Abstract: Language is an important part of culture. Politeness phenomenon is a universal social phenomenon that exists in all societies, and the success of communication and the development of society partly depend on the proper use of polite language. Polite language is closely related with values, ways of thinking, cultures. But due to the cultural differences between China and the West, people may have different opinions about politeness, which may lead to the results that they deal with politeness in different ways. When communicating with people from different cultures, we should pay more attention to the connotations, otherwise it may easily cause misunderstandings. This paper aims to analyze the different usages of polite language between China and the West, which are significant to avoid misunderstandings. It analyses the differences between China and the West from addressing, greetings, compliments, taboos, thanks and apologies. And it tries to analyze the causes of the differences from many aspects, such as values, cultures, and ways of thinking. Through analyzing the usages of polite language, people can understand the cultural differences between China and the West more thoroughly, which can promote the development of intercultural communications. |
