Translation of English and Chinese Addressing Terms from the Cultural Aspect

Terms of address are frequently used in social communication to show the identity, rank and relationship between the speaker and the hearer. It is important to have a profound understanding of addressing terms, especially in cross-cultural communication. However, due to the difference in history, religion and culture, terms of address vary in different countries and regions. In this paper, the author discusses the translation of English and Chinese addressing terms from the aspect of cultural background. First, the author defines terms of address and gives the reason why people use terms of address in social communication. Then, the differences between English and Chinese terms of address are analyzed from the point of kinship terms and social terms of address. Last, four translation methods are given according to different situations, namely, literal translation, translating flexibly, specification or generalization and domestication and foreignization.