从合作原则看英语委婉语的使用.docx

1、从合作原则看英语委婉语的使用从合作原则看英语委婉语的使用Abstract The word “euphemism” comes from the Greek, eu-means “good”, and pheme-, “speech” or “saying”, and together it means literally “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”. Euphemism, as a cultural phenomenon as well as a linguistic concept, has attracted pe

2、oples attention for a long time. It has long been a topic of much interest. Generally speaking, people would use more euphemisms in communicating with the opposite sex; women would use more than men would; older people would use more than younger generations. People would more use euphemisms in powe

3、r relations than in close relations. People with higher education would use more euphemisms. The above factors: age, sex, social status, education, etc. do not work separately. In communicating, they are interlaced with each other and guide our choice of euphemisms. Whether to use euphemisms or tabo

4、o words also depends, to a large extent, on the attitudes of participants (particularly speakers) and the purpose of conversations. The article consists of six parts. Part one explains what the meaning of euphemism is. Part two is saying the Cooperative Principle in briefly. Cooperative Principle, t

5、he cornerstone theory of pragmatics, is one of the main principles that guide peoples communication. The Cooperative Principle and its maxims can explain what the literal meaning is and its real intention in communication and ensure that in an exchange of conversation. Part three presents, the forma

6、tion euphemism, namely, formal innovation, semantic innovation, rhetorical devices, and grammatical ways. Part four discusses the communicative function of euphemism is substitution, politeness, disguise, defense, etc. Part five serves as the main body of this article. Generally speaking, euphemisms

7、 violate the Quality, Quantity and Manner Maxim of the CP due to different reasons like substitution, disguise etc. And basically euphemisms observe the Relation Maxim. From the analysis, it can be also found that sometimes an euphemism can be regarded as violation of two maxims of the CP at the sam

8、e time. Part six concludes the whole article.Key Words Cooperative Principle; Euphemism; Communicative function【摘 要】委婉语(euphemism)一词起源于希腊语。Eu意思是“好的”，pheme意思是“话语”，因此字面上的意思是说好听的话或用礼貌的方式说话。委婉语是一个语言学概念，同时也是一种文化现象，长久以来一直受到人们的关注。总体上讲人们在与异性进行言语交际时，要比在同性面前更多地使用委婉语，女性要比男性更多地使用委婉语，年长的人要比年青的人更多地使用委婉语。人们在“权势关系”

9、的语境中往往要比在“亲密关系”的语境中更多地使用委婉语。受教育程度越高的人，越注意自己的言谈，因而更多地使用委婉语。上述因素年龄、性别、社会地位、教育等并不孤立存在，在交际中，他们交织在一起决定着委婉语的使用。是否使用委婉语还要考虑说话者的态度和交谈的目的。文章由六个部分组成。第一部分解释了什么是委婉语。第二部分简单列出合作原则的各项原则。它作为语用学的理论基石之一，是指导人们语言交际的原则之一。它可以很好地解释话语的字面意义和实际意义的关系，这对于交际委婉语显得尤为重要。第三部分说明委婉语的构成可以有很多种方式：形式变化，语义变化，修辞手段和语法手段。第四部分阐述了交际委婉语出于替代、掩饰、

10、和礼貌等功能。第五部分是文章的主体，并说明委婉语出于替代、掩饰、和礼貌等原因主要违反了合作原则中的质、量和方式三个次则，基本上是遵循了合作原则中的相关原则。第六部分总结全文。【关键字】合作原则; 委婉语; 交际功能1. Introduction In the Oxford Advanced Learners English Chinese Dictionary the explanation of Euphemism is (example of the) use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place of more a

11、ccurate or direct ones1. And in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English the explanation of Euphemism is (an example of) the use of a pleasanter, less direct name for something thought to be unpleasant. For example, the man who wants to us to call him a “sanitation engineer” instead of a “garb

12、age man” is hoping we will treat him with more respect than we presently do. The word euphemism comes from the Greek eu meaning good and pheme meaning speech or saying, and thus means literally to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner. Euphemisms have various reasons for existence. They conc

13、eal the things people fear the mostdeath, the dead, the supernatural. They cover up the facts of lifeof sex and reproduction and excretionwhich inevitably remind even the most refined people that they are made of clay, or worse. They are beloved by individuals and institutions (governments, especial

14、ly) that are anxious to present only the handsomest possible images of themselves to the world. And they are imbedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even those who pride themselves on being plainspoken, ever get through a day without using them. But some people still mistake the euphemism

15、s in the conversation by the Cooperative principle. Violating the CP, people also can continue the conversation with euphemisms, which make the author interest in attitudes of participants and the purpose of conversation. That is our body today. of euphemisms Formal innovation To avoid the emergence

16、 of certain letter or sound may achieve the effect of euphemizing. The formal innovation can hide audio-visually those words we dont want to say or we shouldnt say so as to achieve better outcome in communication. Abbreviation is the shortening of a word and may be seen in the use of the British exp

17、ression LADIES for ladies room. There also is GENTS for gentlemens room. Apocopation Apocopation is another form of abbreviation apparent in the use of vamp for vampire here meaning a seductive woman. And lav is for lavatory; homo is for homosexual; coca is for cocaine; bra is for brassiere. Initial

18、ing Initialing is the use of acronyms instead of their component parts as in JC for “Jesus Christ”, BM for bowel movement, for water closet,for body odor,for venereal disease, AIDS for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, SARS for severe acute respiratory syndrome. Backforming Backforming is the sub

19、stitution for one part of speech (used in shortened form) for another, as in burgle (rob) which is derived from burglar. Reduplication Reduplication is the repetition of a syllable or letter of a word. Particularly common in childrens bathroom vocabulary, it substitutes pee-pee forpiss, poo-poo for

20、bowel movement. Blend word A blend word is a form of phonetic distortion in which two or more words are squeezed together both orthographically and phonetically. An example of this is gezunda for a chamber pot, a term derived from the fact that this object goes under the bed. Diminutive A diminutive

21、 is the formation of a new term by nicking or shortening a name and adding a suffix indicating affection or smallness. Heinie, for example, is the diminutive of hind end and refers to the buttocks. Semantic innovation Borrowing Most obviously, euphemisms may be formed by borrowing words from other l

22、anguagesterms that are less freighted with negative associations. Thus, we use Greek and Latin expressions for many bodily parts and functions. We have coined halitosis (bad breath) from the Latin (halitus) for “breath” and we have substituted micturition for the more vulgar Indo-European “Piss”. In

23、 addition, English euphemisms also borrowed a lot of scientific or academic terms, which are believed to be more euphemistic and objective than the usual terms, such as magnetic for “sexy” and perspire for “sweat” and so on. Widening Euphemisms may be made by a semantic process called widening. When

24、 a specific term becomes too painful or vivid, we move up in the ladder of abstraction. In this way, cancer becomes growth and a girdle becomes a foundation . Sometimes, in addition to widening we divide the negative connotations of a single direct term between two or more words. Instead of saying “

25、syphilis” openly, we speak of a social disease. Semantic shift Allied to the phenomenon of widening is that of semantic shift. This is the substitution of the whole, or a similar generality, for the specific part we do not choose to discuss. We may create such metonymies (substitutions of the whole

26、for the part) as rear end for “buttocks”. Sometimes, as in the expressions to sleep with/go to bed with someone10, we use words naming the larger event in place of more precise references to the sexual relations that are part of the process. Rhetorical devices Metaphor Euphemisms may be made by a pr

27、ocess called metaphorical transfer, the comparison of things of one kind to things of another. The euphemisms chosen are often romanticizing, poeticizing and softening of the original words like go to sleep; go to his long home; be home and free; rest in peace; be at rest; go to Heaven/Paradise; joi

28、n ones ancestors; be gathered to ones fathers; join the immorals for die11, shock for random bombing, constructive destruction for severe damage, have a road to travel for have a long time to reach an agreement and etc. Aposiopesis In English, there is a kind of rhetoric called aposiopesis that can

29、also act as the way of euphemizing. When we think we should not say something under certain conditions, we suddenly stop as when we say someone is out (of work); she is expecting (a baby); to take precautions (against pregnancy); to depart (from this world)12 Analogy can often be seen in the vocabul

30、aries of work. A tendency to elevate menial or unskilled jobssometimes substituting a grand title for a large salarycan make offal smell like a rose by promoting garbage men to sanitation engineers or even to waste-reduction managers. By implication, they become highly trained technicians and execut

31、ives. Health-club staffs become fitness coordinators, and senators now have their shoes shined by the footwear maintenance engineer, formerly the Senate bootblack. Even if you are not a government official, your janitor is now your buiding maintenance engineer. Understatement Understatement displays

32、 peoples desire to make their language less painful and direct. So there is never an ugly woman in this world, she is at least plain. Teachers only tell parents that their child is a bit slow for his age, not retarded. And call senior citizen for old person. Take others things without permission can be instead of steal. Periphrasis Periphrasis is just beating around the bush. People often say euphemisms are weasel words, because people never call a spade a spade when using euphemisms