浅析中英语言禁忌.docx

浅析中英语言禁忌.docx

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浅析中英语言禁忌

浅析中英语言禁忌

　　[Abstract]Language,asthecarrierofculture,iscreatedduringtheprocessofhumanbeings’productivelaborandservesasthetoolofcommunicationtoconveythemessagebetweenpeople.However,ithasbeenendowedwithmagicandpowerinparticularlanguageacts.Astheoldsayinggoes,troublescomeoutofthetongue.Superstitiouspeoplethinkthatthelanguageitselfcanbringaboutfortuneormisfortunesothattaboostorestricttheuseoflanguagearecreated.Anyonewhoviolatesthemwillgetpunishment,whereasthosewhofaithfullyobeytherestrictionsoflanguagetaboowillgetprotection.Furthermore,linguistictabooschangewiththedevelopmentofsociety.Thepaperfirstlyanalyzestheevolutionoflinguistictaboo.Secondly,itisindicatedinthepaperthatlinguistictabooexistsinalmosteveryaspectofpeople’slifeandisauniversalsocialphenomenoninChinaandBritain.BothChineseandEnglishculturesareinagreementaboutlinguistictaboossuchaspronunciationtaboo,andvocabularytaboo.However,influencedbydifferentculturalbackgrounds,ideologiesandtheconceptsofvalue,ChineseandEnglishlinguistictaboosalsohavedifferences,asisdiscussedinthepaperfromtheaspectsoftaboosubjects,taboonumbersandnames.Atlast,thispaperputsforwardtwoeffectivewaysofavoidingtaboo,thatis,usingeuphemismandhavingagoodknowledgeofthetabooculture.AndthisdiscussionwouldhelpEnglishlearnersimprovetheirabilityofcross-culturalcommunicationandachievebettercommunicationaleffects.

[KeyWords]linguistictaboo;evolution;similarities;differences

【摘要】语言是人们在活动过程中产生和发展起来的一种社交工具，其功能就是沟通信息，但在特定的语言行为中，却被赋予了它自身所没有的超人的感觉和超人的力量。

社会成员竟认为语言本身能给人类带来某种吉祥或不幸，人为地设置了种种语言禁区。

他们相信谁要是违背这些语言禁忌，谁就会受到应有的惩罚。

反之，谁要是忠实遵循了语言禁忌的约束，谁就会得到相应的庇护和保佑。

语言禁忌会随着社会的发展而变化。

本论文首先论述了语言禁忌的演变，接着提出语言禁忌存在于人们生活的各个方面，是一种普遍存在的社会现象。

在汉英两种语言中，有些忌讳是一致的。

文中分析了中英语言禁忌在语音层面、词汇方面的相似性。

但是由于汉英民族文化背景、意识形态、价值观念等的不同，中英语言禁忌的内容和形式也有一些差异，因此本论文还探讨了中英语言禁忌在私人话题、数字和命名称谓方面的互异性。

这些异同和发展演进往往会给跨文化交际带来一些障碍，为此，有效避免使用禁忌语的方法主要是使用委婉语代替禁忌词，并充分了解异国的文化背景。

希望本论文的研究能帮助英语学习者加深英汉两种语言和文化的理解，提高跨文化交际能力，避免交际失败，达到理想的交际效果。

【关键词】语言禁忌;演变;相似点;不同点

1.Introduction

“Itismanifestedinlanguage:

persons,thingsandactivitiesthataretabooshouldnotbetalkedaboutorshouldbementionedinaroundaboutwayinlanguage.Wordsandexpressionsrelatedtothesesocialtaboosarelinguistictaboos.”[1]TheabovedefinitionshowsthatLinguistictaboo,asanintegralpartoflanguage,isnotonlyalinguisticphenomenonbutalsoasocialphenomenon.

Likeotherpartsoflanguage,theoriginoflinguistictabooisdeeplyrootedintheprimitivesocialandculturalbackgroundanditschangeisgreatlyinfluencedbythedevelopmentofhumansocietyinordertosatisfyhumanbeings’needsforsmoothcommunications.Withtheadvancementofscienceandtechnology,manypuzzlesabouttheuniversearesolved,andwiththeincreaseofmaterialwealth,humandemandsforspiritualcivilizationarealsobecominghigher.Evidently,linguistictaboosareareflectionofthesesocialdevelopmentandthevalueconceptsandbeliefsofthecultureinwhichtheyareborn.Itexistsineveryaspectofpeople’slife.

TherearesomesimilaritiesinEnglishandChineselinguistictaboo,butdifferentculturesmaynotallagreeonwhatisorisnotatabooinaspecificcontext.SothedifferencesalsoexistbetweenEnglishandChineselinguistictaboo.ALackofknowledgeinthisfieldorimproperuseoflinguistictaboosmayleadtomisunderstandings,conflictsandotherunknownseriousconsequencesinthecross–culturecommunicationswhichisincreasinglyfrequentandwidernow.

Thispaperintendstostudytheevolutionoflinguistictaboo,toanalyzethesimilaritiesbetweenChineseandEnglishlinguistictabooinpronunciationandvocabulary,andpresentthedifferencesfromtheaspectsofnames,numbersaswellastaboosubjectsinbothcultures.Lastbutnotleast,twoeffectivewaysareproposedtoavoidlinguistictaboos.

2.Theevolutionoflinguistictaboo

Thewordtaboo（alsospelledas“tabu”,“tapu”and“kapu”）wasborrowedfromTonga,anislandgroupinPolynesia,anditsfirstrecordeduseinEnglishwasbyCaptainJamesCook（1729-1779）,aBritishnavigator.HecametotheArchipelagoofTongaduringhisexplorationsinthesouthernpartofthePacificOcean.Thereheheardthewordfromthelocalpeople,whichoriginallyreferredtopersons,activities（includingspeech）,orthingsunderprohibitionbecausetheywereconsidered,ontheonehand,”sacred”and“consecrated”,andontheother,“uncanny”,“dangerous”and“unclean”.HeintroduceditintoEnglishinhisdescriptionofhisthirdvoyagearoundtheworldin　taboophenomenaarenotuniqueinTonga.Instead,ithaslongexistedinallculturesandlanguagethroughouttheworld.　

Aswehavementionedabove,linguistictabooisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenonbutalsoakindofsocialphenomenon.Thedevelopmentofsocietyhasinfluencedthedevelopmentoflinguistictaboo.Soifwewanttorevealthewholepictureoflinguistictaboo,wemusthaveareviewofthehistoryoflinguistictaboo.“Theevolutionoflinguistictaboohasgenerallyexperiencedthreestagesaccordingtothehistoryofhumansociety:

theprimitivesuperstitionsstage,thefeudalpatriarchalstage,andmoderndemocraticstage.Butthereisnoexplicitdemarcationlinebetweenthreestages.”

Theprimitivesuperstitiousstages

Asweallknow,Intheprimitivesociety,peopledidn’tgettoknowwellaboutnature,mostnaturalphenomenasuchaslightning,thunder,storm,earthquake,werebeyondtheunderstandingofhumanbeings.Whenthesephenomenahappened,theythoughtthatcertainsupernaturalcreaturespossessedgreatpower.Theythoughtthatiftheywereloyaltothesesupernaturalcreatures,theywouldbesafeorrewarded.Iftheyactedagainstthem,theywouldbepunishedseverely.Asaresult,theprimitivepeoplecreateddifferentkindsofgods.Theyheldastrongreligiousconvictionthatthesegodscontrolledtheworldthattheywerelivingin.Sothefirstthingtheydidwastorespectthesegodsthroughlanguage.ThereisanexamplefromtheSeventhCommandmentoftheTenCommandmentinBible“YoushallnotmakewrongfuluseofthenameoftheLordyourGod,fortheLordwillnotacquitanyonewhomisuseshisname”.　

Inaword,theearliestlinguistictabooemergedasaresultoftheignoranceandsuperstitionoftheprimitivepeopleinancienttimes.

Thefeudalpatriarchalstage

Feudalsocietyisrigidlystratified.Acountryoffeudalismisusuallycontrolledbytheroyalsandsometimestogetherwiththoseconsideredwithgreatpowergivenbygod.

Duringthefeudaltimes,peoplewerenotequaltotherulersandweresuppressedbytheirsuperiors.Thedistinctionbetweentheupperandthelowerclasseswasalsoreflectedintheevaluationofthelanguageusedbythemrespectively.Thewordsofupperclassusedwereconsideredgoodandelegantwhilethoseusedbythelowerclasswereregardedasvulgarandindecentandshouldbeavoidedinthespeechofladiesandgentlemen.Forexample,whenreferringto‘出汗’,duchessesusedtheword‘perspire’,butthefemaleservantsused‘sweat’;whenreferringto‘吐痰’,theformerpeopleused‘expectorate’,butthelatterused‘spit’;Asfor‘月经’,theformerused‘menstruate’,butthelatterused‘bleed’.Themaxim“Horsessweat;menperspire;youngladiesglow”moreorlesscanreflectthestratifiedusageofwordswhichhavethesamemeaninginthisperiod.　InChina,duringthefeudaltimes,menusuallyplayadominantroleinfamily.WecanseeitfromtheChineseexpressions“三从四德”,“三纲五常”etc.Inordertostrengthentheirpositionandtopreventtheirsubjectsfromviolatingthem,theroyalsandkingsputforwarddifferentkindsofprohibitionsandbans.Forinstance,toshowtheirauthorityandmajesty,thenameoftheemperorandhisancestorsshouldnotbementioned.Atthesametime,peoplealwaysavoidedspeakingouttheirparents’namesoreventhecharactersintheirparents’names.Theoldsaying“古人闻父名而泣”canprovethispoint.

Mostlinguistictaboosduringthisperiodwereputintoeffectbyrulersinordertomaintaintheirsuperiorsocialpositionandkeepthesocietyundertheircontrol.However,someofthem,becauseoftheirdeep-rootedinfluenceonpeople’smind,stillremaininlanguageevenafterthecollapseofthesocialsystem

Themoderndemocraticstage

Inmodernsociety,asaresultofthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,manynaturalphenomenaarenolongermysterious.Humanbeingsnotonlyconstantlyimprovetheirabilitiestoexploittheworldwheretheyarelivingthroughtheirgreatwisdomandknowledge,butalsomakeeffortstoexploretheextraterrestrialworld.Sciencehasmuchmoresayintoday’ssociety.Thereby,thesuperstitiouselementsinlinguistictaboosdecreasewhilethosereflectingspiritualcivilizationincrease.

Duringsuchanopen-mindedperiod,peoplevaluefreedom,equalityanddemocracyverymuch.Manyminoritiesstruggleforequalrightswiththemajorities.Asaresult,linguistictaboosconcerningracialdiscriminationarise.Forexample,intheUnitedStates,“nigger”waswidelyusedtocallblackpeopleinthe1960sbutnowitisforbiddeninnormalinteractionbecausesuchformofaddressingshowscontemptfortheblackandgoesagainstthespiritofhumanrights.

Inaddition,moreandmorewomenstepoutsidetheirhousestoworktogetherwithmen.Theydon’twanttodependonmenanylonger.However,thetraditionalideasaboutwomenstiflethefulfillmentoftheirabilitiesandtheyareoftentreatedunfairlyinwork.Thisforceswomentoriseandfightforequalitieswithmenandmoreandmoremenbegintolearntorespectwomen,whichwillhave