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英文
TheSpeechEventofComplimentinginChinese
LiuZhanrong,CCRTVU
Introduction
Literaturereview
Complimenttopics
Complimentformulas
Complimentresponses
Thepresentstudy
Methodology
Resultsanddiscussion
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix
1.Almostgotfiredtodayforcomplimentingawomanfromoutoftownonhowshelooked.Trytodosomethingniceandshecan'thandleit.Ihadtoexplaintomybossmytrueintentions(purelybenign)andthenpromisetoapologisetothisperson.Shemusthavealowesteemorsomething.
___
2.AnIndianwomanwasshockedbyhernewly-marriedAmericandaughter-in-law,whopraisedherbeautifulsaris.Shecommented,"Whatkindofgirldidhemarry?
Shewantseverything."
___http:
//www.Isadc.org/Tannen.html
3.AnAmericanChinesestudentwaspuzzledatherneighbour(inChina),agirlwhoshehonestlythoughtwasveryprettybutwhoalwaysreturnedhercomplimentwith"no,no,youlookbetter.""What'sthematterwithher?
Didshelikemycomplimentornot?
"theAmericanChinesestudentwondered.
___KasperandZhang1995:
5
1.Introduction
Complimentingasaspeecheventhasbeenoneofthemajorareasonwhichlinguistshavefocusedtheirattentionanddrawninsightsintothephenomenonoflinguisticpolitenessinthelasttwodecades(Pomerantz1978,ManesandWolfson1981,Wolfson1983,Holmes1988,HolmesandBrown1987,Wierzbickz1991,Nelson,etal1996,Herbert1989,Herbert1990).AmongthelargebodyofresearchareafewstudiesonChinesecompliments(Chen1993,Ye1995,Young1987).ThesestudieshavecontributedgreatlytoourunderstandingofthespeecheventofcomplimentinginChinese,especiallyforthosewhoareengagedincross-culturalstudiesandcross-culturalcommunicationsinChinese.
Thepresentpaperhastwopurposes.Thefirstpartofthepaperreviewssomeofthemajorfindingsintheareaofcomplimentingindifferentcultures,especiallyinAmericanandNewZealandEnglish.Thesecondpartcomparestheresultsofasmall-scaledstudyinChinesewiththoseofthepreviousones,andanalysestheChinesedatainthecultureandlanguagespecificcontext.
2.Literaturereview
Complimentsarepositiveexpressionorevaluation,whicharedirectedeitherexplicitlyorimplicitlytosomeoneforsomethingvaluedpositivelybythespeakerandthehearer,andeventhewholespeechcommunity(Holmes,1986;Ye,1995).Itseemsthatthemajorfunctionofcomplimentsistoestablishandmaintainsocial“rapport”(ManesandWolfson,1981:
124)andsmoothnessbetweenparticipants.InanalysingtheirAmericandata,ManesandWolfson(1981:
124)pointoutthattheprimaryfunctionofcomplimentsis“thereinforcementand/orcreationofsolidarity”betweenthespeakerandaddressee.Meanwhile,Holmes(1986)holdsthesimilarviewthatcomplimentsfunctionas“sociallubricates”which“increaseorconsolidatethesolidarity”(p.486)betweeninterlocutors.However,asshowninthethreecasesintheverybeginning,thespeechactofcomplimentingcanbeverycomplicatedandconfusing,notonlycross-culturally(shownin2and3),butevenwithinthesameculturalgroup(shownin1).Hence,howtopayappropriatecompliments,identifythemandgiveappropriateresponsesisanimportantaspectofcommunicativecompetenceeveryoneinagivensocietyneedstodevelopinordertoavoidpragmalinguisticandsociopragmaticfailure(HolmesandBrown,1987).
Thepreviousstudiesofcomplimentshavefocusedonthefollowingareas:
complimenttopics,formulas,responses,genderdifferencesandfunction.Thissectionreviewssomeoftheseareas.
2.1Complimenttopics
Studiesofthespeechactofcomplimentingindifferentlanguagesrevealthatmostofcomplimentsfallinto"onlyafewgeneraltopics"(Ye,1995:
212).Thesetopicsareappearance/possessionsandperformance/ability/skills,etc.Wolfson(1983:
90)pointsoutthatinAmericanEnglish,therearegenerallytwotopics,"thosehavingtodowithappearanceandthosewhichcommentonability".Generally,Manes'(1983)findingsreplicateWolfson'sstudy.HealsoindicatesthatAmericansaremorelikelytocommentonpersonalappearanceasaresultof"deliberateefforts"(p.99),suchasnew"clothesandhair-dos"(p.98).ShefurtherdefinesWolfson's"ability"as"thequalityofsomethingproducedthroughtheaddressee'sskilloreffort,awell-donejob,askilfully-playedgame,agoodmeal"(p.101).Holmes’(1986)andHolmesandBrown’s(1987)NewZealanddatashowthatthegeneraltopicsinNewZealandEnglisharesimilartothoseinAmericanEnglish.Nelson,etal,(1996:
415)findthatEgyptiansalsocomplimentthe“attributesofphysicalappearance,personalitytraits,andskills/work”.Althoughdifferentresearchersmayprefertousedifferenttermssuchasappearance,possessions,performance,skill,ability,work,personalityandfriendship,whatever,basicallyalltheseaspectscanberoughlygroupedintotwobroadcategories:
appearanceandperformance.
Despitethefactthattherearesomegeneraltopicspeoplefromdifferentculturescomplimentorcommentupon,somestudiesalsofindthat,differentculturesmayhavedifferentpreferentialtopicsforcompliments.InAmericanEnglish,appearanceandperformancearethetwomostfrequentlycomplimentedtopics,asshownbyWolfson(1983)andManes(1983).AccordingtoHolmesandBrown(1987),NewZealanderscommentfarmorefrequentlyonappearance(45.0%)thanonability/performance(27.5%).Theyalsocommentonpossessions(10.5%)andpersonalitytraits/friendship(13.5%).Herbert’s(1989)dataalsoindicatetheculturalvariationinPolishcompliments.HefindsthatinPoland,peoplepayabout50%ofcomplimentsonothers’possessions.Hecontributesthisphenomenon,fromasociologicalpointofview,tothefactthattherewasinsufficientgoodssupplyavailableatthetimeofstudy.InYe’s(1995)Chinesedata,80.9%oftherespondentspaidcompliments,eitherexplicitlyorimplicitlyonperformancewhileonly44%onappearance.This,Ye(1995:
233-4)concludes,“suggeststhatachangeinappearancemaynotbedeemedasworthyofcomplimentingasanachievementinperformance_andrevealsapreferenceoftopicforcomplimentinginChinese”.Allthisindicatesthatmoredetailedstudyandanalysisofcomplimentingindifferentculturesareneededasto“whichaspectsofappearanceandwhichparticularpossessionsareappropriateforcomment.Acceptabletopicsofcomplimentscertainlyvarycross-culturally.”(Holmes1986:
497)
2.2Complimentformulas
Researchstudiesshowthatcomplimentsare“remarkablyformulaicspeechacts”(HolmesandBrown1987:
529).Thisformulaicnaturecanbeshownbythelimitedrangeoflexicalitems,whicharethepositivesemanticcarriersofcompliments,andsomefrequentlyusedsyntacticpatternsandstructureswhichconveythecompliments.ManesandWolfson(1981:
123)findthat“thespeechactofcomplimentingischaracterisedbytheformulaicnatureofitssyntacticandsemanticcomposition”.Theystudy686Americancomplimentsandfindthat“theoverwhelminglymajorityofcomplimentscontainoneofahighlyrestrictedsetofadjectivesandverbs”(p.116).80%ofthecomplimentsintheirdatacontainanadjectivalsemanticcarrierand67.6%outoftheseuseoneofthefollowing5adjectives:
nice,good,beautiful,prettyandgreat.Theyalsoindicatethatthetwomostfrequentlyusedverbs,likeandlove,occurin86%ofallthecomplimentsthatcontainapositivesemanticverb.Theexaminationofintensifiers,deicticelements(secondpersonpronounsanddemonstratives)ofManesandWolfson(1981)alsodemonstratessimilarcharacteristics.
ManesandWolfson(1981)alsoanalysethesyntacticstructureofthecomplimentsintheirdataandconcludethatthefollowingthreemostcommonlyoccurringsyntacticpatternscanaccountfor85%ofthecomplimentsinAmericanEnglish:
No.1.NPis/looks(intensifier)ADJ.
e.g.Thatshirtissonice.
Itlookssocomfortable.
No.2.I(intensifier)like/loveNP.
e.g.Ireallylikethoseshoes.
Iloveyourhair.
No.3.PROis(intensifier)(a)ADJNP.
e.g.Thiswasreallyagreatmeal.
That’sreallyanicepieceofwork.
AndNo.1,NPis/looks(intensifier)ADJ,canbeusedtogivecomplimentson53.6%ofoccasions.Thus,theyconclude,“complimentsinAmericanEnglishareformulaicinnature”(p.115).
HolmesandBrown’s(1987)NewZealanddataof200complimentsalsodemonstratethesimilarsyntacticandsemanticpatterns.Thethreesyntacticstructurescanaccountfor78.0%ofthe200complimentswhileNo.1occursin48.0%ofthedata.Onthesemanticlevel,theyalsofindfivemostfrequentadjectives:
nice,good,beautiful,lovelyandwonderful.Mostofthenonadjectivalcomplimentsarerealisedthroughtheuseofafewsemanticallypositiveverbs,suchaslike,love,enjoy,admireandimpressedby,withlikeandloveaccountingfor80%oftheNewZealanddatacomparedto86%oftheAmericanones.
Ye’s(1995)dataofChinesecompliments,tosomeextent,replicatethepreviousfindings.DuetothecomplexitiesanddifferencesfromotherlanguagesoftheChineselanguage,sheindicatesthatthepositivesemanticcarrierinaChinesecomplimentcanberealisedbyeitheranAdjective/StativeVerb,anAdverb,aNounoraVerb(foradetailedcategorisation,seeYe1995:
223).Eachofthese,inturn,accountsfor54.5%,27.4%,15.8%and2.3%ofherdata.ThemostfrequentlyoccuringAdjectives/StativeVerbsarePiaoliang漂亮(pretty),Bucuo不错(notbad);Adverbs,Hao好(well),Bucuo不错(quitewell);Nouns,Liangxiazi两下子(know-how),Haoshou好手(good-hand);Verbs,Xihuan喜欢(like).
2.3Complimentresponses
Studiesofthespeecheventofco
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