A Comparative Study of Compliments in English and Chinese from an Intercultural Perspective

By Zhao Chenchen

Department of English

College of Liberal Arts

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

May, 2018

Acknowledgments

I want to express my gratitude to all people who helped me during the preparation of this thesis. Firstly, I want to say thanks to my supervisor, Mr. Zhang Houzhen. During the preparation of this thesis, he has offered me valuable suggestions. Without his patient guidance and expert advice, this thesis would not have been completed on time. Secondly, I want to say thanks to all my teachers in the college of Liberal Arts, from whose devoted teaching and amazing lectures I have benefited a lot. Finally, I want to express my gratitude to my parents and my friends who have always been supporting me and helping me out of difficulties.

Contents

1. Introduction 2

1.1 Definition of Compliment 2

1.2 Features amp; Functions of Compliments 2

1.3 Current Status 2

2. Domestic and Foreign Analysis of Compliments 3

2.1 Foreign Researches on Compliments 3

2.1.1 Gender Differences 3

2.1.2 Different Forms 4

2.2 Domestic Studies of Compliments 4

2.2.1 Syntactic Structure or Semantic Composition 4

2.2.2 The Usage of Words 4

3. Comparison between English and Chinese Compliments 5

3.1 The Form Contrast between English and Chinese Compliments 5

3.1.1 Cultural Contrast of Syntactic Structure 5

3.1.2 Cultural Contrast of Semantic Structure or the Usage of Words 6

3.2 Comparison of the Content or Topic between English and Chinese compliments 7

3.2.1 Appearance and Possessions 7

3.2.2 Ability and Achievement 8

3.3 Comparison of the Responses between English and Chinese Compliments 9

3.4 Comparison of Functions between English and Chinese Compliments 10

4. An Analysis of the Differences between English and Chinese Compliments 10

4.1 The perspective of Pragmatics 10

4.1.1The Perspective of Politeness Principle 10

4.1.2 Cooperative Principle 12

4.2 The Perspective of Cultures 12

5. Conclusion 13

References 14

A Comparative Study of Compliments in English and Chinese from an Intercultural Perspective

Zhao Chenchen

Department of English

College of Liberal Arts

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

Abstract：Compliment is an important part of language and a polite speech act which is frequently used in people’s daily communication. It is often used to express the feelings of praise or admiration. Meanwhile, as a positive speech act, compliment, to some extent, can moderate the conflicts between both sides and thus promote their relationship, etc. This thesis would make a comparative study of English and Chinese compliments from their forms, contents or topics, reactions and functions, and finally analyze the reasons of the differences between English and Chinese compliments from the pragmatics and intercultural perspective.

Key words: Compliments; comparison; intercultural communication; politeness principle; English and Chinese differences; reasons.

摘要：恭维语是语言中非常重要的一部分，是人们在日常交流中频繁使用的礼貌性言语行为，常常用于表达赞美或钦佩之情。同时，作为一种积极的言语行为，恭维语可以在某种程度上缓解谈话双方之间的矛盾，增进彼此的关系等等。本文将英汉恭维语从形式、内容或话题、反应方略及功能四个方面进行了对比，从语用学角度及文化角度挖掘分析造成英汉恭维语差异的原因。

关键词：恭维语；对比；跨文化交际；礼貌原则；英汉差异；原因。

Introduction

1.1 Definition of Compliment

Compliment, which means an expression of praise or encouragement, is a kind of speech acts which is frequently used in our daily communication. In a broad sense, it means an active estimation to people or things in our social interaction. But, specifically, it means that somebody or something is praised by the speaker in a direct or indirect way.

1.2 Features amp; Functions of Compliments

Compliment usually consists of two parts. The first part is that the speaker makes some compliments to the listener and the second is that the listener does some corresponding reactions to the compliments. One of the most obvious features of compliments is that they use active languages. The difference between compliments and other speech acts is that compliments are not negative words or sentences, while are some active or positive evaluations. The application of compliments is closely connected to the society and culture. Besides, the place in which compliments use is also different in different cultures. For example, although the main function of Chinese and Western compliments is to keep harmony of both sides, while there are also some differences. In China, the main function of compliments is to show the speakers’ respect to others. However, in western countries, the main function of compliments tends to express equality or agreement.

Compliments can be used to enrich the contents of greetings and strengthen the tone of thanks. It can also be used to trigger some interesting topics of conversations during meetings. Because during a meeting, some appropriate topics can attract others’ attention. Besides, compliments can create a harmonious atmosphere and express good expectations. Thus, using compliments when you communicate with others can help you to promote the development of this conversation or get rid of some embarrassing situations. In addition, compliments have the function of persuasion.

1.3 Current Status

Till nowadays, extensive studies on compliments have been done abroad, but studies in this field in China begin very late. And most of these studies are limited by the former researches which are made by western researchers. Therefore, studies on the differences of compliments between China and western countries are sparse. However, today, with the great development of economic globalization, the connection of this world is becoming more and more close, which means that the communication between people from different countries would become more and more frequent. Under this situation, the importance of compliments seems to be much more important. Knowing the differences between Chinese and English compliments can help us a lot in this global communication.

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