Abstract Address forms are the words speakers use to designate the person they are talking to. They can be pided into two categories, social appellation and kinship terms. Kinship terms are wildly used in our daily communications. They are an indispensable part of researches in cross-cultural communications. This paper, based on kinship terms that are  most commonly used in Chinese and English,  will start with the comparisons of differences and similarities between kinship terms in two languages,  and then move on to reasons behind them. Attempts will be made to shed light on cultural differences between them  in order to achieve better awareness, and provide some guiding points for people to perform interpersonal and intercultural communication smoothly and establish a good communication relationship. 69709

Keywords: kinship terms; language; cultural difference

摘要称谓语是说话的人用来称呼与其对话者的用语。称谓语可以分为亲属称谓语和社交称谓语两大类。我们在日常生活中免不了使用亲属称谓语。亲属称谓语是跨文化交际研究的不可分割的一部分。本文以中英文中最常用的亲属称谓为基础，对比两种语言中亲属称谓语的异同点，并揭示造成相异或相同的原因。本文旨在阐明中英文中的文化差异，使人们形成更好的认知，并为人们在人际交往与跨文化交流中沟通顺利并建立友好的谈话关系提供指导。

毕业论文关键词：亲属称谓语；语言；文化差异

Contents

1.Introduction  .1

2.Literature Review.. 1

3.A Comparison between Kinship Terms in Chinese and English2

3.1 Kinship terms in Chinese2

3.1.1 Categories of Chinese kinship terms.2

3.1.2Characteristics of Chinese kinship terms.2

3.1.2.1Follow the hierarchical order.2

3.1.2.2Follow the generation order3

3.1.2.3Follow the gender order3

3.2Kinship terms in English..4

3.2.1Categories of English kinship terms..4

3.2.2 Characteristics of English kinship terms.4

3.2.2.1 Simplification4

3.2.1.2Unobvious distinctions between males and female  .4

3.2.1.3Equality.5

3.3Conclusion..5

4.Factors Contribute to the Differences between Kinship Terms in Chinese and English..5

4.1Political institutions applied in the past5

4.2Collectivism and inpidualism. .6

4.3Attitudes towards males and females7

4.4Family structure8

5.Conclusion9

Works cited.10

1. Introduction

Kinship terms, as we all know, are part of language. A country’s language reflects it’s culture, while it’s culture influences it’s language, so there is no wonder that kinship terms have different contents in different places. Take Chinese kinship terms for example, a northerner tends to call  his/her mother’s mother “Lao Lao（姥姥）”, while a southerner would call his/her mother’s mother “Wai Po(外婆）”. Not to mention how  difficult it is to acknowledge all differences existing in Chinese and English kinship terms in daily communications.  With the development of technology and society, the earth is getting smaller and smaller, people from all over the world are connected with each other in one way or another. Cross-cultural communication is quite common nowadays, but misunderstandings and unpleasantness occur from time to time due to cultural differences. When we meet  each other, we are supposed to greet each other out of politeness. If you don’t know how to address other people’s relatives or call them in the wrong way,  the situation would turn awkward  and embarrassing.  It is important to realize  differences between Chinese and English kinship terms in order to make cross-cultural  communications more smoothly and efficiently. 文献综述