On the cultural difference between English and Chinese from the perspective of Address Form (7).docx

本 科 生 毕 业 论 文题 目专 业班 级姓 名指导教师所在学院完成时间 On the cultural difference between English and Chinese from the perspective of Address Form浙江树人大学人文与外国语学院英语 马 晨Abstract: Language is one of the reflection of regional or countrys culture. Different nations have different own cultures, past history and specific customs, which are expressed in the language of the nation. Different peoples have various address form. During the international or intercultural communications, it could easily have misunderstandings of the others address form, which will cause mistakes and will bring great inconvenience. Chinese and English relative appellations are obviously distinguished, especially the titles between clan and non-clan, old and young as well as in-laws and blood relatives. In social appellations, Chinese vocabulary is more abundant than English. The main reason for these diversities is the differences of historical background, family concept and value orientation of the English and Chinese people.In this thesis, the author discusses the same and different parts between English and Chinese address forms in the two aspects: relative appellation and social appellation, then discusses the factors of the cultural background and value orientation of the two nationalities. Cultural factors are integrated into language learning, thereby improving the level of communication.Key words: Address form; cultural difference; intercultural communication; language learning摘 要 语言是一个国家或地区文化的一项重要反映。不同的国家有不同的自有文化，过去的历史以及独特的习俗，并且这些差异都可以由语言表现出来。不同国家或地区，对于称谓存在不一致的表达形式。在跨国家、跨文化的交流中，很容易出现由于误解对方使用的称谓语，而导致的错误，这在交流中给双方造成了较大的困难。中英文的亲戚称谓明显不同，尤其是宗族与非宗族、长幼辈分以及姻亲和血亲之间。在社会称谓中，汉语词汇比英语更丰富。造成这些差异的主要原因是中英两国人民的历史背景，对家的概念理解，以及持有的价值观不同。本文主要从亲戚称谓和社会称谓两个方面，阐述了英汉称谓语的异同，探讨了两民族文化背景和价值取向的相关因素。文化因素可以纳入语言学习，从而提高沟通水平。关键词 称谓形式；文化差异；跨文化交流；语言学习CONTENTSAbstractICONTENTSIII1.Introduction of differences on Address Forms12. Theoretical Overview on Address Forms22.1 Definition of Address Forms22.2 Research results of Chinese and Foreign Scholars33. Chinese and English Address forms43.1 Classification and influence factors43.1.1 Classification of Address forms43.1.2 Influence factors of Address forms43.2 Comparison of Chinese and English Address forms53.2.1 Relative title53.2.2 Social title74. Cultural factors on Differences of Address forms94.1 Influences of ethical thinking94.2 Influences of lifestyle104.3 Influences of Sense of Values115. Inspirations and Recommendations on language learning125.1 Strengthen cultural understanding125.2 Expand cultural horizons136. Conclusion13References14Acknowledgements16161.Introduction of differences on Address Forms Early sociolinguistic studies have noted that language actors have a certain social title to each other, and this form of address is applied to almost every country and culture despite the history differences. People hope to say greeting words to each other to start a new conversation and to show the specific social relationship between them. Therefore, they could demonstrate that they belong to the community and then find potential chances to launch a long conversation.The form of address is considered as a common title. However, it is also complicated since it is not only a very important way of beginning a successful conversation or negotiation, but also a useful tool to identify the social positions and relationships of both sides at the same time of the communication. Due to the diversity of cultures, the appellation system also differs from each other. It could occur that people from various countries or regions, hold different culture habits and generate misunderstandings of address forms, which will lead to mistakes in the use of words and bring great inconvenience to the exchanges between the two sides. However, it is not easy for most of people to understand the importance of address titles and to persuade them to learn and use them carefully. Which leads to the result that the appropriate address terms sometimes cannot be used in multi-cultural conversations.Considering about the different forms of appellations, it could be found that some basic differences between relative address and social address titles, which are the main two forms of titles. The first one is that social titles are mainly used for members in the community or common society. Therefore, the main factor of the social appellation is the social relationship, roles and positions. Based on the actual situation, the same person could have different titles. It is more flexible than the relative title. The second one is relative appellation, which is based on the blood relationship of family members. That is different from the previous one and is more fix to use. In fact, the social titles could be changed with the development of the society and culture. Based on the analysis of the gaps between English and Chinese address titles and forms, this paper explores the different historical and cultural backgrounds behind English and Chinese address forms, and finally understands the two languages through understanding different cultures, so as to avoid the failure of conversations in the process of cross-cultural activities due to pragmatic mistakes.2. Theoretical Overview on Address FormsLanguage is the most important communication tool for human beings. In daily life, people generally use language to get connected with each other, which aims to achieve the purpose of idea exchanges and information idetification. Without the bridge as language, human society could not have such a successful development until today. The address term is the most important language category in human interaction. Before we begin to discuss the influence of cultural differences on the address terms, we must first understand the Chinese and foreign scholars' research on the address terms.2.1 Definition of Address FormsSince scholars have various culture backgrounds and origin in different countries, the definitions of symmetric predicates are also interpreted differently:1) Address forms are words and phrases that rappers use to specify who they talk to when talking to them. 2) An address is a form used to give a speech or to directly name a person in writing.3) The correct title or polite language for a person who is speaking or writing.4) The title is a combination of customary rituals and language, and it is about the language conventions used as names between people.5) Refers to the name of people due to the relationship between relatives and other aspects, such as identity, occupation, etc.In brief, the appellation titles are the words that could replace someone else and it is mainly from the verbal conversation, then comes into the written formats. It is a method for different people to make sure the titles, positions, roles and relations with in social interactions among strangers and familiar people. It is not a simple identification pronoun, but also reflects the customs and habits of a country, a nation, and the relationship between traditional culture and socio-political economy. To be more specific, address forms are the connections between peoples from different countries, which could be referred to discover the differences of history, culture and ways of thinking.2.2 Research results of Chinese and Foreign ScholarsThe appellation is very important in the communication between different people, which has caught much attention of the global researchers. A lot of western linguists are seeking to get some outcomes from the research of the appellation forms and titles. In which, the studies on the secondary personal pronouns take a major position. Among the process of the research, different kinds of interviews, both formal and informal, literary language analysis, common questionnaires with data analysis are applied to find results in different European languages, which include French, English, German, Spanish and so on. It is believed that the meaning of appellation could be divided into two parts, which are power and solidarity and it is used the corresponding initials of Latin words vos and tu to mark. In which, the former v means respect. In the communication, the low power side uses v and the higher power side uses t. its the rule that cannot be exchanged and called non-reciprocal way. The latter t means close relation and friendships, which could take into practice with familiar person within informal or living conditions. However, there is no t/v difference in the second person pronoun you in English. The language mark that reflects the power and the equivalent relationship is only used in the name appellation. Brown and Ford (1961) made the researches on the American English appellation system. In addition to the non-reciprocal selection method, it focuses on the choice of the use of the title and surname of the title. In China, the term "title" was first seen in the Post-Han Dynasty that is, Today, the luxury is the shackles and the world is first; the change of title with change of situation. The title here is a verb. Furthermore, the word which is used to express the meaning of the title and the name, appears in the Jin Dynasty. Although it is not obvious, but the title is not exhausted, which answers to heaven and provides detailed case of the old code. The title here is the meaning of the person, which has the similar definition as nowadays. In the twentieth century, Zhao Yuanren gave his discussion on the modern Chinese appellation system, and wrote a systematic book which listed the form of the Chinese relatives.3. Chinese and English Address forms3.1 Classification and influence factors3.1.1 Classification of Address formsThere exist different rules of classifications to distinguish the appellation forms. It is widely accepted that the address titles contain two main categories, which are relative titles and social titles. The first one, relative titles, are somehow fixed definitions and contents, which are generally the appellations of direct and indirect relatives. For instance, the relation might be the blood relation, husband and wife with in-law relations. In contrast, the social appellation is used between strangers and non-family people, and it mainly refers to the name or title of social position. The social positions or titles include the academic titles, like professors or teachers, working titles, like engineers or managers, and other names could reflect the social roles and status. From the comparison of social titles and relative titles, it could be seen that the social titles could be changed with social status update, for example, if a manager promotes to a senior manager position, then his title could be naturally changed to his new job. But the relative titles are not easy to change, or would not be changed if the family remains. Thats one of the biggest differences between their definition and application. The social appellation, in the daily life, could be modified to match a persons job position and then highlight their status to meet the needs of their confidence. Proper usage of social titles could bring up good relationships.3.1.2 Influence factors of Address formsFocus on the same thing or people, different people from different countries would like to have different ways of speaking in their own languages. In the beginning of a conversation, the appellation would be the first word of communication among strangers. It is the summary of the social habits, the cultural traditions, the value differences, and the points of view. In the case of English-speaking countries, there are two methods of appellation, equal and non-equivalent. Peer-to-peer refers to the form in which both parties use the direct name or the first name of the name in the conversation process. The non-equivalent title refers to the different forms of appellation used by both parties to the conversation. People who have the native language of English hold the willingness to communicate with equivalent appellations, such as the exact names or nick names. On the contrary, people in China would like to use non-equivalent appellations. This is the major variation between the two countries. Therefore, during the translation of theses two kinds of languages, it is not very easy to find the proper transition of the specific appellations. The choice of title is limited by many factors, which are roughly divided into four aspects: context, status, social distance and age.3.2 Comparison of Chinese and English Address forms3.2.1 Relative titleFor thousands of years, the feudal system based on the agricultural production economics of the Chinese nation has ingrained the idea that the entire nation attaches importance to blood relations. In the past, Chinese families had strict rules of the positions of old and young generations, and regardless of poor or rich economic conditions, the appellations of the family are relying on the age and the level of seniority. Thus, a lot of strict rules among family members occurred concerning of the address forms. For the same level of generation, they could use the exact names to call each other; for different level of generations, the elders or the one at the upper level of generation, could directly call the younger or lower level of generations the exact names, while it is forbidden for the younger generation directly call the elders names. Not only that, but the boundaries between the name of the blood relative and the title of the in-laws are also quite clear. There is a difference which could be easily understood, that is, the existence of blood relationship and the later marriage relationship. More detailed to say, it is necessary to strictly distinguish the appellation relationship between brothers, sisters, and uncles. Uncles are used to refer to blood relatives, while aunts are called in-laws. Such a complicated form of appellation has many examples in the huge family of Dream of Red Mansions. To take a detailed view, in the content of Dream of Red Mansions. The Mother Jia said: Naturally, I first gave Bao Yu a marriage, and then introduced Lin Biaotou to the other people. There is no distinguish between blood and in-law relations. Even though Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu are both the grandchildren of Jia Family, the priority is different. That is because the Mother Jia has been deeply influenced by the concept of the traditional Chinese culture, which regards the surname as very essential to the position. The husbands family relation, which could be found in the surname, is the most important. While the daughter who has married is the outsider out of the original family. Grandson surnamed Jia, which is the husbands surname. Thus, Baoyu whose family name is Jia, is considered a