會話原則文化因素英語

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Abstract:Therearesomeconversationalprinciplesnecessaryforasuccessfulconversation.OneistheCooperativePrincipleoffourmaxims.Violatinganyoneofthefourmaximswillgiverisetoconversationalimplicatures;theotheristhePolitenessPrinciple,proposedtorescuetheCooperativePrinciple.

TodrawpragmaticimplicationsfromtheviolationoftheCooperativePrincipleisofnodifferencebetweenthewestandtheeast.Whataredifferentliesinpeople’schoiceofthemaximsoftheCooperativePrincipleandthisisduetodifferentculturalbackground.Chinese-styledpolitenessischaracterizedbyfouraspects:respectfulness,modesty,attitudinalwarmthandrefinement.

Language,asaspecialformofcommunication,maybeviewedasasystem,asavehicleforculturaltransmission.Itdoesnotexistapartfromculture.Thus,languageandculturalareinteractiveandunderstandingofonerequiresunderstandingoftheother.Tobetterachievethecommunicativegoal,itisnecessarytochoosetheappreciatewayofexpressionundercertaincircumstancesandculturalfactorsplaysanimportantroleinusinglanguageeffectively.

Keywords:culturaldifference;conversationalprinciples;CooperativePrinciple;PolitenessPrinciple

Fewareasofpeople’sexperienceareclosertothemormorecontinuouslywiththemthantheirlanguage—theyhavetocommunicatebyspeaking,listening,readingandwritingineverydaylife.Inthecourseofcommunication,itisnodoubtthatspeechenjoysprioritynotonlybecauseitprecedeswritingintermsofevolution,butalargeamountofcommunicationiscarriedoutinconversationaswell.Anidealconversationisusuallyassumedtobecarriedoutby“turn-taking”andthusthemeaningsoftheutteranceareexpressedaccordingly.However,therealintentionsofthespeakerscannotalwaysbedrawnbysimplyinterpretingthesurfacemeaningsofthewordsintheutterance,forpeopleoftentendtomeanmoreinaroundaboutwaythanwhattheyactuallysay.Let’sfirstlookatanexamplewhichtookplaceonthecampusatnoon:

Devin:Whattimeisit?

Jakie:Thestudentsaregoingtothedininghall.

Here,Jakie’sanswerdoesn’tseemtomakesenseonthefaceofit,butitisstillanadequateanswerforDevin,becausetheparticularcontextsofthisconversationincludethefactthatthestudentsusuallyhavelunchatabout11:30intheuniversityandDevinisawareofthis.ItispossibleforDevintoworkoutthetimebyinterpretingorguessingwhatJakiesaysandthemoresheknowsaboutthecontext,themorequalifiedherguessworkisgoingtobe.

Normallyinconversationalinteraction,peopleworkontheassumptionthatacertainsetofrulesisinoperation,unlesstheyreceiveindicationstothecontrary.Forexample,ifJakiegivesthesameanswertoastranger,it’lllikelyleadtocommunicationbreakdownbecausenobodyexpectsasuccessfulconversationinwhichpeopletrytoconfuse,trick,orwithholdrelevantinformationfromeachother.Inotherwords,asuccessfulconversationshouldbethefruitofalltheparticipants’effortsandcollaborationisanecessaryfactorforthemtoachieveacertaingoal.Therefore,peopleareexpectedtobecooperateduringaconversation,andsuchcooperativemechanismshaveverylittletodowithlogicandsemantics,butaregroundedinsomepragmaticprinciples,especiallytheCooperativePrinciple.

In1967,AmericanphilosopherH.P.GriceputforwardtheCooperativePrincipleinLogicandConversation:“Makeyourconversationalcontributionsuchasisrequired,atthestageatwhichitoccurs,bytheacceptedpurposeordirectionofthetalkexchangeinwhichyouareengaged”(Yule,37).Supportingthisprincipleisthefourmaxims:QuantityMaxim:Makeyourcontributionasinformativeasisrequired,butnotmore,orless,thanisrequired.QualityMaxim:Donotsaythatwhichyoubelievetobefalseorforwhichyoulackevidence.RelationMaxim:Berelevant.MannerMaxim:Beclear,briefandorderly.

Theimportanceofthisprincipleliesintwoaspects:Firstly,itisthefirsttimetosystematicallyinducepeople’sconversationalactivitiesintolaw.Secondly,whenviolationoftheCooperativePrincipletakesplace,inonecase,understandingofthediscourseishinderedandthespeakershouldmakeremediesimmediatelytosmooththeconversation;inanothercase,ifthespeakerdoessointentionally,therewillbemoretoitthanwhatissaid.Conversationalimplicatures,inthisway,willbegivenriseto.

1．ViolationoftheQuantityMaxim

1.1知之為知之，不知為不知。（《論語》）

Inthissentence,repetitionofthesamewordappearstwice,whichaccordswiththeformula“P=P”.Fromapurelylogicalperspective,thesentencehasnocommunicativevaluesinceitexpressessomethingcompletelyobvious,butitcanbeunderstoodeasilythatthissentenceprimarilyadvisespeopletobehonestinengaginginscholarship.Similarapparentlypointlessexpressionsare“Businessisbusiness”and“Girlsaregirls”.Thiskindofphenomenoniscalledtautology.Whentautologyisappliedinaconversation,itisclearthatthespeakerintendstoexpressmorethanissaid.Usually,thiskindofusagehasstrongsenseofemotion.

1.2Polonius:Whatdoyouread,mylord?

Hamlet:Words,words,words.(Shakespeare,Hamlet)

1.3“我們是睡在鼓里，等人家來殺！等人家來殺！”(矛盾：《子夜》)

FromPolonius’perspective,Hamlet’sanswerprovideslessinformationthanexpected.For“words”beingtheobjectof“read”seemstobetoogeneralandPoloniusstilldidnotknowwhatHamletread.Infact,repetitionoftheword“words”showsHamlet’sstrongimpatiencethathewasunwillingtotalktoPolonius.Inanotherpointofview,fromthefactthatPolonius’sattitudeiswarmandcooperativewhileHamlet’sattitudeisimpatientandindifferent,theremustbesomeimplications.Similarlyinexample3,repetitionofasentenceshowsthespeaker’sstrongindignation.

2．ViolationoftheQualityMaxim

2.1南唐時(shí)，賦稅繁重，京城地區(qū)又遭旱災(zāi)，人民叫苦連天。一天，烈祖在北苑飲宴，對群臣說：“外地都下雨了，只是都城卻不下雨，怎么回事呢？”申漸應(yīng)到：“雨不感入城，是怕抽稅而已?！绷易娲笮?，馬上下令除掉重稅。（《古今譚概—微詞》）

ViolationoftheQualityMaximhastwocases,onecaseisakindof“moraloffence”,whichmeansthatthespeakerisunwillingtoobservetheQualitymaximandislying.Theothercaseisakindof“falselie”,whichmeansthatthespeakerisunwillingtocooperativeandistryingtoexpressimplicitmeaning.Inthisexample,ShenJiancleverlyusedpersonificationthateventherainisscaredofthetaxbecausethemanhetalkedtowasthekingofthedynasty.JustthinkoftheimpossibilityofabolishingtheheavytaxationifShenJianusedbluntwordstoremonstrate!

2.2Tommy:Mother!Thelorrygoingbyisasbigasamountain!

Mother:Why,dear,I’vetoldyouovertenthousandtimesnottoexaggeratethingssoterriblyandyourbadhabitremainsunchanged.

Itisbelievedthatthereisnosuchalorryasbigasamountainonearthanditisalsobelievedthatthemothercouldnothavetoldhersoonovertenthousandtimes.Hyperbole,justlikeirony,metaphorandmeiosisarealltheresultsthatviolatetheQualitymaxim.Ofcourse,ifthemotherherselfhadnotexaggerated,thestorywouldnotbesofunny.

3．ViolationoftheRelationmaxim

3.1周沖：爸，我聽說礦上對于這次受傷的工人不給一點(diǎn)撫恤金。

周樸園：（頭一揚(yáng)）我認(rèn)為你這次話說得太多了。（《雷雨》）

ZhouPuyuandidnotprovideanyinformationaboutwhatZhouChongwasinterestedin.Onthecontrary,heusedaperformativeutterance:ToletZhouChongshutup.ViolationoftheRelationmaxim,infact,isusedtopreventZhouChongtalkingaboutmattersconcerningtheaccidentintheminesandinjuriesoftheworkers.

3.2Anotherexamplecomesfromatruestoryofthewriter.Onedaysheaskedoneofherstudentstoreadthetextinclass.Owingtolackofconcentration,thestudentmisreadanothertext,sothewritersaid,“你的書是那個(gè)版本的?”insteadofdirectcriticizing.Alltheclasshadagoodlaugh,includingtheboyhimself,buteveryoneunderstoodherintentionofirony.

4．ViolationoftheMannermaxim

4.1“一個(gè)人死了之后，究竟有沒有魂靈？”

“也許有罷，我想。”我于是吞吞吐吐地說。

“那么，也就有地獄了？”

“?。〉鬲z？”我很吃驚，只得支吾著，“地獄？論理，就該也有。然而也未必……誰來管這等事……”(《祝?！?

Toviolatethemannermaximmeansthatthespeakerspeaksobscurelyandambiguouslyinsteadofspeakingbrieflyandorderly.LuXunisagreatmasteroflanguage,soheusedmildandindirectwordsinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectwordsinordernottobringmentalagonytoher.Also,pun,whichis“aformofspeechplayinwhichawordorphraseunexpectedlyandsimultaneouslycombinestwounrelatedmeanings”(Huang,139),isoftenusedtoproduceconversationalimplicature.

4.2Mrs.Jones:We’regoingtobeneighborsnow.We’vebroughtahomenexttoyou,rightontheedgeofthelake.

Mrs.Brown:Soglad!Hopeyou’lldropinsometimes.

4.3Ifinallyfiguredouthowgovernmentworks.ThesenategetsthebillfromtheHouse,thePresidentgetsthebillfromtheSenate,andwegetthebillforeverything.

Thekeywordinexample2is“drop”,whichbearsthemeaning“fall”andleavesspacetothereaderstoimagineifMrs.Jonesfellintothelake.IfMrs.Brownchangedtheambiguous“drop”into“visit”,nohumorwillbeproduced.Inexample3,thefirstandthesecond“bill”srefertothedraftofaproposedlaw,whilethethirdonereferstoawrittenstatementofmoneyowned.Theauthorsatiricallyexposesthecorruptionoftheofficials,whilethecommonpeoplehavetobeartheburden.

SincepeopleshouldfollowtheCooperativePrincipleinconversation,thenwhydotheyviolateit?Whydonottheystatetheirviewsfrankly,butlettheirlistenersrecognizethecommunicatedmeaningsviainference?G.LeechhasproposedthePolitenessPrincipletorescuetheCooperativePrinciple.Inhispointofview,thereasonwhypeopleviolatetheCooperativePrincipleisoutoftheconsiderationofpoliteness.SothemorepeopleknowaboutthePolitenessPrinciple,thebettertheyunderstandconversationalimplicatures.

BeforetalkingaboutthePolitenessPrinciple,theFaceTheoryshouldbeintroduced.Asatechnicalterm,facemeansthepublicself-imageofaperson.Itreferstoothatemotionalandsocialsenseofselfthateveryonehasandexpectseveryoneelsetorecognize.Thatistosay,peoplehavetheneedtobeconnected,whichiscalledpositiveface,andtheneedtobeindependent,whichiscallednegativeface.Inordertokeepthelistener’spositiveface,thespeakershouldfallinwithhislistener’swishes;atthesametime,hisownnegativefaceisthreatened.Also,inordertokeepthelistener’snegativeface,thespeakershouldapologize,belittlehimselfandtalkambiguously,whilehisownpositivefaceisthreatenedsimultaneously.Sopeople’conversationalactivitiesareactuallyfacethreateningacts.Inordertokeephislistener’sfaceaswellashis,thebestwayforthespeakertodoistobepolite.

Politeness,inaninteraction,referstothemeansemployedtoshowawarenessofanotherperson’sface.InLeech’sPolitenessPrinciple,therearesixmeansormaximsasfollows:tactmaxim,generositymaxim,approbationmaxim,modestymaxim,andagreementmaximandsympathymaxim.In2.1ShenJianhadtodetermine,ashespoke,therelativesocialdistancebetweenhimandtheemperorandhencetheemperor’s“facewants”,whichreferstoaperson’sexpectationsthattheirpublicself-imagewillberespected.TheemperorissupremeandShenJiansuccessfullyappliedthetactmaxim.LuXunalsoappliedthePolitenessPrincipleinexample4.1.

TodrawpragmaticimplicationsfromtheviolationoftheCooperativePrincipleisofnodifferencebetweenthewestandtheeast.Whatisadifferentlieinpeople’schoiceofthemaximsoftheCooperativePrinciple.Forexample:

1.A:Youdancewell.

B:I’mgladtohearthat.

2.AnEnglishteacherispraisingaChinesegirl’scalligraphy,“Oh,whatbeautifulhandwriting!”Butthegirlreplied,“No,no,notatall.”“You’rejoking.”TheEnglishteacherbecameangryandwentaway.

Here,neitherB’sreplyisimmodestnortheChinesegirl’sremarkisinsincere.ThereasonwhytheEnglishteacherbecameangryandwentawayisthatthegirlhasmadeagreatmistake—sheunintentionallymakestheforeignteacherfeelbeingmocked.Suchkindofmistakeiscalled“pragmaticfailure”,thatistosay,theinabilitytounderstandwhatismeantbywhatissaid.Byculture,wemean"asystemofsharedbeliefs,values,customs,behaviors,andartifactsthatthememberofasocietyusetocopewiththeirworldandwithoneanother,andthataretransmittedfromgenerationtogenerationthroughlearning"(Bates,28).Generallyspeaking,ChinesepaymoreattentiontothePolitenessPrinciplewhilethewesternerslaymoreemphasisontheCooperativePrinciple,andChinese-styledpolitenessischaracterizedbyfouraspects:respectfulness,modesty,attitudinalwarmthandrefinement.

Respectfulnessmeanstorespectoneselfandappreciateothers,andtoshowawarenessofanotherperson’sface.OnepeculiarexamplecanbefoundintheChineseandtheEnglish–speakingpeople’sdifferentwaysofaddress.Inrecentyears,thetrendofmanyEnglish-speakingpeoplehasbeentoaddressothersbyusingthefirstname,evenwhenpeoplemeetforthefirsttime.Thisappliestopeopleofdifferentageanddifferentsocialstatus.Forexample,manycollegestudentscalltheirprofessorsbytheirfirstnames.Theprofessorsdonotregardthisasasignofdisrespectorfamiliarity,butrather,asanindicationthattheprofessorisconsideredaffableandhasasenseofequality.Also,itisnotatalluncommontohearachildcallingamucholderperson“Joe,Ben”etc.This,ofcourse,isquitecountertoChinesecustom.Onecanimaginethereactionsofadultsofachildweretocallagrandparentbyhisorherfirstname,orastudenttodothesameincallingateacher.Aquickreprimand,andpossiblyevenaspankingforthechild,wouldbesuretofollow.

Modesty,whichisregardedasakindofvirtuebyChinese,meanstobelittleoneselfandpraiseothers.ToEnglish-speakingpeople,praiseistobeaccepted,generallywitharemarklike“thankyou”or“I’mverygladtohearthat”.Itisassumedthatthecomplimentissincere;therefore,thereshouldbenoshowoffalsehumility,nopretendedmodesty;ToChinese,however,thecustomaryreplytoacomplimentwouldbetoclaimthatoneishardlyenoughorthatsuccesswasmoreamatterofluckorsomeothercircumstances.Acceptanceofacomplimentwouldimplyconceitorlackofmanners,andtheChinesegenerallymurmursomerepliesaboutnotbeingworthyofthepraise.Thisalsoexplainswhyinsomewesterners’eyes,theeasternersareinferior,hypocriticalandinsincere.SoitwouldnotbeunusualtohearanAmericanwomantalkingabouthowhardherhusbandworksandhowwellhehasdone,aboutallthepromotionsandhonorsthathehasreceived.Shemightdothesameaboutherchildren.ButinChina,thiswouldbeconsideredbadtaste:onesimplydoesnotpraisemembersofone’sownfamilyinfrontofothers.AnotherexampleofaChinesetabooiscomplimentingamanonhiswife’slooks.ManyChinese,especially,thosebeyondtheiryouth,wouldregardtheremake“Youhavealovelywife”asalmostindecent.Yetthesamecomplimentwouldbeconsideredperfectlynaturalandevenhighlyappreciatedbywesterners.

AttitudinalwarmthmeanstheChineseseemtoshowmuchconcernabouttheotherpeople.OnetypicalwayfortheChinesetoshowcareistoaskotherpeopleagesincome,ormaterialstatus.Forexample,“Howoldareyou?”“Howmuchdoyoumake?”“Soyou’redivorced?Whatwasthereason?Couldn’tyoutwogetalong?”AlloftheseaspectsareconsideredasprivacyonwhichEnglish–speakingpeopleplaceahighvalue.TheEnglishhaveasaying“Aman’shomeishiscastle”,meaningaman’shomeissacredtohim;nooneshouldcomeinnwithoutpermission.Itisalsowithhislifeandpersonalaffairs.Sothesequestionsareconsideredpryingintoanindividual’spersonallife,whichisanotherformofinvadingaperson’s“castle”.

Refinementmeanstoospeakinmildandelegantway.ThentheChineseintendtopraiseone’snoblecharacter,theymayuse“松，竹，梅”toimply“高風(fēng)亮節(jié)”,but“pine,bambooandplum”cannotrecallthesamemeaningtotheEnglish-speakingpeople.“柳”inChinesecultureoftenhassuchabadsenseas“花街柳巷”，“尋花問柳”，whileinEnglishcultureitisasymbolofmisery.Also“秋”isconnectedwith“悲，涼，傷，愁”inChineseculture,suchas“逢秋悲寂寞”,“夜靜風(fēng)竹敲秋韻，萬葉千起皆是恨”，butitisjustthecontrarythatautumnisalwaysassociatedwithtranquilityandmerrimentinEnglishculture.

Inrespecttomarriageandlove,theChinesearemorereservedandself-restrained,especiallyintheolddays.Itisseldomforthemtoexpresstheirpassionas“I’mdyingtomarryyou,Iwanttobemywife,orI’lldevotemyselftoyou.”Thefollowingexamplesprovideasharpcontrast:

寶玉，黛玉一起偷讀《西廂記》后，寶玉笑道：“妹妹，你說（書）好不好？”黛玉笑著點(diǎn)頭兒。寶玉笑道：“我就是多愁多病的身，你就是那傾國傾城的貌?！摈煊衤犃耍挥X帶腮連耳的通紅了……桃腮帶怒，薄面含嗔，指著寶玉道：“你這該死的，胡說了，好好兒的，把這些淫詞艷曲弄了來，說這些混帳話，欺負(fù)我……”說到“欺負(fù)”二字，就把眼圈兒紅了，轉(zhuǎn)身就走。（《紅樓夢》）

“Ifit’scrazytoloveyou,IguessIam”Marvastoppedherstepsandsaid,”Thenthatmakestwoofus”Maurice,feelingencouraged,clutchedhertohim,heldherinhidtightgrip…andputhislipsonhers.(H.E.Harper’sMagazineReader)

Marvaspokeout“l(fā)oveyou”straightforwardandMauricewnaturallykissedher.Thisisthecommonwayforthewesternerstounbosomthemselves.WhattheyconsiderfirstistofollowtheQualitymaxim.Whileinthefirstexample,thoughJiaBaoyvandLinDaiyvlovedeachother,JiaBaoyvrevealedhisfeelingviaanillusionandLinDaiyvpretendedtobeoffended.This,again,reflectstraditionalChinesesocialmoralandvalueconcept.Peoplewouldrathersacrificethetruthtogetamityandunity.SotheywouldbettersacrificetheQualitymaximandtheMannermaxim.

Language,asaspecialformofcommunication,maybeviewedasasystem,asavehicleforculturaltransmission.Itdoesnotexistapartfromculture.Thus,languageandculturalareinteractiveandunderstandingofonerequiresunderstandingoftheother.Speakingandwritingareallbasedontheneedofsocialcommunication.Tobetterachievethecommunicativegoal,itisnecessarytochoosetheappreciatewayofexpressionundercertaincircumstances.Inspeechonecanexpressmeaningseffectivelywiththehelpofgestures,facialexpressions,ortoneofvoice.Forexample,whenonesays“He’sagenerousguy!”ifonegivesasarcasticintonationtotheword“generous”,thenthesenseoftheword“generous”istwistedinto“stingy”.Inwriting,itisprimarilytheconcept—theotherwordsinthesentence,paragraph,oreventhetotalcompositionandbackgroundofthepeople,includingtheirculturalconcept,status,profession,age—thatcontrolsafigurativeword,pointingitsmeaninginaspecialdirection.Sincerhetoricistheartofusinglanguageeffectivelyandinvolvespracticingthemosteffectivemeansorstrategiesforinformingorpersuadingtheothers,thendecidingwhattowriteorspeakandhowtowriteorspeak,howbesttogetone’sarticleorspeecheffectivelyrequiresnotonlycreativityandimagination,butalsogoodbackgroundknowledgeofboththespeakerandthehearer,too.Thusculturalfactorsplayanimportantroleinusinglanguageeffectively.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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