A comparative study of the expression of pride in English and Cantonese in Hong Kong

Abstract

 “Swallow your pride” and “bursting with pride” portray two senses of Pride. Interestingly, pride unlike simple happiness is a dual-faceted self-conscious emotion that consists of both a positive face and a negative face. Scholars have only been interested in non-verbal expressions of pride in the recent years and little is known of how the dual-faceted nature of pride is expressed in English and Cantonese. This study aims to investigate the verbal expressions of Pride and compare the expressions across English and Cantonese, to explore how pride is expressed across different achievement-based scenarios and to finally establish whether this emotion of Pride is indeed universal in its verbal expression. Interviews were done with 24 Hong Kong Cantonese – English bilingual speakers who were recruited in Hong Kong to explore the uses of Pride in English and Cantonese. The findings suggest that the expressions in English and Cantonese reflect unique differences and are not simply translations of each other. Participants are more likely to express their pride towards personal and family members‟ achievements compared to unrelated others. Altogether, there is evidence suggesting that pride is not a universal emotion when expressed verbally.