Abstract: Language is an important part of culture. Politeness phenomenon is a universal social phenomenon that exists in all societies, and the success of communication and the development of society partly depend on the proper use of polite language. Polite language is closely related with values, ways of thinking, cultures. But due to the cultural differences between China and the West, people may have different opinions about politeness, which may lead to the results that they deal with politeness in different ways. When communicating with people from different cultures, we should pay more attention to the connotations, otherwise it may easily cause misunderstandings. This paper aims to analyze the different usages of polite language between China and the West, which are significant to avoid misunderstandings. It analyses the differences between China and the West from addressing, greetings, compliments, taboos, thanks and apologies. And it tries to analyze the causes of the differences from many aspects, such as values, cultures, and ways of thinking. Through analyzing the usages of polite language, people can understand the cultural differences between China and the West more thoroughly, which can promote the development of intercultural communications.
Key words: polite language; causes; cultural differences; intercultural communication

摘 要：语言是文化中的重要的部分。礼貌现象作为一种普遍的社会现象存在于人类社会中，人们交际的成功和社会的发展离不开礼貌用语的恰当使用。礼貌用语和价值观念，思维方式，文化等因素有密切的联系。但是由于中西方文化的不同，人们对礼貌用语有不同的概念，这就导致了中西方不同的礼貌方式。当与来自不同文化的人交往时，我们要注意理解话语的内涵，否则会很容易导致误解。本文旨在分析中西方礼貌用语的不同，这对避免误解很重要。本文从称呼语，问候语，恭维语，禁忌，感谢语和道歉语的角度分析了中西方的不同，并且从一些方面分析了导致不同的原因，例如价值观，思维方式和文化。通过对礼貌用语使用的分析，人们可以更彻底地了解中西方文化的不同，以此来促进跨文化交流的发展。
关键词：礼貌用语；原因；文化差异；跨文化交流