07浅谈英语委婉语及其社会影1Word文档下载推荐.docx
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Euphemism,application,socialinfluence,positive,negative
【摘要】语言交际是人类以维系社会关系的重要手段,因而人们在交际中通常避免使用引起双方不快从而损害双方关系的语言,而是采取迂回曲折的方法来表达思想,交流信息,它不仅是种语言现象,而且是社会现象和文化现象。
委婉语言体现了相应的社会文化传统。
本文主要阐述了英语委婉语的构成方法以及它的社会影响,并着重从修辞手段,语义手段,构词手段及语法手段对委婉语言作了较全面的分析,并对委婉语在交际中的语用功能和表达方式做了一些探讨,从委婉语的“避讳”功能,“礼貌”功能和“掩饰”功能三个方面探讨了委婉语在社会生活中的运用,了解委婉语在运用中的积极作用和消极作用,有助于我们更深入的了解英语国家人们的思维方式、社会价值观、道德观以及文化风俗,对于提高自身言语交际功能是十分必要的。
【关键词】委婉语;
运用;
社会影响;
积极;
消极
1.Introduction
EuphemismisoriginallyfromGreek,meaning,“speakwithgookwords”.“eu”means“wellorsoundingwell”;
“pheme”means“speech”.ItsdefinitioninOxfordEnglishDictionaryis“(exampleofthe)useofpleasant,mild,orindirectwordsorphrasesinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectones.”[1]
Theappearanceofeuphemismisbasedontworeasons:
oneaimstotaketheplaceof“taboo”.Whengivingupatabooword,peoplewillfindanothernewonetotaketheplaceofit,whichcreatesaeuphemism.Theotheraimstoavoidoffensivenessduringthecommunication.Itisafigureofrhetoricbywhichanunpleasantoroffensivethingisdescribedorreferredtobyamilderterm.
InEnglishlanguage,euphemismiswidelyusedinthedailycommunications.Inordertoachievetheaimof“taboo”,itisusedtoavoidtheunpleasantthing;
inordertoachievetheaimof“politeness”,itisusedtoavoidtheinelegantthings[2],whicharethetwosocialpsychologicalbasisoftheemergenceofeuphemism.Euphemismisoneoftheimportantpartsoffigureofspeech.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Euphemisminusediffersfrompersontoperson,fromprofessiontoprofession,evenfromclasstoclass[3],That’swhysometimesthemeaningofsomeeuphemismswillpuzzleyouifyoudonotknowthebackgroundofEnglishculture.TograsptheEnglisheuphemismcannotonlyhelpusopenoureyes,butstrengthenourabilityofreadingcomprehension.ThispaperaimstodiscusstheapplicationofeuphemisminEnglishandtomakeacknowledgeofitssocialinfluence,whichcouldhelpususeeuphemisminacorrectway.
2.Waystoexpresseuphemism
2.1.Figureofspeech
2.1.1.Metonymy.
Thatistousethegeneralwordstotaketheplaceoftheconcretewords.“Passedaway”whichrefersto“dead”belongstometonymy.Itcanbedividedintothefollowingforms:
1)tousethecontainertotaketheplaceofthethingsinthecontainer.Forexample:
“tobefondofthebottle”isaeuphemismfor“likingtodrink”.2)Tousetheentiretyinsteadofthepart.Forexample:
“abdomen”isusedtoreferto“belly”;
“limb”refersto“leg”.Forsomespecialoccasions,thepartcanbeusedinsteadoftheentirety.InAustralianEnglish“anoldhand”isaeuphemismfor“anoldprisoner”.3)Tousethetoolstotaketheplaceoftheobjects.Forexample,“pick”isatoolofpryingthelock.Itcanreferto“thief”.4)Touserawmaterialstotaketheplaceoffinishedproducts.Forinstance,“poppy”isakindofflower,butitalsorefersto“opium”.5)Tousecharacteristicstotaketheplaceofobjects.Forexample,“hellow”isagreetingword,anditisalsoaeuphemismfor“prostitute”becauseprostitutesoftenusethiswordtosolicitthewhoremasters;
“bloodandiron”isaeuphemismfor“violence”.6)Touseproperwordstoreplacetheobjects.Forexample,“napoleon”isaFrenchgoldencoinonwhichthereisNapoleon’sheadportrait.“Borstal”isanameofcountrysideinKentinBritain.Itcanalsoreferto“juveniledelinquency”.
Sometimes,someeuphemismsarefrequentlyusedinsteadoftheoriginalwords;
peoplegraduallyforgettheireuphemisticidentities.Theyarenotusedintermsofeuphemismsbuthavetheirownindependentmeanings.Forinstance,takeabove-mentioned“poppy”,nowifyoulookupthiswordinthedictionary,youcanfindthemeaningof“opium”,ithaslostitseuphemisticfunction.And,ifyoudonotknowthebackground,youcannotknowthemeaningof“Napoleon”and“Borstal”.Therefore,wecanseetheimportanceofknowingthebackgroundofEnglishculture.Itcanhelpyoualottorecognizeandunderstandtherealmeaningofeuphemismandmakegooduseofit.
2.1.2.Metaphor
Tousemetaphorcaneasilyavoidtheoffensivethings.Forexample,whereforeitisbettertobeaguestofthelaw,which,thoughconductedbyrules,doesnotmeddleundulywithagentleman’sprivateaffairs.(O.Henry,TheCopandtheAnthem)“tobeaguestofthelaw”isaeuphemismfor“tobeinprison”[4],Manyeuphemismsfor“death”werecreatedbywayofmetaphor,suchasgoingtohislonghome,tobehomeandfree,togotosleep,tosleepthelong(oreternal,never-ending)sleep,torestinpeace,tobeatrest,togotoHeaven(orParadise),tojoinone’sancestors,tobegatheredtoone’sfathers,tojointheimmortals.Moreexamplesare:
aged→sunsetyears,tobepoor→tobepinched,tohaveimpropersexualintercoursewithgirls(especiallymaiden)→todeflower;
todegenerate→togoastray;
breast→milkbottles;
catamenia→theredflag;
tobepregnant→tobeonthenest;
themoneyofbribery→grease;
tobribe→togreasesomebody’spalm;
handcuffs→bracelets.
2.1.3Personification
People’snamesareoftenusedtoreplacetaboowords.Forexample,“BigHarry”refersto“heroin”because“Harry”and“heroin”havethesameinitials.“Lavatory”alsohasmanyeuphemisticalexpressions.In19thcentury,itwascalled“myauntJones”,“Mrs.Jones”,“SirJohn”,“SirHarry”,“theHenry”,whilein20thcentury,itwascalled“jakes”,“john”etc.Butthelattercolorofpersonificationbecomesweak.Thefirstlettercanbewritteninsmallletter.Peoplejustuseitasacommonnoun.Infact,theyhavelosttheeuphemisticfunction.Therearemanyhumorouswaystoexpresscatameniaintermsofpersonification:
1)Myfriendhascome.2)Ihaveavisitor.3)Mycousins/countrycousinshavecome.4)Myauntie/grandmotherhascometostay.5)Littlesisterishere.6)I’vegotpaintersin.7)thecardinalhascome.
2.1.4.Analogy
Intheeuphemismsforoccupationpeopleoftenuseanalogy,whichmakesthehumblenamemoreelegant[5],Forexample,“chef”isaeuphemismfor“cook”.ItisborrowedfromFrenchword“chefdecuisine”.“Beautician”refersto“hairdresser”;
“garbologist”refersto“garbagecollector”;
“mortician”refersto“undertaker”.Therealsoappearedsomebeautifulnamesforbarbershop:
hairsalon,beautyparlour,andstylistparlour.
2.1.5.Ellipsis
Thatistoomittheoffensivewordswhilespeaking,suchastobeexpecting(ababy),tohave(sexual)relationswithsomebody,totakeprecautions(againstpregnancy),todepart(fromthisworld).Ofcourse,suchphrasesshouldbeputintoacertaincontext,whichcanexpressthemeaningofeuphemisms.
2.1.6.Periphrasis
Itisanexpressionofbeatingaroundthebush.Thoughitisamuddledacting,itsaimistoavoidoffendingothers,andtobemorepolite[6].Ifsomeoneaskedawomanwhethershewasknittingatinygarment,hemeantthathewonderedwhethershewaspregnant.Suchwayofspeakingishumorous,sweetandagreeable,suchastodie→tocloseone’seyes,toexpire,tobreatheone’slast;
todefecateandtourinate→towashone’shands,toeaseorrelieveoneself,todoone’sbusiness;
tocourt→togowalking;
tobepregnant→toeatfortwo;
lavatory→washroom,cloakroom;
fart→windfrombehind;
women’sunderclothes→unmentionables;
trousers→nethergarments;
askyoutogoaway→callyourcarriageforyou;
todismiss→togivesomebodythesack;
tobeinprison→toliveatthegovernment'
sexpense.Teachersoftenusethisexpressiontoavoidthestudents’andtheirparents’awkwardness.Forexample,lazinessiscalled“needingamplesupervisioninordertoworkwell”;
“cheat”isdescribedas“needinghelpinlearningtoadheretorulesandstandardsoffairplay”;
“lies”iscalled“showingdifficultyindistinguishingbetweenimaginaryandfactualmaterial”;
“steal”iscalled“needinghelpinlearningtorespectthepropertyrightsofothers”;
“beabully”refersto“havingqualitiesofleadershipbutneedshelpinlearningtousethemdemocratically”;
“dirty”iscalled“belackofproperhealthhabits”.[7]
2.2.Semanticmethod
2.2.1.Synonym
Forexample,“tight”isusedinsteadof“stingy”;
“thrift”isusedinsteadof“economical”,“defecate”replaces“shift”and“urine”replaces“piss”.And“mad”isreplacedby“crazy”,“insane”,and“lunatic”.Sucheuphemismaimstousetheappreciativetermtotaketheplaceofthederogatoryterm.
2.2.2.Negation
Sucheuphemismusesthecontrarytermtoexpressthesamemeaning,anditcouldbemoreusefulthansynonyminreplacingthetabooandmakepeoplemoreunderstandableandcomfortable.We