中美文化背景礼貌语言表达与语义比较

A cultural comparison of the polite expressions and semantic meanings between English and Chinese

语言不仅反映人的思维,也反映社会现实,在某种程度上反映人的观念、习惯、心态和生活态度。礼貌语言也不例外,反映人所具有的文化背景、家庭影响、应变能力和交际能力等综合素质。在不同文化背景下,对礼貌语的语句和语义有不同理解,因此,礼貌语表达和语义与文化关系紧密,本文旨在通过语言表达与文化差异的比较,指出其特点,帮助人们对汉语和英语礼貌语有更深的理解。

Languages not only reflect people＇s thoughts and social reality but also mirror people＇s ide as, habits, psychology and attitudes to various degrees. Polite language also reflects the cultural background, family influence, adaptability, and communicative ability of a person, that is, the over all qualities of a person. In different cultural contexts or backgrounds, people have different under standings of the polite expressions and semantic meanings of a given language. Thus, the polite ex pressions and semantic meanings of a given language are closely related to a given culture. This paper gives a comparison of the polite expressions and semantic meanings of English with those of Chinese, and reveals their cultural features.