Accounting Fraud at Worldcom

Accounting Fraud at WorldCom LDDS began operations in 1984 offering services to local retail and commercial customers in the southern states. It was initially a loss making enterprise, and thus hired Bernie J. (Bernie) Ebbers to run things. It took him less than a year to make the company profitable. By the end of 1993, LDDS was the fourth largest long distance carrier in the United States. After a shareholder vote in May 1995, the company officially came to be known as WorldCom. WorldCom culture was dominated by a strong chief executive officer (Bernie J. Bernie) Ebbers), who was given virtually unfettered discretion to commit vast amounts of shareholder resources and determine corporate direction without even the slightest scrutiny or meaningful deliberation or analysis by senior management or the board of directors and legal function was less influential and less welcome than in a healthy corporate environment. Top hierarchy granted compensation and bonus beyond the company guidel ines to a select group of individuals based on their loyalty to them.The company’s human resource virtually never objected to such special awards. Inaddition, there was no outlet for employees to express their concerns. The room four improvement and corrective measures was obsolete, the consequence of all these culture irregularities were the factor to the big disaster for the company. According to Ebber, in 1997,†our goal is to be the NO. 1 stock on Wall Street. †Revenue growth was a key to increasing the company’s market value. Ebbers was obsessed with revenue growth and insisted on a 42% E/R ratio.He encouraged managers to push for revenue, even if it meant that long term costs would outweigh the short term gains. As business operations declined post the 1st quarter in 2000, CFO Sullivan used accounting tactics to achieve targeted performance, accounting principles require companies to estimate expected payments from line costs and match them with revenu es in the income statement,. Throughout 1999 and 2000, Sullivan told staff to release accruals which too high compared to the relative cash payments, without considered â€Å"Matching Principe†.Over a 7 quarter period between 1999 and 2000, WorldCom released $3. 3 billion worth of accruals. Sullivan directed the making of accounting entries that had no basis in generally accepted accounting principles in order to create the false appearance that WorldCom had achieved those revenue targets. As an accountant, one should be familiar with the standards and rules of the position, accept personal responsibilities for the foreseeable consequence of actions, and realize the long-term effect of such behavior on the accounting industry and the citizens.At all times, an accountant should conduct themselves with integrity, dignity, and respect for the position held in society. Whistleblowers frequently face reprisal, sometimes at the hands of the organization or group which they have acc used, sometimes from related organizations, and sometimes under law. | As Terance Miethe explains in his book, Whistle blowing at Work, many people see the whistleblower as a â€Å"snitch,† or a â€Å"a lowlife who betrays a sacred trust largely for personal gain. † In the flip side, whistleblowers are seen as â€Å"saviors† who ultimately helped create important changes in organizations.This approach to whistleblowers as guardians of public accountability is often taken by consumer advocates. I would not consider blowing the whistle. I would rather distance myself after informing my immediate supervisor if any wrong practice or misconduct similar to the WorldCom Fraud is happening in my environment. Public confidence in the accounting profession has been changed by corporate scandals, which created a crisis that affected the reputation and credibility of accounting professionals.The unethical decisions made by accountants can prove detrimental to the public who rely on information from the financial statements to make decisions. Users of financial statements rely on the information purported by an enterprise to exhibit certain qualitative characteristics that are both relevant and reliable. The impact of unethical decisions of both corporate leaders and accounting firms involving financial reporting by U. S. orporations has necessitated a new governmental regulation under SOX Act of 2002. President Bush signed this Act into law (Public Law 107-204) on July 30, 2002. The Act resulted in major changes to compliance practices of large U. S. and non-U. S. companies, whose securities are listed or traded on U. S. stock exchanges, requiring executives, boards of directors and external auditors to undertake measures to implement greater accountability, responsibility and transparency of financial reporting. Accounting Fraud at Worldcom Accounting Fraud at WorldCom LDDS began operations in 1984 offering services to local retail and commercial customers in the southern states. It was initially a loss making enterprise, and thus hired Bernie J. (Bernie) Ebbers to run things. It took him less than a year to make the company profitable. By the end of 1993, LDDS was the fourth largest long distance carrier in the United States. After a shareholder vote in May 1995, the company officially came to be known as WorldCom. WorldCom culture was dominated by a strong chief executive officer (Bernie J. Bernie) Ebbers), who was given virtually unfettered discretion to commit vast amounts of shareholder resources and determine corporate direction without even the slightest scrutiny or meaningful deliberation or analysis by senior management or the board of directors and legal function was less influential and less welcome than in a healthy corporate environment. Top hierarchy granted compensation and bonus beyond the company guidel ines to a select group of individuals based on their loyalty to them.The company’s human resource virtually never objected to such special awards. Inaddition, there was no outlet for employees to express their concerns. The room four improvement and corrective measures was obsolete, the consequence of all these culture irregularities were the factor to the big disaster for the company. According to Ebber, in 1997,†our goal is to be the NO. 1 stock on Wall Street. †Revenue growth was a key to increasing the company’s market value. Ebbers was obsessed with revenue growth and insisted on a 42% E/R ratio.He encouraged managers to push for revenue, even if it meant that long term costs would outweigh the short term gains. As business operations declined post the 1st quarter in 2000, CFO Sullivan used accounting tactics to achieve targeted performance, accounting principles require companies to estimate expected payments from line costs and match them with revenu es in the income statement,. Throughout 1999 and 2000, Sullivan told staff to release accruals which too high compared to the relative cash payments, without considered â€Å"Matching Principe†.Over a 7 quarter period between 1999 and 2000, WorldCom released $3. 3 billion worth of accruals. Sullivan directed the making of accounting entries that had no basis in generally accepted accounting principles in order to create the false appearance that WorldCom had achieved those revenue targets. As an accountant, one should be familiar with the standards and rules of the position, accept personal responsibilities for the foreseeable consequence of actions, and realize the long-term effect of such behavior on the accounting industry and the citizens.At all times, an accountant should conduct themselves with integrity, dignity, and respect for the position held in society. Whistleblowers frequently face reprisal, sometimes at the hands of the organization or group which they have acc used, sometimes from related organizations, and sometimes under law. | As Terance Miethe explains in his book, Whistle blowing at Work, many people see the whistleblower as a â€Å"snitch,† or a â€Å"a lowlife who betrays a sacred trust largely for personal gain. † In the flip side, whistleblowers are seen as â€Å"saviors† who ultimately helped create important changes in organizations.This approach to whistleblowers as guardians of public accountability is often taken by consumer advocates. I would not consider blowing the whistle. I would rather distance myself after informing my immediate supervisor if any wrong practice or misconduct similar to the WorldCom Fraud is happening in my environment. Public confidence in the accounting profession has been changed by corporate scandals, which created a crisis that affected the reputation and credibility of accounting professionals.The unethical decisions made by accountants can prove detrimental to the public who rely on information from the financial statements to make decisions. Users of financial statements rely on the information purported by an enterprise to exhibit certain qualitative characteristics that are both relevant and reliable. The impact of unethical decisions of both corporate leaders and accounting firms involving financial reporting by U. S. orporations has necessitated a new governmental regulation under SOX Act of 2002. President Bush signed this Act into law (Public Law 107-204) on July 30, 2002. The Act resulted in major changes to compliance practices of large U. S. and non-U. S. companies, whose securities are listed or traded on U. S. stock exchanges, requiring executives, boards of directors and external auditors to undertake measures to implement greater accountability, responsibility and transparency of financial reporting.

Business Ethics Dilemma

The Internet today is a major resource and tool for many people. Computers have been around since the 1950s’. However, the popularity of computers didn’t take off until the 1990s’. Many businesses today market, promote, and have their own website. This is important as it serves as avenue of business to promote their products, sell their services to their customers, and continuously inform the public on their performance. The Internet also provides various search engines in 2011 with popular search engines such as Yahoo, MSN, Google, and newer search engines such as (Microsoft) Bing.This paper will ssummarize and analyze the ethical dilemma between Google and (Microsoft) Bing search engines. In addition, discuss why the behavior is unethical and the impact it has on the organization. It will also include the theory of ethics that explains the unethical behavior and suggest ways to improve the behavior to avoid the problems in the future. Internet When did the Inte rnet start? Back in the early 1960s’, ARPANET was created by many sophisticated engineers, computer scientists, and mathematicians.The ARPANET design allowed computers to connect, run on different operating systems, and without ARPANET, the Internet wouldn't look or behave the way it does today, it may not even exist. As technology advanced technicians began making advancements with combing the ARPANET network to the Satellite Network (SATNET). The technical term for the connection between the networks is inter-networking or better known today for many as the Internet. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee developed a system designed to simplify navigation on the Internet which became known as the World Wide Web.As the years went by, and as the technology advanced so did the internet search engines. Microsoft's full scale entry into the browser, server, and Internet Service Provider market completed the major shift over to a commercially based Internet. Google vs. (Microsoft) Bing On Febr uary 3rd, 2011 the Harvard Business Review has reported that, â€Å"Google has sparked a media uproar by alleging that Bing â€Å"copies† Google results and Bing unequivocally has denied it. According to the article, when user’s search information through the Bing toolbar the user’s browser sends information to Microsoft to collect data, track information and watch to analyze behavior patterns. The Harvard Business Review article also has reported the following, â€Å"Google staged a setup for gibberish search terms Google made up which caused the search engine to serve up random pages Google selected arbitrarily. Then Google told its employees to run Google searches for these gibberish terms, and to click the artificial results Google had inserted.The employees did this on computers running the Bing Toolbar and IE Related Sites, so their click patterns were sent to Microsoft just as Microsoft's privacy policy and other disclosures said they would be. Microsof t used this data to improve its search results to present in Bing results the links these users seemed to favor, again just as Microsoft said it would. † Google is making an allegation that (Microsoft) Bing has copied their search results process through the use of the toolbar functionality.According to the Harvard Business Review article, â€Å"Microsoft received user permission for these observations and information about users' click patterns is users' information not Google's. † In a post at WebmasterWorld, Google's Matt Cutts, wrote as follows, â€Å"It's my personal, unofficial belief that using toolbar data in the future to augment our crawl is not only a good idea, but specifically allowed by the original policies we posted. † Ethical DilemmaThe dilemma here is that Google is not practicing in an ethical manner as their organization is making an allegation that Bing is infringing on their toolbar process and tracking user patterns is not appropriate. Base d on the Harvard Business review Matt Cutts further said: â€Å"A good idea,† when using this method but now that Microsoft uses this very approach, suddenly Google argues it's improper. Microsoft – Bing has the same right to use this method to track information and based on the Google Toolbar Privacy Policy it is disclosed that Google reserves the right to track and use pattern information to enhance their search engine.Conclusion Based on the information in the Harvard Business Review article, Google has violated the ethical code of customer confidence. This is due the fact that Google is operating in the same fashion as Bing by monitoring activity searches through its toolbar portal to enhance the information that it is displayed through their website. This affects the employees of Google because the corporation is making a false claim, and this may leave a negative feeling with employees because the organization may not be completely clear with it s full disclosure policies.Google could have been prevented these false claims by having an internal compliance team conduct research and with their findings could have advised Google on a better approach to address competition efforts from (Microsoft) Bing. This reinforces the purpose of having a code of ethics within an organization and that every employee of all levels abides by it.ReferencesInternet. (2011). When did it start. (2011). Retrieved on February the 6th, 2011 from: http://computer. howstuffworks. om/internet/basics/internet-start. htm Harvard Business Review. (2011). Google Policy. (2011). Retrieved on February 6th, 2011, from: http://www. webmasterworld. com/forum80/21-1-30. htm Internet. (2011). Internet History. (2011). Retrieved on February 6th, 2011, from: http://www. walthowe. com/navnet/history. html Ethical Dilemma. (2011). Google vs. Bing. (2011). Retrieved on February 6th, 2011 from: http://www. businessweek. com/managing/content/feb2011/ca2011024_853469. htm

Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Workplace - Essay Example Prejudice is usually seen when one only believes in their views and refuses to listen to any other persons affiliations, beliefs or even political choices. Political correctness. It is becoming increasingly acceptable to talk against any religion that one does not view acceptable. Nowadays people find it hard to accept that they disagree against and shun it. People believe that it is right to talk about other groups that are seen as inferior or not of as the same significance as their own. Unfamiliarity. Human beings primarily fear what they do not understand. When they realize there is a new phenomenon, which brings an element of uneasiness and fear of domination. There is also the fear of being dominated by a new order or cult, and this brings fear and resistance. When people are not familiar with particular groupings or fail to understand the mechanisms that hold them together, they tend to be skeptical about them. Disunity. Pluralism causes disunity between differing factions on issues that can be debated amicably. People find it difficult to come together to reason over issues that could otherwise have easily been solved by other methods. Misunderstanding. It also causes misunderstanding between people because of different views and opinions concerning issues. People fail to come to amicable conclusions about each other, and there is a lack of cohesion and social unity. Disagreements and raised tensions. Pluralism can cause people to disagree about issues and hence increased unnecessary tension (Rose 70). Conflict usually occurs when it is difficult explaining the concepts of the particular social grouping to people who are unwilling to listen or take part in any debate. Human and moral values can promote understanding in several ways. First, equality can help people understand that they are all human beings who have their freedom of expression. When there is a spirit of equality in an

Outsourcing is either harmful or beneficial for American economic Essay

Outsourcing is either harmful or beneficial for American economic - Essay Example This activity assists companies in lowering their costs as the cost of production in US is quite high due to high cost of labor. With the economy development, more and more U.S companies would rather to choose outsourcing than the local service. To a certain extent, it is acceptable for America and American companies to be dependant on the labor of other countries. The activity of outsourcing of jobs conducted by US companies is not only beneficial for them, it is even beneficial for other nations because in these nations, there are low amount of jobs and the amount of salary they are paid is even low. Because its lower cost can help the U.S companies develop and can save the money for local customers. Also with more working positions are moving out of the country, there will create higher income jobs for local citizens. The several benefits associated with outsourcing of jobs include higher level of creativity in production, low cost of production, higher quality of service and incr eased number of jobs and wages for the workers of other nations. Outsourcing is a term used to refer to the act of obtaining goods and services from suppliers that are not located in nations that produce those goods and services. Murray Weidenbaum, a very famous economist and ex-chairman of President Regan’s Council of Economic Advisers, once announced that companies located throughout the US outsource their economic activities for several reasons. He feels that reasons for outsourcing include entrance into international markets, decrease the production cost, and to gain a competitive advantage while they compete in the global markets. The main benefit that a business within U.S obtains from outsourcing is the low cost of production as the product is produced at much lower cost in other nations as compared to the same product produced in the U.S. The U.S is importing raw materials from foreign nations, and the transfer of raw materials to the destination where they are used t o produce goods may increase the cost of production. If U.S manufacturers open their production line in areas where they obtain their resources, they no longer have to worry about the cost of raw materials transportation, and can direct deliver their products from the industry. It will become more profitable for businesses. For example, if in U.S organizations are importing raw materials from China and producing goods in the U.S. They not only have to pay the cost of the shipment fee but also need to afford the high wages in the state. If the company decide to move the manufactory into China, the wages over there are much cheaper than the U.S and set China as a delivery center, and the company doesn’t need to pay for the raw material transportation fee and only needs to pay the shipment fee of production sale which the company always have to pay either they located the manufactory in China or U.S. With this decision making, the company can save lots of money from the labor an d transportation fee, it can definitely help company to use the rest of money to expand the market and develop the company. Also once the company less their cost on producing the product, they would also cut down the price attract the consumers to make more sales revenue. Therefore the US companies are not the only one benefiting from outsourcing, even the consumer side is positively

Individualized Education Policy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Individualized Education Policy - Case Study Example This study highlights that the quantity and quality of the information must be sufficient to sustain evidence against the teacher regarding discrimination. Formal report will be prepared concerning Joseph’s IEP implementation. Actions that can be taken in this case according to the district policy include placement on administrative leave. A formal letter of reprimand will be placed in the teachers’ file. From this paper it is clear that in determining the potential punishments, attendants in the meeting will include ARD committee members, Joseph’s parents, special education teacher, general education teacher, technology and career teacher, an administrator, school psychologist, Joseph’s case manager and any other person the parents feel should be present. The ARD will determine the outburst by Joseph was caused by disability. If there is no relationship between the behavior and disability, he will be disciplined as a non-special education student.

Explains how Corporate takeover is influenced by corporate environment Essay

Explains how Corporate takeover is influenced by corporate environment - Essay Example Corporate greed has been studied to be an important cause for merger and acquisitions. Since the prime objective of every firm is to maximize the profit, the corporations in greed want to acquire other competing firms. Thus through merger market competition can be eliminated. Moreover it is generally assumed that the larger firms are in a position of enjoying cost efficiency and hence economies of scale. Thus merger can be the result of the firm’s desire of enjoying economies of scale through the acquisition of other small firms of the market. The company, which is being taken over by the parent company through merger, is known as the ‘subsidiary company’. Accomplishment of the corporate amalgamations can be done in three different ways, by consolidation, by acquisition or by pooling of interests. Pooling of interest is often called a tax-free merger and is generally accomplished by swap of common stocks at specified ratios. Acquisition on the other hand consists of the purchase of assets of one company by the other at a given price and the shareholders of the targeted company need to surrender their stocks. For example the merger of the Wrigley and Mars Company had been finalized in a deal of 23 billion dollars in which Mars announced to acquire Wrigley after being approved by both the companies. The shareholders of Wrigley thus need to surrender their stocks receiving 80 dollars for each of their shares. Thus the targeted company remained to a ‘stand alone separate subsidiary of Mars’. Consolidation is another process of corporate combinations. This process involves the formation of a separate entity by dissolving both the companies. The new stocks of the consolidated firms are issued to the existing shareholders of both the individual companies. (Hoskisson, Hitt and Ireland, 102-103; Sorkin; Mullins) Takeovers can influence corporate environment if the takeover is hostile. There are generally four types of takeovers. These ar e strategic, defensive, growth and financial. In a strategic takeover, the acquiring firm tries to target the much-developed product of the firm that is to be acquired. This product is in the form of either services or any intellectual property. In a defensive takeover, the acquiring firm tries to sell the assets of the acquired firm in the market after buying them from the targeted firm. In a growth takeover strategy, the acquiring firm targets to acquire such a firm that has high growth potential. The acquiring firm markets the products of the targeted firm by utilizing own sales and distribution channels. In a financial takeover strategy, the acquiring firm is generally interested in a financially sound firm. Sometimes acquiring firms can take interest in firms that are financially weak. This is done in order to offset the tax liability. There can be various reasons for which a merger takes place. Firms acquire other firms to increase their market share. A firm gains larger marke t share when it gives tough competition to other firms in terms of lower production costs as well as higher sales costs. Market power mainly depends on the size of the firm and the market share it covers. The results of these acquisitions are big firms, which in turn create economies of scales. Sometimes acquisitions are means to raise funds. (Hoskisson, Hitt and Ireland, pp 245) Culture Differences Organizational values are noticed through emotional

Abstract (Short version) Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Abstract (Short version) - Outline Example As a creative artist, I integrated Sukhothai artistic forms into my art works, to prove the emotional effect. Literature review helped to gather background information about aspects of Thai arts. Another approach used was, the experimental jewellery making. Here, I applied Sukhothai artistic forms into my jewellery. When I wore my finished jewellery, this sparked an emotional effect of calmness and tranquillity in my mind, thus proving the interaction between Sukhothai jewellery, Buddhism, and the mind. Nonetheless, the study objective was achieved; as I was able to prove the relationship between artistic forms in Thai jewellery, and the emotional effect these have on the mind. This study results will benefit lovers of jewellery, and encourage more to possess jewellery. The Thailand artists will be motivated to invest in, and enhance their jewellery designs. This Thai cultural aspect will thus, become popular. This might also result in increased global demand for jewellery, because of its proven

Ending Hunger from the Elderly Population Essay

Ending Hunger from the Elderly Population - Essay Example On the other hand food insecurity is also increasing at an exceptional rate in less developed countries, but its growth rate is also significant in the elderly population of the developed nations including America. According to the survey conducted by (Weill), majority of the elderly population in US, is suffering from the phenomenon of malnutrition and food insecurity. However the solution lies in developing a better food distribution network in US, which should provide the food according to the need of every individual and family irrespective of the race, religion and age. This solution is most logical one, because of the observation registered by (Pothukuchi and Kaufman) that points out a deficency in the food distribution system in US. This unjust distribution system for food is the evidence of racism in the culture of America (Zolberg), where whites have so much food to stock, whereas the people with colored skin are starving from hunger. Another factor which is contributing tow ards growing hunger in elders, is the individualistic culture that motivates people to concentrate on their own lives, therefore, they have little time to care about their elders (Savikko). The growing phenomenon of hunger is also causing the health standards of elders to drop significantly, because the medication, these people are taking require healthy food intake for its effectiveness. Majority of the researchers are emphasizing on the implementation of the policies to raise the degree of self sufficiency through training and development (Bowenng, Clancy and Poppendieck), but this paper is against this viewpoint, because old people are often unable to grasp new skills and their ability to actively work is also become limited due to aging. However, govermental agencies are also fairly active in providing relieve to the elderly population in America, but these activities are proven to be less than effective in uprooting the undirsable situation caused by hunger. On the other hand i f this condition is not countered effectively, then it will encompass other citizens of US in round about five years, because right now, US agricultural sector is producing food that is more than its need, but the population growth will cause severe food shortage in US food market, during coming years. In this situation Americans will have to import food items from other countries, which will result in rise in the prices of food items in the local market. This will, therefore worsen the situation for elderly population with minimum income level. It is evident, from the above discussion that, US ought to plan for the demand and supply situation concerning food in the future, otherwise the shortage of food will increase and encompass other members of the population along with elders. The methods of economical health services along with the less expensive and consistent food supply for elders in the society, could be an effective measure for counteracting the developing phenomenon of h unger and food insecurity. Conclusion In the light of a thoroughly conducted field survey, 80% of the food deprived population is constituted by African American elderly males in the shiny city of New York (Bowenng, Clancy, & Poppendieck, 1991). This observation compelled this effort to notify that, racism is still present in the very roots of the American Society,

What are the pros of unification on East Germany Essay

What are the pros of unification on East Germany - Essay Example Germany rose in the international politics and became the largest and strongest country economically, in the European Union. This political stability could be seen in the nature of elections and policy processes that took place in the country. The state ensured that the citizens participated in the countrys political affairs. The government educated the citizens on political systems, making them aware of their role. Policy making processes became transparent with the interest of the citizens at heart (Dalton et al). Introduction of a functioning currency (Deutschmark) was an economic benefit to the country. In addition, stable administrative and legal systems attracted investors in the country. Thus, Germany had access to European markets and funds. Between the years of 1990 and 2006, the European Union had given 17.9 billion Euros to Germany. These funds have assisted the country dealing with the economic and policy challenges (Dalton et al).

Linguistics and Interjections Essay Example for Free

Linguistics and Interjections Essay In Western philosophy and linguistic theory, interjections—that is, words like oof, ouch, and bleah—have traditionally been understood to indicate emotional states. This article offers an account of interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya that illuminates their social and discursive functions. In particular, it discusses the grammatical form of interjections, both in Q’eqchi’ and across languages, and characterizes the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections in Q’eqchi’ in terms of a semiotic framework that may be generalized for other languages. With these grammatical forms, indexical objects, and pragmatic functions in hand, it details the various social and discursive ends that interjections serve in one Q’eqchi’ community, thereby shedding light on local values, norms, ontological classes, and social relations. In short, this article argues against interpretations of interjections that focus on internal emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. p a u l k o c k e l m a n is McKennan Post-Doctoral Fellow in Linguistic Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H. 03755, U.S.A. [[emailprotected]]). Born in 1970, he was educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz (B.A., 1992) and the University of Chicago (M.S., 1994; Ph.D., 2002). His publications include â€Å"The Collection of Copal among the Q’eqchi’-Maya† (Research in Economic Anthropology 20:163–94), â€Å"Factive and Counterfactive Clitics in Q’eqchi’-Maya: Stance, Status, and Subjectivity,† in Papers from the Thirty-eighth Annual Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society (Chicago: Linguistics Society, in press), and â€Å"The Interclausal Relations Hierarchy in Q’eqchi’ Maya† (International Journal of American Linguistics 69:25–48). The present paper was submitted 1 vi 01 and accepted 27 xii 02. 1. A longer version of this article was presented at the workshop â€Å"Semiotics: Culture in Context† at the University of Chicago in January 2001. Chris Ball, Anya Bernstein, John Lucy, and Michael Silverstein all provided very helpful commentary. This article also greatly beneï ¬ ted from suggestions made by Benjamin S. Orlove and several anonymous referees. Western philosophy and linguistic theory have traditionally considered interjections at the periphery of language and primordially related to emotion. For example, the Latin grammarian Priscian deï ¬ ned interjections as â€Å"a part of speech signifying an emotion by means of an unformed word† (Padley 1976:266). Muller (1862)  ¨ thought that interjections were at the limit of what might be called language. Sapir (1921:6–7) said that they were â€Å"the nearest of all language sounds to instinctive utterance.† Bloomï ¬ eld (1984[1933]:177) said that they â€Å"occur under a violent stimulus,† and Jakobson (1960: 354) considered them exemplars of the â€Å"purely emotive stratum of language.† While interjections are no longer considered peripheral to linguistics and are now carefully deï ¬ ned with respect to their grammatical form, their meanings remain vague and elusive. In particular, although interjections are no longer characterized pure ly in terms of emotion, they are still characterized in terms of â€Å"mental states.† For example, Wierzbicka (1992:164) characterizes interjections as â€Å"[referring] to the speaker’s current mental state or mental act.† Ameka (1992a:107) says that â€Å"from a pragmatic point of view, interjections may be deï ¬ ned as a subset of items that encode speaker attitudes and communicative intentions and are contextbound,† and Montes (1999:1289) notes that many interjections â€Å"[focus] on the internal reaction of affectedness of the speaker with respect to the referent.† Philosophers have offered similar interpretations. For example, Herder thought that interjections were the human equivalent of animal sounds, being both a â€Å"language of feeling† and a â€Å"law of nature† (1966:88), and Rousseau, pursuing the origins of language, theorized that protolanguage was â€Å"entirely interjectional† (1990:71). Indeed, such philosophers have posited a historical transition from interjections to language in which the latter allows us not only to index pain and express passion but also to denote values and exercise reason (D’Atri 1995).2 Thus interjections have been understood as a semiotic artifact of our natural origins and the most transparent index of our emotions. Such an understanding of interjections is deeply rooted in Western thought. Aristotle (1984), for example, posited a contrastive relationship between voice, proper only to humans as instantiated in language, and sound, shared by humans and animals as instantiated in cries. This contrastive relation was then compared with other analogous contrastive relations, in particular, value and pleasure/pain, polis and household, and bios (the good life, or political life proper to humans) and zoe (pure life, shared by all living things). Such a contrast is so pervasive that modern philosophers such as Agamben (1995) have devoted much of their scholarly work to the thinking out of this tradition and others built on it such as id versus ego in the Freudian paradigm. In short, the folk distinction made between interjections and language 2. D’Atri (1995:124) argues that, for Rousseau, â€Å"interjections . . . are sounds and not voices: they are passive registerings and as such do not presuppose the intervention of will, which is what characterizes human acts of speech.† Proper maps onto a larger set of distinctions in Western thought: emotion and cognition, animality and humanity, nature and culture, female and male, passion and reason, bare life and the good life, pain and value, private and public, and so on (see, e.g., Lutz 1988, Strathern 1988). In this article I avoid such abstracting and dichotomizing traps by going straight to the heart of interjections: their everyday usage in actual discourse when seen in the context of local culture and grounded in a semiotic framework. I begin by characterizing the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I carried out my research and go on to relate interjections to other linguistic forms, showing how they are both similar to and distinct from other classes of words in natural languages. Next I provide and exemplify a semiotic framework, generalizable across languages, in terms of which the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections can best be characterized. Then I detail the local usage of the 12 most commonly used interjections in Q’eqchi’ and show the way in which they are tied into all things cultural: values, norms, ontological classes, social relations, and so on. I conclude by discussing the relative frequency with which the various forms and functions of interjections are used. In short, I argue against interpretations of interjections that focus on emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. Linguistic and Ethnographic Context While I am attempting to provide as wide a theoretical account of interjections as I can, thereby providing a metalanguage for speaking about similar sign phenomena in other languages, I am also trying to capture the grammatical niceties of Q’eqchi’ Maya and the discursive and social particularities of one Q’eqchi’-speaking village in particular. Before I begin my analysis, then, I want to sketch the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I worked. Q’eqchi’ is a language in the Kichean branch of the Mayan family, spoken by some 360,000 speakers in Guatemala (in the departments of Alta Verapaz, Izabel, and Peten) and Belize (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). 3 Lin ´ guistically, Q’eqchi’ is relatively well described: scholars such as Berinstein (1985), Sedat (1955), Stewart (1980), Stoll (1896), and Chen Cao et al. (1997) have discussed its syntax, morphology, phonology, and lexicon, and I have detailed various morphosyntactic forms (encoding grammatical categories such as mood, status, evidentiality, taxis, and inalienable possession) as they intersect with sociocultural values and contextual features and as they illuminate local modes of personhood (Kockelman 3. Typologically, Q’eqchi’ is a morphologically ergative, head-marking language. In Q’eqchi’, vowel length (signaled by doubling letters) is phonemic; /k/ and /q/ are velar and uvular plosives, respectively, and /x/ and /j/ are palato-alveolar and velar fricatives, respectively. All other phonemes have their standard IPA values. 2002, 2003a, b). This article is therefore part of a larger project in which I examine how intentional and evaluative stances are encoded in natural languages and the relations that such stances bear to local modes of subjectivity. Alta Verapaz, the original center of the Q’eqchi’-speaking people who still make up the majority of its population, has had a unusual history even by Guatemalan standards. In 1537, after the Spanish crown had failed to conquer the indigenous peoples living there, the Dominican Friar Bartolome de Las Casas was permitted to  ´ pacify the area through religious methods. Having succeeded, he changed the name of the area from Tezulutlan (Land of War) to Verapaz (True Peace), and the Dominicans were granted full control over the area—the state banning secular immigration, removing all military colonies, and nullifying previous land grants. In this way, for almost 300 years the area remained an isolated enclave, relatively protected by the paternalism of the church in comparison with other parts of Guatemala (King 1974, Sapper 1985). This ended abruptly in the late 1800s, however, with the advent of coffee growing, liberal reforms, and the inï ¬â€šux of Europeans (Cambranes 1985, Wagner 1996). Divested of their land and forced to work on coffee plantations, the Q’eqchi’ began migrating north into the unpopulated lowland forests of the Peten  ´ and Belize (Adams 1965, Carter 1969, Howard 1975, Kockelman 1999, Pedroni 1991, Saa Vidal 1979, Schwartz 1990, Wilk 1991). In the past 40 years this migration has been fueled by a civil war that has ravaged the Guatemalan countryside, with the Q’eqchi’ ï ¬â€šeeing not just scarce resources and labor quotas but also their own nation’s soldiers—often forcibly conscripted speakers of other Mayan languages (Carmack 1988, IWGIA 1978, Wilson 1995). As a consequence, the past century has seen the Q’eqchi’ population spread from Alta Verapaz to the Peten and ï ¬ nally to Belize, Mexico, and even the  ´ United States. Indeed, although only the fourth largest of some 24 Mayan languages, Q’eqchi’ is thought to have the largest percentage of monolinguals, and the ethnic group is Guatemala’s fastest-growing and most geographically extensive (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). The two key ethnographies of Q’eqchi’-speakers have been written by Wilk (1991) and Wilson (1995), the former treating household ecology in Belize and the latter upheavals in village life and identity at the height of the civil war in highland Guatemala during the 1980s. In addition to these monographs, there are also a number of dissertations and articles on the history (King 1974, Sapper 1985, Wagner 1996), ecology (Carter 1969, Secaira 1992, Wilson 1972), and migration (Adams 1965, Howard 1975, Pedroni 1991) of Q’eqchi’-speaking people. The data for this article are based on almost two years of ethnographic and linguistic ï ¬ eldwork among speakers of Q’eqchi’, most of it in Ch’inahab, a village of some 80 families (around 650 people) in the municipality of San Juan Chamelco, in the department of Alta Verapaz. At an altitude of approximately 2,400 m, Ch’inahab is one of the highest villages in this area, with an annual precipitation of more than 2,000 mm. It is also one of the most remote, access to the closest road requiring a three-hour hike down a steep and muddy single-track trail. Its relatively high altitude and remote location provide the perfect setting for cloud forest, and such a cloud forest provides the perfect setting for the resplendent quetzal, being home to what is thought to be the highest density of such birds in the world. Because of the existence of the quetzal and the cloud forest in which it makes its home, Ch’inahab has been the site of a successful eco-tourism project the conditions and consequences of which are detailed in my dissertation (Kockelman 2002). While the majority of villagers in Ch’inahab are monolingual speakers of Q’eqchi’, some men who have served time in the army or worked as itinerant traders speak some Spanish. All the villagers are Catholic. Ch’inahab is divided by a mountain peak with dwellings on both of its sides and in the surrounding valleys. It takes about 45 minutes to hike across the village. At one end there is a biological station kept by the eco-tourism project and used sporadically by European ecologists, and at the other there is a Catholic church and a cemetery. In the center there is a small store, a school for primary and secondary grades, and a soccer ï ¬ eld. The surrounding landscape is cloud forest giving way to scattered house sites, agricultural parcels, pasture, and ï ¬ elds now fallow. All villagers engage in corn-based, or milpa, agriculture, but very few have enough land to fulï ¬ ll all of their subsistence needs.4 For this reason, many women in the village are dedicated to chicken husbandry, most men in the village engage in seasonal labor on plantations (up to ï ¬ ve months a year in some cases), and many families engage in itinerant trade (women weaving baskets and textiles for the men to sell) and eco-tourism (the women hosting tourists and the men guiding them). Dwelling sites often contain a scattering of houses in which reside an older couple and their married sons, all of whom share a water source and a pasture. The individual families themselves often have two houses, a relatively traditional thatched-roof house in which the family cooks and sleeps and a relatively new house with a tin roof in which they host festivals and in which older children and ecotourists may sleep. Because of eco-tourism and the inï ¬â€šux of money and strangers that it brings, there has been an increase in the construction of such tin-roofed houses, and, as will be seen, many of my examples of interjections come from such construction contexts. My data on the use of interjections among villagers in Ch’inahab comes from 14 months of ï ¬ eldwork carried out between 1998 and 2001. The data collection con4. Before 1968, what is now Ch’inahab was owned by the owner of a plantation. Q’eqchi’-speakers who lived in the village of Popobaj (located to the south of and lower than Ch’inahab) were permitted to make their milpa in this area in exchange for two weeks of labor per month on the ï ¬ nca (Secaira 1992:20). Only in 1968, when a group of villagers got together to form a land acquisition committee, were some 15 caballerÄ ±as (678 ha) of land purchased from the owner  ´ for 4,200 quetzals (US$4,200). This land, while legally owned by the entire community, was divided among the original 33 villagers as a function of their original contributions.

Chinese and Western Culture

Chinese and Western Culture I am going to start a series of discussions on cultural differences between Chinese and Western culture. Please keep in mind that I am not saying that all Chinese are like this or all Westerners are like this; I am talking only in generalities, referring to broad patterns. Obviously, there are many differences in specific individuals; and particularly as the rapid pace of development and change continues in China, the younger generation will tend to have significant changes. Nor am I saying that one way is good, and the other is bad; I personally believe that both sides have their strengths and weaknesses. But I believe that these are interesting topics for discussion, and can improve understanding and communication on both sides. Different nations have different cultures during the long developing history. Various cultural factors resulted in different language forms. According to observation, analysis, and study, the discrepancies between the Chinese and Western culture include culture of allusions, of numbers, of colors, etc.. It is an important issue to understand and handle the relationship between culture and language while translating English idioms. Meanwhile, language is not only the cultures important content but also the carrier of culture, so culture and language are a whole. Since different culture gives rise to alternative language structures, while translating, you must know its fundamental cultural obstacles, and then you can do translation more correctly and suitably. I.What is cultural difference? There are many meanings of the word culture. Sometimes, we say that people who know about music, art, and literature are cultured. However, for anthropologist, the word culture has a different meaning. To an anthropologist the word culture means all the ways that a group of people think, feel, art, and dress. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English gives such an explanation of culture: the customs, beliefs, art, music, and all the other products of human thought made by a particular group of people at a particular time. Different nations hold different cultures. For instance, full moon symbolizes jubilation and reunion in China, and a bright moon in the sky makes people feel quiet and at leisure. Ideas of beauty differ from one culture to another. For example, the Flathead Indian of North America used to bind the heads of babies between board so they would have long sloping foreheads. In the Flathead culture, long sloping foreheads were beautiful. Other cultures might think that they are strange-looking and unattractive. For another example, when people die, different cultures deals with their bodies in different ways. Sometimes bodies are buried. Sometimes bodies are buried under the ground. In many cultures in the past, people were buried with food, weapons, and other things that might be useful in the next life. For instance, the ancient Egyptians buried people with little human figures which were from clay. This clay figure were intended to work the death person in the other world. From these examples, we can see that cultures are quite different from one country to another. It is brief that different people do the same things or consider the same things in different ways. Every country own itself cultural, cultural is countrys soul and its place of origin. In order to establish a good international relationship with others countries, so we are need to understand their cultural and find their differences with our country. Because With China entry the WTO and will hold the Olympic Games in 2008, the relationship between China and Western in politics, economy, culture will become more and more close. It is undoubtedly that the etiquette will play an important role in this process. To the definition of etiquette, China and Western have a different understanding. As Chinese thinks that the etiquette is the common behavior standards that all the members must obey, and its purpose is to keep the normal living order of the society. In ancient China, a famous philosopher thinks that etiquette is a principal to deal with the relationship between man and supernatural beings, man and ghosts, man and men. There are also many words about etiquette in English, therefore we need to understand the Chinese and western cultural differences. Culture is an integrated development course, whose soul is the cultural concept or idea. The author tries to study the cultural difference between Western and Chinese culture from the perspective of economical ethics and draw the conclusion that Chinese should critically assimilate Western culture and inherit traditional Chinese culture to create a new culture which fits the needs of the new era. The differences between Chinese and Western social initiatives First, by the family of the impact of ethical conduct, the Chinese people always put yourself in a group (ethics groups) to look at themselves in order to determine their own initiatives, bad sequence style.Only targeted by Professor Fei Xiaotong said, in such a poor sequence style, the individuals behavior so self-centered, but it only shows the starting point of individual initiatives.Indeed the basis for such a move from the starting point is on the basis of ethical conduct.Therefore, in China, the individual is basically digestion among the group.Group is the purpose of individual existence, but not the means.Groups of ethical conduct ordered, probably that group of patriarchal order that is the absolute ethical order.By the abstraction of rational conduct and the resulting impact of character and independence in the West, people always put themselves as a separate entity, the individual for their own survival and growth needs to unite to create groups and join groupsactivity.Ind ividual and group are mutually exclusive, is a Zuoquan connected.Although the unity of the individual in the group, but individuals are free to the balance of payments pursuant to Zuoquan groups.Although in order to achieve the advantages of the individual, the individual in the enjoyment of community empowerment must be accompanied by the group seriously, the implementation of the mission of the individual pairs of groups. Secondly, the family as a starting point of the structure of the difference sequence initiative, blood related initiatives has become an important frame of reference, by the Chinese peoples social initiatives have been given a dark mood of color In the social interaction or correspondence of the people first of all think about is the emotional intimacy of sexual, to consider the feelings of others on a thoughtful, considerate, and admire, that is, pay attention to human.Emotion and the Chinese people are Nanshe hard to leave, became the first requirement of life.China does not conform to the most is the indifference to human connection.In between in which people not only value the sentiment, but also sub-fur sentiment a letter, as long as with the emotions related to the incident will be hard to get much easier to handle more.Insinuation sets of feelings the Chinese people have become just as normal dealings consistent with the essentials.The emotional life, so that the formation of Chinese society, a humane society, but this has to society in the public and a moderate yield growth has brought endless variables.In the eyes of the Chinese people, whether private or public events, can all be factoring in the emotional front or modification.Law enforcement, the rules of human development, though should be a human face.In the West, as the ancient Greek philosophers, the human abstract, or because people go beyond the Christian right, people in the community initiatives either a rational as a guideline, or succumb to the call of God.Where the family connected, blood related, emotional connection is not the main peoples social initiatives, the only all thinking.This is important because of their emotional and non emotional drew a clear-cut between the boundaries, and boundaries of the two sides do not have to replace nature.Sentiment in the West essentially has been compressed into a very cramped area where, it is important the family is now living in the table. Cross-cultural communication, cultural differences, cultural conflict With Chinas gradual opening-up level of depth, Western society more and more people and things into our field of vision, in this case, the cross-domain, cross-ethnic, cross-cultural economic and social contacts will be increasing This provides us with many opportunities for contact and exchanges between the West, which for deepening our understanding of Western society is a good thing, but this is not a simple matter, because we are facing from the unfamiliar cultures and countries, ways of thinking, habits and behavior patterns with our very different people, in the process of interaction with the inevitable phenomenon of cultural conflict occurs. Western cross-cultural communication in the cultural conflicts that often appear inCross-cultural Communication in Chinese and Western cultural conflict occurs there are many, here we have it is impossible to describe, only the more common are listed in several. 1.1 The privacy of the conflict The Chinese concept of privacy is relatively weak, that the individual should be vested in a collective, together pay attention to unity and friendship, mutual interest and therefore I understand the Chinese people are often very willing to other peoples ups and downs, the other party is willing to frankly say so. The Westerners are a very good personal privacy, pay attention to personal space, too many people are reluctant to mention their own affairs, but also reluctant to allow others to interfere. Therefore, privacy issues on the two sides are frequent conflicts, such as: Chinese people tend to ask first met each others age, marital status, children, occupation, or income, in the eyes of the Chinese people it is an act of courtesy, but in the West the eyes of the view that these questions violated their privacy. 1.2 concept of time in the conflict Western concept of time and money concept is linked, time is money, the concept of deep-rooted, so they are very much value his time and of time in their lives often have done a careful arrangements and plans, and develop a good time to meet this woman habits. In the West, to visit someone, you must give advance notice or agreement, and explain the purpose of visit, time and place, it was agreed upon to proceed. The Chinese people belonged to more time to get used to the country, the use of time has great randomness, as Westerners are generally not as stringent as those according to plan, Westerners have often uncomfortable. 1.3 polite language in the conflict The Chinese emphasis on humility, in communication with others, the habit of humble have respect, and this as a virtue, it is a rich Chinese cultural characteristics courtesy of the phenomenon. Others praised us, we tend to be self-deprecating about it, in order to form modest and polite. Western countries have no such cultural practices, when they were praised, there will always am happy to say Thank you accepted. As the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, we believe that Westerners are too self-confident, without modesty; and when Westerners learn that the Chinese people who do deny others their own praise, or to hear their own deny their own achievements, even when their own derogatory worth a penny , would be very surprised that the Chinese people dishonest. 1.4 dining customs in the conflict Is known hospitality of the Chinese nations fine traditions. In the communication occasions and feast on the warm toast the Chinese people offering each other cigarettes are often each other. The Chinese banquet, even if a table filled with delicious food, the owner, he always used to say a few words, excuse me and other polite words. Sometimes the owner will use chopsticks to guests bowl Jia Cai, using a variety of ways to persuade customers more Chi cai more drink. In Western countries, people emphasis on respect for individual rights and personal privacy, so they will not do an imposing task. Dinner time, you will not be hard to bowl Jia Cai, Eat what you own, they would not use a variety of ways to persuade guests to drink, do not insisted until you have drunk. 2. Causes of cultural conflict caused by the phenomenon of inquiry Of conflict caused by the phenomenon of Chinese and Western cultures a variety of reasons, study its fundamental, it is because the two sides have different Chinese and Western cultures, different historical backgrounds, will inevitably bring about peoples thinking, behavior, and many other differences, or even conflict, here we come specifically look at What are the main reason. 2.1 The differences in thinking patterns Culture will affect peoples views and understanding of the outside world of things, different countries have different cultures, so there must be differences in thinking patterns, which is in the Eastern and Western culture has been particularly evident among. Western cultures focus on logic and analytical thinking, while the Oriental culture of thinking is to show integrity intuition, which is also the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture and thinking. Because of this the impact of traditional culture, Chinese people are often special attention to intuition and pay attention to recognize the process of experience and feeling, often in exchanges of experience and feeling to this to have relieve people. Compared with the Western mode of thinking, the Chinese people of this mode of thinking has obvious broad and vague nature of the passage of time, will develop a mindset that can be interpreted as recognition and to simplify the classification of things outside the process of perception. In essence, mindset, often ignore the individual differences of things, exaggerate a particular social group associated with the other cognitive attitudes, often with emotional and accompanied by a fixed creed. In all the set, some fixed potential is correct, while others are wrong, will directly affect the cross-cultural communication, resulting in communication failures. The specific meaning of a code of conduct refers to socially accepted by the ethical standards and codes of conduct, simply, is to tell people what to do and not do as a norm. People of different cultural background in communication, we often occurs a phenomenon is to apply its own code of conduct for the society to determine the reasonableness of each others behavior, due to differences in norms of both sides, often misleading, offensive or even worse results. For example, tapping the Chinese people, said the head of a child in a friendly, while in Western countries, this is a great lack of respect for the practice of children, parents would have very angry. So, in a cross-cultural communication is able to correctly identify and apply a code of conduct is to ensure the smooth progress of cross-cultural communication an important factor. To safeguard the smooth progress of cross-cultural communication, we must understand each others codes of conduct, in particular, what conduct is pr ohibited, the best way is to follow the principle of Romans do. 2.3 The values of different Peoples communicative competence is the process of socialization produced inevitably and values together. Every culture has its own unique value system, this system can help people distinguish between beauty and ugliness, good and evil, this is the peoples philosophy of life, moral standards and code of conduct. But it can not be divorced from the specific culture of the existence of criteria for judging every culture is different, this culture that it is good, another culture may think that bad, but they are in their own culture, and their existence within the system is reasonable, must not be understood as a standard of value is advanced, while another standard of value behind. In Chinese and Western cultures, for example, in Chinese culture, people respected modest chirye, the pursuit of adaptable and do not like assertive or aggressive, and social trends are often blocked too prominent individuals, are the so-called line above the masses, people will be non of. In Chinese culture , the collective orientation of the dominant, the pursuit of personal development is seen as a serious individualism, is bound to be condemned. The Western culture is very much advocating individualism, adaptable is seen as a lack of entrepreneurial performance, are lazy, incompetent synonymous for society and individuals are not taken. Human-based thinking is rooted in their hearts, people advocating independent thinking, independent judgments, relying on their ability to achieve their personal interests, and that the supremacy of individual interests. 2. Comparison study from the perspective of Advertisement Language and culture are inseparable. Each nationals special culture mode comes out of the speech and behavior of that race by all means. They use their own language to record the things happened by them. The advertisement is a kind of manifestation of culture, its under the influence and restrict of local culture. National culture influences and restricts the development and expression of advertising language which is the core content of advertisement .advertising language contains and reflects the social culture. Language exists in the community and with the development of society and development, and culture among the definite role to play. A philosophy idea, thinking mode of race, the cultural mental state, moral concept, life style, customs and habits, social system, religion and faithetc, will produce a function to the advertisement language by all means. No matter how the advertising art develop, as long as it is a popular method of communication involved, it will never take p art from language , language will be the most important and effective communication tool. Advertisement through the performance function of language to describe the image of product, express the taste sensibility and make an introduction of related products knowledge lively and specifically. However, the current language is not merely the carrier of products; it adjusts tradition and modern culture factors to make them carry more contents richer than it. In fact, the advertisement language of the social culture reflection is easily comprehended and accepted by people, this can promote the effect of advertisement. Take cognizance of this, make great effort to discuss the inside relation of national culture and advertisement language, it has important function to create and design the advertisement language which matches the basic principle of advertisement expression and suites particular national cultural characteristic. Each advertisement language has its trace of social national c ulture, according to every nations thinking mode, mental characteristic, living custom, value judgment ,even the political belief, social system to consider an advertisement creation, in order to keep with native son taste, match native son mindset has already been earnestly practiced by numerous advertisement plan personnel. The influence of Chinese and Western culture on advertising language is various, The Chinese and Western advertising language also reflect the Chinese and Western culture in many ways. The company of American PG named its shampoo pert-plus in the United States, being named perjoice in the Asia, and its Chinese name is float soft to cater for Chinese market, and it can explain a problem very much. Owing to the differences of Chinese and Western culture, the representation form of Chinese and Western advertisement is diverse, advertising language also manifests different culture value and thinking mode. As the culture background, customs, behavior principle, life style of Chinese and Western have great distinction. Therefore, every countrys advertisement businessman will think over the culture background of consumers. The aim of the paper is to lay out the influences to by comparing Chinese and Western advertising languages. II. The relationship between culture and language 2.1 The concept of the language and culture Culture is the all and the one which consist by social behavior, art, beliefs, customs transmission through society conduct and all other products of human work and thinking .Language is accompanied by the creation of the human society, it is the direct manifestation of thinking. Language reflects the characteristics of a nation, which not only includes the nations historical and cultural backgrounds, but holds on the nations view of life, the way of life and thinking. Culture is diverse, language is also varied (Chen, 2000:20).When the nation as a language, living areas, economic life and psychological stability community appears in the history of mankind, language is deeply stamped with the brand of a nation; it is the most typical characterization of the nation and national culture. 2.2 The relations of language and culture Language can not separate from related culture to be independent. Some sociologists believe that the language is the cornerstone of culture-no language, no culture.From another aspect, language is affected by language and reflected the culture. Language is based on the historical and cultural aspects. The nations way of thinking, values, concepts, habits and behavior will affect aesthetic language development. The formation of a national culture, development and absorption ought to pass the language to achieve. Language and culture influence each other; we should try to understand language and culture and to learn them. Language is like a mirror which reflects the entire culture, and every nation has its own culture. Language as the carrier and idea of culture, its representation form is influenced and restricted by culture. Understand their unique cultural background to understand the language features. Only more exposure to foreign cultures, familiar with different language nationa l history amorous feelings, way of life, value and national psychology, open up their vision, learn more about the cultural and language differences. Culture promotes the development of advertising language, the language of advertising propagandize its culture. Chinese and Western advertising language has its own unique form of language which contain the beautiful scenery of language and culture. The charm of the language of instruction is fully displayed in the advertisement. Meanwhile, the Chinese and Western social and cultural knowledge which contained in language make us experience the infinitude delight .Chinese and Western advertising languages let us deepen our understanding of foreign countries, and bring to the world of cross-cultural exchanges 2.3 Culture of numbers and translation Numbers are used here and there so that culture of numbers has come into being. Cultures are carried by language, and there are differences between the English and Chinese languages. The differences her I will mention is not the one of the figures calculation or arrangement, but the different phenomenon of idioms composed of numbers displayed in the two different cultures. As far as Chinese culture is concerned, there are numerous Chinese idioms and idiomatic usages with numbers, we are familiar with them: ;;,;;;,( «Ã‚ »),etc. If you want to translate these Chinese idioms into English literally, the version will not be accepted by western culture. For example, translate into one eye sees it all clearly; into seven mouths and eight tongues; into three longs and two shorts; no one will understand what does it really mean. And in English culture, there exists culture of numbers everywhere, which deals with many fields, showing that culture of numbers should be paid attention to, too. seven is holy and mysterious number which is regarded as a lucky numbers, if seven or nine times any of the odd numbers, and your age is one of them: 21,27,35,45,49,63,81, you will be considered as the one who has a dangerous time. The seventh son of ones seventh son is always accepted as an outstanding. And what is more, there are many idiomatic usages with seven in English culture. For instance, how do you translate this sentence into Chinese: Seventy times seven did I take counsel with my soul. Some one will translate it like this: ,but the right one should like this: Here seventy times seven can be translated into which comes from the Bible: Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven. From the above examples we can see that, either Chinese or English idioms with numbers, we should translate them freely for cultural differences exist everywhere. ?.The features of Chinese and Western advertisement Advertising, a kind of war as a modern business strategy and weapons, their purpose is commercial in nature, but its manifestations is a cultural and artistic.Emergence and development of advertising is the inevitable product of social development, the same time, is also a product of culture. Advertisement is the special performance of modern culture spirit. As a means of reflecting the reality, advertising language also is the component of culture. Advertisements adjust peoples activity or bring the society effect into play. Advertisement is a multi-language arts conveying information to people and using language for the carrier .Therefore, the advertising language should be simple and easily understood, fluency and clear, we should also pay attention to the rhetoric manner at the same time. Chinese and Western advertisement cited a variety of rhetoric to achieve the effect of merchandise promotion, and consumers are not consciously deepened the impression of the product after gaini ng the spirit edifying and enjoying aesthetic feeling, arousing peoples desire to buy it , such as antithesis, Hyperbole, Parody, metaphor, rhyme and repeatedly. Etc Owing to the differences of Chinese and Western culture, the representation form is diverse. Advertising language also manifests different culture values and thinking mode. Chinese and Western culture has large different culture background, customs, behavior conduct and way of life. Thus, advertisers will no doubt consider the demands of consumer through their cultural background. There I list some examples of advertisement to compare and analyze how the Chinese and Western national culture influence their advertising language: 3.1 Different Philosophy concept The Chinese nation has insists that the heaven and human units as the harmonious one. For example: something unexpected may happen any time, I have life insurance (The Peoples Insurance Company of China).This ad indicates that people are not afraid of accident because the people have insurance. The accident and insurance is a unit and are dispensable. That the business loves customs is showed in this ad and it will come to an agreement between them. At last the goal of the ad comes into truth. . But in western culture they insist the standpoint of pluralistic. They pay attention to diversity and changes of material, emphasis specially on the change and difference of the nature ,stressed that personal freedom, self-development and personal enterprise. The biggest different between harmonious and pluralists if that the pluralists is not limited. Look at this English ad:Olympus, No limits. There is little you cant be with the Olympus Zoom Lens Reflex series. The all-in-X cameras that wont limit your creative ability. (Olympus camera). The camera have one more features make photographs produce different then to reflect individual creativity is in the continuing development and is not limited in this ad. The advertisements show the ultimate challenge and seek freedom can greatly stimulate consumer desire so enthusiastic consumption. 3.2 Different cultural values-oriented Chinese cultural has a long history and the alcohol cultural is significant. To illustrate the quality of goods, they attempt to explain how long the water life by quotating the history. For example: (1) Legend quality, Century ZHANG YU.( ZHANG YU Tokay) (2) Tang palace drink, JIAN NAN CHUN (JIAN NAN CHUN Drink) Those two alcohols long history were given expression to only sentences, showing the deep feeling toward consumers, narrowing the gap between the products and consumers. The Western countries insisted the short term oriented culture; the main reason is the history is shorter than China. They dont do the business like Chinese who often use the factors of history and tradition, but use the strong and direct marketing strategy (hard sale), a product of the immediate results as a selling point. For example: go and get it at once, buy it , fit it well, take action right now, call now etc. is the common use in foreign ads . Value is the different views and attitudes of people regarding the matter. China is a traditional agricultural economy society, it is said that Chinese cultural system emphasized the collectivism and authoritative character, using the natural value orientation. This ad is a manifestation of this feature of Chinese culture: HUA LI killing mosquito tool-silence without mosquito dedication. This ad was excellent for using the partial tone of mosquito and listen. It builds the image of unknown to public dedication of products and corporation. To praises of the heroes of our community who quietly worked hard, this identity arouses the resonance in the minds of vast consumers. But in the Western capital society, individualism?equality and the dominant natural were the orientation ,they stress personality differences. This can be seen from many American ads products, there are many differences trying to explain from, even in the absence of any differences as well. In the United States ads, there is a popular phrase, it would be: to create different. For example: One airline painted the vivid colors on the airframe in order to catch peoples eye. In fact, the plane and service of other airplane company are not much different. 3.3 Different cultural psychology Advertiser often reflecting takes me the psychology and tries to appear the customers. Ads reflected the cultural psychology of language is quite common. Such as:1?congratulate to make a pile to welcome new year, have long luck Goldlion (Goldlion wearing advertisement); 2?WEI LI washing machine, dedicated to a mother. (WEI LI washing machine); the advertising language cater to the cultural psychology of Chinese, has persuaded function. Good fortune?salary?longevity ?happy and wealth were the symbol of Chinese traditional culture. Chinese have the psychology of hearing nice words, so many products related to the common use show menu of the family affection. For example: A lot of good luck, a lot of satisfaction (FU MAN DUO instant noodles) and A bowl nice glue ball round and round , a good reunion after eating (a advertisement of Chinese glutinous rice flour) are two types examples which emphasis Chinese value. In contrast, the Western culture takes more emphasis on independence and i ndividuality; their ads pay more attention to character display, ideas and humor. Kodak film and your family happiness Is a popular advertisement in Chinas market, but its ads in U.S is a picture of one boy holding ponchos in one hand, and the other standing on a sword with the statements. He just killed his last dragon. Kodak keeps happiness for Chinese, keep the feat for American. The whole world has a common human emotion, such as kinship, friendship and love, but