1 Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Objectives 3
1.3 Research Questions 4
1.4 Methodology 5
1.5 Organization 5
2 Literature Review 6
2.1 Introduction 6
2.2 Theoretical Review 6
2.2.1 Speech Act Theory 6
2.2.2 Politeness Theory 9
2.2.3 Variation Theory 17
2.3 Review of Empirical Studies 20
2.3.1 Previous Work on Compliments 20
2.3.2 Previous Work on Compliment Responses 25
3 Methodology 34
3.1 Introduction 34
3.2 The Field Work 34
3.2.1 Data Collection 34
3.2.2 Participants 35
3.2.3 Task 36
3.3 The Lab Work 37
3.3.1 Coding Scheme for Compliments 37
3.3.2 Coding Scheme for Compliment Responses 39
3.3.3 Coding Scheme for Sociolinguistic Factors 49
3.3.4 Inter-rater Reliability Study 54
3.4 Data Analysis 55
4 Findings 58
4.1 Introduction 58
4.2 Compliments 58
4.2.1 Topics of Compliments 58
4.2.2 Gender of Complimenters and Receivers 61
4.2.3 Personal Focus of Compliments 64
4.2.4 Social Status of Complimenters and Receivers 67
4.3 Compliment Responses 70
4.3.1 Distributional Analysis 70
4.3.2 Multivariate Analysis 134
5 Discussion 144
5.1 Introduction 144
5.2 Macro and Micro Level Compliment Responses 144
5.3 Politeness Theory 146
5.4 Language Contact Theory 148
5.5 Variation Theory 151
6 Conclusion 153
6.1 Introduction 153
6.2 Findings 153
6.3 Implications 158
6.4 Limitations and Suggestions 160
Appendices 163
Appendix Ⅰ Record of the Complement Event Data 163
Appendix Ⅱ Figure of Chinese Social Class Hierarchy 167
Appendix Ⅲ Samples of Coding Strings of Compliment Responses 168
Bibliography 192