从英语委婉语看西方文化的禁忌英语专业毕业.docx

从英语委婉语看西方文化的禁忌英语专业毕业.docx

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从英语委婉语看西方文化的禁忌英语专业毕业

2013届毕业论文

从英语委婉语看西方文化的禁忌

AStudyofTaboosintheWesternCulturesfrom

thePerspectiveofEnglishEuphemisms

院部

外国语学院

专业

英语专业

班级

09408012

姓名

金巧云

学号

0940801206

指导教师

方小勇

完成时间：

2013年6月

AStudyofTaboosintheWesternCulturesfrom

thePerspectiveofEnglishEuphemisms

by

JinQiaoyun

UndertheSupervisionof

AssociateProfessorFangXiaoyong

SchoolofForeignLanguages

JiangsuUniversityofScienceandTechnology

June,2013

Acknowledgements

Firstofall,Iwouldliketoexpressmysinceregratitudetomysupervisor,FangXiaoyong,whohasofferedmeplentyofinformationandadviceinmywritingthispaper.Iamdeeplygratefultohimforhisintellectualguidance,selflesshelpandpatienceinthecompletionofthisthesis.Secondly,IwouldliketoexpressmysinceregratitudetomydearclassmatesfortheirprovidingmewithinformationIneedandfortheirpatienceandcareduringthelastmonthwhenIwasawayfromschool.Ithinkitistimeformetosay"thankyou"tomydearfriendssincewearegoingtograduateintwomonths.Inthepastfouryears,wehaveexperiencedhappinessandsorrowtogether,andwehaveovercomemanydifficulties,whichmakesusclosetoeachother.Lastbutnotleast,mythankswouldgotomybelovedfamily.Iwouldneverhavethisopportunitytoextendmythankstomyteachersormyclassmateswithoutmyfamily'ssupport,patienceandlove.

Contents

AbstractinEnglishI

AbstractinChineseII

I.Introduction1

1.1.Thedefinitionofeuphemisms1

1.2.TheoriginofEnglisheuphemisms1

II.TaboosofEnglisheuphemismsandtheirconnotation3

2.1.TheclassificationofEnglisheuphemisms3

2.2.ThefunctionofEnglisheuphemisms3

2.2.1.Functionoftaboos3

2.2.2.Functionofpoliteness4

2.2.3.Functionofbeautification4

2.2.4.Functionofconcealment5

2.3.AnanalysisoftaboosofWesternculturethroughunderstandingthe

incentivesofEnglisheuphemisms5

2.3.1.TheuseofEnglisheuphemismsasaresultofworryandfear5

2.3.2.Theuseofreligiouseuphemismsasaresultofworship6

2.3.3.Theuseofshynesseuphemismsasaresultofshypsychology6

III.ApplicationofEnglisheuphemismsanditsrevelationon

cross-culturalcommunication8

3.1.CharacteristicsofEnglisheuphemismsincross-culturalcommunication8

3.1.1.TimedifferencesofEnglisheuphemisms8

3.1.2.RegionaldifferencesofEnglisheuphemisms8

3.1.3.RegisterdifferencesofEnglisheuphemisms8

3.1.4.NationalityofEnglisheuphemisms9

3.1.5.GenderdifferencesofEnglisheuphemisms9

3.2.MoreexamplesforEnglisheuphemismsandtheirspecificapplications10

3.3.RevelationofEnglisheuphemismsoncross-culturalcommunication10

IV.Conclusion13

Bibliography14

AStudyofTaboosintheWesternCulturefromthePerspectiveofEnglishEuphemisms

Abstract

Aeuphemismisakindoflinguisticphenomenonusedintheprocessofhumancommunication,whichis,inasense,aroundaboutwayofspeechwhentheuserdoesnotwanttooffendtherecipientofthemessage.Inhumancommunication,euphemismscanhelppeopleexpresstheirmeaninginanabstractwaywithoutlosingtheiroriginalintentions.Sincemanysubjectsinhumanlifeareinappropriatetobeexpresseddirectly,euphemismswouldbeidealforpeopletoexchangethoughtswithoutfeelingguiltyorembarrassed.Euphemisms,aculturalphenomenonoriginatedintaboos,areaphenomenonthatwhenpeopletalkaboutsomeparticularsubjects,theywillsubstitutethemformoreindirectandeuphemisticlanguagetoavoidingembarrassment.Theapplicationofeuphemismsisanimprovementofbothlanguageuseandthelevelofculture.Inthisthesis,Englisheuphemismswillbeclassified,functionallyanalyzedanddiscussedsothatwecanhaveaclearunderstandingofculturaltaboosinWesterncountries.

Keywords:

Englisheuphemisms;taboo;culture

从英语委婉语看西方文化的禁忌

摘要

英语委婉语是人类语言使用过程中不可缺少的一种语言现象。

使人们谈论那些令人不快或者尴尬的事情时，所使用的较为礼貌的说法，是人们在交际中，用来表达不宜直说的人或事物的言语。

其重要的特征就在于运用比较抽象、模棱两可的概念或比喻的、褒义化的手法，使谈话的双方能够采取一种比较间接的方式来谈论不宜直接说的事，而且不必为谈论此事而感到内疚、感到窘迫。

英语委婉语作为一种文化现象，源自禁忌，是指人们在交往中对于一些特定话题进行不约而同地以委婉性的语言来代替，这不仅是语言上的进步，更是文化层面的进步。

本文通过对英语委婉语进行归类、功能分析，以及其在生活中个各个方面发挥的委婉性作用来探讨西方国家的文化禁忌。

关键词：

英语委婉语；禁忌；文化

AStudyofTaboosintheWesternCulturesfromthePerspectiveofEnglishEuphemisms

I.Introduction

1.1.Thedefinitionofeuphemisms

Aeuphemismisakindofuniversalsocialphenomenon.Specifically,thewordoriginallycomesfromGreek,withtheprefix"eu"meaning"good"andtheroot"phemism"meaning"speech".Sotheliteralmeaningofaeuphemismreferstotheuseofamild,vagueorroundaboutexpressiontosubstituteharsh,bluntordirectone.

Anyway,sofar,thedefinitionsoftheeuphemismsarequitenumerous,andtherearetwodefinitionsoftheeuphemismfromthereferencebooks:

（1）"usingastatementofvague,andmakingpeoplefeelhappyorambitious,insteadoftheexpressionofanunhappymeaningorwithnotrespect."（Dictionaryoflanguageandlinguistics,StocktonandHartmannetal.）

（2）"anindirectwordorphrasethatpeopleoftenusetorefertosomethingembarrassingorunpleasant,sometimestomakeitseemmoreacceptablethanitreallyis."（OxfordAdvancedLearner'sEnglishChineseDictionary,thecommercialpress&OxfordUniversitypress）

1.2.TheoriginofEnglisheuphemisms

EnglisheuphemismscanbetracedbacktothetimewhentheUnitedKingdomwasoccupiedbytheNormansin1066.Theeuphemismwasusedatthattimeprimarilybecausethelanguageusedbytheconquerorswasderogatedandconsideredasvulgar,offensiveandscandalous.Inordertoavoidsocalledvulgarization,thelocalupperclassbegantolearntheconquerors'languageandtriedtobegentlebyusinggentlewordswhichcamefromtheLatin.Inlaterdays,thesewordsweregraduallyaddedintoEnglishvocabulary.TodayinWesterncountries,althoughmanyofthosearenotinuseanymore,somearestillwidelyused.Accordingtothechangesoflanguageandculture,someneweuphemismshavebeengenerated.Theeuphemismisacommonphenomenonduringtheuseofhumanlanguageandexistsinmanylanguages.Therefore,theuseofeuphemismisverycommonandessentialinvarioustypes.

II.TaboosofEnglisheuphemismsandtheirconnotation

2.1.TheclassificationofEnglisheuphemisms

Englisheuphemismsaregenerallyclassifiedintotwomaintypes,oneistraditionalEnglisheuphemismsandtheotherstyleEnglisheuphemisms.Asfortraditionaleuphemisms,theyusuallyrefertothosewhicharenotelegantwordsorbehaviorsthatmakepeoplefeelashamedtotalkaboutinpublic,sotheysubstitutethosewordsformoreacceptableexpressions.Becausedirectexpressionsmaymakeusfeeluncomfortable,annoyedorfrightened.Forexample,whenapersonwearefamiliarwithdies,weneversaythatheisdead,instead,wemaytellitinothermorecomfortableways:

Hehaspassedaway;hehasleftusforever;tobeasleepintheArmsofGod;tobreatheone'slast;tobetakentotheparadise;thefinaldeparture;finalsleepbehomeandfree;gotomeetone'smaker;restinpeace;beatrest;leavethisworldandsoon.ThenthetypeEnglisheuphemismsrefertoovercomplements.Incommunications,theEnglishandAmericans（especiallymodernAmericans）tendtogivegoodnamestothoseunpleasantthingssoastoreachthegoalsinsocialcommunicationanddiplomacy.Forexample,theword‘defecation’isusuallyreplacedbythecallofnature,togosomewhere,tofixone'sface,towashone'shandsandsoon.

2.2.ThefunctionofEnglisheuphemisms

2.2.1.Functionoftaboos

Inancienttimes,peoplebelievedthatGodexistedinnature,andtheGodwasinchargeofeverythingintheworld.Toescapefromdisasters,peopleheldfeteactivitiesandgavegoodnamestoGods.Theexampleoflosingapersonthatwearefamiliarwithhasbeenlistedabove.Besides,euphemismsaboutillnessarecommon.Peoplereplacevenerealdiseasewithsocialdisease;pizzafaceiscalledskinproblem.Euphemismsaboutagingarealsoasensitivetopicinwesterncountriesbecauseofthefactthatthesecountriesareundergoingaseriousproblemofsocialaging.Manyoldpersonsarelivinglonelysotheyareveryafraidofhearingsuchwordslikeold.Sotheelderly,thematureareoftenusedtoreplacethesensitivewords.Weshouldkeepitinmindthatwhenyoutalkaboutoldpeopleinfrontofthem,neversayevenawordaboutold,instead,weshouldusewordslikeseniorcitizens,goldenyears,elderpeopleandsoon.Andanotherexampleisthatsocialstatusdifferencesareveryobviousandthosepeoplewithlowincomearegenerallyreferredtowithsuchwordsasapavementprincessforaprostitute,andafuneraldirectorforanundertaker.

2.2.2.Functionofpoliteness

ThisfunctionisveryimportantinEnglisheuphemisms.Fromtheperspectiveofdignity,peopleusuallyjudgeapersonwithimpliedwords.Indailycommunication,appropriateapplicationofeuphemismscancreatepoliteassociationfortwosidestocommunicatesmoothly.Suchafunctionalsohelpstotakecareofthedignityofothers.Suchwordsasslender,slimcanbeusedforthewordskinny,whenwetrytorefertoaskinnywoman.

2.2.3.Functionofbeautification

InmanyWesterncountries,theapplicationofeuphemismscanbeusedtobeautifyjobsoflowsocialclass.Ifyouseeadustman,remembertocallhimasanitaryengineer.Besides,inordernottohurtthosewhohavepersonalitydefectsorphysiologicaldefects,aeuphemismisusedincommunication,too.

2.2.4.Functionofconcealment

Thefunctionisgenerallyusedtocoverupserioussocialproblemslikepovertyandcrimeorhidetheessenceofwar,scandalsofpolicyanddiplomacy.Sinceaeuphemismisa