从称谓语看中西文化差异

ContentsChinese Abstract2English Abstract31. Introduction41.1 A General Description of Appellation41.2 Kinship Appellation51.3 Social Appellation51.4 The Function of Appellation52. Contrastive Analysis of Kinship Appellation62.1 Classification of Kinship Appellation62.2 Differences of Kinship Appellation between East and West62.3 Cultural Reasons for these Differences83. Contrastive Analysis of Social Appellation103.1 Common Components of Social Appellations103.2 Differences of Social Appellations between East and West113.3 Cultural Reasons for these Differences124. Conclusion14References15从称谓语看中西文化差异 摘 要语言是文化交流最基本的方式。称谓语是人们平常生活中使用较广泛的语言，称谓语的使用是否得体，关系到人际交往能否顺利进行，关系到人际关系能否更好地维系与发展。 由于文化传统、社会制度、历史风俗等的不同，汉语和英语在称谓体系上存在较大差异。本文运用比较研究方法，从亲属称谓和社交称谓两方面比较中西称谓体系的异同，进而分析造成这些差异的文化因素。与英语称谓系统相比，汉语称谓系统更加复杂、严谨、名目繁多。这一现象的产生与中西文化中等级制度，礼仪规范、伦理道德、价值取向等方面存在的巨大差异密不可分。关键词：称谓语；中西文化；文化差异Differences between Chinese and Western Culture Based on the Analysis of AppellationAbstractLanguage is the most basic unit of cultural communication. Appellation is the language widely used in people's daily life. Whether the appellation is appropriate or not is related to the smooth progress of interpersonal communication and better maintenance.Due to the differences in cultural traditions, histories, customs and social systems, Chinese and western countries have great differences in the appellation system. By using the comparative method, this paper emphasizes the differences between Chinas appellation and western appellation, and then analyzes the cultural factors that cause these differences. Different from the western appellation system, Chinese appellation system is more complicated and precise, which is closely related to the dramatic differences in hierarchy, etiquette, ethics, value orientation and other aspects in Chinese and West culture.Key words: appellation; Chinese-Western culture; cross-cultural differences1. Introduction 1.1 A General Description of AppellationAppellation, according to the Modern Chinese Dictionary, is defined as: names given to people by their relations and occupations, etc. The specific way of appellation depends on many factors such as culture, society, education, belief, age and gender etc. Each appellation has its unique system and characteristics, so the Chinas appellation system is comparatively different from the western appellation system. From the perspective of cross-cultural communication, this paper makes a comparison between English and Chinese daily appellations and probes into the social and cultural factors reflected by the differences. In social communication, people always address each other in some form of speech. Appellation has a significant social function: it is the identification of the status and role of the addressee, and plays a role in maintaining and strengthening various interpersonal relationships. (现代汉语词典,1984) Appellation, as a product of human social and cultural life, is influenced by various factors such as social system changes, national psychological characteristics, traditional culture, social customs, social ethics and morality, thinking mode, and has strong national cultural characteristics. Any ethnic group in the world has its own unique appellation system, but due to the cultural background and other aspects of the differences, the number of ethnic appellation words take their own culture characteristics as a reference. In traditional Chinese culture, the feudal ideology held that the status between people, however the western society values the nature of people themselves, which contributes to diversities between Chinese and western societies in terms of appellation. Some scholars argue that address forms, which can also be called appellations, are the words speakers use to designate the person they are talking to while they are talking. (Ralph, 2000) But other scholars think that the so-called address predicate is used to express the social interpersonal relationship between people, it reflects the status of people in the society and the role of the use of the name. Appellation is indispensable in verbal communication and is the first stage of open communication. (崔希亮, 1996,(2) The extensive selection of appellation in different cultures fully reflects the interaction between language use and social relations. In order to express the concept of social group's universal existence, the two parties of communication inevitably comply with specific social rules and choose appropriate appellation, so as to determine each other's social status and represent different interpersonal relationships. From this point of view, the study of appellation system in language has profound sociolinguistic influence, and has the foundation of cross-cultural comparison.The general idea is