Less is More? Exploring Cultural Implicature in Emotive Communication: A Case Study of 'Xihuan' in Chinese Literature
Keywords:
Grice, Cooperative Principles, emotive communication, cultural implicature, language and affect, Chinese
Abstract
This study investigates the emotive communication patterns associated with the term "xihuan" (like) in Mandarin Chinese and evaluates the applicability of Grice's maxims within the context of Chinese culture. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research draws data from contemporary Chinese literature and utilizes both qualitative content analysis and pragmatic analysis to examine how "xihuan" is pragmatically employed to express affection. The findings reveal a cultural preference among Chinese speakers for restrained emotional expression, influenced by an interdependent self-construal and a cultural emphasis on face preservation. Furthermore, the study identifies instances where speakers intentionally flout Grice's maxims, thereby infusing their communication with emotional significance. These subtle violations are enacted and perceived in contextually and culturally specific ways, enabling the transmission of emotive cues. To elucidate these nuances, the concept of cultural implicature is introduced, demonstrating how speakers convey profound emotional meaning through understated expressions that align with cultural norms favoring subtlety over overt emotional displays. In conclusion, this research enhances the understanding of emotive communication in Mandarin Chinese by highlighting the interaction between cultural norms and pragmatic mechanisms. It contributes to the fields of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural studies by emphasizing the role of cultural factors in shaping language use and emotional expression.
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Spencer-Oatey, H., & Jiang, W. (2003). Explaining cross-cultural pragmatic findings: Moving from politeness maxims to sociopragmatic interactional principles (SIPs). Journal of Pragmatics, 35(10–11), 1633–1650. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(03)00025-0
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Wierzbicka, A. (1999). Emotions across languages and cultures: Diversity and universals. Cambridge University Press.
Zhou, L., & Zhang, S. (2022). A multifunctional analysis of off-record indirectness in Chinese interactions. Language Sciences, 90, 101459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2022.101459
Averill, J. R. (1982). Anger and aggression: An essay on emotion. Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5743-1
Belli, S. (2010). The construction of an emotion (love) and its relationship with language: A review and discussion of an important area of social sciences. Razón y Palabra, 15(71).
Besemeres, M. (2004). Different languages, different emotions? Perspectives from autobiographical literature. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25(2–3), 140–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630408666526
Blum-Kulka, S. (1990). You don’t touch lettuce with your fingers: Parental politeness in family discourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 14(2), 259–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(90)90083-P
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813085
Burgoon, J. K., Manusov, V., & Guerrero, L. K. (2021). Nonverbal communication. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003095552
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.
Caffi, C., & Janney, R. W. (1994). Toward a pragmatics of emotive communication. Journal of Pragmatics, 22, 325–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(94)90115-5
Chen, R. (2002). Compliment response strategies in Mandarin Chinese: Politeness phenomenon revisited. Concentric: Studies in English Literature and Linguistics, 28(2), 157–184.
Chen, R. (2023). Chinese politeness: Diachrony, variation, and universals in politeness theory. Cambridge University Press.
Chen, X., & Wang, J. (2021). First order and second order indirectness in Korean and Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics, 178, 315–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.03.022
Dewaele, J.-M. (2008). The emotional weight of “I love you” in multilinguals’ languages. Journal of Pragmatics, 40(10), 1753–1780.
Dewaele, J.-M. (2011). Reflections on the emotional and psychological aspects of foreign language learning and use. Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies, 22(1), 23–42.
Dewaele, J.-M. (2018). Pragmatic challenges in the communication of emotions in intercultural couples. Intercultural Pragmatics, 15(1), 29–55.
Ephratt, M. (2012). “We try harder”–Silence and Grice’s cooperative principle, maxims and implicatures. Language and Communication, 32(1), 62–79.
Gao, G., & Ting-Toomey, S. (1998). Communicating effectively with the Chinese. Sage Publications.
Gazdar, G. (1979). Pragmatics: Implicature, presupposition and logical form. Academic Press.
Grice, H. P. (1957). Meaning. The Philosophical Review, 66(3), 377–388.
Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole & J. L. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and Semantics (Vol. 3, pp. 41–58). Academic Press.
Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. Anchor Books.
Herawati, A. (2013). The cooperative principle: Is Grice’s theory suitable to Indonesian language culture? Lingua Cultura, 7(1), 43–48.
Horn, L. R. (1972). On the semantic properties of logical operators in English (Doctoral dissertation, UCLA).
Horn, L. R. (1984). Toward a new taxonomy for pragmatic inference: Q-based and R-based implicature. In D. Schiffrin (Ed.), Meaning, Form, and Use in Context: Linguistic Applications (pp. 11–42). Georgetown University Press.
Horn, L. R. (1996). Presupposition and implicature. In S. Lappin (Ed.), The Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory (pp. 299–319). Blackwell.
Horwitz, E. K. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 112–126.
Horwitz, E. K. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 112–126. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000071
Huang, Z. (2022, April). Analyzing the violation of cooperative principles in Chinese culture. In 2022 7th International Conference on Social Sciences and Economic Development (ICSSED 2022) (pp. 1799–1804). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220407.367
Kecskes, I. (2014). Intercultural pragmatics. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892655.001.0001
Keenan, E. O. (1979). The universality of conversational implicatures. In E. O. Keenan & T. L. Bennett (Eds.), Pragmatics of Natural Languages (pp. 67–80). Reidel.
Lin, H. H. (2005). Contextualizing linguistic politeness in Chinese: A socio-pragmatic approach with examples from persuasive sales talk in Taiwan Mandarin (Doctoral dissertation). The Ohio State University.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1994). The cultural construction of self and emotion: Implications for social behavior. In S. Kitayama & H. R. Markus (Eds.), Emotion and Culture: Empirical Studies of Mutual Influence (pp. 89–130). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10152-004
Marty, A. (1908). Untersuchungen zur Grundlegung der allgemeinen Grammatik und Sprachphilosophie. Niemeyer.
Matsumoto, D., You, S., & LeRoux, J. (2007). Emotion and intercultural adjustment. In H. Kotthoff & H. Spencer-Oatey (Eds.), Handbook of Intercultural Communication (pp. 77–98). De Gruyter Mouton.
Owen, W. F. (1987). The verbal expression of love by women and men as a critical communication event in personal relationships. Women’s Studies in Communication, 10(1), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.1987.11089722
Pavlenko, A. (2004). Bilingualism and thought: Shifts in perspectives. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 7(1), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728904000126
Pavlenko, A. (2005). Emotions and multilingualism. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584305
Pavlenko, A. (Ed.). (2006). Bilingual minds: Emotional experience, expression, and representation. Multilingual Matters.
Ran, Y., & Fan, L. (2020). The frontier of emotion research from the perspective of interpersonal pragmatics. Foreign Language Studies, 37, 5–12+112.
Ran, Y., & Fan, Y. (2020). Relational pragmatics and the study of emotion. Journal of Pragmatics, 168, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.07.006
Röhrig, I. (2010). On the universality of Gricean maxims. Linguistics, 3, 1–18.
Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Kirkpatrick, A. (2000). Contrastive discourse in Chinese and English: A critical appraisal. Foreign Language Teaching and Education Press.
Song, C. (2014). Research on the expression system of emotive words in modern Chinese. Modern Chinese, 8, 8–13.
Song, C. (2017). A new perspective on functional analysis of emotion-expressive communication: A combination of interpersonal pragmatics and evaluation theory. Journal of University of Science and Technology Beijing (Social Sciences Edition, 33, 36–42.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Jiang, W. (2003). Explaining cross-cultural pragmatic findings: Moving from politeness maxims to sociopragmatic interactional principles (SIPs). Journal of Pragmatics, 35(10–11), 1633–1650. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(03)00025-0
Thomas, J. (1995). Meaning in interaction: An introduction to pragmatics. Longman.
Wierzbicka, A. (1999). Emotions across languages and cultures: Diversity and universals. Cambridge University Press.
Zhou, L., & Zhang, S. (2022). A multifunctional analysis of off-record indirectness in Chinese interactions. Language Sciences, 90, 101459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2022.101459
Published
2024-12-23
How to Cite
Lin, H. (2024, December 23). Less is More? Exploring Cultural Implicature in Emotive Communication: A Case Study of ’Xihuan’ in Chinese Literature. International Linguistics Research, 7(3), p67. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.30560/ilr.v7n3p67
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