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1、Pragmatic Discrepancies of Politeness in Chinese and English from the Point of Cross-cultural CommunicationAbstract：The use of politeness is a common phenomenon in various societies and groups, and it is the mark of human social civilization. However, affected by different cultures, politeness has s
2、pecific characteristics. Aiming at reducing misunderstanding and cultural conflict and promoting successful communication in the process of cross-cultural communication, this paper begins with the different principles of politeness, contrasts the pragmatic discrepancies of politeness and analyzes th
3、e causes for the differences in Chinese and English.Key words: politeness；pragmatic discrepancies；Cross-cultural communication1. English politeness principle In 1967, H. P. Grice, American philosopher and linguist, proposed the Cooperative Principle (abbrev. CP) in William James lecture delivered at
4、 Harvard University. He thought that in order to make the conversation go on, we should obey some basic principles, especially “Cooperative Principle”.The cooperative principle can be divided into four maxims：（1）Quantity Maxim：Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current pur
5、poses of the exchange). Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.（2）Quality Maxim：Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. （3）Relevant Maxim：Relevant to what you say.（4）Manner Maxim：Avoid obscurity of expression. Avoid ambi
6、guity. Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity). Be orderly. However, sometimes people in communication processes are not in compliance with these principles, or even intentional violation of these principles. In other words, the cooperative principle cannot completely cover various forms of communica
7、tion. Linguists Leach Leech thinks that the most fundamental reason that people violated the principle of communicative cooperation is that they want to follow a principle-courtesy Politeness Principle. Leech noted that cooperative principles guide what we should say and meet expectations while poli
8、teness principles can help maintain friendly relations between the two sides. The politeness principles contain five maxims:(1) Tact Maxim: minimize cost to other; maximize benefit to other(2) Generosity Maxim: minimize benefit to self; maximize cost to self(3) Approbation Maxim: minimize dispraise
9、of other; maximize praise of other (4) Modesty Maxim: minimize praise of self; maximize dispraise of self(5) Agreement Maxim: minimize disagreement between self and other; maximize agreement between self and other(6) Sympathy Maxim: minimize antipathy between self and other; maximize sympathy betwee
10、n self and other.The tact maxim refers to how to treat others and applies to request”; the generosity maxim refers to how to treat ourselves and applies to commitments. It is the same with Approbation Maxim and Modesty Maxim. Agreement Maxim states that we should not express our views different with
11、 others directly. The last one sympathy maxim emphasizes the importance to express the common mood with others.2. Chinese politeness principles There are polite features in Chinese communication. It is respectfulness, modesty, attitudinal warmth, refinement. So in China, there are five politeness pr
12、inciples.(1) Self-denigration Maxim: we should denigrate ourselves and be modest for things relevant to us, while we should lift and respect listeners when things relevant to them.(2) The maxim of using address terms: in order to be polite, mutual salutation should be reflected in the interpersonal
13、relationships according to status or ages.(3) Elegant maxim: elegant language and well-mannered behaviors are often regarded to be polite and educated. The basic principle is to choose decent words, forbid using bawdry and use more tactful, less outspoken.(4) The maxim of seeking common ground: it r
14、elates to face problem. We should note each others identity and social status and respect each others face(5) Morality, words and behaviors: On a behavior motivations to minimize the price of others, maximize the benefits of others; in Words to exaggerate the benefits of others to their own, say the
15、 costs that they pay as little as possible.3. Pragmatic discrepancies in two different politeness principles3.1The conflict between English Approbation Maxim and Chinese Self-denigration MaximApprobation Maxim is a universal language and a common language behavior. It is in favor of making newcomers
16、 and establishes interpersonal relationships. When people use praise language, there must be their specific situations and stories. If the praise and the praised persons social status and relationships are different, their objectives and words of praise are also different. But as an act of courtesy,
17、 the polite response of the praised people was to follow Leech “Agreement Maxim (reducing inconsistencies in ourselves and others points and minimize the differences between the two sides, increase the consensus between the two sides as far as possible).In order to meet each others praise, we can sa
18、y Thanks! Or “Thank you!” which express that we embrace the compliments. Thus if we are good at using Approbation Maxim in British and American culture, it will bring benefits to each other in communicative behavior. However, Chinese cultural attaches great importance to Self-denigration Maxim. When
19、 we are complimented by others, we used to negate others praise first and then depreciate ourselves to show modesty. If we accept the compliment, it means a complacent mood or lack of education. For example, when Chinese send gifts to others, they will say” I have just prepared a little gift to show
20、 my homage. Please take it.” Compared with Chinese, westerners will reply directly” I hope you like it” or “I think it may be useful to you.” When answering this praise, the British and American say Thank you generously, but Chinese will respond” where, where, indeed, you give me more credit than I
21、deserve “or this is what I do. So when English speakers use sincerely praise to get” No, No, youre just kidding.”Or literally translated as its my duty.”, they will make British and American people feel uncomfortable because “its my duty.” which implies responsibility in the body and has to do this
22、is only a term for people on duty. This kind of way to express gratitude will embarrass British and American people. Therefore, similar to use different politeness strategies in intercultural communication, we have to make sure that we are in line with others in cultural and expressive habits. Only
23、in this way can we achieve the desired goals and truly gain communicative intention. 3.2 The differences between salutations and greetings 3.2.1 The differences in salutationsSalutation is the widest and the most frequent word used in language communication. Salutation has a sensitive response on in
24、terpersonal relationships. It not only reminds each other to start communication, but also allows the speaker to know their relationship. Chinese address forms are complex and mainly can be summed up as a job title, title name, professional name, courtesy words, names and relative language. In the C
25、hinese language, salutations are closely related to politeness, and it embodies the concept of “There are differences between ups and downs, noble and humble, young and old” in Chinese traditions. It is also a typical feature of Chinese language and culture. Self-denigration Maxim is vividly reflect
26、ed in salutations. Chinas social system is far more complicated than Western because of the influences of different patterns of social structure, traditional ethics, descent and religions. Chinese people are more used to using nonreciprocal address types. They pay attention to the relationships of “
27、old and youth, precedence, high and low , reflecting a powerful orientation. And it is a sign of vertical relations. In our social relations, in order to express respect, we will call the elderly people “X grandfather, X uncle, X sister and brother” and so on. Moreover, in social systems, salutation
28、s are different based on individual status and job titles, such as x teacher, x Manager, x master, x doctor. We are rarely to call their first name. However, due to the effects of parallel social and individual-oriented approach in Western society, people prefer and advocate reciprocal types, reflec
29、ting the cultural orientation of equality. It is a sign of equal social relations. The addresses of non-family members usually use Mr. Mrs. Ms. Miss. in front of the last name. On the English expressions, if their relationship is more intimate, they are more used to addressing him by name. Thus we c
30、an know that it is quite common for Englishmen to call names. They will use “excuse me, pardon me” to express politeness if they communicate with each other. In fact, calling names is a polite behavior and also a way to express friendliness. However, it is inconceivable for people in different cultu
31、res, especially for Chinese emphasizing etiquette and rules.3.2.2 The differences in greetings When people meet others, they will greet each other to show politeness, especially between familiar people. They will mostly use greetings except in gestures occasionally. However, greetings are different
32、for people from various cultural backgrounds. In English communication, we can say”hi!” or “hello!”. Also you can greet them “hi, Jack!”. Another way to show politeness is to say “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening, Good Day, Good Night” and so on. These greetings are rarely used in china. C
33、hinese often say “Do you have you dinner?” to greet each other. But it is only a way to greet them but not really want to know whether he had his dinner. However, it is not greeting in English environment but means to invite others to have lunch. There is another difference in Chinese and English. W
34、hen we come across someone, we usually say “where are you going? What are you going to do? Or Be careful not to catch cold.”. They are just greeting ways. In contrast, if we ask westerners in this way, they will be very surprised and feel disgusting because they consider it is their personal thing b
35、ut not friendly greeting. From the above, we can see that people in different cultural environments hold diverse outlook on life, values, social behaviors and ethics. If we are not familiar with these diversities of the cultural values, the pragmatic failure will occur in communication. There is oth
36、er example: A foreign teacher returned to China again a few years later, his Chinese friend greeted her with enthusiasm, saying“Hello! Havent seen you for ages! You havent changed at all! ”. But she was very unhappy because progress, change and development are the main characteristics of Western cul
37、tural values. She can not understand the true meaning of the sentences “You still look young!.3.33.43.5 .The differences between privacy language and taboo Privacy language and taboo are related to the elegant principles in politeness principle. English and Chinese have corresponding expressions in
38、Atticism and bawdry. They have euphemistic expressions in death, sex and discharge. However, due to the different cultural background in China and Western countries, there still exist certain differences in the use of privacy. It is common and acceptable to greet others “Lao Zhang, Xiao Li or Zhou”.
39、 But it is only used in a few situations in the English, such as: coach calling the team and guards calling prisoners. In western culture, “lao” means no use. Respecting the old and loving the young is reflected in Chinese tradition, but it is offensive to say the Englishmen are old. “Please sit dow
40、n, Mrs. Green. You are old. Dont get tired.” The sentence means he is old and needs others help for westerns. For the Same situation, we cant use the expressions in China due to the differences in Chinese and English culture. For instance, if we see our foreign friend is ill, we cant ask him “Are yo
41、u ill?”. It will make him embarrassed and also hurt his self-esteem because we are not euphemism and cordiality enough. Instead, we can ask “You look rather pale. Are you all right?” You seem tired, are you OK?”. Some Chinese will make a mistake by saying “You should go and see the doctor.” “You sho
42、uld go to the pharmacy and buy some medicine.” The advisory words will make someone unhappy. Unless someone explicitly asks you to give recommendations, if not, it is extremely rude. They will think you are insulting them because you think they are without judgment and you have to give advice to the
43、m even such a small thing. In China, we can ask acquaintances or people that we meet for the first time freely about personal topics, such as, age, salary, weight, marriage, religion and political persuasion. However, the foreigners are not willing to talk about them. Instead, they are just talking
44、about casual topics, such as weather, work, hobbies, local, sports, and so on. Thus, we should avoid using words which cause strongly offend for them. For example, we should use “pass away” instead of “die”; “senior” instead of “elderly people”; “plain” instead of “ugly” ;” farmer” instead of “peasa
45、nt”. If we understand these meaning, we will avoid Culture Shock.4. Reasons for the varianceFirstly, it is the difference in values. In the traditional conceptions of the Orient culture, collective values are the most important, but Western culture pays more attention to personal values. For example
46、, in English-speaking countries, if we keep silent or just respond with a smile for others problems, we will be considered seriously impolite. So at the end of the speech or report, audience in English-speaking countries like asking some related issues, but Chinese audiences have rarely asked proble
47、ms. Secondly, it is the difference in ethical and moral values. Chinese advocate the Confucian ethics and take benevolence as the core of Confucian culture. So they think a good relation between people is very important. Values in Western society are based on personal values. Under the mercy of the
48、ethics, they have a weak sense about class and identity. Even if acquaintances met each other, in spite of status, they greet Hello to show equality. Thirdly, it is the differences in customs and ways of thinking. There are many English greetings, such as “How are you?” How are things going with you
49、?”. In this situation, we only answer “Fine, thank you”. The thinking way of Western is straight, the same with the writing habits. Chinese pay attention to on the links between things. Chinese are rather implicit. So their language has a certain amount of ambiguity.5. Conclusion In conclusion, there are different ways of courtesy in different cultures. There exist much diversity in different culture due to the performative forms and judging standards of courtesy.
