Abstract: This dissertation aims to discuss the differences of politeness between English and Chinese greetings. Examples and experiments are carried out to study different uses of greetings in different language communities according to daily topics, terms of address and taboos. Results show that politeness of greetings in different cultures varies a lot and its uses should base on social, cultural and psychological factors. This paper concludes that appropriate uses of greetings can facilitate people’s relationships and reduce misunderstanding in conversations. In order to promote cross-cultural communication, getting to know the uses of greetings is very important.

Key words: greetings; politeness; differences

摘要： 本文通过对英汉问候语礼貌差异的分析，旨在了解英汉问候语的不同使用，为增强人际关系、减少误会及促进跨文化交际提出切实可行的建议。本文通过一系列的实例与实验，从英汉问候语的日常话题、称谓及禁忌三个方面比较分析了引起英汉问候语礼貌差异的三个因素即社会、文化、心理因素，从而得出了问候语在不同语言社区中的用法。

关键词：问候语；礼貌；差异

　　　In this dissertation, a contrastive study is made to help us learn more about greetings. As a linguistic routine, greetings here are discussed in two different languages, i.e. English and Chinese. The polite uses of greetings are explained in terms of Leech’s Politeness Principle and Gu Yueguo’s Politeness maxims. This dissertation focuses on the different applications of English and Chinese greetings. Through lots of experiments and studies, the main factors causing these differences are found.

　　　From above studies, we may suggest greetings are important tools to establish, maintain and negotiate social relationships. They may cause problems in cross-cultural communication and need to be studied. Unlike the individualism in the west, collectivism in China is treated as important. What’s more, comparisons between English and Chinese greetings suggest that greetings in English and Chinese differ in many aspects because of different social background, different cultures and different psychology which guide people’s recognition of politeness.