ABSTRACT

Polite greeting, which reflects human civilization, is a social-cultural and linguistic phenomenon that can be found in all societies all over the world. When people are doing business, they need to use polite greetings to express their kindness to others. It is the same case in daily life. As a result of rapid development of the study of cross-cultural communication, people are getting more and more interested in investigating polite greetings. Because people from different cultures may have different views on polite greetings, misunderstanding may occur if the cultural differences of polite greetings are neglected in cross-cultural communication. This paper will study the conflicts and adaptations between Chinese and English polite greetings in daily communications. The present study is expected to be of some help to break the awkward atmosphere and eliminate hostility in daily communication.

Key words: polite greetings; politeness; conflicts; adaptation

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-6

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-9

2.1 An Overview of Polite Greetings-9

2.2 Previous Studies on Polite Greetings in Daily Communication-10

2.2.1 Previous studies abroad-10

2.2.2 Previous Studies at Home-11

2.3 Summary-12

Chapter Three CONFLICTS AND ADAPTATION BETWEEN CHINESE AND ENGLISH POLITE GREETINGS IN DAILY COMMUNICATION-14

3.1 Communicative Conflicts-14

3.1.1 Difference in politeness principles-14

3.1.2 Difference in applying politeness strategy-15

3.1.3 Difference in appellations-16

3.1.4 Difference in contents of polite greetings-17

3.2 Communicative Adaptation-18

3.2.1 Improving cultural sensitivity-18

3.2.2 Cultivating the awareness of cultural differences-19

3.2.3 Abandoning ethnocentrism-19

Chapter Four CONCLUSION-21

REFERENCES-22