United Arab Emirates. Greetings Across Cultures

Turkey

Russia

Iran

India

China

Say Good Morning!

Greetings Across Cultures

Meeting and Greeting

TITLES/NAMES

Lesson 2

MODULE 2

LECTURE 9

External means of enriching vocabulary

Internal means of enriching vocabulary

Vocabulary

Morphological classification of verbs

Mood

Finite and non-finite forms of the verb

Questions for seminar 9

Speak on

Greetings around the world are as varied as the cultures they are part of. For example, in Asia, little body contact is made between strangers when they meet. The Japanese will bow, in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Thailand people use the namaste greeting (hands in prayer like position in front of the chest) as a sign of respect and in China a verbal greeting with a head nod is used unless you know the person. This distance when greeting people is the opposite of what we find in the Central and South American cultures where people will often hug and kiss and slap each other on the back when meeting. In regions of the world such as the Middle East and other Muslim countries, members of the opposite sex do not normally have any body contact when greeting and this is true of Orthodox Jews as well. While many people who interact with Americans have adjusted to our greetings, watch the body language of the person that you are interacting with to ensure that you are interacting on a level that is comfortable for everyone.

Greetings are an important part of daily life. What we say and when we say it varies by culture around the world. For example, by saying hello to people in the morning, we are acknowledging the other person and their importance to us. For high context cultures, which are located in the Mediterranean, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, it is considered rude and cold not to say good morning to each person that is met, no matter how late in the morning. When people from other cultures come to the USA, they often interpret the lack of greetings in the American workplace as unfriendly. If you are working in a multi-cultural workplace, use your morning greetings to reach out to your coworkers and create a more friendly environment at work.

Address a person using his or her family name only, such as Mr. Chen or Ms. Hsu. The Chinese family name comes first and is usually one syllable. A one or a two-syllable given name follows a family name. For example, in the case of Teng Peinian, Teng is the family name and Peinian is the given name. In some instances, Westernized Chinese might reverse their names when visiting and sending correspondence abroad. Therefore, it is always a good idea to ask a native speaker which name is the family name.

For business purposes, it is traditionally acceptable to call a Chinese person by the surname, together with a title, such as "Director Wang" or "Chairman Li." Avoid using someone's given name unless you have known him or her for a long period of time. Formality is a sign of respect, and it is advisable to clarify how you will address someone very early in a relationship, generally during your first meeting.

Do not try to become too friendly too soon, and do not insist that your Chinese counterparts address you by your given name. The American pattern of quick informality should be resisted.

When doing business in India, meeting etiquette requires a handshake. However, Indians themselves use the namaste. This is where the palms are brought together at chest level with a slight bow of the head. Using the namaste is a sign of your understanding of Indian etiquette.

Names speak volumes about an Indian's background. For example, a Singh will always be a Sikh. The suffix "-jee" (as in Banerjee) is a sign of a high caste. "Kar" (as in Chandraskar) denotes that person is of Maharashtan high caste. Arabic sounding names will be used by Muslims.

When addressing an Indian whom you know personally, always use the appropriate formal title, whether Professor, Doctor, Mr, Mrs or if you do not know their names then Sir or Madam will suffice.

When meeting someone in a business or official context always shake hands. As a male you should wait to see if women extend their hands, if they do not, then simply nod your head and smile.

The most common greeting in Iran is 'salam' which originates from the Islamic greeting 'Asalamu alaykum' (peace be upon you). One would also reply with 'salam'.

When departing, Iranians will generally usually use, 'khoda-hafez' (may God preserve you).

When doing business in Iran, stick to formalities. Once a relationship has been established your Iranian counterpart will quickly start to address you with your first name. Men are addressed with 'agha' proceeded by the surname. So, Alan Jones will be 'Agha-ye Jones'. With women you would use 'khanoom'. So, Samantha Jones will be 'khanoom-e Jones'. Professionals with titles will be addressed similarly, for example, 'Doctor-e Jones'.

The typical greeting is often a (very) firm handshake with the appropriate greeting for the time of day - dobraye utra (good morning), dobryy den (good afternoon) or dobryy vecher (good evening).

Even though it may sound a bit stiff it is commonplace when doing business in Russia to introduce yourself using only your surname. Before meeting your Russian counterpart ensure you find out if there are any titles they use as these are extremely important and should be used. If you are visiting Russia it is appropriate to refer to your counterpart by either "gaspodin" (a courtesy title similar to "Mr.") or "gaspazhah" (similar to "Mrs." or "Miss") plus his or her surname.

On the whole Russians have three names. The first name is the given name while the last name is the father's family name. The middle name is a version of the father's first name, known as a patronymic; for a man, it ends with the suffixes "vich" or "ovich" meaning 'son of.' For a woman, the patronymic is also the father's first name but with suffixes "a" or "ova" added, which means 'daughter of.'

- When meeting shake hands firmly. When departing it is not always customary to shake hands although it is practised occasionally.

Friends and relations would greet each other with either one or two kisses on the cheek. Elders are always respected by kissing their right hand then placing the forehead onto the hand.

- When entering a room, if you are not automatically met by someone greet the most elderly or most senior first. At social occasions greet the person closest to you then work your way around the room or table anti-clockwise.

- Greet people with either the Islamic greeting of 'Asalamu alaykum' (peace be upon you) or 'Nasilsiniz' (How are you? pronounced na-sul-su-nuz). Other useful phrases are 'Gunaydin' (Good Morning, pronounced goon-ay-dun), 'iyi gunler' (Good Day, pronounced ee-yee gun-ler) or 'Memnun Oldum' (pleased to meet you).

The use of first names denotes more familiarity than in the west and there is no real equivalent to Mister, although the Hashemite noble title 'Sayyed' is borrowed for this purpose in correspondence.

'Bin' (or ben or ibn), preceding a name, particularly a middle name, means 'son of.' 'Bint' (daughter of) is the female form.

The perfect level of friendliness without undue familiarity in any Arab society is achieved by the use of the kunya. A man becomes known to his friends as 'Abu' (father of), followed by the name of his (usually eldest) son. It is quite acceptable to ask a mutual acquaintance if you don't know a man's kunya. Somewhat less common is the female equivalent 'Umm' (mother of).

Members of ruling families are addressed as His/Your Highness (Samu al-Emir). Ministers and ambassadors have the standard international designation of 'Excellency'.

The titles Doctor, Shaikh (chief), Mohandas (engineer) and Ustadh (professor) are used, as on the Continent, in both the literal and honorific senses. 'Shaikh' should always be used the same as a knighthood in English - applied only to the first name, never the surname.

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