Courtesy exists everywhere。 Courtesy helps to maintain social order, to build friendly relations and to reduce conflicts。 This thesis analyzes the different principles in China and Western countries。 It also makes comparison of courtesy languages between Chinese and Westerners。 At last, it analyzes the causes of cultural differences and countermeasures in communication。

2。 Literature Review

Courtesy is the practical application of good manners or etiquette。 It is a culturally defined phenomenon, and therefore what is considered polite in one culture can sometimes be quite rude or simply eccentric in another cultural context。 Courtesy languages can be defined as the ways in which language is employed in conversation to show consideration for the feelings and desires of one’s interlocutors, to create and uphold interpersonal relationships (so-called politic behavior), and to comply with the rules for what society or one’s culture considers appropriate behavior。

Since courtesy is an integral part of our life, its importance cannot be overlooked。 Many scholars at home and abroad have studied it from different perspectives。 Leech proposes the Courtesy Principle to explain why people violate the Cooperative Principle in conversations。 As a supplement to Grice’s Cooperation Principle, Leech illustrates six maxims that people should observe in order to show courtesy in daily behavior。 In China, the notion of courtesy can be initiated by scholar Confucius in ancient times。 It refers to the social hierarchy and order of the slave society of the Zhou Dynasty (He 3)。 The classical Chinese notion of courtesy was describe as “to humble ourselves but show respect to others”。 The notion of courtesy has evolved into society by ways of self-denigrating and other- respecting。 These studies give us a new insight to courtesy, which makes this common phenomenon in our life become an important and well-supported study。文献综述

Through this study, the author hopes to make some implications in cross-cultural communication。 Although courtesy is universal, differences exist in actual applications, as is said by He Zhaoxiong (He 7) “despite its universality, the actual manifestations of courtesy, the ways to realize courtesy, and the standards of judgment differ in different cultures”。 Furthermore, the society is becoming more globally connected, so an interesting amount of people will engage in cross-cultural communication。 If people understand the nuances of different polite behaviors, it will enable them to get a better understanding of differences。 When they communicate with each other, they will become more and more tolerant and patient, which will lead to a successful communication。