委婉语的社会交际功能OntheSocialCommunicativeFunctionsofEnglishEuphemism.docx

委婉语的社会交际功能OntheSocialCommunicativeFunctionsofEnglishEuphemism.docx

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委婉语的社会交际功能OntheSocialCommunicativeFunctionsofEnglishEuphemism

KC020-1

CHANGZHOUINSTITUTEOFTECHNOLOGY

毕业论文

题目：

OntheSocialCommunicativeFunctionsofEnglishEuphemism

二级学院（直属学部）：

外国语学院

专业：

英语（翻译）

班级：

06英二

学生姓名：

臧颜平

学号：

06070228

指导教师姓名：

毛艳文

职称：

讲师

评阅教师姓名：

职称：

2010年5月

OntheSocialCommunicativeFunctionsofEnglishEuphemism

by

ZangYanping

UndertheSupervisionof

Ms.MaoYanwen

Submittedinpartialfulfillment

Oftherequirementsforthedegreeof

BachelorofArts

SchoolofForeignLanguages

ChangzhouInstituteofTechnology

May2010

TableofContents

Acknowledgements..................................................i

Abstract&KeywordsinEnglish.......................................ii

Abstract&KeywordsinChinese.........................................iii

Introduction.........................................................1

1.ThedefinitionsofEnglisheuphemism.................................1

2.TheoriginsofEnglisheuphemism....................................2

2.1ThereligiousoriginofEnglisheuphemism.........................2

2.2TheracialandnationaloriginsofEnglisheuphemism................3

2.3HistoricalandpoliticaloriginsofEnglisheuphemism................4

3.Principlesintheapplicationofeuphemism..............................4

 3.1ThePolitenessPrinciple.........................................4

3.2TheDefensivePrinciple........................................4

3.3TheFaceTheory..............................................5

4.ThesocialcommunicativefunctionsofEnglisheuphemism.................5

4.1TheevasivefunctionofEnglisheuphemism........................5

4.1.1FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismfordisease....................6

4.1.2FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismfordeath.....................6

4.1.3FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismforphysiologicalphenomena.....6

4.2ThepolitefunctionofEnglisheuphemism...........................7

4.2.1FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismforoldage...................7

4.2.2FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismforphysiologydeficiency........8

4.2.3FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismforeducation.................8

4.3ThecosmeticfunctionofEnglisheuphemism......................9

4.3.1FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismforpolitics...................9

4.3.2FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismformilitaryaffairs............9

4.3.3FunctionsofEnglisheuphemismforothers....................10

5.Theeffectsofeuphemism............................................10

Conclusion .......................................................11

References........................................................12

Acknowledgements

MydeepestgratitudegoesfirstandforemosttoMs.MaoYanwen,mysupervisor,forherconstantencouragementandguidance.Shehaswalkedmethroughallthestagesofthewritingofthisthesis.Withoutherconsistentandilluminatinginstruction,thisthesiscouldnothavereacheditspresentform.

Second,IwouldliketoexpressmyheartfeltgratitudetoMs.ShanXuzhu,wholedmeintotheworldofEnglish.IamalsogreatlyindebtedtotheprofessorsandteachersattheDepartmentofEnglishwhohaveinstructedandhelpedmealotinthepastfouryears.

Lastmythankswouldgotomybelovedfamilyfortheirlovingconsiderationsandgreatconfidenceinmeallthroughtheseyears.Ialsoowemysinceregratitudetomyfriendsandmyfellowclassmateswhogavemetheirhelpandtimelisteningtomeandhelpingmeworkoutmyproblemsduringthedifficultcourseofthethesis.

Abstract:

Languagereflectslife,andisalwayscloselyrelatedtothesociety.Euphemism,asacommonlinguisticphenomenoninworldculture,iswidelyusedineverysocialclassandfield.Duringthecommunication,duetosomecertainrestrictionofbehaviorandmorality,peopletendtouseeuphemism—usedasakindoflubrication,makingtheharsh,indelicatewordssoundtactfulandpleasant.Englisheuphemismplaysaveryimportantroleinpeople’ssocialcommunication.Englisheuphemism,asoneofmanyeuphemismsexistingintheworld,hasitsowndeeporigin,whichincludeboththereligiousoriginandthehistorical,literaryorigin.AfterthediscussionoftheorigionsofEnglisheuphemism,thisthesisexpoundsthesocialcommunicativefunctionofEnglisheuphemismfromthethreeaspects:

evasivefunction,politefunction,andcosmeticfunction.Itisfoundthatpeople’sgooduseofeuphemismswillbeeffectivetopromotethecommunication.HavingagoodunderstandingoftheoriginandsocialfunctionofEnglisheuphemismandtheEnglishlanguageculturecanavoidmanyconflictsintheprocessofsocialcommunication.

Keywords:

origin;communicativefunction;Englisheuphemism

摘要：

语言反映生活，并且总是和社会紧密联系在一起。

委婉语是世界文化中普遍存在的语言现象，它广泛应用于社会各阶层和领域。

在语言交谈中，由于一定的行为规范和道德准则的制约，人们通常使用委婉语作为“润滑剂”，使刺耳，不文雅的话变得委婉愉悦，它在人们的社会交际过程中发挥着重要作用。

英语委婉语作为众多委婉语中的一种，具有其产生的深厚渊源，包括宗教与政治的，文学与历史的。

本文在探讨英语委婉语的产生渊源之后从委婉语的避讳功能、礼貌功能以及掩饰功能三方面阐述了英语委婉语的社会交际功能。

通过这篇论文的研究，可以发现，适当地应用委婉语可以有效地促进交流。

通过充分理解英语委婉语的起源及其社会交际功能，进一步理解英语语言文化，可以以避免社会交际中的各种冲突。

关键词：

起源；交际功能；英语委婉语

Introduction

EnrightD.J.（1985）statedthat“Ifeuphemismdoesn’texist,themovementoftheworldwillstopanditwillbefilledwithhatred.Nearlynoonecanlivewithouteuphemism.”AsanessentialandnaturalpartofEnglishlanguage,Englisheuphemismhasattractedpeople’sattentionforalongtime.Whendealingwithsomeunpleasantwords,peopleusuallychoosesomeimplicativeexpressionstolessenthedispositionfrombothlistenersandspeakersandmakeiteasierforpeopletoaccepttheproposal.

Therearefivepartsinthebodyofthisthesis.Inthefirstpart,thedefinitionofEnglisheuphemismisintroduced.Inthesecondpart,originsofEnglisheuphemismareclassified.Inthethirdpart,threeprinciplesintheapplicationofeuphemismsarediscussed.ThefourthpartfocusesonseveralsocialcommunicativefunctionsofEnglisheuphemism.Inthefifthpart,theeffectsofEnglisheuphemismareanalyzed.

Communicationwithouteuphemismisunimaginable.Euphemismisusedlikelubrication,whichmakesthecommunicationgoonsmoothly.

1.ThedefinitionsofEnglisheuphemism

TheEnglishword“euphemism”derivesfromGreek.Theprefix"eu-"meanswell,pleasant,good,whilethemeaningoftheetyma“pheme”isspeech.Thereforethewordeuphemismmeanssayingpleasantandadorablewords.IntheAmericanHeritageDictionary（2000）itisdefinedas“Theactoranexampleofsubstitutingamild,indirect,orvaguetermforoneconsideredharsh,blunt,oroffensive”anditisdescribedintheNewEditionoftheOxfordConciseDictionary（1976）as“Substitutionofmildorvagueorroundaboutexpressionforharshordirectone;expressionthussubstituted.”InWebster’sNewCollegiateDictionary（1973）thedefinitionreads,“Substitutionofanagreeableorinoffensiveexpressionforonethatmayoffendorsuggestsomethingunpleasant.”

Fromtheabovedefinitions,itcanbefoundthateuphemismisanimportantrhetoricskillwhichisubiquitousinEnglish.Whenusingeuphemism,peopleembellishtheirexpressionsinanimplicativewayratherthandeliverthemselvesdirectly.Asanexpressingmethod,Englisheuphemismisnotonlyaculturalphenomenon,butalsoasocialphenomenon.Itjustlikesamirror,whichreflectssomesocialandpsychologicalphenomena.

2.TheoriginsofEnglisheuphemism

Englisheuphemismhasalonghistory.Itcoulddatebacktothe11thcenturyinGreatBritain.Inthatage,peoplerangewordsintotwotypes:

“ObsceneVocabulary”,theuncourteouswordswhichareeasytooffendpeople,and“GenteelVocabulary”,thepre-existenceofEnglisheuphemism.Specifically,theoriginsofEnglisheuphemismcouldbeclassifiedintothereligiousorigin,theracialandnationaloriginsandthehistorical,literaryandpoliticalorigins.

2.1ThereligiousoriginofEnglisheuphemism

Englisheuphemismsderivedfromreligionsaremostlyrelatedtotaboos.Dominatedbyearlyreligiousconcept,peoplebelieveinthesupernaturalmagicoflanguagesandholdthebeliefthatwhentheytalkaboutbadthings,badthingscouldreallyhappen.InEnglish-speakingcountries,Christianity,themajorreligionoftheirsocieties,comfortpeoplewhoareafraidofthosetabooslikedeath,diseasesandsex.

Theeuphemismsfordeatharemostwidelyuseditems,especiallywhentheyconcernone’sfamiliesandfriends.TherearemanyeuphemismsfromBibleconcerningdeath,forexample,toreturntodust/earth;topaythedebtofnature;toanswerthefinalsummons;togotoheaven;tobeasleepintheArmsofGod;toyielduptheghost;tolaunchintoeternity;tohaveone’snameinscribedintheBookoflifeetc.

Foranotherthing,euphemismsforGodanddevilarealsoubiquitousinEnglish.TheTenCommandmentsofBiblehasprescribed,“ThoushaltnottakethenameoftheLordthyGodinvain;forthe