Analysis of the Social Functions of English Euphemism.docx

Analysis of the Social Functions of English Euphemism.docx

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AnalysisoftheSocialFunctionsofEnglishEuphemism

Contents

Abstract1

KeyWords1

摘要1

关键词1

1.Introduction1

2.ABriefIntroductiontoEnglishEuphemism2

2.1TheDefinitionofEnglishEuphemism2

2.2TheOriginsofEnglishEuphemism3

2.3TheClassificationofEuphemisms4

2.4TheSignificanceofEnglishEuphemism5

3.TwoPragmaticTheoriesandEnglishEuphemism5

3.1PolitenessPrincipleandEnglishEuphemism6

3.2Face-savingTheoryandEnglishEuphemism7

4.TheSocialFunctionsofEnglishEuphemism8

4.1EnglishEuphemismasanAvoidanceofTaboo8

4.2EnglishEuphemismasaMeansofExpressingPoliteness10

4.3EnglishEuphemismasaMake-up12

4.4ThePoeticFunctionofEnglishEuphemism14

5.Conclusion16

Bibliography17

AnalysisoftheSocialFunctionsofEnglishEuphemism

Name:

ZhaiPeipeiNo.:

20085061138

EnglishMajorSchoolofForeignLanguages

Supervisor:

LiuShiliTitle:

Professor

Abstract:

Widelyusedbyalllayersofpeople,EnglisheuphemismhasreflectedthedistinctivenessofEnglishculture.Becauseofitsimportance,Englisheuphemismhasbeenstudiedsincethe17thcentury.ThisthesistriestostudythesocialfunctionsofEnglisheuphemismindetailwiththemethodofanalysisandalotofinstances.Itfirstlygivesanintroductiontothedefinition,origins,classificationandsignificanceofEnglisheuphemism.ThenthePolitenessPrincipleandtheFace-savingTheoryareappliedtoanalyzethereasonsunderlyingtheuseofEnglisheuphemism.Lastlybutmostimportantly,thesocialfunctionsofEnglisheuphemismarestudied.ThestudyofEnglisheuphemismespeciallythatofthesocialfunctionsbasedonEnglishculturalbackgroundsoffersusagoodwaytobeawareofEnglishcultures.

KeyWords:

Englisheuphemism;culture;socialfunctions

摘要：

英语委婉语被广泛使用，所以它能鲜明反应英国文化独特的一面。

从十七世纪开始，人们已开始关注英语委婉语。

本文意在详细论述英语委婉语的社会功能。

使用的主要方法是论证和分析。

首先，本文将介绍英语委婉语的定义、来源、分类及意义；其次，本文将引用礼貌原则和面子保全理论来揭示人们使用委婉语的原因；最后，本文将详细介绍英语委婉语的社会功能。

委婉语的研究，特别是基于文化之上的社会功能研究，能使我们了解更多的英国文化。

关键词：

英语委婉语；文化；社会功能

1.Introduction

Englisheuphemismdeliversinformationinawayof“beatingaroundthebushes”ratherthan“callingaspadeaspade”.Simplyspeaking,euphemismisusedtocreateharmonyandmakeconversationspleasantandsmooth.Asitsfunctionasalubricant,Englisheuphemismisstudiedformanycenturies.Atthe17thcentury,itissaidtobeemployedtoconcealsomeunpleasanttopics,suchasdeathandillness.Thenwiththedevelopmentinlinguistics,cultureandsociety,manyaspectsofEnglisheuphemismarestudied,suchastheusesofitinAmericanlifeinTheAmericanLanguagebyH.L.Meknen（1978）,andtherecentresearchesincludingADictionaryofEuphemismsandOtherDouble-talkbyH.Rawson（1981）.

ThisthesismainlytalksonthesocialfunctionsofEnglisheuphemisminordertodiscovermoreabouttheEnglishcultureandmakecontributiontoasmoothcross-culturalcommunication.

2.ABriefIntroductiontoEnglishEuphemism

InordertomakeusbetterunderstandthesocialfunctionsofEnglisheuphemism,thissectionpresentsabriefintroductiontoEnglisheuphemism.Itoffersanswerstothefollowingquestions.WhatisEnglisheuphemism?

Wherediditcomefrom?

Willitchangealongthecourseofhistory?

2.1TheDefinitionofEnglishEuphemism

Theword“euphemism”originatedfromtheGreekword“euphemismos”,with“eu”meaning“good”and“phemo”meaning“speech”,thewholewordmeans“goodspeech”.（Neaman,1983:

1）Thisreflectsthateuphemismsarepositiveinmeaning,incontrastwiththoserudeandunpleasantwords.

Webster’sThirdNewInternationalDictionary（1961:

657）defines“euphemism”as“apolite,tactful,orlessexplicittermusedtoavoidthedirectnamingofanunpleasantpainfulorfrighteningreality”.AndtheRandomHouseCollegeDictionary（1997,1stedition）definesitas“thesubstitutionofamild,indirectorvagueexpressionforonethoughttobeoffensive,harshorblunt.”

Thoughthedefinitionsaredifferentlyworded,theircoresarethesame,thatis,euphemismisusedtoreplacetheharshwordsinordertomakethespeechmorepleasant.

2.2TheOriginsofEnglishEuphemism

Therecorduseofeuphemismisfounduntilthe11thcentury,B.C..Bytheearly1580sGeorgeBlounttofirstpointouttheterm“euphemism”refersto“agoodorfavorableinterpretationofabadword.”（GeorgeBlountto,1580:

243）Inthatage,peoplerangedwordsintotwotypes:

“ObsceneVocabulary”,theuncourteouswordswhicheasilyoffendedothers,and“GenteelVocabulary”,thepre-existenceofEnglisheuphemism.Specifically,Englisheuphemismhasitsoriginsinreligion,raceandnation,historyandpolitics.

2.2.1Religiousorigin

Thereligiousoriginofeuphemismisrelatedwithtaboos.Taboosarewordsusuallyconnectedwithdeath,sex,bodyorgansandgods.

Ashumanbeings,weallhavefears.Afraidofdeath,theworditselfwillsurelyarousebadfeelings,soexpressionslike“passaway”,“benomore”,“restinpeace”areusedtoreplacetheword“death”.

Beingaforbiddenterritoryinreligion,sexistreatedas“impure”andisalwaysconnectedwith”sin”.Asaresult,expressionsrelatedwithsexarereplacedbyeuphemisms.Theexpression“lovechild”isusedtomean“illegitimatechild”.

Itmayseemtoberudeandignobletotalkonsomebodyorgansbluntly,sopeoplecreatesomeexpressionstorefertobodyorgans,forexample,“cheerfulgiver”for“liver”,and“spaghettifactory”for“intestines”.

Inancienttimes,limitedintheirpowerofchangingtheworld,peoplecouldnotexplainthecomplicatednaturalphenomena,sotheybelievedthatthereexistedthegodsthatcontrolledthenature.Toshowrespecttogodstheytalkedabouttheminamoreindirectway.Thegodsmightberepresentedbytheircharacteristics,forexample,“thethunderer”wasusedtonamethegodinchargeofthunders.ManyWesternersbelieveinChristianity,inordertoshowtheirloyaltytoGod,theyused“theCreator”,“theLord”and“theMaker”etc.torefertothe“God”.Afraidofspeakingofthedevil,peoplealsoavoided“devil”,thusexpressionslike“oldgentlemaninblack”and“Godofthisworld”appearedassubstitutions.

2.2.2Racialorigin

AlotofthepropernamesoftheothercountriesareusedwithnegativeconnotationsinEnglisheuphemism,forexample,“PardonmyFrench.”actuallymeans“Pleaseforgivemycurse.”,“Dutchact”means“suicide”,and“gotoEgypt”means“gotothewashroom”.AlloftheseexpressionsreflectthechauvinismandracialismoftheEnglishpeople.

Inrevengeforthis,“English”aretreatedinthesameway.Forexample,othercountriescoined“Englishdisease”tomean“syphilis”and“Englishleave”tomean“secretleave”.

2.2.3Historicalandpoliticalorigin

Inhistory,sometimeseuphemismswouldchangetheirconnotationswiththeevolutionofsociety.ThealterationofeuphemismsforAfrican-Americanhasthelargestquantityandrepresentativeness.

Beforethe20thcentury,both“black”and“Negro”hadthemeaningofAfrican-American.Tosomedegree,“Negro”wasevenmoreeuphemisticbecauseinthe18thcentury,“Negro”hadbeentheeuphemismof“slave”suchas“Negroquarter”（slavequarter）;“I’llbenomen’sNegro.”Whileintheearly19th,withtheadvocacyoftheslaveryabolition,peoplebelievedtheword“Negro”wouldmakethemrecalltheunpleasantagesofslavery,theybegantotransform“Negro”into“colored”.Nevertheless,in1960s,theAfrican-AmericanCivilRightsMovementsprungupwiththeslogan“Blackisbeautiful”.Peoplegraduallyforgotthederogatorysenseof“black”andbegantousethisword.

Accordingtotheaboveevidence,EnglisheuphemismcouldderivefromdifferentfieldsandresultinthediversityofEnglishlanguage.

2.3TheClassificationofEuphemisms

Euphemismscanbeclassifiedintotwogroups,thatis,negativeeuphemismsandpositiveeuphemisms.

Thenegativeeuphemisms,whicharealsocalledastraditionaleuphemisms,areconnectedwithtaboossuchasdiseases,death,andsex.Thenegativeeuphemismsreplacetaboosandtransfermeaningsindirectlyinavoidanceofembarrassmentandoffence.Forexample,theactofexcretionisexpressedas“toanswerthenature’scall”and“towashone’shands”etc.Asthesocialactivitiestakenbymodernpeoplearequitedifferentfromthoseintheancienttimes,alotoftraditionaleuphemismshavebeenoutofdateandhavegraduallydisappeared.

Thepositiveeuphemisms,whicharealsoknownasstylisticeuphemisms,upliftthemeaningsofwordsandmakethespeechpleasantandacceptable.Theyareusuallyusedtoshowpolitenessandrespecttotheothersortomaketheirideasmoreacceptablebypeople.Forexample,“dustman”is“sanitaryengineer”now.Withthedevelopmentofoursociety,thenumberofthepositiveeuphemismswillincrease.

2.4TheSignificanceofEnglishEuphemism

Euphemismsarelinguisticformswhichareusedtomakethecommunicationbetweenpeoplesmoothandeffective.Asthedevelopmentofhumancivilization,euphemismswillplayamoreimportantroleinlaterproblem-solving.

“Euphemismsareembeddedsodeeplyinourlanguagethatfewofus,eventhosewhopridethemselvesonbeingplain-spoken,evergothroughadaywithoutthem.”（Rawson,1995:

1）,thuseuphemizingisanimportantmeansofharmonizinginterpersonalrelationship,anditisalsoacommonphenomenoninalmostallthelanguagesandcultures.Euphemismsaresowidelyusedinsocialcommunicationthatthestudiesofthemcanhelpusknowmoreaboutthecultureandcanhelpusalotincross-culturalcommunication.

3.TwoPragmaticTheoriesandEnglishEuphemism

Englisheuphemismiswidelyusedinthesociety.Byintroducingthetwotheoriesconnectedwiththeprinciplespeopleunconsciouslyfollowinsocialactivities,wecanknowwhypeop