英语禁忌语.docx
《英语禁忌语.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《英语禁忌语.docx(10页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
英语禁忌语
学年论文
学生姓名
常玉杰
学号
020701039
院(系)
外国语学院
专业
英语(师范)
题目
英汉文化中禁忌语差异的研究
Title
OnCulturalDifferenceoftheTabooWordsBetweenEnglishandChinese
指导教师
陈维平副教授
(姓名)(专业技术职称/学位)
2010
年
11
月
OnCulturalDifferenceoftheTabooWordsbetweenEnglishandChinese
By
ChangYujie
AThesisSubmittedto
SchoolofForeignLanguages
asaGaduationTesis
AtHuaiyinNormalUniversity
UndertheSupervisionofMs.ChenWeiping
September2010
Acknowledgements
Thisthesisinvolvesmuchgenerousassistancefrommyteachers,friendsandparents.IwouldliketooffermyheartfeltthankstomyinstructorChenWeiping,mysupervisor,whohasbeengivingmetheconsiderableacademichelpandconstantsupportduringmythesiswriting.
Ialsoextendmyheartfeltappreciationstoallofmyfriendsandespecially,myclassmateQiJianhui,whohasspenttimediscussingquestionswithmeandofferedmekindadviceaboutthethesis.AndIwouldliketothankthelibrariansofHuaiyinTeachersCollege,whohaveprovidedmewithusefulreferencesneededinmythesis.
Finally,Iwouldliketopresentsincerethankstomyparents,whohavesupportedandassistedmeallthewayinmycollegelife.
摘要:
语言是文化的载体,不同的社会背景和历史文化会产生出不同的禁忌语言。
在原始社会,自然灾害频发,又由于当时人们的封闭的思想,因而变得很迷信,他们认为语言本身会带来不同的运气,因而就有禁忌语这一说法。
禁忌语在中国和其他许多说英语的国家的应用有着许多相似之处,本文首先对禁忌语的起源进行了概述,再从其发展过程进行分析。
在人们日常生活的方方面面,都会涉及到禁忌语,所以它在中国和英语的国家是一个普遍存在的社会现象。
他们在某些方面存在着相同点,也在不同的社会习俗和文化背景的影响下,呈现出不同的形式。
最后,在日常生活中,人们逐渐运用委婉语来替代禁忌语,以避免因误用所造成的麻烦,通过这种方式,我们可以更加有效的与别人进行交流。
关键词:
禁忌语,对比分析,文化差异,委婉语
Abstract:
Culturecanbemanifestedincertainlanguage.Differentsocialbackgroundandhistoricalculturemakeacontributiontoproducedifferentlinguistictaboos.Astheoldsayinggoes,“Troublescomeoutofthetongue”.Superstitiouspeoplethinkthatthelanguageitselfcanbringaboutfortuneandmisfortunesothattaboosarecreated.TaboosareincommonuseinChinaandmanyEnglishspeakingcountries,andwecanfinditsexpressioninEnglishandChinese.Thispapergivesabriefintroductionoftheoriginoftaboos.Andthenanalyzesitsevolutionprocess.Peoplecanbeawareofthefactthatlinguistictaboosexistinalmosteveryaspectoftheirdailylife,anditisanuniversalsocialphenomenoninChinaandBritain.Theysharesomesimilaritiesincertainaspects.Nevertheless,undertheinfluenceofdifferentsocialcustomsandculturebackgrounds,theytakeondifferentforms.Toavoidtheunnecessarytroublescausedbymisusingtaboos,wereplaceitwitheuphemisms.Thenwecancommunicatewitheachothereffectively.
Keywords:
taboowords,comparison,similarities,culturaldifference,euphemism
CONTENTS
1.Introduction1
2.AnalysisofGenderDifferencesinCollegeEnglishEducationinChina2
3.1Thephenomenaofgenderdifferences2
3.1.1FemalestudentsaremorethanmalestudentsinEnglishdepartment2
3.1.2FemalestudentsgethigherachievementthanmalestudentsinEnglishlearning3
3.2Analysisofthefactorsingenderdifferences3
3.2.1Physiologicalgenderdifferencesinlanguagelearners4
3.2.2Emotionalandpsychologicalgenderdifferencesinlanguagelearners4
3.2.3Theinfluenceoffamilyeducation5
3.24Theinfluenceofschooleducation6
3.2.5Theinfluenceoftraditionalsociety8
4.EnlightenmentofGenderDifferencesinCollegeEnglishEducation8
4.1InfluencecausedbygenderdifferencesincollegeEnglisheducation9
4.2RevealinggenderinequalityineducationinChina9
5.SyntheticWaystoAchieveGenderEqualityinEducation10
5.1Enacteducationpolicies10
5.1.1Incorporategenderequalityintoschooleducation10
5.1.2Incorporategenderequalityintocollegeanduniversityadmissionpolicies10
5.2Incorporategenderequalityintotextbooks11
5.3Teachingbygender11
5.3.1Changinggenderstereotypesbyteachers11
5.3.2Classroomteachingbyteachers12
6.Conclusion13
WorksCited14
1.Introduction……………………………………………………2
2.Theoriginanddefinitionoflinguistictaboo…………………5
3.Theevolutionoflinguistictaboo………………………………5
4.ThesimilaritiesbetweenEnglishandChinesetaboos………………7
4·1Taboosonreligion……………………………………………………7
4·2Taboosonhumanexcretionparts……………………………………8
4·3Taboosonsex……………………………………………………………8
4·4Taboosondiseasesordeath…………………………………………8
4·5Taboosonsocialpositions……………………………………………8
4·6Taboosonageandweight………………………………………………8
5.ThedifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinesetaboos…………………10
5·1Taboosonnamesandappellation……………………………………10
5·2Taboosonages……………………………………………………………10
5·3Taboosonprivacyaffairs………………………………………………11
5·4Taboosonnumbers…………………………………………………………11
6.TheanalysisonlinguistictaboosbetweenEnglishandChinese………11
7.Conclusion………………………………………………………………………14
1.Introduction
InthecommunicationbetweenChineseandwesterncultures,manypeoplefeelstronglythedifferencebetweenthetwoculturesonmanyaspects,suchassociallife,politics,culture,religion,etc.Inaddition,theparticularhistoricalprocessandsocialbackgroundshaveagreatimpactontheformationandevolutionoftheirlanguages.Asuccessfulcross-culturalcommunicationrequiresustobreakthroughtheculturalbarriers.Agoodcommandoftaboocultureguidespeopletospeakandbehaveatapropertime,placeandtoaproperdegree.TabooisacommonsocialandculturalphenomenoninbothChineseandBritain.Sothewordscreatedbyitalsotakeonanewform.However,influencedbydifferentculturalbackgrounds,ideologiesandconceptsofvalue,thecontentandformsoftaboosaredifferent.Therefore,thediscussionoftherelationbetweenthetabooandlanguageisconducivetoEnglishteachingandcommunication.What’smore,itcanalsohelpustohaveabetterunderstandingofattitudesandthinkingmodelsbetweenChinaandBritain.
2.Theoriginanddefinitionoflinguistictaboo.
Theterm“taboo”wasborrowedfromTonga,anislandgroupinPolynesia,anditsoriginalmeaningis“sacred”“untouchable”.WhenitcameintoEnglishvocabulary,itbecamethesynonymoftaboo,whichstandsforprohibitionorrepression.Itisspecificallyusedtodescribesomespeciallanguagesandbehaviors.
3.Theevolutionoflinguistictaboo
Asitismentionedabove,linguistictabooisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenon.Itisinfluencedbythedevelopmentofsociety.
Asweallknow,intheprimitivesociety,peopledidn’tgettoknowaboutnature.Theywereconfusedaboutthenaturalphenomenon,suchaslightning,thunder,storm,earthquakes,etc.Sotheybelievedinthenaturalpowersandbecamesuperstitious.Theythoughtonlyinthiswaycouldtheysurvivethehardenvironments,therefore,theymustrespectnatureandmightygodwhentheyuselanguage.Hereisanexample:
fromtheseventhcommandmentoftheTenCommandmentinBible“YoushouldnotmakewrongfuluseofthenameoftheLordyourgod,fortheLordwillnotacquitanyonewhomisuseshisname”〔[1]〕
IntheMedievalperiod,manycountriesweredividedintomanygroupsofdifferentsocialstatusaccordingtoinnumerablereligiousrules.Peoplecouldn’tdoandgettheywantto.Itisthedarkenage,peopleinthattimeshouldshowrespecttothedecadentrulesandreligions.Sotherearemanytaboosduringtheperiod.Forinstance,thereligionlistedthebuttock,jaw,andforeheadasthelinguistictaboos.InChina,duringthefeudalperiod,itisthefeudalcodeofethicsthatdominatethecountryformorethan2000years.Menarethemajorroleinthesociety,andwomenshouldbeobedienttotheirfather,husband,andson.Besides,asanoldsayinggoes:
Ignoranceisawoman’svirtue.Sowomenarenotallowedtoattendclass.WecanseeitfromtheChineseexpression:
Threefromthefourvirtues.Threecardinalguidesandthefivepermanentmembers,etc.Manytaboosarepreservedastheformofthefeudalcodeofethics,forexample,inordertoshowtheroyal’sauthorityandmajesty,thenameoftheemperorandhisancestorsshouldnotbementioned.Atthesametime,peoplealwaysavoidspeakingouttheirparents’namesoreventhecharactersintheirparents’names.
Tabooshaveturnedintopurecommandmentwithoutashadeofsuperstition.Inmodernsociety,withtherapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,thescopeoftheconceptoftaboohasbeenwidened.Mostpeoplearebecomingmoreandmorerational,andtheyneverbelieveinorrelyonthesuperstitions.Thereforethesuperstitiouselementsinlinguistictaboosdecreaseandthosereflectingspiritualcivilizationincrease.WiththefrequentinteractionbetweenChinaandthewesterncountries,thetraditionoftaboosinfluenceseachother.Inrecentyears,therearemanytaboowordsthatreflectademeaningattitudetowardscertainsocialorethicgroups.Racistlanguageandsexistlanguage,forexample,areoffensivetothesocialorethicgroupsdiscriminatedagainst.〔[2]〕
Forexample,theterm“Nigger”wasusedinthe1960s,whichwaswidelyusedtocalltheblacks.Butnow,itisconsideredasataboowordintheusualsocialinteractions.ForsuchformofaddressingisagainsttheAmericanHumanRights.What’smore,becauseoftheWomenLiberation,manywomenstepintoallwalksoflifetoworkwithmen.Thetraditionalideasrestricttheiractivitiesandspiritsduringthefeudaltime.However,everythinghaschanged,wecannotignoretheforcesofwomen,andtheyalsodoaverygoodjob.Therefore,thenumberoftaboowordsonsexistlanguageincreases.
Asismentionedabove,inmodernsociety,peoplearebecomingmoreandmoreconsciousofotherpeople’sfeelings.Sotheycreatemanytaboowordstoavoidhurtingothers.Mostofthewordscanalsobecalledeuphemisms.Inawo