Abstract and Key Words

Abstract: This thesis aims to investigate the features of compliments in business negotiations and probe into the similarities and differences between English and Chinese compliments, including the phases where the compliments occur, the types or topics of compliments negotiators choose and the lexical or syntactical characters of compliments. The result of this study shows that English and Chinese compliments are highly formulaic, their similarities outweigh differences in the aspects of types, topics and lexical characters, and the existing differences in the usage of compliments might not lead to failure in business negotiations. It is hoped that the findings of this study can help people understand the differences in English and Chinese compliments, hence to improve their intercultural communicative competence, especially in giving and responding to compliments properly on intercultural business negotiations.

Key words: business negotiations; compliments; cultural differences

摘要：本文旨在探索商务谈判中恭维语的特征，找出中英恭维语在商务谈判情境下出现阶段、恭维语种类、话题及词法、句法特征方面的异同。通过本次研究作者得出结论：中英恭维语具有高度程式化的特点，并且从恭维语的种类、话题和词法特征可知，中英恭维语同大于异，现有的差异也不会影响跨文化交际的顺利进行。本文作者希望此次研究成果能帮助读者更好地理解中英恭维语差异，提高读者跨文化交际能力，尤其掌握如何正确使用并应答跨文化商务谈判中出现的恭维语。

关键词：商务谈判；恭维语；文化差异

Compliment, “expression of praise, admiration, approval, etc” (Oxford Dictionary, 2009) is a speech act which happens with a high frequency in our daily lives. Owing to different cultural backgrounds, there are differences existing in the compliments used in English and Chinese.  Comparison of compliments in Chinese and English is beneficial to cross-cultural communication.
Thanks to the improvement of political and economic systems in China, Chinese economy has been flourishing in recent years. Trade, as an important source of fiscal revenue, has increased remarkably, and business activities have become more frequent nowadays. Foreign investors come to China in the hope of cooperating with Chinese partners while Chinese businesspeople are eager to expand their market and go to make investments abroad. However, trade cannot take place without business negotiations. In this regard, it is easy to recognize that business negotiation is playing a more and more important role in international trade. International business negotiation is a consultative process between governments, trade organizations, multinational enterprises, private business firms and buyers and sellers in relation to investment, import or export of products, machinery, equipments and technology. Due to its lubricate function in communication, compliment exercises itself also in business negotiations.