaboooftheaddressformsbetweenChineseandEnglishsociety.Fromtheaspectofsociallinguistic,ShangTing,doctorofZhongNanUniversity,hasdonesomeresearchonitandmadesomeprogressinthisfield.

1.2TheSignificanceoftheResearch

 Inaword,humanbeingsdonotliveintheworldalone.Withthehelpoflanguage,Peoplecanunderstandtheirpast,presentandfuture.Addresstermisawordoracombinationofwordspeopleuseinaddressingeachotherinverbalcommunication.Itshowstherolepeopleplayincommunication,suggestinginterpersonalrelationshipsbetweenthem.Everylanguageandculturehasitsownsystemofaddressterms.TheChineseandEnglishaddresstermssystemscomeintobeingunderdifferentculturalbackgroundsandthedisparitiesofthetwosystemsareinevitable.

1.3OrganizationofthisPaper

ThisthesisadoptsthecomparativewaytostudyChineseandEnglishaddressterms,includingkinshipterms,socialaddressterms（non-kinshipterms）,selectionofrespectandhonorificwordsandfurtheranalysisofreasonsofsuchdifferences.

Chapter2DifferencesinKinshipTerms

Languageisthecarrierofculture.kinshiptermisnotonlyapartoflanguagebutalsoakindofculture.Kinshipsystemsareauniversalfeatureoflanguage.Theyarethelexicallyidenticaltermsanduniqueterminologicalsystemslabeledwithadistinctivesocialandculturalnature.Indifferentsocietiesandcultures,theremustbedifferentsystemsofkinshipterms.BehindthevastdifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishkinshiptermsaredifferentsocialstructures（hierarchyandequality）,interpersonalrelationships（powerandsolidarity）andvaluesystems（collectivismandindividualism）oftwodifferentcultures.

2.1DivisionsofKinshipTerms

KinshiptermisafeatureofChinesecultureandEnglishculture.TherearetwocommonpointsbetweenEnglishandChinesekinshipaddressterms:

oneisthequantitiesofbothexperienceaprocessfrommoretoless;theotheristhatsomebasicaddresswordshaveequalmeaningsinbothlanguages,forinstance,father,mother,son,daughter,husbandandwife.Meanwhile,mostoftheaddresswordshavedifferentformsinthetwolanguagesandsuchphenomenonreflectsdifferentsocialandculturalbackgroundsoftheirown.

2.1.1TheDifferencebyPatriarchalandNon-PatriarchalClans

Generallyspeaking,patriarchalclanisregardedasthebasicunitofChinesetraditionalsocialstructure.Thefundamentalframeofpatriarchalclanisasfollows:

Termssuchasuncle,aunt,grandpa,granny,sistersandbrotherareusedashonorifictitlesforseniorpeopleorstrangers.NativespeakersofEnglishwouldbepuzzlediftheyareaddressedinthiswaybypeopleoutsidetheimmediatefamily.AndalsothekinshiptermsforboththepaternalandmaternalsidesinChineseculturearedifferent.However,theEnglishkinshipterms,suchasuncle,cousin,aunt,grandpaandgrandmahavenodifferencebetweenpaternalandmaternalsides.OneofthemostdistinctfeaturesofChinesekinshipaddressformsisthatpatriarchalandnon-patriarchalclansarestrictlydistinguished,thatistosay,variousrelationshipsareclearlyreflectedandnotobscuredwitheachother.Forexample,inChina,外,amorphemeexpressingnon-patriarchalclans,isusuallyusedtoaddressrelativesonmother’s,sister’sordaughter’sside.AccordingtoAnalyticalDictionaryofChineseCharacters（说文解字）,theoriginalmeaningof外inChineseisfarandaway.Theaddresscustoms,therefore,justadoptedtheextendedmeaning.

 Kinshipterminology,inEnglish,maybedifficulttoexpressbecausepatriarchalandnon-patriarchalclansinaddressing,orderandpositioninthefamilyarenotclassifiedclearly.TheEnglishkinshipterms,suchasuncle,cousin,aunt,grandpaandgrandmahavenodifferencesbetweenpaternalandmaternalsides.Inchina,termssuchasuncle,aunt,grandpa,grandmother,sistersandbrothersareusedashonorifictitlesforseniorpeopleorstrangers.AndalsothekinshiptermsforboththepaternalandmaternalsidesinChineseculturearedifferent.

2.1.2DifferenceofPaternalandMaternalKinshipTerms

Traditionally,Chinaisapatriarchysocietyinitslonghistory.Furthermore,ChinesemoralprinciplesfocusontheCloseandtheDistant（亲疏）,theInsideandoutside（内外）.MaternalrelationisregardedasDistant（疏）andOutside（外）,otherwise,paternalrelationisregulatedintheclose（亲）andtheinside（内）.PeopleformothercountriesmayfeelconfusedandshockedaboutChinesespecialmannersandcustoms.Anunbalancedphenomenon,therefore,widelyexistsinChineseaddressforms:

thewordsofmalekinshiparemoredelicatethanthosefemaleones.Forexample,father’selderbrother（伯伯）,father’slittlebrother（叔父）,theformer’swife（伯母）,thelatter’swife（婶婶）;whereasmother’selderorlittlebrotherhasanonlyexpressioninChineseaddressforms.Andsistersonmother’ssideandonfather’ssideareequallycalled姑姑or阿姨（nodivisionofelderoryounger）,whichprovesanothertraditionofChinesesociety:

regardingmenassuperiortowomenfrompeople’sinnerheartandthewholesociety.

While inEnglish,thedifferenceaboutsexandpaternalormaternalisnotclear:

uncleandauntrepresentbrotherandsisterofone’smotherandfather,cousinrepresents堂兄弟姐妹and表兄弟姐妹. 

Kinshipterm