Compliment Response in Chinese Speech Behavior

Abstract

Compliment response is one of the most studied speech strategies in modern pragmatics research. Scientists conduct comparative studies of compliment tactics and responses between representatives of different languages, cultures and nationalities. Early work on the speech behavior of the Chinese found that Chinese speakers in most cases reject the compliment. Researchers believe that this is due to the norm of modesty and respect for other people, as well as self-deprecation. The last years of work on the study of the speech behavior of the Chinese do not lose their relevance, especially since they give different results, demonstrating that rejection does not always remain the dominant tactic of compliment response. Among the reasons of the change, researchers cite China’s socio-economic development, growing contacts with the outside world, the influence of Western cultural values, as well as the rejection of the “one family — one child” policy. As part of this study, we conducted a semi-closed survey with the participation of 300 Chinese students aged 18 to 25, where eight communication situations and variants of speech behavior in them were modeled for the respondents. The results showed that instead of choosing the tactic of rejecting the compliment, most respondents accepted compliments. Thus, Chinese speakers accept compliments in the same way as speakers of many Western languages, such as English and German.