Abstract: With the rapid development of global economy, the communication between countries is becoming more frequent. Compliment, a kind of positive speech act, is frequently used in both Chinese and English human communication. Compliments are usually used to express one’s feelings and thanks to others. Proper compliments may have a positive effect in human interaction. However, the different cultural backgrounds and social systems will affect the usage of compliment and even cause misunderstanding between speakers. Thus, it is essential to understand the differences between English and Chinese compliment.
Based on the relevant theory, this paper attempts to carry out a contrastive study on English and Chinese compliments, covering topic distribution, compliment forms as well as compliment responses, with the aim of finding the similarities and differences between them. Through the analysis, the factors that affect the complimenting behaviors are explored, including culture, social norms, sex as well as age. Finally, some implications are put forward in order to help people use compliments correctly and properly in cross-cultural communication.
Key Words: compliment; compliment response; differences; cross-cultural communication; pragmatics

摘  要：随着全球经济的快速发展，国家间的交流变得更加频繁。恭维语，一种积极的言语行为，频繁的用于中英国家的人际交流。恭维语通常用来表达人们的情感及感谢。合理的恭维语在人际交流中有着积极的影响。尽管这样，不同的文化背景和社会制度将会影响着恭维语的使用，也能导致说话者之间的误解。因此，了解中英恭维语的差异非常重要。
    基于相关的理论，本论文试图对中英恭维语进行对比研究，涉及到话题的分类，恭维形式和恭维反应，以期找出中英恭维的相似点和不同点。通过分析，本文也探讨了影响中英文化中恭维行为的原因，包括文化，社会制度，性别和年龄。最后，作者提出了一些建议，旨在帮助人们在跨文化交际中正确合理使用恭维语。
关键词：恭维；恭维回应;差异；跨文化交际；语用学

In this highly developed technological and cultural world, the interactions between foreign countries and China become more frequent than before. Compliment, one of the positive speech acts, helps to facilitate the communication between the listener and hearer by delivering favorites or praises to the hearer. Thus, compliment is gaining more and more attention among experts and linguists.