CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INVITATION IN SPANISH AND CHINESE

Abstract

The present work aims to conduct a contrastive analysis of the speech act of invitation in Spanish and Chinese, based on intercultural pragmatics. Specifically, we investigate both the different strategies employed by native Spanish and Chinese speakers when performing the speech act of invitation and the underlying sociocultural factors. As a result of the analysis, notable differences are observed in the use of opening markers, core speech acts, internal modifications, supportive moves, and insistence in invitations in both communities. In general terms, we can conclude that native Spanish speakers are more sensitive to the parameter of relational distance, while native Chinese speakers are more susceptible to the parameter of social power.