跨文化交流中的语言:从“老外”一词看中国人对待外国人的态度

Language in Intercultural Communication: A Study of Chinese Attitudes towards Foreigners from the Term “Lao Wai”

本文通过分析自上世纪80年代以来中国人对外国人的称呼——“老外”,揭示这一词汇产生的社会背景,并突显了说话人(中国人)和受话人(在华外国人)之间不同的文化态度。同时,将其与其他语言中类似的词汇进行比较,结合中国人对外国人称谓的历史演变,阐述“老外”一词微妙而复杂的含义,解释“老外”一词在当代中外文化交流和人际交往中可能造成的沟通障碍和文化矛盾。因此,有必要对习以为常的类似言语现象进行探讨、反思,以促进中外跨文化交际的健康发展。

This paper analyses the term “lao wai”, a Chinese term used to refer to foreigners in China since the late 1980s, to reveal the social context in which this word was created and highlight the different cultural attitudes between the speaker (Chinese) and the addressee (foreigners in China). Meanwhile, it compares the term with similar terms in other languages, and in the light of the historical evolution of the Chinese term for foreigners, it elaborates on the subtle and complex meanings of the term “lao wai” and explains the communication barriers as well as cultural contradictions that may be caused in the contemporary cultural exchanges and interactions. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss and reflect on similar speech phenomena that are habitually used, in order to promote the healthy development of cross-cultural communication between China and other countries.