A Contrastive Study of Chinese and English Greeting Abstract Language is the medium for human communication. Greeting, as a component of language, plays a most important role in the communication. It is one kind of speech act that frequently occurs in everyday life. Greetings are words used to start an everyday communicative interaction or acknowledge of the presence of other. Therefore, proper greeting behavior is crucial for the foundation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships. However, since China is totally different from the Western countries both in its history and its culture, it is undoubtedly that greeting, which is closely related to its culture, will be quite different from that in the Western countries. Misusing the greeting may easily lead to misunderstanding in the intercultural communication. Therefore, to acknowledge the differences existing in the greeting is the first step to achieve mutual understanding and respect. This paper, with some related theories presented, aims at making a contrastive study of greetings in English and in China. Some researches are also done with the greeting on its level, its functions and the elements influencing it. Key Words greeting; English; Chinese; cultural differences; cross-cultural communication英汉问候语对比研究【摘 要】语言是人们进行交流的媒介。问候语是语言的一个组成部分，也是社交礼仪的重要部分； 它是日常生活中频繁使用的言语行为之一，具有建立和延续各种人际关系的作用。在日常交际中，适当的问候举止是建立和维持人与人之间关系的关键。然而，由于中国的历史背景和文化背景与西方国家有着相当大的差异，存在于文化之中的问候语也随之有着相当大的差异。这种差异在跨文化交际中很容易引起误解。因此，为促进不同语言和文化背景下人们的相互沟通，有必要深入了解中西文化中问候语的差异。本文通过对中西方文化背景中一些典型问候语的对比研究，阐述了两种文化中关于问候语的相关理论，在层次、功能、根源等方面对问候语进行研究。【关键词】问候语；英语；汉语；文化差异；跨文化交际ContentsAbstract.I摘要.II1. Introduction.12. Varieties of Chinese and English greetings.22.1 Greetings classified according to time.22.2 Greetings classified according to formality.23. Differences in Chinese and English greetings.23.1 Difference in contents.23.2 Difference in semantics.53.3 Difference in syntax.54. Theories related to greetings in English culture and Chinese culture54.1 Politeness Theories in English culture.64.1.1 Leechs Politeness Principle.64.1.2 Brown and Levinsons Face Theory.64.2 Gu Yueguos Theory in Chinese culture.75. Three levels of greetings.76. The function of greetings.96.1 Greetings as communication function.96.2 Greetings as linguis tic routines of politeness function.96.3 Greetings as illocutionary acts.107. The influence of philosophical sources on Chinese and English greetings.117.1 The principle of the Westequality and human rights.117.2 The key principles of Confucianism.128. Conclusion.13Bibliography.151. Introduction With the development of society and culture, communications between people become more and more important. When China implemented its reform and opening up policy, especially after China entered WTO, communication with other countries has become more important. However, people in different countries hold different beliefs and values, which result in misunderstanding. In order to avoid the embarrassment, we should know the cross-cultural communication greeting. Greetings are important, because they frequently occur in everyday social interactions all over the world. Proper greeting behavior is crucial for the foundation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships. Greetings are words used to start an everyday communicative interaction or acknowledge of the presence of others. As an everyday practice that is routinized and happens at very low levels of awareness in interactions, greeting is seemingly a spontaneous reaction to the encountering of people. It is such a quick, simple, and conventionalized episode of communication that people usually give no thought to what happens during those few seconds of interaction. Being part of a culture that is very often seen in everyday life, such practices are important in understanding the structure and the essence of a society and culture.The study of greetings is important in the following three aspects.First, a theoretical study of greeting as an everyday practice can help people to realize that greetings in everyday life are important for the understanding of a culture and society. Although a seemingly minor episode of interaction, greeting has an important function in the management of human relations. It is by means of greeting that