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1、 23conventions of the other part and try to avoid the cultural taboos which may impede the communication. 5.3 Titles Titles (Ts) can be used either alone or be combined with nouns, mainly the surnames. In English, Ts can be followed by last names in the form of T+ Surname, that is, TLN. In Chinese,
2、Ts may be modified by surnames before in the form of Surname+ T . We can see, in English, the modifiers to KTs, AKTs and Ts are different. To KTs or AKTs, the modifiers are FNs, such as Uncle John; to Ts, the modifiers are surnames / last names, such as Mr. Smith. In most Chinese dialects, there are
3、 no apparent differences, and they are all in the form of modifier + host word. Yet in the Zhuang dialect of Chinese, things are different. When modifying KTs or AKTs, the form is host word + modifier, such as jie fang 姐芳姐芳, jie 姐姐 (sister) is the host word, and fang 芳芳 is the modifier, and the modi
4、fiers may be given names, nick names, etc, just like those in English; when modifying Ts, the form would be surname + host word, just like those in most Chinese dialects, such as standard Chinese. Here we can see there are similarities and distinctions among languages, so do the cultures. Most Ts ar
5、e V terms. Ts can be subdivided into: 1) social titles; 2) official titles; 3) occupational titles. 5.3.1 Social Titles Though the number of social titles is limited, they are not less used than the other two kinds of titles and actually they are frequently used in communications. In English, the mo
6、st often used social titles are sir, madam, Mr. , and so on. In Chinese, the common social titles are tongzhi 同志同志, shifu 师傅师傅, xiansheng 先生先生, xiaojie 小姐小姐, and the like. In American English, sir is a little less informal than Mr., but is employed a great much often than Mr. Sir is the most frequen
7、tly used social terms. Though madam has the corresponding significance, it is rarely used. In Family Album, U.S.A, there is a zero time of using madam. As to sir, Fasold says it would most likely sound overly stiff to use sir once you have his attention. (Fasold, 1990:3) In fact, in the research, it
8、 is found that things are different from what Fasold says. Americans are accustomed to using sir in the communications. Apart from ex.1-1, the following is one more example. ex. 5-4 Dean: Did you bring your transcript from high school? Robbie: Yes, sir, right here. Dean: Thank you - Robbie: Yes, sir
9、. 24Dean: Its been very nice talking to you. Robbie: Nice talking to you, sir. Dean: One piece of advice. - Robbie: Yes, sir. Good-bye, Dean Rafer. -cited from Family Album, U.S.A.1 (p: 160) The above example also shows that in unserious situations, sir is frequently used. Yet, in serious situations
10、, things are different, and Mr. would weigh higher than sir. ex. 5-5 Carlson: Hello, Richard. Richard: Hello, Mr. Carlson. . Richard: Whats that? Mr. Carlson. . Richard: You wont be disappointed, Mr. Carlson. Carlson: Good-bye, Richard, and good luck. Richard: Good-bye, Mr. Carlson -cited from Famil
11、y Album, U.S.A2 (p: 73) In ex.5-5, Harvey Carlson is the publisher of the Carlson Publishing Company. Richard Stewart is having an appointment with Harvey Carlson about the publishing of his new book of photography. Richard uses many times of Mr., but not one time of sir, let alone FN. From above ex
12、amples and the researches from phenomena in Family Album, U.S.A., film SHOCK VAVE, etc. it can be concluded that sometimes, power semantic still plays an important role; and in American English, the social titles can substitute other V social terms, even the most deferential official titles. More ov
13、er, the Americans are apt to using social titles than official titles. It also verifies that the less powerful person may says V to the more powerful person and receive T according to the context. Every language is in a dynamic state of drifting and changing. Social terms are more dynamic than KTs.
14、And relatively, the social terms in American English are much more stable than those in Chinese. The social terms in Chinese, especially the declining or the arising of social titles, are the most representative ones which are flowed with social and political changes and reflect theses changes. Befo
15、re reforming, tongzhi 同志同志had always been the dominating social title, it even substituted the official titles and occupational titles most of the time in all kinds of businesses. 25Yet, more recently, the use of tongzhi 同志同志 is sharply declining. Some people, such as Fasold （Fasold,1990:33）,believe
16、 that the sharply declining oftongzhi 同志同志is because that it is associated with the era of the Cultural Revolution; an era that is now not looked at favorably. Such viewpoint is really controversial. tongzhi 同志同志 （comrade）was originally formed to reflect the egalitarian ideals of constructing the socialist society. With the reforming and opening up to the outside world, there hav
