Abstract

Language is an important part of national culture.Different nations possess different history, culture and custom, which all reflected in the language. Address Term is not only a phenomenon of language, but also of culture which is the concentrative expression of history and customs. Though it is not a new topic in academic researches, is still worth studying for its importance in the daily use. On the basis of the former researches, this paper takes Politeness Principle as theoretical foundation and makes a comparative study of Chinese and English address terms from the aspects of kinship terms and social terms, and discusses the cause of differences, to promote communication and mixture among Chinese and Western cultures. 

Keywords: Politeness Principle; address terms; comparative study

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2. 1 Politeness Principle-1

2. 2 Studies of address terms-3

3. The Differences of Chinese and English Address Terms-4

3. 1 Differences of kinship terms-4

3. 2 Differences of social terms-6

4. The Causes of Differences in Address Terms-9

4. 1 The cause of difference in kinship terms-9

4. 2 The cause of difference in social terms-10

5. Conclusion-11

Works Cited-13