Abstract

Abstract: Compliment is a polite speech act that is frequently used in people's daily verbal interaction. It is a speech act which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed or the things related to the person addressed, for some "good" possession, achievement, skill, appearance, etc. which is positively valued by the speaker and the hearer. A compliment event has the social function of establishing and maintaining harmonious. Theoretically, in this paper interpretations are placed within compliment topics, targets of compliments, and compliment response strategies. It can be concluded that the differences between English compliments (ECs) and Chinese compliments (CCs) arise from the different cultural backgrounds and cultural values in both languages.











Key Words: cultural differences, compliments, compliment response

摘 要





在人類的語(yǔ)言交際中,稱贊語(yǔ)是一種使用頻率較高的禮貌言語(yǔ)行為。它是說(shuō)話者明白地或曲折地贊譽(yù)說(shuō)話者以外的對(duì)象(通常指受話者或與受話者有關(guān)的事物)，贊譽(yù)的內(nèi)容往往是指對(duì)方一些“好”的方面(如在財(cái)產(chǎn)、成就、才能，外表等方面)，這些方面在說(shuō)話者和聽話者的價(jià)值觀念里一般都是值得肯定的。在人際交往中，稱贊語(yǔ)主要起著創(chuàng)造或保持和諧的人際關(guān)系這一社會(huì)功能，它可用來(lái)打招呼、致謝、表示鼓勵(lì)和祝賀、開啟話題、緩解矛盾等。稱贊語(yǔ)雖然是世界各國(guó)人民共有的一種言語(yǔ)交際行為，但它又受著特定的社會(huì)文化背景、價(jià)值觀念和交際規(guī)則等因素的影響和制約。因此，不同的語(yǔ)言，其稱贊語(yǔ)也必定存在著較大的差異。本文以中西方的稱贊話題、稱贊對(duì)象、應(yīng)答策略方面對(duì)英漢稱贊語(yǔ)進(jìn)行比較研究，指出英漢稱贊語(yǔ)的差異源于兩種不同的文化背景和文化價(jià)值。











關(guān)鍵詞: 文化差異; 稱贊語(yǔ); 稱贊語(yǔ)應(yīng)答

Contents

Abstract I

摘 要 II

Contents III

Introduction 1

1. Definitions of Compliment and Its Responses 3

1.1 The Definition of Compliment 3

1.2 The Definition of Compliment Responses 4

2 .Culture Differences of Compliment in English and Chinese 5

2.1 Cultural Differences in Expressing Compliment 5

2.2 Cultural Differences in Compliment Topics 6

2.2.1 Chinese Compliment Topic 6

2.2.2 English Compliment Topic..................................................................................7 2.3Summary……………………………………………………………………………...8

3 .Cultural Differences of Compliment Response Formulas in English and Chinese 10

3.1 Chinese Compliment Response Formulas 10

3.2 English Compliment Response Formulas 11

3.3 Summary............................................................................................................................11



Conclusion 13

Bibliography 15

Acknowledgements 16

Introduction

Thanks to the modern technology of communication, and the globalization of world marketplaces, people start talking about the global village. One of the most significant features of this global village is intercultural communication. Countries, as well as individuals, are getting contacts with each other more conveniently and frequently. The flourishing exchanges between China and other countries call for those who are not only proficient in English, but also inter-culturally sensitive and competent. Thus the development of intercultural awareness and the cultivation of communicative competence have been an urgent task for language teaching and learning ( Jia Yuxin, 2000). In short, in a world of international interdependence, the ability to understand and communicate effectively with people from other countries takes on extreme urgency.

As is known to all, compliments are frequently applied in social communication. How to give compliments and respond to them constitutes a significant part of the communicative competence of every member of a speech community. Owing to different cultural backgrounds, there are differences existing in the compliments used in English and Chinese. Chinese speakers of English are often embarrassed by English compliments. They don't know how to pay compliments and respond appropriately. Consequently, communication is very likely to be led to breakdown.

Holmes (1987) pointed out, paying appropriate compliments and identifying them accurately is an aspect of communicative competence which may differ in a variety of ways from one culture to another. Any speech act reflects a variety of cultural norms and values, and so do complimenting behaviors. Since compliments are abundant in both English and Chinese and they act as a mirror through which particular cultural values are reflected, the selection of this subject is particularly suitable when cultural comparisons are made, which is also the main reason why the speech act of compliments is chosen as the current research focus.

This paper tries to make a systematic comparison between Chinese com..