英语学 期 论 文.docx

英语学 期 论 文.docx

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英语学期论文

南华大学外国语学院

学期论文

题目：

Studyofeuphemism

班级:

学号:

学生姓名:

指导教师：

职称：

2009年06月日

Abstract

Euphemismisderivedformtaboo,whichisusedtodescribesomethinginappropriatetotalkaboutdirectlyincommunication.Euphemism,inotherwords,istosaysomethinginapleasantandcomfortableway.Thisarticleisgoingtomakeabriefintroductionoftheorigin,functionsandtheapplicationsofeuphemisms.Ifwehavingalittlebitknowledgeabouteuphemisms,wecanavoidsomeunnecessaryconflictsormisunderstandings．

KeyWords：

Definition；Origin；Functions；Applications

摘要

委婉语是起源于禁忌文化的一种语言现象。

在社会交流中，人们如果要避免直白的说出某些不好或不适合的事，就会用到委婉语。

委婉语，也就是说，用一种让人听上去很舒适的语言。

本文将从委婉语的起源，功能及运用方面对其进行简单阐述，希望对语言学习者有所帮助。

如果对委婉语有个大致的了解，我们将会避免许多不必要的误会及冲突。

关键字:

定义，来源，功能，应用

1.Introduction

Euphemism,whichexistsinChineseaswellasinEnglish,comesfromtheGreek.Wangxijie（2008）pointsoutinhisChineseRhetoric（王希杰,2008）:

Euphemismistoreplacesomethingthatwecannotordonotwanttosaydirectly,butusingsomesubstitutions,whichhavethesimilarorsamemeanings,toexpresstheminapleasantorrelaxedway.H．W．Fowlei（1987）definedeuphemisminADictionaryofModernEnglishUsage（H．W．Fowlei,1987）：

Euphemismisamildorvagueperiphrasticexpressionusedasasubstituteforbluntprecisionordisagreeabletruth.EncyclopediaBritannica（1994）alsodefineseuphemismas“afigureofspeechinwhichsomethingofanunpleasant,distressingorindelicatenatureisdescribedinlessoffensiveterms.”Sotheliteralmeaningof“euphemism”is“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”.TheAmericanwriter.H．Z．Menckevencallseuphemismasa“gildedword”.Itisanessentialtoolinsociety.Anditisunimaginableiftherearenoeuphemismsintheworld.Thisarticleaimsatprovidingsomesimpleimpressionforlearners.

2.TheOriginofEuphemism

Totracebackthebeginningofeuphemisms,onecannotneglect“taboo”;Theword“taboo”comesformToga,akindofPolynesian．Itindicatesevasivelanguageoraction．（韩银燕，刘蕾，2005.146）Intheearlydaysofcivilization，peoplecouldnotexplainorunderstandeithersomenaturalphenomenon（likedeath）orhadmuchrealizationaboutthemselves,＂Peoplehaveconfusionbetweenthenameofthethingsandthingsthemselves．Thenameisviewedasanextensionofthings．Justastheidiomsays,“whenwespeakofdevilandheappears，naturallythewordsorphrasesrelatedtosuchthingsbecometaboos.”（李青，20032.24.1）Sotheyoftenhadasenseoffearbecauseofsomemysteriousspirits．Astimegoesby，peopletendtoavoidsomeofthesethings，soheretheeuphemismcomesintobeing.

3.TheFunctionsofEuphemism

AsChinaenteredtheWTO，therearemoreandmoreaffairshomeandabroad，soitisnecessaryforustoknowtheusageandfunctionsofeuphemisms．Thepurposesofusingitaretoachievesomespecialgoals．Inourdailylife，weuseittotalkaboutsomethingthatisforbiddenorimpolite.Forexample，whenwetalkaboutsexordisabilities，weuseeuphemismstoavoidtheembarrassment．Inpoliticalissues，thegovernmenthasspecialfavorforit．Becausebyusingitinitsowncountry，thegovernmentcansoftenthetense，especiallywhenthereischaos．Byusingitabroad，wecanformarelativelygoodrelationshipwithothercountries．Weknowthat，sometimes，theeuphemismshavethefunctionsofcoveringup．Sosomescholarsholdtheopinionsthatweshouldnotusethemfortheirdeceitfunctions．Butwecannotdenyitswidelyuseinmodernsociety．

4.Applications

4.1.inOurDailyLife

＂Alittleknowingisadangerousthing＂,soifwecanonlyspeakalanguage，butdonotknowhowtospeakitproperly，thatwillbeworse．Soitiswiththeusageofeuphemisms．Humansaresocialanimals．Wehavetocommunicateandcontactwithothersifwearetosurvive．Wecansaylanguageisnotonlyameansofcommunication，butalsoakindofart，soitisofgreatinfluenceonourdailylifewhetherwesayitproperlyornot．

Inourdailylifeforeveryindividual，theleasttopicwewanttotalkaboutshouldbedeath．Becausewearenotsages，itisquitenormalformostofusfearthehorrorandpityofdeath．Thoughthereareasmanyas70euphemismsonlyfordeath，wedonotusethemtoexpresseveryperson＇sdeath.Thatistosay，euphemismsareusedalongwithatrailofpersonalfeelings．Totaketheexampleinourtextbook（ANewEnglishCourse（revisededition）P24）：

agrandmaused“passedtotheotherside”,“kickedthebucket”,“snuffed”toexpressherhusband’sdeath．Sheadoptedsuchvaguephrasesnotonlytosoftenhersadnessbutalsoshowsomesortofwishestothedead.Intheinvolvementofman，weallhaveourownstandardstovalueheroesandtraitors，ofcourse，wewilluseoppositesayingsoutofnaturewhenrefertotheirdeath．WeallknowthatchairmanMaoisagreatcharacterinthehistoryofChina，sowhenwearetomentionhisdeath，wewillusesuchwordsas“ceasetothink”,“gotosleepforever”andsoontoinstead．Wealsosay“sacrificeforthecountry”whencometothesoldiers’death．However，incontrast，whenwetalksomeonewedonotlikeorhasdonesomedamagetoourcountry，wewilluseverycriticalwordstoexpressourdissatisfactoryorangersuchas“youdeserveit”,“final”．

Thereareeuphemismsevenwhenitcomestoeating．Asweknow，sometimes，itisverydifficulttorefuseothers’kindoffer．Butifwesay：

“Iamwilling,butMaryisnot.”Thus，wecanachieveahumorouseffect，notonlyavoidtheembarrassmentbutalsocreateapleasantatmosphere．

However，ontheotherhand，therearedifferentattitudestowardsoldagebetweenChinaandsomeWesterncountriesbecauseofthedifferencesofculturalbackground，religionandvaluesystem．WhileoldpeopleinChinafeelproudoftherebeingold，theelderintheWestfeelashamedandverysensitivewhentalkingaboutit．BecauseinChina，peopleregarditasasymbolofrichknowledgeandexperienceandpeopleinsocietyallshowrespecttothem．Incontrast，theelderintheWestregarditasasymbolofuselessnessandignorance．Sotherearemanypolitephrasesreferredtotheelder．Theyuse“thesecondchildhoodgoldenyears”,“seniorcitizen”,“grayhair”,“maturegoldenage”whentheyreferto“oldage”，inwhichitattemptstoconcealthefactofbecomingoldandavoidarousingoldpeoplessadfeelingofaging.．（王亚平，万雪琴，2004.6.37）

4.2.InPoliticalIssues

Politics，acontroversialissue，ishighlyconcernednowadays．Manylinguistspointoutthat：

politicsisanactionoflanguage，whichintendstotellpeoplewhatishappeningintheworldandtrytopersuadesomeofthemtoparticipateinit．Somepeoplemayarguethatitisunreasonabletouseeuphemismbecausetheyhavethenatureofdeceit，especiallyinpoliticsandgovernment．Butwecannotdenythefactthateuphemismisveryhelpfulintheprocessofhumandevelopment．Politicsandlifearerelatedclosely．

Theeuphemismshaveessentialmeaningstothegovernmentandthepoliticians．Theyusethemeithertosoftenthetensionintheirowncountryortoformanintimaterelationshipwithothercountries．Therearegoodexamplesoftheseintentions．DuringtheIraqWar,theU.SpresidentG.W.Bush（2003.3.20）said：

myfellowcitizens，atthishourAmericanandcoalitionforcesareintheearlystagesofmilitaryoperationstodisarmIraq，tofreeitspeopleandtodefendtheworldfromgravedanger...helpingIraqisachieveaunited，stableandfreecountry...wehavenoambitioninIraq，excepttoremoveathreatandrestorecontrolofthecountrytoitsownpeople．OurNationentersthisconflictreluctantly，yetourpurposeissure...（Iraqisan）outlawregimethatthreatensthepeacewithweaponsofmassmurder...wewilldefendourfreedom．Wewillbringfreedomtoothers．

Throughthesewords，thepresidenthadbeautifiedtheinvasionpurposeofthiswar．Thus，peopleintheUnitedStateswouldnotprotestthewarsstrongly，someofthemmightevenwilltojoinit．Sothatisthemagicofeuphemisms．

TheTaiwanissuehaslongexistedanditisaverysensitivepartbetweenChinaandAmerica．TheSino-U．S．JointCommuniquéstates（1972.2.28）:

“TheUSacknowledgesthatalltheChineseoneithersideoftheTaiwanStriatemaintainthereisbutoneChinaandthatTaiwanispartofChina．TheUSdoesnotchallengethatposition．”Thoughwecannotneglectthecoveringuppurposeinthisstatement，bythiskindofannouncement“theChineseoneithersideoftheTaiwanStriate”，theUSgovernmenthadsoftenedtheintensionbetweentheChinesepeopleandtheAmericans．Thus，thetwocountrieshaveformedgoodrelationshipswhichhelptheincreasesofeconomygreatly．

Theusageofeuphemismsinpoliticshasmanypoliticalintentionsandinclinations,butanywaytheyareveryimportantinthepeaceoftheworld.

Nowadays，asthe“reformationandopen-up”policyhaslongcomeintoeffect，ourcountryhasmorecommunicationswithothers．IfwecanspeakEnglishfluentlyandalsoknowmuchabouteuphemisms，notonlyitsfunctionsbutalsoitsapplications，wecanbenefitalotandcommunicatewithforeignersfreely．Whencomestotheapplicationsofeuphemism，weshouldknowthattheeuphemismisatwoside＇ssword，ifwedonotuseitappropriately，itwillcausemanymisunderstandingsandconflictsforusorourcountry．First，weshouldpayattentiontotheopinion，attitudeandposition．Inotherwords,thinkingtwicebeforeleap.Second,payattentiontothenecessity．Ifthereisnoneedtouseeuphemism，thendonotuseit．Otherwisetheeffectwillgototheopposite．Third，aseuphemismisakindoflanguage,itisdevelopingallthetime.Soweshouldkeepaneyeonthechangingpartofit.

5.Conclusion

Inthe21stcentury，withthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology，manysocialproblemsariseaswell．Peoplecraveforthegentle，warmandeasy