探析英汉恭维语差异的原因

秦佩佩

【摘要】隨着社会的发展， 恭维语是人类言语交际的一种重要形式。各种语言中的恭维语间有很大的差异。本文从这些差异探讨影响英汉恭维语差异的原因。

【关键词】英汉恭维语 差异 原因

【Abstract】With the development of society， compliments are an important form of human speech communication. There are many differences between compliments in different languages. This paper explores the reasons for the differences between English and Chinese compliments according to these differences.

【Key words】English and Chinese compliments； Differences； Reasons

I. Introduction

Compliment is one kind of speech act which is used frequently both in Chinese and English.In cross-cultural communication， cultural barriers are the biggest obstacles to the effective information exchange and they may cause misunderstandings even hurt others.The research of reasons on compliment speech acts is essential to avoid misunderstanding and embarrassment. Next， a detailed comparison shows differences between the English and Chinese compliments on beliefs and thinking patterns.

II. Reasons for the Differences in Compliment Speech Acts

2.1 Different Beliefs

China is an agricultural country and people have to survive by depending on one and another. People tend to be collective not individual. Confucianism has been the dominant ethic， so giving and accepting compliments are influenced by Confucianism. Chinese people live with each other by cooperation， by supporting each other， by saving others faces and they dont elevate themselves above others. Confucianism emphasizes interpersonal harmony. Therefore， people believe that attributes such as saving one face， group cooperation and concerning for others are connected with the collective spirit. In this way， they can maintain warm feelings and get along well with each other.

Nevertheless， the English nations inherit the innovation ideas， new dissemination from the ancient Greek and Rome civilization.The English nations have long believed Christianity， and its holy book， the Bible， has had a profound influences on the social thoughts. They stress competition rather than cooperation and they set their own interests above the needs of the whole. Christianity believed men were equally born. The heritage has great influences upon their verbal communication patterns， especially on complimenting behaviors.

2.2 Different Thought Patterns

The eastern view of the world is profoundly holistic. It sees the objects as the whole unit. While， the oriental tend to put humanity and nature together in harmonious and eternal inseparability. Chinese people treats Confucianism as its core ideology and they believe man should be in harmony with nature rather than manipulating it. Therefore， Chinese people usually advocate the spirit of taking the interests of the whole into consideration.

However， the western world view is the dualistic view. Westerners believe that man and nature are antagonistic. For Westerners， especially Americans， they think man is the master of nature. The relationship between man with nature is called a “master-slave”. Thus， Western thinking advocates free and independent personality. Therefore， the Chinese peoples “modesty” is affected by the overall thinking and Western cultures emphasize individual thinking， happily accepting others praise.

III. Conclusion

Different cultural backgrounds lead to different evaluation criteria of politeness， and people should dig deep roots among different cultures to achieve it. People understand the cultural differences， not only have a grasp of their own national identity and principles， but also be proficient in social background and cultural connotation by the speaker. Proper compliment is conducive to achieving the expected purpose. In real life， people must learn to express their compliments properly in a different context.

References：

[1]Xiao，Yijun.A Constrastive Study of Compliments and Compliment Response Strategies in English and Chinese[D]. 2007：6-11.

[2]Daikuhara，M.A Study of Compliment from a cross-cultural Perspective：Japanese vs.American English[J].Penn working Papers in Educational Linguistics， 1986（16）：22-25.

[3]段巖.跨文化交际视角下汉英称赞语对比研究.2012：8-10.