Differences between Politeness Principle in British Verbal Communication and Politeness in Chinese Verbal Communication

Yang Qian

Abstract：The fundamental purpose of learning English is to develop language communication skills.Whether language expressing is appropriate or not，which is an important content to take measure the level of communicative competence.Therefore，people should not only understand the knowledge of communication skills，but also should learn and develop pragmatic competence and pragmatic knowledge in English communication，that is，appropriate language expressing.So，from the usage of politeness principle in Chinese and British countries，the writer researches into the origin and evolution of politeness principle ，and focuses on the differences of application between British and Chinese culture ，in order to help English learners understand the differences of Chinese and British culture well，and the proper use of politeness principle to communicate.

Key words：politeness principle；application difference；parole communication

1 Politeness Principle in British Verbal Communication

The Britains famous linguist Leech Geoffrey sums up six aspects in Politeness Principle.

1.1 Tact maxim①

A.Minimize cost to other.

B.Maximize benefit to other.

E.g.

（1）Would it be possible for you to lend me your car？

（2）Could you possibly take me home？

1.2 Generosity maxim②

A.Minimize benefit to self.

B.Maximize cost to self.

E.g.

（1）I can lend you my car.

（2）Would you like to have another sandwich？

1.3 Approbation maxim③

A.Minimize dispraise to other.

B.Maximize praise to other.

E.g.

（1）You are the best cook in the world.

（2）What an outstanding performance！

1.4 Modest maxim④

A.Minimize praise of self.

B.Maximize dispraise of self.

E.g.

（1）a： What a bright boy you are！ You always get full marks.

b： Thank you.I have very good teachers.

（2）Please accept this small gift for your birthday.

1.5 Agreement maxim⑤

A.Minimize disagreement between self and other.

B.Maximize agreement between self and other.

E.g.

（1）a： That dress she is wearing is beautiful，dont you think？

b： Yes，absolutely.

（2）a： Ive bought some apples here.

b： Great，its my favorite.

1.6 Sympathy maxim⑥

A.Minimize antipathy between self and other.

B.Maximize sympathy between self and other.

E.g.

（1）a： I lost my kitten last week and I still cant get over it.

b： Its most unfortunate that you lost your pet.

（2）a： My grandpa hurt his leg last mouth and still cant work.

b： Im sorry for that.

From the above maxims，it is clear that each maxim has two sub-maxims which are same in meaning，different in focus.It proves that politeness principle exists in common.

2 Politeness principle in Chinese verbal communication

In 1992，Gu yueguo sums up Chinese cultures politeness principles，which includes the following several aspects.

2.1 Appellation maxim

Namely，one sends regards to the other side with the suitable name.Generation and age play an important role in Chinese appellation.“Neighbors and elders are the unique decision element especially to relatives.”It has manifested in the Chinese culture among peoples social relations.It means “there are differences between the higher and the lower； there are distinctions between the rich and the poor； there are orders between the elder and the young.”⑦Using the appropriate appellation is considered politely.

2.2 Modest maxim

Chinas culture politeness tends to belittle oneself and respect others and this is regarded as a phenomenon of typical characteristic of Chinese culture.It has manifested “The person who is polite always belittles himself and respects others in Chinese traditional culture.”And also has embodied modest character. Modesty maxim also applies to praising people.

2.3 Common maxim

Communications of both sides reduce disagreements by keeping harmony，satisfying the other requests，and approving the other party as much as possible.It has manifested “You are ready to agree with other people，or youd better obey ones orders as well as revere him” in Chinese culture politeness.

2.4 Integrity maxim

Not only should people have noble ideas and beautiful words，but also put them into practice.This principle has reflected “The gentleman feels ashamed of having beautiful words instead of noble ethics； and the gentleman feels ashamed of having noble ethics instead of noble behavior”⑧in Chinese culture.Whats more，peoples daily activities reflect that integrity maxim is everywhere in Chinese culture.

3 Differences between Politeness Principle in British Verbal Communication and Politeness in Chinese Verbal Communication

3.1 Greeting

In Britain one kiss is generally enough.The usual formal greeting is “How do you do？” and a firm handshake，but with a lighter touch between men and women.

However，in China，people always ask “Have you eaten yet？” when friends meet each other in the street.Some of them also say “where are you going？” or “what are you going to do？” and so on.Old friends come across one day.They say “Long time no see，what are you doing recently？” and also ask about the recent situations of the family，just like “how did your son do on his school work？” if they are familiar with each other.

3.2 Parting

In English society，during the closing phase of an encounter，reasons for terminating the encounter are presented in mitigate comments.Typical comments are associated with expressions of apology，such as “I am afraid that I must be off.”，“I have to relieve the baby-sitter.” etc.British people believe that to be willing to visit and converse with someone is to have respect for him； to terminate the visiting is not of ones own free will，but because of some other arrangements，therefore they always try to make their leaving sound reluctant by finding some reasons and apologize for it to make the leaving acceptable for both parties.

However，in Chinese society，during the closing phase of an encounter，usually，from your perspective，reasons for ending the encounter are set forth in mitigate expressions.

3.3 Addressing

Both British and Chinese people have two kinds of personal names—a surname and a given name.But the order and the use of these names in the two languages are somewhat different.

In Britain，British peoples names are written and spoken with the given name first and the family name last.So John Smiths family name is Smith，not John.In a formal setting，people can address men as “Mister” ⑨，married women as “Misses”⑩，and unmarried women as “Miss”?.Nowadays，many women prefer to be addressed by using the abbreviations “Ms.” or “M.”，pronounced “miz”.However，in China，the family name always comes first.

4 Conclusion

Because of the differences of ways of thinking and values between the British and Chinese，each politeness principle has compatible or inconsistent.Politeness is the principle that people in different culture background abide by and protect.Different societies have different politeness rules.Realizing the different politeness principles in Britain and China can make understanding of context differences in speech communication and ensure the appropriateness and politeness in speech act so as to make communication smooth.Politeness is a social phenomenon.People must be familiar with the politeness principle.Politeness is a cultural phenomenon.Paying attention to relationship between them and exploring origins can make people communicate freely in speech communication just like fish getting water.

注释

①in impositives and commissives.

②in impositives and commissives.

③in expressives and assertives.

④in expressives and assertives.

⑤in assertives.

⑥in assertives.

⑦上下有异，贵贱有分，长幼有序.

⑧君子耻有其词而无其德，耻有其德而无其行.

⑨abbreviated as “Mr.”

⑩abbreviated as “Mrs.”

?abbreviated as “Ms.”

References

[1]Leech，G.Principles of Pragmatics [M].London：Longman，1983.

[2]顾日国.礼貌语用与文化[J].外语教学与研究，1992.

[3]祝畹瑾.汉语称呼研究[M].外语教学与研究出版社，1994.

[4]何自然.语用学与英语学习[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，1999.

作者简介

杨倩（1988—），女，汉，陕西汉中人，教育硕士，陕西理工大学，研究方向：学科英语教学。