Differences between Chinese and Western Courtesy Expressions

王凱旋

Abstract：With the strengthening of international exchanges and cooperation，dialogues and communications between the countries become more frequent.As an important part in the dialogue，politeness has gained its particular importance in cross-cultural communications.This paper tries to figure out the differences between Chinese and Western courtesy expressions from several aspects such as salutation and greetings，how and what have led to the differences.Then this research aims at how to use courtesy expressions in international communications to express politeness，so that intercultural communications can move on well.

Key Words：courtesy expressions；differences；cross-culture communication

1.Courtesy expression differences

1.1Differences in salutations

Great attention has been paid to the salutation when a Chinese person initials a talk with another person whose social position is relatively higher.The salutation mode of “family name + positing/title”，such as “王經(jīng)理”、“張校長(zhǎng)”、“許院長(zhǎng)”、“夏主任” are usually implied to show respect to those people whose societal position are relatively higher.Westerners，having been influenced by their own culture，history and its own value system，have also gained their own characteristics of salutations.But for Westerns，the mode “title + family name”，such as “President Obama”，“Dentist White”，“Captain Henry”，“Professor Leech” are used to address those who turn to be respectful historically or in the real life.It may embarrass the Westerners if those expressions are implied to address other normal individuals，who are considered to be uncomfortable in Western cultures.

1.2Differences in greetings

Chinese ways of greetings tends to be situational.Being considerate，Chinese people love to care other persons situation and interests，such as “你干什么去？”、“吃飯沒(méi)？”、“你 最近忙什么呢？”.Some Chinese expressions，which come out with questions，are simple greeting expressions to show friendliness and care.No answers are required to those questions.Western way of greeting tends to be modeled.“Hello！”，“Good morning”，“How do you do” and “Nice to meet you” are usually applied to greet each other.When Chinese meet for the first time，there is no special expression for the occasion，but when most English-speaking people meet for the first time，they often say something like “Im pleased/ glad to meet you”.

1.3Differences in compliment and acknowledgement

Compliment is a great way to initiate a conversation with strangers.Showing the positive mind towards others，compliment indicates the speakers good judgment and percipient towards aesthetics.Compared with Chinese，Westerners use more direct compliment expressions.Both Chinese and Westerners love to complicate others exterior，newly bought stuff and some excellent performance.However Chinese likes to complicate peoples internal quality such as beauty，clever，good hair quality，and beautiful skin while westerners love to complicate others things which are gained by their own hardworking，such as good hair style，good make up and beautiful garments.Compliments of ones own child，pet and husband or wife are welcomed in Western culture but resisted among Chinese.

2.Reasons of the differences

2.1 Values factors

Influenced by Confucianism，differential mode of the association has come into being in the whole community in China.Collectivism，which emphasizes on the importance of community and interpersonal coordination，has maintained its popularity among Chinese people until now.Emphasizing the interpersonal harmonization，Chinese collectivism is trying to restrain the role of individuals in groups to maintain the social well-being.Different from Chinese，the Westerners are in favor of the individualism.So words and deeds without prejudice to others can be said by any person.Influenced by this idea，the lifestyle of personal preference is respected.It is considered to be polite to respect each others personal freedom，rights and independence in Western culture，and vice versa.

2.2Position factors

Position factors not only occur among Chinese people but also among Westerners.Deeply influenced by the historical feudalism，Chinese people still have their own characteristics in terms of societal positions.Position has always been one of the most important factors to be taken into consideration when conversation occurs among Chinese persons.Chinese and Western ways of courtesy expressions have largely been influenced by their social position factors.Each society has its own characters due to its cultural and traditional customs.The differences of social relationships and family structures between Chinese and Westerners are quite huge.Agriculture has occupied a lot in Chinese economy，so the movement of population is small and the residential environment is relatively stable.Due to the tradition that all generations of each family should live together，family members are quite amiable to each other.However western families are just the opposite；people move frequently，and family structures are relatively simple.Those factors have led to a distinctively difference in courtesy expressions.

2.3Thinking mode factors

Different nations have their own unique way of thinking，and different ways of thinking will form various forms of language expressions.Chinese people believe that the world is formed by the combination of multiple interrelated organic parts.They form an overall view of the world.Chinese attach importance to harmonious relationships，and treat the world subjectively.Their mode of thinking is an indirect and emotional curve.That is to say，Chinese people are accustomed to beat about the bush in communication.Straightforward words or expressions are usually avoided；instead，a roundabout way of expression or implied strategy is used to produce subtle and tactful languages.This requires the listener to understand the real meaning of words by figuring out the speakers mind.The core part of a conversation is often placed on the back of the discourse because they believe that doing so is consistent with the politeness principle.

3Overcoming misunderstanding in cross-culture communications

3.1Avoiding taboos

In any culture，there exist some words or expressions which are not allowed to be spoken or used in communication because of the traditional cultures and peoples customs.Those words or expressions which are not used in public communications are called taboos.Awkwardness may occur when taboos are used in front of a person，and the person may feel offensive.However，due to culture differences，Chinese and Western culture both have their respective taboos.So having a good knowledge of taboos from different cultures is a great way to avoid misunderstanding and awkwardness in cross-culture communications.

3.2Using euphemisms

Being a special ways to express tattoos，euphemisms are being applied to avoid unhappiness and awkward during cross culture communications.Westerners are afraid of getting old，so expressions such as “senior citizen”，“seasoned man” and “golden years” are being applied to refer to the olds.However in contrast，Chinese are interested in old for old is a symbol of experiences and wealth.

Conclusion

The differences between Chinese and Western courtesy expressions in cultural exchanges are quite obvious，but these differences are decided by some of the core hiding factors such as profound cultural characteristics，mode of thinking and the national character.

The differences between Chinese and Western courtesy expressions occur in many other occasions too.To have a better understanding of them will benefit us a lot in terms of language learning as well as cross-culture communication.During cross-culture communications，participants shall show respect and understanding to each other.

References：

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[3]Samovar，Larry A.Communication between Cultures[M].Beijing Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.2003.