委婉语英语论文范本Word文档下载推荐.docx

委婉语英语论文范本Word文档下载推荐.docx

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comparison

摘要：

委婉语是中英语言中共同的一个语言现象,委婉语在一定程度上是中西方社会和文化的一个缩影。

本文就中英委婉语对各自文化中的传统,发挥的作用等进行了简单的探讨,以及了解东西方委婉语的文化异同,这将有益于清除跨文化交际中的障碍,促进文化交流。

关键词：

委婉语与语言；

文化；

功能；

比较

Contents

bstract

I.Introduction………………………………………………………………

（1）

II.Language,CultureandEuphemism………………………………………

（2）

2.1LanguageandEuphemism……………………………………………………

（2）

2.2CultureandEuphemism………………………………………………………（3）

III.Functionsofeuphemisminlanguageandculture………………（3）

3.1FunctionsofEuphemism……………………………………………………（3）

3.1.1AvoidingTaboo…………………………………………………………（3）

3.1.2ShowingPoliteness………………………………………………………（4）

3.1.3ConcealingTrut…………………………………………………………（4）

3.1.4Beautification…………………………………………………………（5）

IV.ThecomparisonbetweenChineseandEnglishinthefieldoflanguageandcultureandfromEuphemisms………………………………（5）

4.1InTermsofLanguage…………………………………………………………（5）

4.1.1LexicalDevice…………………………………………………………（5）

4.1.2PhoneticDevice…………………………………………………………（6）

4.1.3RhetoricalDevice………………………………………………………（7）

4.2InTermsofCulture……………………………………………………………（7）

4.2.1DifferentReligions………………………………………………………（7）

4.2.2DifferentPractices……………………………………………………（8）

4.2.3DifferentConnotationsofOld…………………………………………（9）

V.Conclusion…………………………………………………………………（9）

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………（10）

I.Introduction

NowwehavejoinedWTOandwewillorganizetheOlympicGamesinBeijingin2008.Wealsohavemorechancestoholdworld-widemeetings,activities,etc.Therefore,wewantexchangewithforeignereasilythatweshouldknewtheircultureandlanguagemoreandmore.EuphemismisexistinChineseandEnglish.ThereisnodenyingthefactthateuphemismisaLanguageandcultureappearance,itcanhelpusunderstandeasilyforothers.SoIwillstudythecultureandlanguagefromEuphemism.

Ineverysocietyandculturetherearecertainthingsthatarenotsupposedtobeseparableormentioneddirectly.Afairnumberofwordsarelabeledasfrivolous,vulgar,oratleastinconsiderate.Butincommunication,forbettermaintainingsocialrelationshipandexchangingopinions,peoplehavetoresorttoakindoflanguage,whichcanmakedistastefulideasseemacceptableorevendesirable.Pstein（1985:

5）Thistypeoflanguageisdefinedas"

euphemism"

inlinguisticsanditcomesinavarietyofformsandisusedforavarietyofreasons.

Unlikeotherfigurativelanguagedevices,forexample,themetaphorofpoetryorprose,euphemismaimstosurpriseandentertain（Lee,1966）,strivestoavoidoffencebymeansofcircumlocution.Asacommunicativeskill-"

tellingitlikeitisn'

t,"

（Time,1978）,euphemismaboundsinourlife.Iamveryinterestedineuphemism,becauseitisnotmerelyakindoflanguagephenomenon,butalsothecarrierofEnglishandChinaculture.Assecondlanguagelearners,eventhoughyouhaveareasonablecommandofEnglish,youmayfeellostwhencomeacrosssomeeuphemism.

Muchresearchhasbeendoneoneuphemismbecauseofitsprominenceinlanguageandculture.Alotofgreatworkscameintobeingduringthestudyofeuphemism,whichlayafoundationforfurtherresearch.In1936,inhisbookTheAmericanLanguage,Americanlinguist,Mencken,fullydiscussedwhyhundredsofeuphemismshadbeenbornandbecomepopularonthebasisofAmericanhistoryandsocialculturalbackground.Hisbookisavaluablelegacyforeuphemismstudy.In1981,BritishlinguistHughRawsoncompiledADictionaryofEuphemismsandOtherDoubletalks,whichembodiestheachievementsofresearchoneuphemismsoverthedecadesbymanyBritishandAmericanlinguists.Moreimportant,initsten-page-longpreface,HughRawsonnotonlytracedthehistoryofeuphemism,butalsowidelyaccountedforcharacteristicsofeuphemismaswellasitsdefinition,classification,andscopeofuse.Theyear1983sawthepublicationofKindWords-AThesaurusofEuphemisms,compiledbyNeamanandSilver.Itisofgreatvaluetoeuphemismstudy.In1985,EnrightD.J.publishedacollectionofessaysoneuphemism,TheUsesofEuphemism,inwhichsomespecifictopicslikeeuphemismsandthemedia,euphemismsandchildren,andsexandeuphemism,etc.wereputforwardinrelationtothedifferenteuphemisticusesinthesocialfield.Lastbutnotleast,AllanandBurridgepublishedthebookEuphemismandDysphemism:

Languageusedasshieldandweapon,inwhichaninterestingperspectiveonthehumanpsycheistobegainedfromthestudyofeuphemismusedasaprotectiveshieldagainsttheangerordisapprovalofnaturalorsupernaturalbeings.ThisbookisofgreatsignificancetothestudyofEnglishEuphemismsfromthepragmaticperspective.

II.Language,Culture,andEuphemism

2.1LanguageandEuphemism

"

Euphemismsareembeddedsodeeplyinourlanguagethatfewofus,eventhosewhopridethemselvesonbeingplain-spoken,evergetthroughadaywithoutusingthem."

Therelationbetweenlanguageandeuphemismissointrinsicallyclosethatitisimpossibletostudyonewithoutananalysisoftheother.

Firstofall,languageisthevehicleofeuphemism.Tosomeextent,wecansaythatwherethereislanguage,thereiseuphemism.Inourdailylife,usuallycertainthingsarenotsaidforsomereasons.Wehavetheemploymentofeuphemismsconsciouslyandunconsciouslysoastoavoidmentioningcertainmattersdirectly,whichcanmakeunpleasantthingssoundbetterandacceptable.

Secondly,euphemismisoneformoflanguage;

wecanderiveeuphemismfromfamilytalks,officialmeetings,literarywords,scribblesonwalls,telephonetalks,televisionprograms,letters,cards,advertisements,E-mails,oralexpressandsoon.

Thirdly,asfarasthechangeofeuphemismisconcerned,euphemismhasexperiencedtheprocessofgrowth,developmentanddecline.Therefore,euphemismnotonlyexpandsandenrichesEnglishvocabularybutalsocontributestotheappropriateandeffectiveuseoftheEnglishlanguage.

2.2CultureandEuphemism

Euphemism,asanindispensablepartofeverylanguage,isamirrorofmorality,customs,politics,lifestyle,socialpsychology,etc...Euphemismitselfcannotexistwithoutsocialculturewiththeevidencethatexpressionsusedinsensitiveareastendtopickupnegativeconnotationsandbereplacedbyeuphemisms.Wearesensitiveaboutbodilyfunctions,sotherearemanyeuphemismsfor"

bathroom"

（itselfaeuphemism,replacingtheearliereuphemism"

toilet"

fromtheFrench"

toilette"

originallyaclothusedinshavingorhairdressing）.

Learningeuphemismwellmeansmorethanmerelymasteringthepronunciation,wordsandgrammar.Itmeanslearningtoseetheworldasnativespeakersofthatlanguageseeit,learningthewaysinwhichtheirlanguagereflectstheideas,customs,andbehavioroftheirsociety,andlearningtounderstandtheir"

languageofthemind"

.Therelationshipbetweeneuphemismandcultureisobvious:

euphemism,asacultural-linguisticproduct,displaysitsmultiplemappingrelationswithculture;

itchangesalongwiththedevelopmentofsociety,andtheuseofeuphemismvarieswiththevariationofthecontext.Itisareflectionofcultureandcarriesvestigialpatternsoncedominantinasociety.

III.Functionsofeuphemisminlanguageandculture

FunctionsofeuphemismareexpressclearlyinLanguageandculture.Languageandculturecommunicationisthemostimportantmeansbywhichpeoplemaintaintheirsocialrelationship.Duringtheircommunication,peoplewillinevitablyencounterunpleasantsituations.Usingdirectanddefinitelanguagetotalkaboutunpleasantnesswillundoubtedlydispleasebothsidesandpossiblyaffecttheirrelationship.

Euphemismhasbeenshoulderingthedutyof"

lubricating"

languageandsocialcommunicationsinceitsproduction.Seenthroughthisangle,euphemismismorethanarhetoricaldevice.It'

sacommunicativemeans.Sowhenitcomestothefunctionofeuphemism,werefertothecommunicativefunction.

3.1FunctionsofEuphemism

3.1.1AvoidingTaboo

Neamanetalpoints（1990:

130）outthetwochiefsocialpsychologicalbasesfortheproductionofeuphemism,oneistaboo,andtheotherispoliteness.

Toviolatethetaboowillautomaticallycauseharmtotheviolatororhis/herfellows.Inmanycultures,thenamesofgodsanddevilsaretaboosaswellandpeoplemanagetoavoidmentioningthemdirectly;

otherwise,theywouldcommittheerrorofblasphemy.Accordingly,westernpeopleeuphemizethenameofSatanas"

godofthisworld"

"

HisSableMajesty"

oldgentlemaninblack"

and"

OldHarry"

.InancientChina,therealsoexistedtaboo.Peopleatthattimehadabeliefthatthepowerfulandmysteriousforces,suchaswind,rain,thunder,etc.willdecidetheirfate,sotheyhadafearaswellasadesiretoplacatethemincommunicationbyusingeuphemisms.IntheChineseclassicADreamofRedMansions“起了火”isexpressedas“走了水”.Inordernottomentionortalkaboutthetaboomatters,euphemismsareemployedassubstitutesfortaboowordsthatoftenresultinanxiety,embarrassmentandpublicshame.

Withthedevelopmentofsocietyandscience,taboohasbeenbrokencontinuouslyandwhatisnowputundertabooisnotmysteriousorfrighteningasbefore.

3.1.2ShowingPoliteness

Politenessplaysaveryimportant