English Euphemism and Its Social Finctions浅谈英语委婉语及其社会功能.docx

English Euphemism and Its Social Finctions浅谈英语委婉语及其社会功能.docx

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EnglishEuphemismandItsSocialFinctions浅谈英语委婉语及其社会功能

浅谈英语委婉语及其社会功能

【关键词】委婉语；起源；形成；社会功能

I.Introduction

Euphemismisaculturalphenomenonaswellasalinguisticconcept.Everylanguagehasitsowneuphemism,sodoesEnglish.Itisdeeplyrootedinsociallifeandhasagreatinfluenceonsocialcommunication.AsanindispensableandnaturalpartofEnglishlanguage,Englisheuphemismhasattractedpeople’sattentionforalongtime.Sinceeuphemismwascoined,ithasplayedaveryimportantroleinpeople’scommunication.Thecommunicationwithouteuphemismisunimaginable.Euphemismisusedlikelubrication,whichmakesthecommunicationgoonsmoothly.ThisthesiswillhaveanoverviewoftheoriginofEnglisheuphemism,andstateitsformationandsocialfunctions.

Asalinguisticconcept,Englisheuphemismhascloserelationshipswithwesterncultures,andittrulyreflectslivingvaluesofEnglishpeopleandtheirhistory.Euphemismisaparticularlygoodmediumforaccesstolanguageforce,whichhasprovidedaneffectiveapproachtounderstandingthehumanmind.ThestudyofEnglisheuphemismcanhelpusunderstandthewesterncultureandpromotetheinternationaldevelopmentbecauseeuphemismsarewidelyusedininternationalnegotiations.SothereisagreatneedforustostudyEnglisheuphemism,including:

itsorigin,itsformationanditssocialfunctions,etc.

II.TheDefinitionandClassificationofEnglishEuphemism

A.Definition

Euphemismisauniversallinguisticphenomenon.Nearlyineverylanguage,therearesomedisgustingwordswhichmakepeoplefeelembarrassed.Intheprocessofcommunication,theunsuitableortoodirectwordswillmakepeoplefeeluncomfortable,evenangry.Thenthereisagreatneedforustouseatactfulwaytoexpressemotion,exchangeideas.Thatistosay,touseapleasant,mildorindirectwordsorphrasestaketheplaceoftabooedwords.

Itisknownthateuphemismisaformoflanguageintentionallycreatedinsocialrelationtoachieveidealcommunication.Withoutthem,anylanguagewouldseemtobebluntandflavorless,voidofpolitenessandvividnesstosomeextent.Asatoolintheprocessofpeopleusinglanguage,euphemismisanimportantwayforpeopletodealwiththesocialrelationships.Likeakindoflubrication,euphemismenablespeopletoexpresswhatcannotbeuttereddirectlyandensurescommunicationtobecarriedsmoothly.Itisalinguisticstrategyincivilizedsocietyforavoidingtaboo.Itisunimaginableifthereisnoeuphemismindailycommunication.

Theword “euphemism”isderivedfromtheGreekword “euphemismos”,whichmeans “fairspeech”.Theprefix “eu”means “good,soundwell”and “pheme”means “saying”or “speech”.Andthustheliteralmeaningof “euphemism”is “tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”.Thatistosay,euphemismisusedasanalternativetounpleasantexpression,inordertoavoidpossiblelosingface,eitherthespeaker’sface,orthefactoftheaudience,orofthethirdparty.Thisunpleasantexpressionmaybetabooed,fearsome,orforsomeotherreasonsthatspeakerscan’torintendnottousesomecertainexpressiondirectlyonsomeoccasions.InWebster’sEncyclopedicUnabridgedDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguageeuphemismisthesubstitutionofamild,indirect,orvagueexpressionforonethoughtsubstituted.RawsonBlunt,aBritishwriter,definedeuphemismasagoodfavorableinterpretationofabadword.EncyclopediaBritannica（1994）alsodefineseuphemismasafigureofspeechinwhichsomethingofanunpleasant,distressingorindelicatenatureisdescribedinlessoffensiveterms.

Fromtheabovementioned,wecouldclearlyseethateuphemismischaracterizedasavoidancelanguageandevasiveexpression.Thespeakersusewordsorexpressionsasaprotectiveshieldagainsttheangerordisapprovalofnaturalorsupernaturalthings.Itisoneformoflanguageandalinguisticphenomenon.

B.Classification

Generallyspeaking,therearetwokindsofEuphemisms:

oneisthetraditionaleuphemism,whichisrelatedwiththetaboowords,suchasfour-letterwords,death,illness,poor,old,etc.Theotheristhestylisticeuphemism,whichisnotconnectedwiththetaboowords.Itisthe “diplomatic”wayofusingalessoffensiveorlessdirectwordorphraseorsayingtoreplacesomethingunpleasantorharsh.Itiskindoftactfulexpression.Itisprimarilyusedinoccupation.Wecanfindsuchwordsinsomeairlinecompanies:

deluxeclassorpremiumclassmeansthefirstclass,whilethefirstclassmeansthesecondclass,andbusiness/economic/touristclassreferstothethirdclass.Moreover,weshouldpaymoreattentiontothecharacteristicsofeuphemism.Beinglookedhorizontally,differentcountrieshavedifferenteuphemisms.Forexample ,thelunarcalendarin1933issymbolizedbytherooster.Whyisitaroosterinsteadofacock?

BecauseintheU.S.A.,cock,thesameasass,bull,isataboo.Beinglookedvertically,differenteuphemismshavedifferenttimesmark.BeingaspecialcharacteristicofVictorianliterature,euphemismreflectedamentalormoralwayofinwhichitwasindecoroustospeakopenlyofthelegsofatable,andofwhichtheverywordunmentionablesisarevealingsymbol.Beforethat,especiallyinthenovelandtheplay,literaturewassufficientlyoutspoken,andwritersduringthepresentcenturyarecertainlynotbackward,incallingaspade.

III.TheOriginsofEnglishEuphemism

A.TheReligiousOriginofEnglishEuphemism 

TheearliestEnglisheuphemismscomefrom “taboo”.Theword “taboo”comesfromTogan,akindofPolynesian.Itindicatesevasivelanguageoraction.1TheemergenceofEnglisheuphemismistomeettheneedofavoidingtaboos.Inprimitivesociety,peoplecouldn’texplainsuchthingsasailmentandsomesupernaturalphenomena. “Peoplehaveconfusionbetweenthenameofthethingsandthingsthemselves.Thenameisviewedasanextensionofthings.Justastheidiomsays, ‘Speakofdevilandheappears’.Naturallythewordsorphrasesrelatedtosuchthingsbecometaboos.”Intheancienttimes,peoplehadblindfaithinghostsandGodstheyrespected.Theywhisperedandevenfearedthemsotheydidnotdaretoaddresstheirnamesdirectly.TheythoughtitprofanetonameGod.Thereforethenamesofgodsbecometheearliesttaboos.Tospeaknamesofgodswastoevokethedivinitywhosepowerthenhadtobeconfronted.Suchdangerouspracticeswerereservedforpriestsskillsinnegotiatingwiththesupernatural.Sotheusualwaytoavoidistoemployeuphemisms.Therefore,forthereligiousneed,alotofeuphemismsaboutreligionemerged.Forexample,inordernottodesecrateGod,peopleinEnglish-speakingcountryalwaysusesomeothernameforGodinsteadofcallingdirectly,suchas “Adonai,theAlmighty,Caesar’sCruth,theCreater,Dod,Gad,Land,Lawks,Lawd.”2Theoppositesideofgodisdevil,whichismoreterribleforpeople.Whenpeoplerefertothem,theytendtousesucheuphemismstoreplace:

D,theBigD,theEvilone,theBlackone,theGoodman,Jesse,Oldboy,Ourfather,Lordoflords,Kingofkings,theLightoftheworld,etc.3 

Fromtheabovementioned,wecanfindthatreligionbringsmanyeuphemistictermsinthereligiousmatter,especiallythenamingandaddressingofGodtothelanguage.

B.TheRacialandNationalOriginsofEnglishEuphemism

Itisknowntoall,thephenomenonofracialdiscriminationisdeeplyrootedinAmericainwhich “equalopportunity”isflatteredbyAmericanwhitepeopleasanequalrightenjoyedbyeveryone.Duetothepressureofsocialpublicopinion,althoughsomewhitesdiscriminatetheblackfromtheirheart,theywillnotexposethiskindofprejudiceinpublic.Meanwhile,fewpeopledaretohumiliateandpersecuteblackspubliclyfornoreasonatall.Inotherwords,thewayofdiscriminationbecomestactful.Therearemanyeuphemismsemergingforthisreason.Inthe1930s, “nigger”isstillaneutralnouninEngland,andhasnomeaningofhumiliatingblacks.Butsincethiswordhastheobviousmeaningofdiscriminatingtheblacks,mostofpeopleinEnglandandAmericansusesomeothereuphemisticwords,suchas “coloredblack”instead.Whentalkingaboutsomeotherraces,itdoesnotoftenusethedirectwordsthatarerelatedtocolor.Peopleoftenusesomeeuphemisticexpressions,suchasthegeographicnames.E.g.Asianreplacestheyellow.

IV.TheFormationofEnglishEuphemism

ThewaysofformingEnglisheuphemismarevarious,whichcanbeanalyzedfromdifferentangles.Inthisthesis,Imakeanalysesinthefollowingfivesways.

A.PhoneticMeans

Englishisphonographiclanguage;sophoneticmeanscanwidelyusedtocoineuphemism.Someunpleasantsoundsorword-formsarebeomittedorhidden.Phoneticmeansmainlyreferstophoneticomissionandphoneticdistortion.

1.PhoneticOmission

Itreferstoomittingsomepartsofthesoundtomakepronunciationshorterandlessunpleasant.

E.g.lavatory—lav    ex-convict—ex-con

Hypodermic—hypo  brassiere—bra

2.PhoneticDistortion

Inordertoavoidviolatingtaboo,thespeakersmakesomealterationinspellingandpronouncingofthetaboowords.Forexample,veryreligiouspeopleconsideritasinofusingthenameofGodinadisrespectfulway,so “God!

”wasdistortedto “Gosh/Golly!

”Itgenerallyincludes:

（1）abbreviation,e.g.tuberculosis—TBJesusChrist—JC  

（2）Reduplication,whichreduplicatesomesyllablesorlettersofthewordstoformeuphemism.E.g. “sis-sis”, “pee-pee”or “wee-wee”replace “piss” （3）Distortionofthepronunciation,forexample, “bloody”ispronouncedas “blurry”.

B.LexicalMeans

1.VagueMeaning

Vaguemeaningreferstothegeneralizationofthespecificmeaningstoalleviatethebadeffectoffear,shameoranxiety. 

E.g. “You’velostlicense”insteadof “yourflyis