a study on application and social influence of euphemism in english商务英语本科学位论文文档格式.docx

a study on application and social influence of euphemism in english商务英语本科学位论文文档格式.docx

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系（部）：

经济管理系

专业：

商务英语

指导教师：

开题时间：

2009-04-10

完成时间：

2009-11-08

2009年11月08日

目录

毕业设计任务书…………………………………………………1

毕业设计成绩评定表……………………………………………2

答辩申请书……………………………………………………3-5

正文……………………………………………………………6-17

答辩委员会表决意见……………………………………………18

答辩过程记录表…………………………………………………19

课题AStudyonApplicationandSocialInfluenceofEuphemisminEnglish

一、课题（论文）提纲

0.引言

1.委婉语的表达方法

1.1.转喻

1.2.隐喻

1.3.类比

1.4.拟人化

1.5.绕语

2.委婉语的运用

2.1避讳

2.2出于礼貌

3.委婉语的社会影响

4.结束语

二、内容摘要

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，并着重从修辞手法，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”，“出于礼貌”两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。

三、参考文献

[1]薛永.英语委婉语的特征、构成及种类[J].徐州教育学院学报,2003年

[2]马漪云.浅谈英语中的委婉语及其运用[J].山西农业大学学报,2005年

[3]冯翠华.英语修辞大全[M].北京:

外语教学与研究出版社,1995年

[4]向仍东.浅析英语委婉语的特征、构成及作用[J].长沙大学学报,2005年

[5]郑晓晖.‘从委婉语’的构造看其语义特征[J].荆州职业技术学报,2004年

[6]刘驰.英语委婉语的形成与交际功能[J].青海师范大学学报（哲学社会科学版）2003年

AStudyonApplicationandSocialInfluenceofEuphemisminEnglish

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Abstract:

Languagecommunicationisanimportantmethodtomaintainsocialrelationship,sopeopleoftenusetheindirectorpleasantexpressionsintheplaceofthoseconsideredunpleasant,rudeoroffensiveincommunication.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Itreflectssomekindsofcorrespondingculturaltraditions.Thispapermainlyfocusesonthewaysofexpression,andthesocialinfluenceofeuphemisminEnglish.AndthefirstpartelaboratesuponthedifferentexpressionsofeuphemisminEnglish,dividedintotwoparts:

figureofspeech,semanticmethod.Andthenitmakesstudytheapplianceofeuphemismontwofunctions:

avoidance,courtesy.Thendiscussesthepositiveandnegativeinfluencesofeuphemism.Toknowthesecouldhelpustounderstandthemodeofthinking,socialvalues,moralconcepts,andculturaltraditionsinEnglish-speakingcountry,andcouldimproveourlanguagecommunicativeability.

Keywords:

Euphemism；

application；

socialinfluence；

positive；

negative

Introduction

EuphemismisoriginallyfromGreek,meaning,“speakwithgookwords”.“eu”means“wellorsoundingwell”;

“pheme”means“speech”.ItsdefinitioninOxfordEnglishDictionaryis“（exampleofthe）useofpleasant,mild,orindirectwordsorphrasesinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectones.”

Theappearanceofeuphemismisbasedontworeasons:

oneaimstotaketheplaceof“taboo”.Whentaboogivingupatabooword,peoplewillfindanothernewonetotaketheplaceofit,whichcreatesaeuphemism.Theotheraimstoavoidoffensivenessduringthecommunication.Itisafigureofrhetoricbywhichanunpleasantoroffensivethingisdescribedorreferredtobyamilderterm.

InEnglishlanguage,euphemismiswidelyusedinthedailycommunications.Inordertoachievetheaimof“taboo”,itisusedtoavoidtheunpleasantthing;

inordertoachievetheaimof“politeness”,itisusedtoavoidtheinelegantthings,whicharethetwosocialpsychologicalbasisoftheemergenceofeuphemism.Euphemismisoneoftheimportantpartsoffigureofspeech.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Euphemisminusediffersfrompersontoperson,fromprofessiontoprofession,evenfromclasstoclass,That’swhysometimesthemeaningofsomeeuphemismswillpuzzleyouifyoudonotknowthebackgroundofEnglishculture.TograsptheEnglisheuphemismcannotonlyhelpusopenoureyes,butstrengthenourabilityofreadingcomprehension.ThispaperaimstodiscusstheapplicationofeuphemisminEnglishandtomakeacknowledgeofitssocialinfluence,whichcouldhelpususeeuphemisminacorrectway.

1.Waysofexpressingeuphemism

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）Touserawmaterialstotaketheplaceoffinishedproducts.Forinstance,“poppy”isakindofflower,butitalsorefersto“opium”.4）Tousecharacteristicstotaketheplaceofobjects.Forexample,“hello”isagreetingword,anditisalsoaeuphemismfor“prostitute”becauseprostitutesoftenusethiswordtosolicitthewhoremasters;

“bloodandiron”isaeuphemismfor“violence”.

Sometimes,someeuphemismsarefrequentlyusedinsteadoftheoriginalwords;

peoplegraduallyforgettheireuphemisticidentities.Theyarenotusedintermsofeuphemismsbuthavetheirownindependentmeanings.Forexample“poppy”,nowifyoulookupthiswordinthedictionary,youcanfindthemeaningof“opium”,ithaslostitseuphemisticfunction.And,ifyoudonotknowthebackground,youcannotknowthemeaningof“Napoleon”and“Borstal”.Therefore,wecanseetheimportanceofknowingthebackgroundofEnglishculture.Itcanhelpyoutorecognizeandunderstandtherealmeaningofeuphemismandmakegooduseofit.

1.2.Metaphor

Tousemetaphorcaneasilyavoidtheoffensivethings.Manyeuphemismsfor“death”werecreatedbywayofmetaphor,suchastobehomeandfree,togotosleep,torestinpeace,tobeatrest,togotoHeaven（orParadise）.Moreexamplesare:

aged→sunsetyears,todegenerate→togoastray;

themoneyofbribery→grease;

handcuffs→bracelets.

1.3.Analogy

Intheeuphemismsforoccupationpeopleoftenuseanalogy,whichmakesthehumblenamemoreelegant,Forexample,“chef”isaeuphemismfor“cook”.ItisborrowedfromFrenchword“chefdecuisine”.“Beautician”refersto“hairdresser”;

“garbologist”refersto“garbagecollector”;

“mortician”refersto“undertaker”.Therealsoappearedsomebeautifulnamesforbarbershop:

hairsalon,beautyparlour,andstylistparlour.

1.4Personification

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.

1.5.Periphrasis

Itisanexpressionofbeatingaroundthebush.Thoughitisamuddledacting,itsaimistoavoidoffendingothers,andtobemorepolite.Suchwayofspeakingishumorous,sweetandagreeable,suchastodie→tocloseone’seyes,fart→windfrombehind;

trousers→nethergarments.Teachersoftenusethisexpressiontoavoidthestudents’andtheirparents’awkwardness.Forexample,“cheat”isdescribedas“needinghelpinlearningtoadheretorulesandstandardsoffairplay”;

“steal”iscalled“needinghelpinlearningtorespectthepropertyrightsofothers”;

“dirty”iscalled“belackofproperhealthhabits”.

2.TheapplicationofEuphemism

EuphemismiswidelyusedinAmericaandBritain.Ithasalonghistory.Neweuphemismsemergeinanendlessstream.Accordingtoitsappliedfunctions,I’dliketodivideitintothreeparts:

Avoidance,CourtesyandDisguise.Throughstudyingthethreefunctions,wecanunderstandthewesternsociety’sviewonvalueandmorality.

2.1Namingtaboo

TheearliestsubjectofEuphemismisreligious.Theconceptionoftabooisdeep-rootedinpeople’smind,anditisnoteasytoremove.TheappearanceoftaboocoulddatebacktoancientGreekandancientRoman.Inhuman’seyesGodownsasuperpowerthatcouldcontroleverything.Becausefearingofthesecretpower,Peopleuseeuphemismtoavoidmentioningtheguilty,unpleasant,rudeoroffensivewords,whichplaysaroleofpurifyinglanguages.SOwecanrealizethenecessityoftheculturalinfiltrationinlanguagecommunicationandwemustpayattentiontothesocialinfluenceofeuphemism.Euphemismisoftencausedinspeakingofthingsthatarepainfulanddistressingtothinkabout.Deathisoneofexpressions.Theeuphemismsfordeathareawidelyuseditem,especiallywhenitconcernsone’sownfamiliesandfriends.Ithasalotofexpressions.Mostwesternersavoidtalkingaboutsomeseriousdiseases.Forinstance,“terminallyill”isaeuphemismfor“cancer”;

Peopleoftenuseinitialingtoavoidtalkaboutsomediseasesdirectly,suchasAIDS（AcquiredImmuneDeficiencySyndrome）;

BigC（Cancer）;

VD（VenerealDisease）etc.

Wecanalsousesynonymandantonymtoinstead.Forexample,“tight”isusedinsteadof“stingy”;

“thrift”isusedinsteadof“economical”,“defecate”replaces“shift”and“urine”replaces“piss”.And“mad”isreplacedby“crazy”,“insane”,and“lunatic”.Sucheuphemismaimstousetheappreciativetermtotaketheplaceofthederogatoryterm.

Howevertheantonymisusethecontrarytermtoexpressthesamemeaning,butitcouldbemoreusefulthansynonyminreplacingthetabooandmakepeoplemoreunderstandableandcomfortable.Wecouldcallstupidpeopleunwisepeople.“Afatchance”means“