Abstract

Address forms are the words speakers use to designate the person they are talking to. They can be divided into two categories, social appellation and kinship terms. Kinship terms are wildly used in our daily communications. They are an indispensable part of researches in cross-cultural communications. This paper, based on kinship terms that are  most commonly used in Chinese and English,  will start with the comparisons of differences and similarities between kinship terms in two languages,  and then move on to reasons behind them. Attempts will be made to shed light on cultural differences between them  in order to achieve better awareness, and provide some guiding points for people to perform interpersonal and intercultural communication smoothly and establish a good communication relationship. 

Keywords: kinship terms; language; cultural difference

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1.Introduction  1

2.Literature Review 1

3.A Comparison between Kinship Terms in Chinese and English2

3.1 Kinship terms in Chinese.2

3.1.1 Categories of Chinese kinship terms.2

3.1.2Characteristics of Chinese kinship terms.2

3.1.2.1Follow the hierarchical order2

3.1.2.2Follow the generation order3

3.1.2.3Follow the gender order3

3.2Kinship terms in English.4

3.2.1Categories of English kinship terms4

3.2.2 Characteristics of English kinship terms.4

3.2.2.1 Simplification.4

3.2.1.2Unobvious distinctions between males and female  4

3.2.1.3Equality.5

3.3Conclusion5

4.Factors Contribute to the Differences between Kinship Terms in Chinese and English.5

4.1Political institutions applied in the past5

4.2Collectivism and individualism .6

4.3Attitudes towards males and females.7

4.4Family structure8

5.Conclusion.9

Works cited10