Abstract：
Language is closely related to culture and can be regarded as a part of culture. The addressing term is not only a part of language but also a kind of culture. It is a reflection of national traditional culture and historical accumulations. People use kinship terms to call the kinship members of the family. As a kind of addressing terms, kinship terms are a kind of prevailing language phenomenon. The differences between English and Chinese kinship terms reflect the cultural differences between the East and the West to some extent. Both English and Chinese languages have their unique kinship term systems, which are difficult to be translated equivalently. The custom of Chinese kinship-term-system has a long history. Its system is precise and complicated, while English one is relatively simple but characteristic. From the comparative analysis of usages and meanings of kinship-term-systems between Chinese and English which people are familiar with，the paper is to reveal the cultural implication in it. English and Chinese kinship terms belong to different kinship-term-systems and have different usages and developments. The main reasons for these differences lie in the family structure, patriarchy concept, social pursuit and the outlook on value and the courtesy principle. The comparative analysis of their features and usages can help us understand the cultural differences between Chinese and English. Based on the great differences between English and Chinese kinship terms, the paper also recommends some methods to help us translate them more properly.

Key words：kinship terms; comparison; reasons; translation

摘  要：
语言和文化有着千丝万缕的联系，语言被认为是文化的一部分。称谓不仅是一种语言现象 ,更是一种文化现象。称谓语是民族的传统文化和历史积淀的反映。所谓亲属称谓，是指人们用以称呼家庭或家族中亲属成员的名称。亲属称谓作为称谓的一种，是一种普遍的语言现象。英汉亲属称谓语的差异在一定程度上反映了中西方文化的差异。英汉语言都有其独特的亲属称谓制度。两种语言的亲属称谓很难被对等翻译。汉语的亲属称谓习俗源远流长，称谓体系精细复杂，而英语亲属称谓习俗相对简单但也不失特色。本文试图从人们较为熟悉的英汉亲属称谓习惯和语义进行比较分析，揭示其中所隐含的文化涵义。它们属于不同的称谓制度，具有不同的称谓习惯和泛化现象。家庭类型、宗法观念、社会追求和价值观、礼貌原则等是造成两者文化差异的主要原因。对它们的特征和用法进行对比后，我们能更好的理解两者之间的文化差异。此外，本文还介绍了几种翻译的方法，以便我们能更加准确地翻译英汉亲属称谓语。

关键词：亲属称谓；比较；原因；翻译

1 Introduction
As English majors, we should not only master the language itself, but also cultivate and improve our capability of cross-cultural communication. There is a close relationship between language and culture. Therefore, it is necessary to learn relevant cultural knowledge. With the development of the cross-cultural communication, more and more people concern themselves with cultural differences, including those differences between English and Chinese addressing terms, which have brought about various obstacles to translation.