作者：李莉斌
出版社：河北教育出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
语用学及应用研究试读：
Foreword
The researches on linguistics have been progressing despite the questions and debates over even the definitions of certain terminologies among which pragmatics is an example．Nor is it an easy job to objectively distinguish semantics from pragmatics，let alone find a distinctive field of research that is the best accessible．Therefore，pragmatists explore over the verbal signs by focusing on the contexts，and relationships between the signs and language users，rather than the meanings of them．This has given rise to what seems to be an unrestricted area，namely，sociopragmatics．
This book，Pragmatics and Applied Researches，grows out of our decade-long researches in relation to pragmatics，ranging from specific linguistic phenomena of compliments and politeness to general discourse markers and analysis，which may be of help to linguistics majors in their graduate or senior undergraduate studies．We have kept polishing each of the selected writings，yet some are still beyond our abilities．However，this does not mean that we are trying to rid us of responsibilities for any mistakes．Instead，we will be highly appreciative of all possible suggestions or criticisms for the sake of our further progress.
We are here grateful to Professor Wang Lin，Wang Chengshan and Cheng Guiyan for their unselfish help and contribution to the writing，and to Professor Song Dewen for his advice on the preparation of this book.Editors：Li Libin，Gao ZhihuaiFebruary 28，2014Contents1Pragmatics and Compliments1Introduction
Under the circumstances of world integration，intercultural communication becomes more and more popular，and it is of great importance to know more about the different traditional cultures and customs of different nations in order to avoid pragmatic failures．It is well accepted that the compliment is a social means by which people take the advantage of the preferring words of praise to maintain and promote the interpersonal relationships．The compliment is generally regarded as the paradigm of a positive politeness strategy．It is a common feature of everyday discourse as well as a speech act worthy of study because it is ubiquitous，valued，and problematic．That compliments are valued seems unquestionable；many people believe that the compliment is as crucial to social success as oxygen is to breathing．It is like sunlight to the human spirit；we can not flower and grow without it．Shakespeare once said．“Our compliments are our wages”.（College English Intensive Reading，1991：164）．However，we sometimes say the compliment is problematic because paying appropriate compliments，identifying them accurately，and making proper responses are important aspects of communicative competence which may differ in a variety of ways from one culture to another．Still，achieving communicative competence may，at times，be complimented due to the transfer of rules from one's first language to his second language．Misunderstandings due to this may result in embarrassment，frustration，anger，and/or cross-cultural communication breakdowns.
Cross-cultural comparisons of speech acts such as compliments，apologies，introductions，requests and refusals are of interest to sociolinguists（Hymes，1972，1974；Wolfson，1981，1983，1989）in part because they provide insights into speech communities as well as into the linguistic and sociolinguistic rules of a language．It has been demonstrated again and again that beneath the surface structure of the linguistic forms and the social etiquette involved in their use lies a gold-mine of information about the value systems of the speakers．Hymes once defined “The level of speech acts mediates immediately between the usual levels of grammar and the rest of a speech event or situation in that it implicates both linguistic form and social norms”（1972：57）．The social norms involved may govern specific speech acts or speech behaviour in general，but in either case，as speech is one form of social behaviour，the norms governing it will be part of，and congruent with，the overall behaviour norms of the community．Looking at this from a slightly different angle，we may expect to find general cultural values and norms expressed through the patterns of speech behaviour．
Comparisons of speech acts are also of interest to intercultural communication practitioners and researchers（Barnlund＆Araki，1985；Barnlund＆Yoshioka，1990；Noruma＆Barnlund，1983），not only because they provide insights into speech communities and cultures，but because such comparisons can contribute to understanding cultural differences in communication style．With the increasing global migrations and the increasingly cross-cultural development of commerce，diplomacy and personal relationships throughout the world，the findings that emerge from cross-cultural studies of speech acts can help predict and prevent breakdowns in intercultural communications．People coming from different sociocultural backgrounds tend to have very different value systems and these are manifested in speech as well as in other sorts of social behaviour．These differences often lead to misunderstanding．What is more critical is that the diversity in value systems and in the ways in which these are expressed is usually not well understood．When people coming from different backgrounds interact，they tend to judge each other's behaviour according to their own value systems．It might seem that the best way to avoid intercultural misunderstanding would be，through systematic comparison，to disseminate as much information as possible regarding the diversity of sociolinguistic behaviour.
Complimenting behaviour is particularly suitable to investigate when comparing cultures because it represents “one means whereby an individual or，more importantly，society as a whole can encourage，through such reinforcement，certain desired behaviors”（Manes，1983：97）；in other words，it acts as a window through which we can view what is valued by a particular culture because of its nature as judgment，overt expression of approval or admiration of another's work，appearance or taste．For example，in the United States individuals compliment each other primarily on personal appearance，new acquisition and work（Wolfson，1981；Manes，1983），suggesting that Americans value these attributes．In Japan，however，individuals are more likely to compliment skill and study（Barnlund＆Araki，1985），suggesting that Japanese value skill and study．In the United States people tend to accept compliments，suggesting that Americans value individualism．In China，however，people tend to efface themselves in words although they do feel comfortable about the compliments，which show that the Chinese value modesty and collectivism．The point here is that by looking at what is complimented and how people respond to compliments，we can come to some reasonable conclusion as to what is valued in the society，thereby to achieve the communicative competence and make the intercultural communications more successful.
On the linguistic level complimenting behaviour has been discussed with much attention within the past twenty years．Pomerantz（1978）wrote the earliest account of compliment responses among native speakers of English in the United States．She points out that in the United States compliment responses pose a dilemma for the recipient in that they involve two conversational principles that stand in potential conflict：
Principle I：Agree with and /or accept the compliment.
Principle II：Avoid self-praise.
If recipients agree with the compliment，they are in part praising themselves and therefore violating Principle II：Avoid self-praise．If they reject the compliment，they violate Principle I：Agree with and/or accept the compliment．Neither of these alternatives，praising one or disagreeing with someone，contributes to the social solidarity of the relationship．Pomerantz submitted that compliment responses could be seen as solution types to this dilemma.
Pomerantz classified compliment responses as belonging to one of four categories：acceptances，agreements，disagreements and rejections．Anna Wierzbicka made some comments on her classification of compliment responses．She proposed that “Those formulae are rather vague.”（1991：137）
Using ethnographic methodology Wolfson and Manes（1980）have collected over 1000 American compliments in a wide range of situations．They（Wolfson，1981；Wolfson，1983；Manes，1983；Wolfson-Manes，1980）found that approximately 80％ of American compliments fall into three syntactic patterns：Table 1 three syntactic patterns of American compliments
Two of these three patterns depend on adjectives for their positive semantic value and two thirds of the adjectival compliments use one of five adjectives：nice，good，beautiful，pretty and great．With regard to attributes praised，Americans most frequently compliment personal appearance and ability.
In their studies of complimenting behaviour in the United States Wolfson（1989）and Manes（1983）included examples of compliment responses．They contended that one function of American compliments is to negotiate solidarity between the interlocutors．For recipients，however，negotiating solidarity is complicated by Pomerantz's（1978）dilemma．Wolfson（1989）noted that one solution to the dilemma is to downgrade the compliment by referring to another characteristic of the object．In this way the recipient mitigates the force of the compliment without disagreeing with the speaker and also without praising him/ herself.
The work of Pomerantz，Manes and Wolfson was helpful in understanding how and why Americans compliment，but it did not provide a quantitative analysis of compliment response types and their frequency.
Herbert（1988）provided such an analysis in a study comparing the compliments/compliment response interchanges from American university students to South African University students．In analyzing his data，he grouped the responses as（a）Agreeing，（b）Disagreement or（c）Requesting Interpretation．Overall，nearly 66％ of the American compliment responses were broadly classified as Agreement，31％ as Disagreement，and 3％ as Requesting Interpretation．Of those Agreements（66％），7％ were categorized as Comment Acceptances and 29％ as Appreciation Tokens．In contrast，88％ of the South African compliment responses were categorized as Comment Acceptances.
Holmes（1988）studied complimenting behaviour in New Zealand，another native English speaking（NES）country．She categorized 61％ of the responses as acceptance，29％ as deflections/ evasions，and 10％ as rejections．Her distribution of New Zealand responses closely paralleled Herbert's（1988）study of American responses．The studies by Herbert and Holmes were helpful in providing information on the frequency of particular NES compliment response types.
Holmes and Brown（1987），also by using ethnographic methodology，collected 200 compliments in New Zealand．Their results were similar to those of Wolfson and Manes．Almost 80％ of the compliments belonged to one of the three syntactic patterns described in Wolfson and Manes；two thirds used one of five adjectives：nice，good，beautiful，lovely and wonderful；and the most frequently praised attributes were personal appearance and skill.
Knapp，Hopper and Bell（1984）investigated complimenting behaviour according to the data which based all their studies and consisted of nearly 1000 compliments and replies from people representing a wide variety of ages and two geographical areas in the United States．They found that the contents of compliments most often focused on performances and appearance/attire．Compliment forms were analyzed according to syntactic patterns and also along four dimensions：The first dimension is direct/ indirect；the second dimension is specific/general；the third dimension is comparison/no comparison and the fourth normal/amplified.75％ of the compliments followed one of the 3 patterns identified by Wolfson and Manes（1980）．The most common form of compliments tended to be direct，general，non-comparative and normal．In their analysis of the relationships between the givers and recipients of compliments，Knapp et al.（1984）found that compliments are likely to be exchanged between individuals of the same sex，and between individuals in close，rather than distant relationships．People often direct compliments to those people of a similar age.
Wolfson（1981）also noted cultural differences in complimenting and observed that Iranian and Arabic speakers tended to use proverbs and other ritualized expressions when complimenting．She gave the example of an Arabic speaker complimenting a friend's child．The English equivalent is：“She（the child）is like the moon and has beautiful eyes.”
Barlund and Araki（1985），using interviews and questionnaires，investigated Japanese and American compliments．Interview data indicate that the Japanese compliment more frequently than Americans．Their findings also indicate that Japanese and Americans tend to compliment five attributes：appearance，work，study，personal traits，skill and taste，but with varying frequencies．Japanese most frequently praise skill（31％）and work and study（19％），whereas Americans most frequently praise appearance（34％）and personal traits（33％）.
In recent years some Chinese scholars began to investigate complimenting behaviour．In a study comparing with the compliment responses of American and Chinese speakers，Chen（1993）presented information that helped explain the reasons why Chinese speakers might experience pragmatic failure when responding to a compliment given by an American，and the reasons why Americans might experience pragmatic failure when responding to a Chinese compliment．His findings suggested that the strategies used by the American speakers were largely motivated by Leech's（1983）Agreement Maxim．In Chen's sample，39％ of the U.S．compliment responses were categorized as Acceptance，19％ as Compliment Returns，29％ as Deflections，and 13％ as Rejections．The Chinese speakers’ strategies，on the other hand，were governed by Leech's Modesty Maxim．Of the Chinese compliment responses，96％ were categorized as Rejections.
Guo（1996）made a social survey on Chinese compliment responses．She denied the traditional opinion that Chinese speakers usually reject compliments.
As seen from above，extensive research has been conducted on complimenting behaviour，especially on Americans in English-speaking countries whereas only a little work has been done in non-western contexts，and a few cross-cultural studies have investigated complimenting．Up to now，there have been few systematic comparative studies on complimenting behaviour between American and Chinese speakers．So this paper is intended to provide with this type of analysis．And in this paper，the term complimenting behaviour refers to compliments and their responses.
The goal of this study is to make a systematic comparison between American and Chinese complimenting behaviour to determine their similarities and differences，and try to reveal the cultural values that govern the differences between the two groups．2Rationales
A compliment is a speech act which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker，usually the person addressed，for some “good”（possession，characteristic，skill，etc.）which is positively valued by the speaker and the hearer.（Holmes 1986b：485）2.1 Compliment Theory
Compliments are usually intended to make others feel good（see Wierzbicka 1987：201）．Dale Camegie（1936）once lauded compliments for their usefulness in getting people to do things for you，maintaining a happy marriage and making people instantly like you．One empirical study found that women who used compliments in their conversations with men were rated significantly higher in social skills than those who did not．The ability to give and respond to compliments seems to be an integral part of occupational success as well．In companies，government agencies and universities，compliments have become institutionalized as written recommendations and reports used to determine hiring，promotion and salary decisions．Training in the ability to respond to a compliment has also been used as part of a program focusing on effectiveness in job interviews．Studies of behaviour modification credit compliments with facilitating such things as confidence，academic performance，creative writing and attention．Mothers usually agree that for children an ounce of praise is worth a pound of scolding.
So，that compliments are valued seems unquestionable．Some people believe compliments are as crucial to social success as water is to fish．Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit；we cannot flower and grow without it．Mark Twain once said，“I can live for two months on a good compliment.”2.1.1 Functions of Compliments
Different analyses have identified a number of different functions of compliments in different contexts：
1．to express solidarity；
2．to express positive evaluation，admiration，appreciation or praise；
3．to express envy or desire for hearer's possessions；
4．as verbal harassment.
The primary function of a compliment is most obviously affective and social，rather than referential or informative．They are generally described as positively affective speech acts serving to increase or consolidate the solidarity between the speaker and addressee（Wolfson 1981a，1983；Holmes 1986b；Herbert 1989；Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk 1989）.
Compliments are social lubricants which “create or maintain rapport”（Wolfson 1983：86），as illustrated in example 1：（1）Two women，good friends，meeting in the elevator at their workplace.
A：Hi，how are you？You’re looking just terrific.
B：Thanks．I'm pretty good．How are things with you？That's a snazzy scarf you’re wearing．
In American Society，the primary function of compliments is negotiating solidarity．Manes and Wolfson（1981）point out that in offering a compliment，“the speaker expresses a commonality of taste or interest with the addressee，thus reinforcing，or in the case of strangers，creating at least a minimal amount of solidarity”．In Brown and Levinson's terms，paying a compliment is a positive politeness strategy that addresses the hearer's positive face．Positive face is a person's desire to gain approval from others and to have one's goals thought of as desirable by others who share similar interests．A compliment like “Your personal opinions are very valuable and interesting”conveys agreement，approval and a sense that the speaker and the hearer share similar views．It works as a kind of “social accelerator”，including a desire to establish social solidarity（Brown and Levinson，1987）.
This major function can reflect the social structure of American society．As Wolfson points out，in a complex urban society，relationships among speakers are often uncertain and dynamic．The emergent and relatively insecure nature of such relationships is reflected in the care people take to signal solidarity and to avoid confrontation.
The social situations，in which compliments occur，range from formal to very casual．It seems that in formal situations many compliments are employed to fulfill the function of creating or reinforcing solidarity，and they are often concerned with the appreciation of something that has been done to the speaker：
On behalf of all your American guests，I wish to thank you for the incomparable hospitality for which the Chinese people are justly famous throughout the world．I particularly want to pay tribute，not only to those who prepared the magnificent dinner，but also to those who have provided the splendid music．Never have I heard American music played better in a foreign land（Nixon，1972）.
In formal situations，while solidarity can still be achieved through compliments，there are a host of more specific functions which compliments serve．Most though perhaps not all of these fall into the category of social lubricants．For example，compliments are frequently used to soften criticism（particularly when the interactants are in a relationship which is likely to continue and in which the maintenance of harmony is desirable）.（2）“Listen，I think you’re doing a good job with their classes，but please tell them to stay out of the office at lunch time.”（3）“This is good，I like the way you’re handling this，you might put more on the students though，and let them carry the conversation.”
These two examples happened in workplace．Even between close friends，a frank appraisal is often preceded by a compliment．（4）A：“Let me show you the brown skirt and what I got to go with it．How do you think it came out？”
B：“It looks nice，but after all the time you put into making it，I think you should fix that front pleat.”
A：“Why，it doesn't bother me.”
B：“It isn't even，and it's such a nice skirt——why not make it perfect？”
Another way in which compliments serve to grease the social wheels had to do with their use in greeting routines，esp．in cases where the interlocutors have not been in recent contact．Thus colleagues passing one another in the halfway of an office building or seeing one another at a meeting，and friends meeting either by chance or by design，may frequently be heard to utter compliments.
In some contexts，compliments may function as praise and
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