浅析中英亲属称谓语_英语论文

A Brief Study on Kinship terms in Chinese and English

摘要

称谓语是说话的人用来称呼与其对话者的用语。称谓语可以分为亲属称谓语和社交称谓语两大类。我们在日常生活中免不了使用亲属称谓语。亲属称谓语是跨文化交际研究的不可分割的一部分。本文以中英文中最常用的亲属称谓为基础，对比两种语言中亲属称谓语的异同点，并揭示造成相异或相同的原因。本文旨在阐明中英文中的文化差异，使人们形成更好的认知，并为人们在人际交往与跨文化交流中沟通顺利并建立友好的谈话关系提供指导。

关键词：亲属称谓语；语言；文化差异

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

1.Introduction  ..............................................................................................1

2.Literature Review.............. ........................................................................1

3.A Comparison between Kinship Terms in Chinese and English............2

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 order................................................................2

3.1.2.2Follow the generation order..................................................................3

3.1.2.3Follow the gender order........................................................................3

3.2Kinship terms in English.............................................................................4

3.2.1Categories of English kinship terms........................................................4

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

3.3Conclusion..................................................................................................5

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

4.1Political institutions applied in the past......................................................5

4.2Collectivism and individualism................................................................ .6

4.3Attitudes towards males and females.........................................................7

4.4Family structure..........................................................................................8

5.Conclusion...................................................................................................9

Works cited....................................................................................................10