A Comparative Study of the Chinese and American Compliments

Wang+Xiaowen

【Abstract】compliment is a formulaic speech act greatly influenced by culture. As a result, Compliments used by the Chinese and the Americans differ greatly. This thesis distinguishes these differences in four aspects, namely, linguistic forms, topics and objects, distribution and responding strategies and explores their underlying reasons from the perspective of cross-cultural communication. It is hoped that this thesis can help people avoid failures involving compliments in cross-cultural communication between the Chinese and the Americans.

【Keywords】compliments, cultural differences, Politeness Principle, cross-cultural communication

【摘要】恭维语是一种受文化影响极大的约定俗成的言语行为。因此，中国人和美国人在使用恭维语方面差异很大。本文从四个方面来对比研究中美恭维语的差异，即：语言形式、话题与对象、分布、回应策略，并从跨文化交际角度来阐释产生这些差异的原因。本研究的意义在于帮助中国学生在用英语与美国人进行跨文化交际时避免恭维语的失误。

【关键词】恭维 文化差异 礼貌原则 跨文化交际

1. Introduction

A compliment is a speech act which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed, for some ‘good (possession, characteristic, skill, etc.) which is positively valued by the speaker and the hearer (Holms, 1988: 446). Highly formulaic and frequently used in our communication, it has its own way of expression in the American and Chinese culture respectively. In order to avoid the cross-cultural misunderstandings arising from this speech act, it is necessary to make a comparison of the complimenting behavior between the Americans and the Chinese. This paper mainly presents the differences between American and Chinese compliments in 4 aspects: linguistic forms, topics and objects, distribution and responding strategies and explores reasons underlying these differences from the perspective of cross-cultural communication.

2. Cultural differences between American and Chinese compliments

2.1 The different semantic and syntactic patterns of compliment formulae in American English and Chinese

In their study of compliments, Manes and Wolfson present that “in American English, compliments are so highly patterned that they may be regarded as formulas”. With regard to the semantic formula, “96% of the data collected by Manes and Wolfson consists of compliments that use semantically positive adjectives and verbs.” The great majority of the adjectival compliments make use of only five different adjectives: “nice”, “good”, “beautiful”, “pretty” and “great”. Meanwhile,the only two verbs——“like” and “love” ——occur in 86% of all compliments which contain a semantically positive verb. (Wolfson, 1989: 110-112) However, in Chinese, though adjectives are also widely used in compliments, verbs are rarely adopted whereas adverbs seem vital to strengthening positive meaning. (Zhou, 2000: 78-79, Zhu, 1999: 69-70) Furthermore, American and Chinese compliments also differ in their personal focus. The majority of Chinese compliments start with the pronouns NI 你(you )or NI DE 你的(your) instead of the pronoun Wo 我.( Jia, 1997: 365)

The American and Chinese compliments display many differences in their syntactic patterns as well. Among their over twelve hundred examples of compliments, Manes and Wolfson (1981: 120-123) find that the following three patterns

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1. NP is/looks (really) ADJ (e.g., “Your blouse is beautiful”)

2. I (really) like/love NP (e.g., “1 like your car”)

3. PRO is (really) (a) ADJ NP (e.g., “Thats a nice wall hanging”)

“are necessary to describe fully 85% of the data.” (Chen, 1993: 52)

Similarly, the most frequently used sentence pattern for Chinese compliments is also NP (ADV) ADJ, for example, “你的外套真漂亮”(Your coat is so beautiful). However, the pattern “I like/love NP” is rarely used to express positive evaluation of a specific object. Most Chinese addressees may mistake the use of “love” and “like” as an indirect expression of the speakers will to possess this object. (Shi, 1997: 88-89)For example, my foreign friend once complimented her student who bought a new pen: “ I like your pen.” The student immediately replied: “ I will give it to you if you like it”, which made her very puzzled and embarrassed. In Chinese, “WO XI HUAN” 我喜欢(I like/love ) may often be interpreted as asking for something whereas in American English, this expression is just a common form of compliment.

2.2 The different topics and objects of compliments in American English and Chinese

According to Wolfson (1989:113), compliments fall into two general categories: “those which focus on appearance and/or possessions, and those which have to do with ability and/or accomplishments”. This is true for both American English and Chinese. However, there do exist cultural differences in topics and objects of compliments for the two languages. On one hand, some taboo topics in American English can be used in Chinese. Some private topics that are taboos for public discussion in American English, such as age, salary, marriage, and family can be taken as topics for compliments in Chinese. For example, the compliments such as “你这次广交会赚得不少啊! 你可真行！” and “您这么大岁数还不肯休息, 真是老当益壮! ” might make an American embarrassed or even angry, but can successfully please a Chinese. On the other hand, some topics that can be freely talked in American English become taboos in Chinese. It is inappropriate for a Chinese male to compliment an unfamiliar female on her attractiveness whereas an American would consider the same compliment natural. Many Chinese would regard the remark “You have a lovely wife” as almost indecent. The following conversation in Cao Yus novel Sunrise can serve as an example:

胡四: 我昨儿个在马路上又瞧见你的媳妇了。你的媳妇长得真不错。(I came across your wife again yesterday. Your wife is really beautiful.)

李石清: 岂有此理! 岂有此理!(Nonsense! Nonsense!) (Shi, 2000: 42)

Here Li Shiqing was offended by HuSis compliment on his wifes looks, as it is a taboo topic for Chinese compliments.

2.3 The different distribution of compliments in American English and Chinese

The distribution of American and Chinese compliments differs. Wolfson(1983) points out that for American compliments, “the overwhelming majority of all compliments are given to people of the same age and status as the speaker. The great majority of compliments which occur in interactions between status unequals are given by the person in the high position.”( Holmes and Brown, 1987: 532) On the contrary, Chinese compliments flow in the opposite direction in most cases: from the status-inferiors to status-superiors. Jia Yuxin did a research among 80 Chinese on their compliments. His statistics show 58% compliment the status superiors on their ability and accomplishments with the purpose of leaving a good impression on them. (Jia, 1997: 366)

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2.4 The different responses to compliments in American English and Chinese

There are also obvious differences in compliment responses between American English speakers and Chinese speakers. In general, the American people tend to accept compliments while the Chinese prefer to reject them. Chinese scholar Chen Rong (1993: 53-54) did a research among the American students from Missouri Valley College and Chinese students from Xian Foreign Languages University. His results are shown in the following two tables.

Table 1 Categorization and distribution of American English speakers strategies

Strategy type % Example

Super strategy

1:Accepting 39.28

1.Thanking 29.50 Thank you.

2.Agreeing 2.95 Thank you. I feel better than I used to.

3. Expressing gladness 3.00 I am glad you like it.

4. Joking 3.83 Get yourself a girlfriend that will buy one for you

Super strategy

2: Returning 18.50

5. Returning

compliments 14.50 Thanks. You look nice, too.

6. Offering object of compliments 2.60 You can wear it sometimes if you like.

7. Encouraging 1.40

Super strategy

3: Deflecting 29.50

8.Explaining 23.30 Thanks. My mom gave it to me.

9. Doubting 6.20 Thank you. You really like it?

Super strategy

4: Rejecting 12.70

10. Rejecting and

denigrating 12.70 Its an old sweater.

Table 2 Categorization and distribution of Chinese speakers strategies

Strategy type % Example

Super strategy

1: Rejecting 95.73

1. Disagreeing and

denigrating 50.70 Its not that nice at all. The patterns are too loud for my age.

2. Expressing

embarrassment 26.10 No. Im embarrassed.

3. Explaining 18.83 “‘No. Its an old sweater from my mother”

Super strategy

2: Thanking and

denigrating 3.41

4. Thanking and

denigrating 3.41 Thanks. But I know Im older and dont look nice.

Super strategy

3: Accepting 1.03

5. Thanking only 1.03

(Chen, 1993: 53-54)

Bases on the above statistics, we can arrive at the conclusion that the American peoples responses are characterized by compliment acceptance whereas Chinese peoples responses are characterized by compliment rejection and self-denigration. Actually, the rejection to a compliment does not mean that the Chinese recipients ignore the good will of complimenters. Lacking knowledge of such a difference may cause cross-cultural misunderstandings. For example, my American friend Julie once complimented a Chinese student on his painting: “Your painting is excellent!" Pleased but somewhat embarrassed, the student replied, “Oh, no. It is just an ordinary one.” Puzzled and unhappy, Julie asked: “Is my taste in Chinese painting so bad?” In fact, by rejecting Julies compliment, the Chinese student just wanted to denigrate him and show politeness to her.

3. The underlying reasons for the above differences

As Claire Kramsch(1998: 3) argued, “Language, when used in contexts of communication, is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways.” Therefore, the above-mentioned differences in complimenting behavior between the Americans and Chinese have their deep cultural reasons. In the following, I will take the theories proposed by Edward Hall and Hofstede to explore these reasons.

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Edward Hall has studied how groups and individuals think, act, feel, and interpret communication differently and compares the communication patterns of high-context cultures (associated with, for examples, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese) and low-context cultures (associated with, for examples, North Americans, Germans, and Scandinavians). (Chew,P., 2003:4-5) This theory can explain the different linguistic forms of American and Chinese compliments. “In low-context cultures, communication and meaning are more literal and direct—what is said is the actual message. The parties do not customarily intend nor seek interpretations beyond that.” (Chew,P., 2003:4-5). Therefore, The Americans frequent use of the words “like” and “love” and the syntactic pattern of“I (really) like/love NP” is a reflection of their low context culture, which values a direct, “blunt” style in expression. However, “In high-context cultures, the meaning of a message is embedded in the implicitly shared social and cultural knowledge of the group. Often what is not said and non-verbal communication are more revealing than the literal words.” (Chew,P., 2003:4-5) That the Chinese would take such a syntactic pattern as an indirect expression of the speakers will to possess this object is due to their high context culture, in which messages tend to be implicit. They take the western peoples direct expression of complimenting “I like/love …”as an indirect and implicit request for granted.

Furthermore, Hofstedes theory of national culture dimensions can also help to explain the differences we found above. Based on the results of a research with a very large sample of employees from 50 countries and three regions within IBM, and later a Chinese value survey administered to students from 23 countries, he altogether identified five dimensions to compare the different national cultures, namely, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, and Confucian dynamics. (Hofstede, 1991: 161, Hoecklin, 1995: 21) Here I will draw on the dimensions of power distance, individualism/collectivism and Confucian dynamism to illustrate my findings.

First, China is a large power distance country while America is a small power distance one. Power distance is “the extent to which inequality (a pecking order or hierarchy) is seen as an irreducible fact of life.” People in Large power distance countries such as China believe that “power and authority are facts of life”(Samovar, 2000: 71). The Chinese social structure is basically hierarchical and “guanxi” relationships with the superiors can largely influence one's fortune. That is why some Chinese status-inferiors try their best to compliment their superiors. On the contrary, as America is a country with low power distance score, the Americans highly value equality and independence. Therefore, compliments generally flow from status-superiors to status-inferiors. The difference in power distance well explains the difference between the compliments “upwards” in Chinese culture and the compliments “downwards” in American culture.

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Second, as regard to the dimension of individualism/ collectivism, Chinese people value collectivism while the Americans value individualism. Hofstede(1984) hold that people in cultures of individualism tend to think of themselves as ‘I and as distinct from other peoples ‘Is.(Hoecklin, 1995:35) America gets the highest Individualism ( IDV) score in Hofstedes IBM research, showing clearly that the American culture is characterized by its “I” consciousness and self-orientation. The commonly used pattern “I like/love NP” in American compliments is also the result of such self-orientation. However, the Chinese culture demonstrates “we” consciousness and collectivity-orientation. In consequence, the majority of Chinese compliments start with the pronouns NI 你(you )or NI DE 你的(your) instead of the pronoun Wo 我, showing ones concern for others in his group. Meanwhile, the Americans attach greater importance to their privacy than the Chinese as a result of their individualism, and this further explains why some private topics that are taboos for public discussion in American English, such as age, salary, marriage, and family can be taken as topics for compliments in Chinese.

Third, with regard to the fifth dimension—Confucian dynamism, Chinese peoples mentality is deeply influenced by it. Confucian dynamism refers to the teachings of Confucius. (Hofstede, 1991: 164) Influenced by such teachings, the ability to maintain harmonious relationships is regarded as a great merit and being modest is considered as a basic requirement for politeness in Chinese society. It is also because of the influence of Confucianism that the Chinese follow a different Modesty Maxim from that of the Americans as mentioned in 3.1. It is for elevating others and keeping harmonious relationships with others that the Chinese people tend to designate themselves by rejecting the compliments. In addition, Confucius view “Men and women should keep a distance in case of the occurrence of love affairs” is still so influential in China that the attractiveness of a woman is still a taboo topic for Chinese men in complimenting, although the Americans would consider the same compliment natural.

The above analyses show that there are deep cultural roots for the differences between American and Chinese compliments. Indeed, language is a mirror of culture, and “nothing more clearly distinguishes one culture from another than its language.” (Samovar, 2000: 125) Only when we are fully aware of the cultural differences of compliments can we avoid failures involving compliments in cross-cultural communication.

4. Conclusion

“Language, when used in contexts of communication, is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways” (Claire Kramsch, 1998: 3). Therefore, compliments used by the Americans and the Chinese differ greatly in linguistic forms, topics and objects, distribution, and responding strategies. This thesis makes a comparative study on the differences between American and Chinese compliments from these four aspects, and explains them from the perspective of cross-cultural communication, hoping to help people avoid failures involving compliments in cross-cultural communication between the Chinese and the Americans. However, the complimenting behavior is quite intricate and keeps with the time. Therefore, further research based on larger language data in the latest years is needed. Due to time and space, this thesis is not exhaustive and needs further exploration.

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References：

[1]Chen, Rong. Responding to compliments: A contrastive study of politeness strategies between American English and Chinese speakers[J].Journal of Pragmatics, 1993, 20(1): 49-75.

[2]Chew,P. The Pervasiveness of Culture in Conflict[J]. University of Pittsburgh School of Law Working Paper Series.2003,(1) :4-5.

[3]Claire Kramsch. Language and Culture[M].Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1998.3.

[4]Hoecklin, L. Managing Cultural Differences: Strategies for Competitive Advantage[M].Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 1995. 21, 35.

[5]Hofstede, G. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind [M]. London: Harper Collins Business, 1991.161-164.

[6]Holmes, J. Paying compliments: A sex-preferential positive politeness strategy[J].Journal of Pragmatics,1988,12(3):445-465.

[7]Holmes, J. and Brown, D. F. Teachers and students learning about compliments[J].TESOL Quarterly, 1987, 21(3): 523-546.

[8]Samovar, L. A. Communication Between Cultures[M].Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2000. 71,125.

[9]Wolfson, N. Compliment in cross-cultural perspective [J]. TESOL Quarterly, 1981, 15(2): 117-124.

[10]Wolfson, N. Perspectives: Sociolinguistics and TESOL[M]. New York: Newbury House Publishers, 1989. 110-117.

[11]施家炜.汉英文化称赞语对比分析[J].汉语学习,2000(5):42.

[12]石宁.英汉称赞语之比较[J].中国人民大学学报,1997(4):86-91.

[13]周红.英汉称赞语对比及其文化因素[J].北方工业大学学报, 2000, 12(4): 78-79.

[14]朱亚夫. 英汉恭维语差异探微[J].广州师院学报(社会科学版), 1999, 20(3): 69-70.

*项目信息：本文受广东外语外贸大学2012年度青年教研项目——“基于英文影视剧本语料库网络平台的词汇教学研究”资助。

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References：

[1]Chen, Rong. Responding to compliments: A contrastive study of politeness strategies between American English and Chinese speakers[J].Journal of Pragmatics, 1993, 20(1): 49-75.

[2]Chew,P. The Pervasiveness of Culture in Conflict[J]. University of Pittsburgh School of Law Working Paper Series.2003,(1) :4-5.

[3]Claire Kramsch. Language and Culture[M].Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1998.3.

[4]Hoecklin, L. Managing Cultural Differences: Strategies for Competitive Advantage[M].Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 1995. 21, 35.

[5]Hofstede, G. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind [M]. London: Harper Collins Business, 1991.161-164.

[6]Holmes, J. Paying compliments: A sex-preferential positive politeness strategy[J].Journal of Pragmatics,1988,12(3):445-465.

[7]Holmes, J. and Brown, D. F. Teachers and students learning about compliments[J].TESOL Quarterly, 1987, 21(3): 523-546.

[8]Samovar, L. A. Communication Between Cultures[M].Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2000. 71,125.

[9]Wolfson, N. Compliment in cross-cultural perspective [J]. TESOL Quarterly, 1981, 15(2): 117-124.

[10]Wolfson, N. Perspectives: Sociolinguistics and TESOL[M]. New York: Newbury House Publishers, 1989. 110-117.

[11]施家炜.汉英文化称赞语对比分析[J].汉语学习,2000(5):42.

[12]石宁.英汉称赞语之比较[J].中国人民大学学报,1997(4):86-91.

[13]周红.英汉称赞语对比及其文化因素[J].北方工业大学学报, 2000, 12(4): 78-79.

[14]朱亚夫. 英汉恭维语差异探微[J].广州师院学报(社会科学版), 1999, 20(3): 69-70.

*项目信息：本文受广东外语外贸大学2012年度青年教研项目——“基于英文影视剧本语料库网络平台的词汇教学研究”资助。

endprint

References：

[1]Chen, Rong. Responding to compliments: A contrastive study of politeness strategies between American English and Chinese speakers[J].Journal of Pragmatics, 1993, 20(1): 49-75.

[2]Chew,P. The Pervasiveness of Culture in Conflict[J]. University of Pittsburgh School of Law Working Paper Series.2003,(1) :4-5.

[3]Claire Kramsch. Language and Culture[M].Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1998.3.

[4]Hoecklin, L. Managing Cultural Differences: Strategies for Competitive Advantage[M].Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 1995. 21, 35.

[5]Hofstede, G. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind [M]. London: Harper Collins Business, 1991.161-164.

[6]Holmes, J. Paying compliments: A sex-preferential positive politeness strategy[J].Journal of Pragmatics,1988,12(3):445-465.

[7]Holmes, J. and Brown, D. F. Teachers and students learning about compliments[J].TESOL Quarterly, 1987, 21(3): 523-546.

[8]Samovar, L. A. Communication Between Cultures[M].Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2000. 71,125.

[9]Wolfson, N. Compliment in cross-cultural perspective [J]. TESOL Quarterly, 1981, 15(2): 117-124.

[10]Wolfson, N. Perspectives: Sociolinguistics and TESOL[M]. New York: Newbury House Publishers, 1989. 110-117.

[11]施家炜.汉英文化称赞语对比分析[J].汉语学习,2000(5):42.

[12]石宁.英汉称赞语之比较[J].中国人民大学学报,1997(4):86-91.

[13]周红.英汉称赞语对比及其文化因素[J].北方工业大学学报, 2000, 12(4): 78-79.

[14]朱亚夫. 英汉恭维语差异探微[J].广州师院学报(社会科学版), 1999, 20(3): 69-70.

*项目信息：本文受广东外语外贸大学2012年度青年教研项目——“基于英文影视剧本语料库网络平台的词汇教学研究”资助。

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