The Comparative Analysis of Discourse of Sino-American Diplomatic Languages

龚抗抗

Abstract： With the frequent diplomatic activities， diplomatic language has extremely important significance for diplomacy. Discourse analysis provides a unique perspective and a direction for the study of international relations. Through a comparative study of official discourse， it helps to understand the official discourse of both parties more quickly and accurately， avoid misunderstandings， and increase the effectiveness of communication.

Key Words： discourse analysis; diplomacy; differences

1. Introduction

1.1 Diplomatic Language

Diplomatic language came into being because of the exchanges among the countries. Diplomatic languages’ differences lie in its euphemism or deliberate subtlety， vagueness， obscurity， or crap， knitting lies， and gross vulgarity. President Franklin Roosevelt’s wife once lamented sentence is a normal meaning but a different meaning in diplomatic documents， it is like learning another language.

The expression of diplomatic language has three general meanings. In the first sense， it refers to the actual use of language， which is used by diplomats for correspondence with each other. In the second sense， it refers to those technical phrases which have become diplomatic diction. In the last but the most common sense， it is used for describing the wary understatement， which enables diplomats and statesmen to express grinding discourse to each other without being impolite.

1.2 Discourse Analysis

In structural meaning， discourse is a unit of language above the sentences or the clauses. It is a continuous stretch of spoken language larger than a sentence， often constituting a coherent unit; in functional meaning， discourse is a language in use. It is a stretch of language perceived to be meaningful unified and purposive.

Discourse analysis （DA）， also called discourse linguistics， discourse studies， or text analysis. It is a general term of language units which larger than sentences， analyze including written vocal and spoken languages.

2. The Characteristics of Sino-American Diplomatic Language

2.1 The Characteristics of the Use of Words

2.1.1 The Reflection of Development of the Relations

From the founding of new China to the early 1970s， the words "blockade， embargo and overthrowing US imperialism and all their lackeys"， the words of the early 1990s， "Neither the friend nor the enemy， the most favored nation， the arms sales to Taiwan， the issues of human rights， trade friction， the issues of intellectual property， competition and confrontation， dialogue rather than confrontation"， to the China Threat Theory， competition and cooperation， the economy complement， win-win， the issue of disarmament embargo， interdependence， constructive and cooperative relations， strategic partnership to deal with common challenges and stakeholders. These terms jointly record the development of the Sino-U.S. Relations.

2.1.2 The Reflection of International Status

The United States stated that China's continually growing economic power may turn into military force. Therefore， such discourses can become a kind of social fact or the knowledge of Asia Pacific security politics after the Cold War. The China Threat Theory has not only been fixed through written narratives but has also been identified as a way of thinking that affects and induces other countries' cognitive orientation in looking upon Chinese power. For example， it spread to some countries in Europe and Asia， thereby building the reality of China threat on a broader level.As the only superpower after the Cold War， the United States has the power to make the discourse， which it produces to be authentic and informative. The China Threat Theory can serve as an excuse for U.S. policymakers use their national resources increase their military budget and deploy overseas military forces more legitimately.

Generally speaking， Chinese right of speech in the international community has not been prevailing for a long time. China， even as a permanent member of the United Nations， has always seemed to be in a position of weak language with the big power.

2.2 The Characteristics of the Center of Sentence

2.2.1 The Center in Sentence-initial in the United States

When observing things， English-speaking people often tend to find the most important message， then use it as the main clause or put it at the beginning of the sentence， so as to convey the key point of the speech or writing. For other secondary information， often be stated in the clauses or phrases.

For example， President Bush expressed that we must change the conditions to keep the terrorists off flourish and being recruited， and to spread the hope of freedom to millions of people who have never known it in the address to the United States. President Bush put the center of the sentence at the beginning of the sentence.

2.2.2 The Center in Sentence-initial in China

Chinese is a typical bamboo-like， theme-oriented， end-focused language. Specially， when observing things， the Chinese tend to separate everything independently. Therefore， when they explain things or express their opinions， they often arrange the placement of information according to space or time sequence.

For example， Chairman Hu Jintao， in APEC Speech said： “阮明哲主席和越南政府為这次会议做了周密安排，我对此表示感谢”。In this sentence， Chairman Hu Jintao put the core of the sentence at the end of the sentence.

2.3 The Characteristics of the Way of Expression

2.3.1 The Use of the Official Language

A comparative analysis of the speech discourse by the leaders of China and the United States shows that the speech discourse of Chairman Hu Jintao of China is more formally expressed. Many formally fixed phrases and expressions are used more and more in Chairman Hu Jintao's discourses. I take the New Year message of Chairman Hu Jintao and President George W. Bush for example.

In the New Year Message of Chairman Hu Jintao in 2007， he said： 值此世界各國人民共迎2007年到来的美好时刻……，向世界各族人民……，致以新年的祝福！ In this sentence， the formal expression is “值此，向，致以”.

While President George W. Bush in Message for New Year’s Day in 2006， he said that the New Year is when we hope to reflect on the past and prepare for the future. Laura and I wish you a happy New Year. May God bless you and may God continue to bless the United States. Bush's sentence is simple， witty humorous words.

2.3.2 The Intelligibility of the Way of Expression

The intelligibility refers to whether the language used by the speaker is easy to understand or obscure. The speeches made by the leaders of China and the United States are relatively easy to understand， the speeches of W. Bush are more colloquial， popular and personalized compared with those of the Chairman Hu Jintao which are more written， normalized and stylized. In the speeches of the Chairman Hu Jintao， the frequent use of political terms and fixed phrases makes the entire speech more difficult to understand in discourse.

For example， Chinese Chairman Hu Jintao said， to realize the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and to create a new situation in the socialism with Chinese characteristics， we must consistently implement some important thinking and the spirit of the Communist Party of China， which firmly establish and conscientiously implement the concept of people-oriented， earnestly grasp the development which is the most important task of the party to govern and rejuvenate the country. In this sentence， there are some political terms： build a moderately prosperous society， the important thinking， people-oriented， and govern and rejuvenate the country.

While W. Bush used less political terms to make the speeches easier to understand and much closer to ordinary people.

3. The Comparative Analysis of Discourse of Sino- American Diplomatic Languages

3.1 The Comparative Analysis of Organizational Characteristics

The center of a sentence is the main part of speech communications. From a grammatical point of view， the main part of the sentence is the sentence focus. From the extent of the importance of information， the sentence focus often carries the most important information.

In Chinese-English translations， we often talk about the focus. The reason is that the expressions in Chinese and English are different. In Chinese， people are more pay attention to the parataxis. The sentence is like flowing water and the logical structure is implied; while in English， focus more on the hypotaxis.The sentence focus proposed in Chinese-English translation is to capture the information points expressed by the author in the Chinese language and translate them according to the habit of expression of English.

For example， He arrived in Washington at a right time internationally， in the sentence “at a right time” is the sentence focus. While in Chinese， “我們的国家大，人口多，经济落后，农业要搞上去，最重要的是要依靠一系列正确的政策调动农民的积极性，自力更生，艰苦奋斗。” According to the principle of the Chinese sentence focus is in back， it is not difficult to find that the focus of this sentence is that agriculture should be upgraded and the enthusiasm of the peasants must be mobilized. The other sentence components are the methods for serving this purpose.

3.2 The Comparison of the Surface Meaning and the Deep Meaning

Some scholars believe that the importance of metaphor in political discourse is more prominent. Metaphor is even called the lifeline of political language. Without metaphor， political expression will become difficult to move a single step. Metaphor is indispensable in political discourse. Otherwise， political language will become the water without a source.

In the U.S. president’s speeches “Nation is a person”. Here， the political discourse has achieved a good dissemination effect through the mapping of the source domain to the conceptual domain. First， it has weakened the opposition of the international community. It shows that the goal of military operations by the US military is not Iraqi and Iraqi citizens. Second， this means increase the acceptance of the people in the U.S. for the war. The United States has shaped itself as the hero who rescues the world and has occupied the commanding heights of morality. The U.S.-Iraq war has become morally necessary for justice. On the contrary， any voice that opposed the war would be seen as immoral.

There are ten conceptual metaphor patterns in the contemporary Chinese political discourse.For example， 我们已经胜利完成了“十五”计划，全国各族人民正在新的历史起点上满怀信心地为实现“十一五”规划确定的发展目标而奋斗， the metaphor contained in the sentence is “realizing the 11th Five-Year Plan is a journey，” and the starting point in the source domain corresponds to the beginning of the development plan in the target domain.

4. The Reasons for the Differences of Sino-American Diplomatic Language

4.1 Differences in Ideology

The U.S. values are advocating individualism. As a powerful nation in the world， the U.S. has always defended itself as a defender of world peace. Therefore， it is necessary to safeguard its image of justice in the world. It is necessary to find suitable reasons for defending and disguising.

China is a state of ceremonies and attaches importance to harmonious interpersonal relationships. China is a developing country， maintaining a friendly relation with other countries is an important guarantee for improving international status.

4.2 Differences in Values

Individual freedom is the most important one of Americans' values. It originated from the tradition of American ancestors' pursuit of the religious freedom. When the U.S. Secretary of State spoke on behalf of the U.S. government， the words are also strong personality.

It is different from the Chinese habits. We are always quoting other people's sentences and are very afraid of exposing ourselves. Therefore， personality is rarely reflected in Chinese.

4.3 Differences in Culture

The biggest difference between immigrant society and non-immigration society is that its members are not developed on the basis of blood relations， but are composed of people who do not know each other. The relationship between people is determined by the contract. Emphasizes individual rights and advocates individualism. Racial discrimination is serious. The development of the United States is linked to brutal killing and the persecution of Indians.

As an ancient country， China has inherited Confucian culture. The process of feudal society emphasizes collectivism and opposes individualism. The economic foundation of the feudal society is the self-sufficient natural economy. Each family member belongs to a collectivity， and it is the individual's duty to serve for this collectivity; therefore， the traditional culture of China is taking the social value as the main body. The interests of the country and society are higher than those of individuals.

5. Conclusion

In the dissemination of media both at domestic and abroad， we can clearly see that the official discourse of the United States， with its mighty right of speech， has played a significant impact in the international communications and has won numerous national interests for the United States. Therefore， it deserves our research. After all， the United States is the largest developed country in the world and China is the largest developing country in the world. Handling the Sino-American relationships well not only concerns the interests of both China and the United States， but also affects the peace and stability of the world.

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