The Influences of Differences between Chinese and Western Cultures on Polite Language.docx
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TheInfluencesofDifferencesbetweenChineseandWesternCulturesonPoliteLanguage
TheInfluencesofDifferencesbetweenChineseandWesternCulturesonPoliteLanguage
[Abstract]Languageisthemostimportantcommunicationtoolforhumanbeings.Andinitisloadedtheprofoundnationalculturalconnotation.Sincemankindheadedintotheeraofcivilization,politelanguagehasbeenhighlyvaluedineachculture,communityandgroup.Ononehand,politelanguageisanindicationofbeingelegantandcivilized,andontheotherhand,itishelpfultoestablishandmaintainagoodrelationshipbetweenpeople.Asanobservablephenomenon,politenessissomethingsuperficialandisrecognizedasanorminallsocieties.Peopleineveryculturearetryingtobepolitewhencommunicating.Furthermore,politenessisculture-specifictosomeextentandareflectionofspecificculturalvaluesinthelanguage.Duetotheinfluenceofculturalvalueorientations,theactualmanifestationsofpolitenessandthestandardsforitsjudgmentdiffersubstantiallyfromculturetoculture.Therefore,misunderstandingsorevenbreakdownmayoccuriftheculturaldifferencesofpolitenessareneglectedincross-culturalcommunication.ThisthesisaimstomakeacontrastivestudyonpolitelanguagebetweenChineseandtheWestinculturalperspectivesandthepointsthatpeopleshouldbeawareofincommunicationbetweendifferentculturalgroups.
[KeyWords]politelanguage;culturaltrait;culturalvalue;cross-culturalcommunication;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