英语毕业论文从礼貌原则上看中西委婉语的差异.docx

英语毕业论文从礼貌原则上看中西委婉语的差异.docx

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英语毕业论文从礼貌原则上看中西委婉语的差异

本科生毕业论文（设计）

题目：

ComparisonofEnglishandChineseEuphemism

BasedonthePolitenessPrinciple

从礼貌原则上看中西委婉语的差异

系别：

外国语言文学系

专业：

英语

学生姓名：

胡嘉欣

学号：

111021112

指导教师：

李彤讲师

（职称）

二〇一五年五月

Abstract

Alongwiththecontinuousdevelopmentofglobalization,thecommunicationsbetweenChinaandwesterncountrieshavebeenincreasinggraduallyineconomy,politicsandculture.Moreandmoreofusarerequiredtounderstandpeoplecomingfromcountriesandculturesdifferentfromourown,sotheimpactofdifferencebetweenOrientalandOccidentalculturesoninternationaltradebecomesincreasinglyexposed.Inthecross-culturecommunication,wecannotbeignorantofthedifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseeuphemism.Inaddition,politenessisthesymbolofhumancultureandsociety’suniversalphenomenon.However,thedifferentcultureshasdifferentpolitenessprinciplewhichdoesnotusetoweighthestandardaswellastheexpressionway.LearningthedifferentusagesofEnglishandChineseeuphemismsbasedonthepolitenessprincipleaimsatpointingoutthatpeoplecanputtheeuphemismsintorightusageonlyifpeopleunderstandcorrectlydifferentcultures.Onlyinthisway,wecanavoidsomemistakes,misunderstandingorevenconflicts.Thus,wecanpromotethecross-culturalcommunicationgoingeffectivelyandtobeinthebestcondition.

ThispaperaimsatdiscussingthedifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseeuphemismsthatarefacedintoday'sinternationalcommunicationandevolvingappropriatemeasurestodealwiththose. Itconsistsoffourparts,withanintroductionandaconclusionprecedingandfollowingthem.Aseuphemismisalinguisticphenomenon,chaptertwofirststatestheoriginandthedefinitionoftheeuphemism,andtheanalysisoftheobedienceoftheEnglishandChinesepolitenessprinciple,thusbuildingupabetterunderstandingofeuphemism.ChapterthreeillustratesthedifferencesofEnglishandChineseeuphemismanddiscussesthefactorforthedifferences.Allofthesecanhelppeopletoavoidpragmaticfailuresincommunication.

KeyWords:

Euphemism，PolitenessPrinciple，ContrastiveAnalysis

摘要

随着全球化的不断发展，中国与西方国家在经济、政治和文化上的交流越来越频繁，越来越多的人需要去了解来自不同国家和文化背景的人群，所以东西方文化的差异影响国际贸易日益加深。

在跨文化交际中，我们绝对不能忽视中英委婉语的差异。

继而，礼貌是人类文明的象征，是人类社会的普遍现象，然而不同的文化有着不用的礼貌衡量标准以及表达方式。

了解基于礼貌原则上的中西委婉语的不同用法，旨在人们理解不同文化后正确使用委婉语，只有这样，我们才可以避免一些错误，误解甚至冲突。

然后，跨文化交流才得以进一步促进，并调节至最佳状态。

本论文的目的在于分析在面对国际交流过程中中西委婉语产生的差异，并且探究以及解决其产生的问题。

它一共由四部分组成，委婉语的介绍和总结也包括在内。

我们将委婉语看做一种语言现象，在第二部分会介绍它的来源与定义，再而分析遵循礼貌原则的中西委婉语，从而加深人们对委婉语的认识。

第三部分会说明中西委婉语的差异，并且分析产生差异的原因。

希望本论文会帮助人们避免在交际中出现语用错误。

关键字：

委婉语，礼貌原则，对比分析

Contents

ChapterOneIntroduction

Euphemism,asasociallubricantofcommunication,playsaveryimportantroletopromotetheunderstandingofdifferencesinChineseandwesternculture.Atthesametime,Itisthemostsignificantandindispensablepartoftheinternationalcommunication.Thestudyofeuphemismhaslongbeenwithusduringthedevelopmentofglobalization.Afteralltheseyears,manyChineseandforeignscholarshaveagreatachievementonthestudyofeuphemism.However,therearealotofpeoplehavenotyetfullyrealizedtheimportanceofeuphemism,orhavenotunderstoodthepragmaticfailuresincommunicationbecauseofthedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglisheuphemism.So,itisnecessaryforustotryhardtoreviewtheresearchesofpredecessors.Inthemeantime,wehavetomakeaanalysisofChineseandEnglisheuphemismtostrengthentheconsciousnessofcross-culturalcommunication.

Intheearly1780s,GorgeBluntgaveadefinitionforthemeaningofeuphemism:

（Euphemism）isagoodoffavorableinterpretationofabadword.Then,thereweremanyscholarsstudyingoneuphemismoneaftertheother.MenkenexploredtheformationofeuphemisminTheAmericanLanguagein1936.NeamanandSliverdescribedtheoriginanddevelopmentofeuphemisminKindWords—ATreasureofEuphemismsin1983.D.J.EnrightcollectedmanypapersofeuphemisminFairofSpeech，theUseofEuphemismin1985.AllenandBurridgestudiedonEnglisheuphemismbasedonthepragmaticperspectiveinEuphemismandDysphemismin1991.Chinaalsohasalotofresearchesabouteuphemism.LiuChunbaoshowedthesemanticsinDictionaryofEnglishEuphemismin1994.SuDingfangexpoundedthepragmaticfunctionsofeuphemismbasedonthetheoryofGriceandLeechin1995.XuHaimingintroducedthepragmaticfunctionsofeuphemisminPragmaticStudyofEuphemismin1996.PengWenzhaowroteabouttheculturalinfluencetotheeuphemisminEuphemism-LanguageMappingintheSocialCulturein1999.

Withtheevolutionofmodernsocialcivilization,thesocialfunctionsofeuphemismarewidening.Therefore,thecomparisonofEnglishandChineseeuphemismbasedonthepolitenessprinciplecanreducetheobstacleinculturalcommunication.BecauseofthelackofresearchesinChina,moreandmorescholarswillconducttheresearchesofeuphemismthoroughly.ThroughthecontrastivestudyofEnglishandChineseeuphemismsbasedonthepolitenessprinciple,wecanlearnaboutlotsofbothsimilaritiesandpeculiaritiesofthetwolanguages,whichisofconsiderablevalueandguidancetoourforeignlanguagelearningandcross-culturalcommunication.

ChapterTwoLiteratureReview

2.1TheOriginofEuphemism

Thehistoryofeuphemismcanbetracedbacktotheancienttimes.Itsearlieremergencehadacloserelationtolanguagetaboosandreligion.Intheprimitivesociety,thesocialsystemhinderedtheeconomicgrowth.Theycametobelievethatthereweresomesupernaturalpowers,ortheexistenceofdevilsandgodsthatcontrolledtheirlivesandeventhewholeworld.Theydarednottomentionthenamesofthedevilsandgodsdirectly.Thus,languagetabooscameintobeing.Becauseoftheneedsincommunications,peopleusedeuphemismstosubstitutethenamesofthosethingstheyfearedincircumstancesthattheyhadtospeakofthem.Alongwiththeadvanceofthesociety,theeffectsofeuphemismwasmoreandmoreimportantwhenpeoplefeltthattheyweresomewhatdistantfromwhattheywereafraidofandtheirsafety,happiness,healthandgoodluckwereguaranteed.Thus,euphemismgottheunprecedenteddevelopment.Nowadays,itstillexertsastronginfluenceonChinaandwesternnations.

2.2DefinitionofEuphemism

EuphemismisoriginatedfromtheGreek.Itisaninoffensivewordorphrasesubstitutedforoneconsideredoffensiveorhurtful.Inaddition,euphemismisacommonphenomenonduringtheuseofhumanlanguageandexistsinalotoflanguagesconcernedwithreligion,sex,death,orexcreta.Thefollowingsaretwodefinitionsoftheeuphemismfromthereferencebooks:

（1）“Usingastatementofvague,andmakingpeoplefeelhappyorambiguous,insteadoftheexpressionofanunhappymeaningorwithnotenoughrespect.”（DictionaryofLanguageandLinguistics,StocktonandHartmann）

（2）“Anindirectwordorphrasethatpeopleoftenusetorefertosomethingembarrassingorunpleasant,sometimestomakeitseemmoreacceptablethanitreallyis.”（OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglishChineseDictionary,thecommercialpress&OxfordUniversitypress）

Sofar,thedefinitionsoftheeuphemismarealot,andthefollowingsarethedefinitionsoftheeuphemismfromresearchscholars:

（1）Themildorvagueexpressionsubstitutedforaharsherormoredirectone.（PocketOxfordEnglish-ChineseDictionary）

（2）Thesubstitutionofamild,indirect,orvagueexpressionforonethoughttobeoffensive,harshorblunt.（Webster‟sDictionaryofAmericanEnglish）

（3）（Anexampleof）theuseofamorepleasant,lessdirectnameforsomethingthoughttobeunpleasant.（LongmanEnglish-ChineseDictionaryofContempo-raryEnglish）

（4）Aeuphemismisapolite,pleasant,orneutralwordorexpressionthatisusedtorefertosomethingwhichpeoplemayfindupsettingorembarrassingtotalkabout,forexample,sex,thehumanbodyordeath.（CollinsCobuildEnglishDictionary）

（5）Apleasantreplacementforanobjectionablewordthathaspejorativeconnotations.（RoutledgeDictionaryofLanguageandLinguistics）

2.3ThePolitenessPrinciple

Thepolitenessprincipleisaconstraintobservedinhumancommunicativebehavior,influencingustoavoidcommunicativediscordoroffence,andmaintaincommunicativeconcord.

2.3.1TheObedienceoftheEnglishPolitenessPrinciple

（1）Approbationmaxim:

Minimizedispraiseofother;Maximizepraisetoother.

Forexample:

Yoursentenceisn’tcorrect,butyouranswerisgood.

Inwesterncountries,teachersgenerallygradestudentswithappreciation.Althoughsomestudentsgivethewronganswers,teachersalwaysusethepraisestrategyproperlyandtaketheexpressionsof“Right”,“Good”,“Welldone”,“Goodjob”,“Excellent”whenstudentshaveapositiveperformance.Forstudents,praiseisthepowerfulencouragement.

（2）Generositymaxim:

Minimizebenefittoself;Maximizecosttoself.

Forexample:

Inmyhumbleopinion,shewasneitherquiteprettynorquietplain.

“Plain”isusedinsteadof“ugly”.Thatistostatesomeseriousthingsinatemperatewayinordertoavoidbeingawkwardandstrident.Thiskingofexpressionnotonlyminimizesbenefittoselfincommunication,butshowrespecttoothers.

（3）Modestymaxim:

Minimizepraisetoself;Maximizedispraisetoself.

Forexample:

‘IusedtothinkIwaspoor.ThentheytoldmeIwasn’tpoor,Iwasneedy.Thentheysaiditwasself-defeatingtothinkofmyselfasneedy,thatIwasculturallydeprived.Thentheytoldmedeprivedwasabadimage,thatIwasunderprivileged.Thentheytoldmethatunderprivilegedwasoverused,thatIwasdisadvantaged.Istilldon’thaveadimebutIhaveagreatvocabulary.’（HarperDictionaryofContemporar