A Study of Euphemism in Business English.docx

A Study of Euphemism in Business English.docx

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AStudyofEuphemisminBusinessEnglish

本科毕业论文

题目：

AStudyofEuphemisminBusinessEnglish

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专业：

英语

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Contents

1.Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------1

2.Euphemism-------------------------------------------------------------------1

2.1TheDefinitionofEuphemisminEnglish--------------------------------1

2.2TheCausesofEuphemism-------------------------------------------------3

2.2.1Taboo-----------------------------------------------------------------------4

2.2.2Politeness------------------------------------------------------------------4

2.2.3Concealing-----------------------------------------------------------------4

3.ThewaysofUsingEuphemisminBusinessEnglish-------------------5

3.1NegativeWeakening-------------------------------------------------------5

3.2PassiveVoice---------------------------------------------------------------6

3.3SubjunctiveMood----------------------------------------------------------7

4.TheCommunicativeFunctionsofEuphemisminBusinessEnglish--8

4.1ToLightentheAtmosphere------------------------------------------------8

4.2ToSavingFaceofBothSidesofCooperation--------------------------9

4.3ToEstablishaLong-termFriendlyBusinessRelationship------------9

5.Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------10

Abstract

Euphemismisalinguisticrhetoricphenomenonandaculturalphenomenon.Itisasubstitutionforanexpressionthatmayoffendorsuggestsomethingunpleasanttothereceiver.EuphemismisoftenusedinbusinessEnglishtoexpressdifferentopinionsmoregentlyandpolitely.Ithasthefunctionoflubricantincommunication.Itcannotonlyimprovenegotiator’slanguageskills,butalsoembodyhisculturaloutlookandeasethetensesituationinnegotiation.Inbusinessfield,peopletendtouseeuphemisminordertoachievesomespecialpurposeslikeexpressingdisagreementormakingacomplimentandsoforth.ThispapermainlydiscussthecommunicativefunctionsandwaysofusingeuphemismsinbusinessEnglishsothatthebusinesspersoncanhaveabetterunderstandingandappreciatetheeuphemisticexpressioninthehopeforprovidingpeopleforsmoothcommunication.

Keywords:

euphemism；businessEnglish;communicativefunction;waysofusing

Euphemisms

摘要

委婉语是一种修辞现象,也是一种文化现象。

它是一种避免冲突和冒犯的替代表达方式。

委婉语通常用在商务英语中以更平和更礼貌的表达不同的观点。

委婉语在交流中充当润滑剂的作用，它不仅可以提高谈判者的语言技能，而且也体现了谈判者的文化观并且可以缓解紧张的谈判局势。

在商业领域，人们往往使用委婉语来表达不同看法、赞美等等。

本文主要讨论商务英语中委婉语的交际功能和委婉语在商务英语中的表达方式，以使谈判者能够充分理解并运用委婉表达来实现交流的通畅。

关键字：

委婉语；商务英语；交际功能;委婉语的用法

AStudyofEuphemisminBusinessEnglish

1.Introduction

SincejoiningtheWTO,thecommunicationbetweenChinaandEnglish-speakingcountriesisbecomingmorefrequent.Especiallyinbusinesscorrespondenceandnegotiations,businessEnglishismoreandmorepopular.Businesspersonscancreateagoodatmosphereofbusinessactivitieswithproperwordsandcourtesysothateachofthepartiesachievestheintendedpurposeoftrading.Euphemismisa"lubricant"incommunicationactivities.Byusingeuphemisms,businesspeoplepolitelyandindirectlystatetheirviewsandwishesandmakerequestsinordertocreategoodbusinessenvironmentwithequalityandconsultation.Inthatway,thetwopartnerscanestablishastablecooperativebusinessrelationship,ultimatelytheywillgettheproductpromotionandmarketdevelopment.

Inthispaper,theauthorisgoingtoclarifythecommunicativefunctionsofeuphemismandwaysofusingitinbusinessEnglish.Inthefirstpart,theauthorstartwiththedefinitionandoccurrenceofeuphemismtocertifythateuphemismismoreimportantindailylifeespeciallyinbusinesscommunication.Inthesecondpart,theauthoranalyzesthewaysofusingeuphemismsinbusinessEnglish.Inthefollowing,therearecommunicativefunctionsofeuphemism.Intheend,theauthorgivesaconclusiontoherview:

Euphemism,insomepoint,playsacrucialroleinbusinessnegotiation,andbusinesspersonsshouldpaymoreattentiontoit,sothattheycanachievemorefromit.

2.Euphemism

2.1TheDefinitionofEuphemisminEnglish

Earlyinthe16thcentury,BritishauthorGeorgeBluntfirstbringsaboutthetermeuphemism,anddefinesitas"agoodorfavorableinterpretationofabadword".EuphemismoriginallycomesfromGreek,eumeanswell,androotphememeansspeaking.Itisakindofexpressingmethodwhichaimsatmakingpeoplefeellessembarrassedbyusingsomewordswithvagueandambiguousmeaninginsteadofthosewhichmaymakepeoplefeelunpleasantandnotrespected.

Acommentatorin“TheWordsworthBookofEuphemism”byJudithS.NeamanandCaroleG.Silver,saysthat:

DidyouknowcallingapersonanIrvingmeantyouthoughthewasboring?

Howaboutknowingateno'clockscholarwasalazyortardyperson?

Thesearejustacoupleofthepolitewaystocharacterizepeoplewithoutactuallyinsultingthem.HevividlyexpressesNeamanandSilver’sidea,justassaidinTheLongmanDictionaryofContemporary:

Euphemismisauseofaplaster,lessdirectnameforsomethingthoughttobeunpleasant.

Therhetoricalviewtreatseuphemismasafigureofspeech,comfortablewords,gildedwords,cosmeticwords,mildexpression,prudishphrase,delicateterm,languageofdeceit,thedefenseoftheindefensibleetc.

“Dictionaryoflanguageandlinguistics”，writtenbyHadumodBussmann,translatedandeditedbyGregoryP.TrauthandKerstinandKazzazi,defineseuphemisminRhetoricaltrope:

Apleasantreplacementforanobjectionablewordthathaspejorativeconnotations,e.g.topassawayfor“todie”.Euphemismsarecommoninpoliticallanguage:

e.g.aperiodofnegativegrowthfor“recession”.Likehyperbole,euphemismsoftenlosetheirsemanticsignificance,sothataneweuphemismhastotakeitsplace:

e.g.graveyardbecamecemetery,andthenbecamememorialgarden.

Euphemismisauniversalphenomenonintheprocessofusinglanguage.Itisnotonlyasociallinguisticphenomenon,butalsoaculturalphenomenon.Whetherindailylifeorforeigncommunication,weallhaveverbalcommunications.Sincedifferencesexistinlivinghabitsandcustoms,anddifferentcultureshavedifferentsocialtaboos,therefore,wehavetolearntouseeuphemismstoavoidembarrassmentordispleasure.Euphemisms,indifferentbackgroundsanddifferentenvironments,adjustthelevelofcourtesytominimumthedamagetootherpartytoachieveintendedcommunicationpurposes.Euphemismsreflectavarietyofsocialpsychology,whichalsoreflectavarietyofsocialcommunicativefunctions.Euphemismshaveawiderangeofapplicationsinmanyfields,anditisveryhelpfultocarryouteffectivecross-culturalcommunications.

2.2TheCausesofEuphemism

Euphemismisthesocialpsychologyreflectedinlanguage.Differenttimesreflectdifferentsocialpsychology.Overall,therearethreereasonsfortheoccurrenceofeuphemism.

2.2.1Taboo

Euphemismistheproductoftaboo.Inearlyhumancivilization,scienceisnotdeveloped,andpeoplelackofunderstandingofnaturalphenomena.Meanwhile,religionprohibitstheuseofcertainwords,whenpeoplehavetoindicatesomethingprohibitedthattheydon’twantto,therecomestheeuphemism.Forexample,Peoplesay“theThunder”insteadofsayingZeus（thesupremerulerinancientGreek）andJupiter（thesupremerulerofRoman）.PeoplecallgodbycallingHolyOne（saint）,theSavior,OurFatherandtheAlmighty.Onewidespreadtaboowordisdeath.Peopleofdifferentlanguagesareshyaboutusing"die",Sotheyseeksomeneutralwordstoreplaceit,suchas“togotothewest,topassaway,tobreatheone’slast,bewithgod”andsoon.

2.2.2Politeness

InEasternandWesterncultures,whenpeopletalkaboutunspeakableorunrefinedtopics,theymayuseeuphemismstoreplacethem.Forexample,whenmentioningbodyparts,urine,sex,pregnancy,peopleusedeuphemisms.Theyborrow“washone’shand”,“toanswernature’scalling”torefertoexcretion.Weusuallysayaslenderratherthanaskinnywoman.Inordertopromotetheharmonioussocialcommunication,peopletrytouseeuphemisticwaytoavoidvulgarlanguage.

2.2.3Concealing

Euphemisms’hidingfunctionsmainlyoccurininternationalaffairsandnationalpolitics.Inordertoreduceunhappinesscausedbyusinglanguage,politiciansusevagueeuphemismstohidethefact,sothattheycanconcealtheirscandal.Someannouncementsandpressesalsooftenuseeuphemismstoavoidconflict.Forexample,whenturningtothestrike,peoplesay“industrialaction”toreplaceit.TheReaganadministration'staxincrease,theysayit“revenueenhancement”ratherthansaytaxincrease.

2.3ThewaysofUsingEuphemisminBusinessEnglish

Inbusinessactivities,inordertowincustomers,andstriveforgreaterinterestofspacetoachievebothpartners’intendedpurposes,euphemismisessential.InBusinessEnglish,fromtheestablishmentoftraderelationstoinquiry,offer,counteretc.,alotofeuphemismsareneededtonarrowsemantics,toparaphrase,tomakesemanticsobscuredandsoon.Toachievethisgoal,euphemismsareusedinmanyforms.Thefollowingarediscussedintheconceptofgrammar.

2.3.1NegativeWeakening

InbusinessEnglishcommunication,whenexpressingnegativeopinions,itseemsabitrecklesstousenegativewordsdirectly.It’seasytocausecontradictionandantipathy.Ifbothpartiesnegotiatewithdispleasure,it’sdifficulttoestablishalong-termfriendlybusinessrelationship.Inordertoavoidthetoughstanceandoutspokenlanguage,businesspersonshavetoconsidertheacceptanceofeachother.Inthiscase,it’sessentialforbusinesspersonstousenegativeformtopolitelycomplimentorcriticizetheotherparty.Aswith“T