Abstract In this article, my aim is to analyze the similarities and differences between western and eastern culture in the terms politeness principle. Politeness is so important in people’s social life, and it occurs in every corner of the world. So politeness is an important way in which people can measure the social norms. That is my reason to study the cultural differences in terms of Chinese and English politeness principle. There are quite a few important concepts in western countries. In China, the most important theory is politeness principle invented by Gu Yueguo, who linked the politeness with social behavior norms. Generally speaking, politeness principle in two cultures is different, but the main ideal is politeness. So we need to analyze the similarities and differences to avoid the misunderstanding.59092

Key words: Politeness Principle, Culture, Similarities, Differences.

摘要本篇文章的目的是想通过分析东西礼貌原则的异同来分析东西方文化的异同。礼貌在我们的社会生活中扮演者非常重要的角色， 它存在于社会的每个角落。因此礼貌准则是衡量社会准则的一个重要途径。这也是我研究这一课题的意义所在。我们可以通过分析对比礼貌原则对文化产生的异同来规避文化冲突。在西方国家相当多重要的概念---礼貌拉科夫的避免冲突的策略，利奇的礼貌原则，布朗和列文森的面子礼貌的看法。在中国，最重要的理论是由顾曰国他将社会道德规范连接礼貌发明礼貌原则。一般来说，在东西方文化礼貌原则是不同的，但礼貌是大家都遵循的准则。因此我们需要分析的异同，从避免跨文化中的误解和不便。

毕业论文关键词： 礼貌原则，文化， 相同点，不同点。

1. Introduction1

2. Literature Review...1

3. Politeness Principles in Chinese and English ..2

3.1 English Politeness Principle Proposed by Leech.2

3.2 Chinese Politeness Principle Proposed by Gu Yueguo5

4. Similarities of English and Chinese Politeness Principles....8

4.1 Similarities in Pragmatic Level8

4.2 Similarities at the specific Maxims of Politeness Principle.9

5. Differences between English and Chinese Politeness Principles.....10

5.1 Emphasis of Self-denigration and Other-elevation Maxim ....10

5.2 Differences in Compliment between Chinese and English Politeness.11 

5.3 Difference in Address Maxim between Chinese and English Politeness 12

6. The Deep-rooted Reasons for the Differences13 

7. Conclusion.....14

Works Cited...........15 

1. Introduction 

There are lots of common grounds between Chinese and English politeness principle. People get culture in the learning process or through the use of language. However, any person living in two different cultures will feel cultural differences. They not only speak in different way like pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary but also have differences in pragmatics. The reason is that the way the language used is rather different and the language people use is quite differences.

    Politeness is a phenomenon which links the society with the cultures. However it has different aspects. There is a common core and some areas of differences between Chinese and English cultures. Those differences are worth our attention because they may cause the misunderstanding. My foreign friend often complains that wherever she goes, she will be asked about her age, income, and even the marital status, which makes her feel very angry. This example shows the cultural differences in terms of politeness principle, in china it is not rude to ask these kinds of question.   

2. Literature Review

Politeness is very common in the world, but it still has a lot of explanations. In order that we can understand what is politeness, we will have a clear exploration to the concept of Grice’s cooperative principle. The cooperative principle’s concept is that “Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.” However, in the daily communication, the maxims of cooperative principle are not all the time followed. In this time, other principles like politeness principle need to be proposed to explain for it.源[自*吹冰^`论\文"网·www.chuibin.com/