Differences in the Principle of Politeness in Chinese and Russian Linguistic Cultures

Abstract

The principle of politeness is a means of communication widely used in every society by individuals, but this principle has peculiarities in different cultures. The principles of politeness play an important role in the analysis of the speech etiquette of communicants of different cultures. In recent decades, there has been an increasing interest in their study. Despite the increased interest, no research has yet been conducted on the differences in the principles of politeness in Chinese and Russian linguistic cultures. This article examines these differences on the basis of the principle of politeness of J. Lich and the principle of courtesy of Gu Yuego with Chinese specifics. The characteristic features of Chinese national culture and Russian national culture are revealed through comparison. Compared with Chinese, Russians have different attitudes towards modesty; secondly, the Russian social interaction is much simpler than the Chinese one; thirdly, solidarity relations prevail in Russia, whereas power relations prevail in China; fourthly, China and Russia have different attitudes towards the word《老》 [ lǎo] /old Chinese character 《老》[ lǎo] in some cases is a symbol of wisdom, and when addressing the elderly using the word《老》[ lǎo], respect is shown to the addressee, whereas in Russia this addressing is considered as a manifestation of harshness and rudeness; fifth, Russians pay more attention to personal life than the Chinese. Thus, some principles of politeness applied in China may be considered very impolite for Russians and vice versa.