Gender Differences of Mental Thought & Expression in Using Politeness Principle

Dai+Jin-hua++Shi-Meng-ke

【Abstract】Politeness Principle （PP） is an important concept in the field of pragmatics. In the process of verbal communication， people who follow the principle of politeness can help them express different mental thought. However， there are some gender differences in the use of PP in every expression. Through the observance and violation of PP by men and women， it is found that women are more polite than men and their words are more decent and the reasons for the formation of gender differences in language and some suggestions for achieving successful verbal communication between men and women.

【Key words】Politeness Principle； Gender Differences； Mental Thought； Expression

In modern society of globalization， polite language provides a guarantee for people to establish friendly social relations. In the process of communication， peoples language is often affected by various factors. In real life， different peoples language presents different mental thoughts. Especially the men and the women， they show differences in language strategies and performances in their daily conversations. Therefore， in the use of politeness principles， it is necessary to study gender differences in conversations.

Case Study of PP from Men & Women

Leech divided Politeness Principle into six maxims： Tact Maxim， Generosity Maxim， Approbation Maxim， Modesty Maxim， Agreement Maxim and Sympathy Maxim. In the actual conversation， men and women to comply with and contrary to the principle of politeness is not the same. The following examples are used to specifically analyze the differences between men and women in the use of PP. （A to represent the man and B to represent the woman.）

1.Tact Maxim and Generosity Maxim

Example： When people encounter bad things， men and women are expressed in different ways.

A： Shit！

B： Oh， my god！

In daily conversation， women instinctively avoid vulgar， filthy and abusive language， while men often use taboos and idioms such as shit， fuck， damn. Even to vent， women also like to use its more elegant variant or euphemistic， indirect expressions. Therefore， women often follow the Tact Maxim， while men are the opposite. Women use more polite language， because they try to use polite language to maintain and develop this relationship （朱凡， 劉芳， 倪丹萍， 2008）. They emphasize the emotional function of the language， pay more attention to the feelings of the speaker， like to encourage others to continue a friendly conversation. While men use language as a tool to acquire or disseminate information. They want to self-expression in front of the public in order to improve their status and fame.

2.Approbation Maxim and Modesty Maxim

A： You are so beautiful.

B： Oh！ You bought a new hat. It matches the color of your clothes. You really know fashion！

The above two people are praising others， but can be seen that women generally express better than men. Men are directly praised， however， women began to praise from hat to clothes， especially referring to the aesthetics of the hearer. This is a process from outside to inside， it have to say that women using praise strategies are better than men. Wolfson believes that women in the United States give and receive more praise than men， women praise the proportion of 74%， 26% of men； women give praise for the proportion of 68%， while men are 32% （段愛蘭， 2011）.

3.Agreement Maxim and Sympathy Maxim

Example：

B： What kinds of movies do you like？ Comedy， Horror film， Romance or Epic film？

A： No， I do not like all of them. I like detective film， such as Sherlock.

B： Oh， I know Sherlock. It is a very good movie， the hero has a good friend named Watson！ I have seen that movie， it is very nice！

From this dialogue， it can be seen that the man did not select the answer initially from the womans question. The social roles of men and women are different. Man is a symbol of strength， the traditional concept is dominated by men. They regard confident and strong as the advantages.

Conclusion

The differences between men and women in the conversations give us a question， that is， how to communicate between men and women. It requires both men and women to recognize their own shortcomings， so that they can understand each other better （段愛蘭， 2011）. Firstly， we should learn to understand each other and try to reduce misunderstanding. Secondly， we should open our minds and accept new ideas. Thirdly， we should recognize differences and respect others.

References：

[1]Brown，P.&S.Levinson.Politeness：Some Universals in Language Usage[M].Cambridge：Cambridge University Press， 1987.

作者簡介：

戴金樺（1992.11-），女，華北理工大學(xué)外國語言文學(xué)研究生，應(yīng)用語言學(xué)方向。

史孟珂（1993.3-），女，華北理工大學(xué)外國語言文學(xué)研究生，主攻性別差異研究。