【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 , but a requesting in English culture.A Chinese student meets his teacher on the campus.A: Hello, Mr. White, is you busy today?B: Not really. Anything I can do for you?A: Oh… nothing.In this situation, “A” feels curious because he/she didn’t expect any further move from “B” and didn’t know how to respond. However, “B” regard A’s greeting “Are you busy today?” as an indirect requesting rather than simply a greeting, and would wonder, “Why did he ask me if I were busy?” In English culture, personal matters are regarded as one’s privacy which people do not like to talk about with other people except intimate friends. Chinese greetings such as “Where are you going?” or “what are you doing?” which show consideration toward others may not be proper to most of English speakers. They consider Chinese greetings as impolite ones, which intrude their privacy. Obviously, people in English culture as well as in Chinese culture attach great importance to “speaking politely”. Yet some people in English culture may find Chinese greetings unacceptable or even offensive for these greetings seem to be concerned more about personal matters although they are quite appropriate and friendly in Chinese culture. This fact may account for neutral character in the content of many English greeting expressions, such as talking about the weather or other nonpersonal matter. “The contents of greetings change according to the different situations.” So it is very necessary for Chinese and foreigners to know each other’s culture. By doing this, the munication can be carried on successfully. Difference in semantics Another difference of greetings between English and Chinese lies in semantics. Difference in semantics conveyed by routine expressions in English and Chinese greeting processes suggest that what is counted as polite in one language may not be considered so in another. A story is told that one American English teacher in China plained to authorities of a university that he was often asked about where he was going and what he was doing, sometimes even by persons he did not know. He felt that his privacy was intruded until the Chinese foreign affairs officers explained that in terms of Chinese greeting behavior this is a perfectly normal greeting routine.Difference in semantics also exists in seemingly equivalent English and Chinese greeting expressions. “How do you do?” and “你好!” are generally considered to be equivalent English and Chinese greeting expressions, but their literal meanings are totally different. In Chinese, “你好!”is put literally into English “You are good!”, but “You are good!” certainly cannot be regarded as a greeting in English. Difference in syntaxEnglish and Chinese greetings also differ in sentence structures. For example, in talking about the weather during a greeting event, English speakers prefer to use tag questions such as “Fine day, isn’t it?” and “Beautiful park, isn’t it?” while Chinese speakers tend to use exclamatory sentences such as “天氣真好”The weather is really fine)!” and”天氣真糟糕 (The weather is really bad)!” to express their delight for fine weather and curse against bad weather. In addition, English speakers like to use hedges in their greeting expressions to reduce illocutionary force such as “Can I help you?” and “What can I do for you?” whereas Chinese speakers frequently use reiteration in greeting routines to enhance solidarity such as “你好你好”, “久仰久仰”and “幸會幸會”.4. Theories related to greetings in English culture and Chinese cultureGreetings as a significant aspect of politeness phenomenon exist globally. Politeness has been a focus of interest in pragmatics for decades. A considerable amount of literature has been accumulating and there seems no sign of receding interest. “Politeness, in an interaction, can then be defined as the means employed to show awareness of another person’s face. In this sense, politeness can be acplished in situations of social distance or closeness.” Politeness theories in English cultureIn English culture, there are some politeness theories, put forward by some scholars. Leech’s Politeness PrinciplesLeech’s view of politeness involves six politeness maxims. Among these are: Tact maxim:(a) Minimize cost to other (b) Maximize benefit to otherGenerosity maxim:(a) Minimize benefit to self. (b)Maximize cost to self.Approbation maxim:(a) Minimize dispraise of other. (b)Maximize praise of other.Modesty maxim:(a) Minimize praise of self. (b)Maximize dispraise of selfAgreement maxim:(a) Minimize disagreement between self and other.(b) Maximize agreement between self and other.Sympathy maxim:(a) Minimize antipathy between self and other. (b) Maximize sympathy between self and other. Obviously, “modesty” is emphasized in English culture. People may find that in Chinese culture, modesty is even more important. Chinese “謙遜”is a virtue of selfcultivation that is the foundation on which politeness is built whereas English modesty is a strategy of minimizing praise of self. For example, Chinese may respond to an English greeting “You look so pretty today!” with “No, I’m not pretty at all.” while an English native speaker just responds “Thank you!” and Levinson’s Face Theory“Face is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced, and must be constantly attended to in interaction.” “If a speaker says something that represents a threat to another individual’s expectations regarding selfimagine, it is described as a face threatening act. Alternatively, given the possibility that some action might be interpreted as a threat to another’s face, the speaker can say something to lessen the possible threat. This is called a face saving act.” “One is ‘negative face’: the want of every ‘petent adult member’ that his actions be unimp