摘要

在中英文化中，问候语都扮演着极其重要的角色。这篇论文把重点放在中英问候语的对比上，由于文化背景的差异，不同的问候语经常在不同文化背景的人群中引起矛盾，从而导致跨文化交际中出现的误解。本文讨论中英问候语之间差异讨论的同时，并列举出一些由于差异的存在而引起误解的例子，以及在跨文化交际中应当注意的交谈话题和问候语行为。通过比较中英问候语之间的称谓，话题，词汇意义，结构等方面，得出二者在问候语使用中的差异，并对跨文化交际中的语用失误提供了一定的借鉴。

关键词：差别；中英文化；问候语

Abstract

Greetings play very important roles in both Chinese and English Culture．This paper focuses on the comparison between the Chinese and English greetings. Due to the differences in cultural background, different greetings often cause misunderstanding between the distinctive background people, and result in contradictions in cross-cultural communication. This paper is discussing differences between Chinese and English greetings. As the greeting differences exist, people should pay attention to some greeting topics and greeting behaviors in cross-cultural communication. By comparing between Chinese and English greetings in appellation, topic, word meaning, structure, we can conclude the differences between both cultures in greetings. The paper provides a reliable preference for the pragmatic failures in cross-cultural communication.

Key words: the differences; English and Chinese culture; greetings

1    Introduction
Greeting is a very important topic in modern linguistics．With the development of the study of linguistics，a lot of people lay the emphasis on the study of greeting language．It can be observed in all languages and cultures as a social phenomenon, which plays an important role in individuals behavior．But due to different cultures, different principles and other reasons， people have different understandings about the definition of greeting in different culture backgrounds，and they deal with greeting in different ways.
2    The Definition and Classification of Greeting
2.1    The Definition of Greeting
The explanation in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English is: a form of words or action used on meeting someone. When people meet with each other, they greet with each other first. That is a mean of amicable, respectable and politeness, and the purpose is to keep the normal social relationships and promote friendships.
The explanation in the Oxford English Dictionary is: something that you say or do to greet somebody. For example, they exchanged greeting and sat down to dinner. Or a message of good wishes which are for somebody’s health, happiness, ect.