摘要

合适的问候语是建立和维持和谐的人际关系的关键。由于中国与英语国家的历史文化背景有较大的不同，因此，问候语也随之产生了较大的差异。本文首先对汉语和英语中一些典型问候语进行了对比研究，讨论了问候语的分类和功能，并且比较了两种问候语在句子结构、词汇、内容以及肢体动作方面的不同，最后简要总结了产生这些差异的社会和文化原因。

关键词：汉语问候语，英语问候语，文化差异, 对比研究

Abstract

    Appropriate greeting is crucial for the foundation and maintenance of harmonious interpersonal relationship. The greetings in English and Chinese are quite different because of the different histories and cultures in China and English-speaking countries. This paper discusses the classifications and functions of the greetings in Chinese and English by comparing some typical greetings in both languages. Then the paper makes a comparison between Chinese and English greetings in sentence structures, lexis, content and non-verbal communications. Finally, the paper makes a brief conclusion about the social and cultural factors which have caused so many differences in English and Chinese greetings.

Key words: Chinese greeting, English greeting, cultural differences, contrastive study
 
1. Introduction
    Greetings occur in all languages. They are used to start an everyday communicative interaction or acknowledge of the presence of others. Being one of the most common practices that happens in daily life, greetings provide us a great means to take a glance of the culture behind them. Therefore, academic exploration of greetings is quite significant in many aspects. Firstly, a theoretical study of greetings can help people develop intercultural awareness of their daily practices that often below their consciousness. Secondly, through academic exploration, people can better realize that greetings in everyday life are important for the understanding of a culture and society. Besides, a systematic study of greetings will help people understand the structure of a certain society and culture.
However, people in different countries hold different beliefs and values, which sometimes result in misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication. The study of greetings in cross-cultural communication becomes essential in order to avoid the embarrassment. A contrastive study of greetings can help people to enhance their cross-cultural awareness. A better understanding of cultural differences in greetings will surely boost the maintenance and improvement of interpersonal relations. So far, there have been quite a lot of studies on the differences between Chinese and English greetings.