英语禁忌语.docx

1、英语禁忌语学 年 论 文学生姓名常玉杰学 号020701039院 (系)外国语学院专 业英语（师范）题 目英汉文化中禁忌语差异的研究TitleOn Cultural Difference of the Taboo Words Between English and Chinese指导教师陈维平 副教授 （姓 名） （专业技术职称/学位）2010年11月On Cultural Difference of the Taboo Words between English and ChineseByChang Yujie A Thesis Submitted toSchool of Foreign L

2、anguagesas a Gaduation Tesis At Huaiyin Normal UniversityUnder the Supervision of Ms. Chen WeipingSeptember 2010AcknowledgementsThis thesis involves much generous assistance from my teachers, friends and parents. I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to my instructor Chen Weiping, my supervisor,

3、 who has been giving me the considerable academic help and constant support during my thesis writing. I also extend my heartfelt appreciations to all of my friends and especially, my classmate Qi Jianhui, who has spent time discussing questions with me and offered me kind advice about the thesis. An

4、d I would like to thank the librarians of Huaiyin Teachers College, who have provided me with useful references needed in my thesis.Finally, I would like to present sincere thanks to my parents, who have supported and assisted me all the way in my college life.摘要：语言是文化的载体，不同的社会背景和历史文化会产生出不同的禁忌语言。在原始

5、社会，自然灾害频发，又由于当时人们的封闭的思想，因而变得很迷信，他们认为语言本身会带来不同的运气，因而就有禁忌语这一说法。禁忌语在中国和其他许多说英语的国家的应用有着许多相似之处，本文首先对禁忌语的起源进行了概述，再从其发展过程进行分析。在人们日常生活的方方面面，都会涉及到禁忌语，所以它在中国和英语的国家是一个普遍存在的社会现象。他们在某些方面存在着相同点，也在不同的社会习俗和文化背景的影响下，呈现出不同的形式。最后，在日常生活中，人们逐渐运用委婉语来替代禁忌语，以避免因误用所造成的麻烦，通过这种方式，我们可以更加有效的与别人进行交流。关键词：禁忌语，对比分析，文化差异，委婉语Abstract

6、：Culture can be manifested in certain language. Different social background and historical culture make a contribution to produce different linguistic taboos. As the old saying goes, “Troubles come out of the tongue”. Superstitious people think that the language itself can bring about fortune and mi

7、sfortune so that taboos are created. Taboos are in common use in China and many English speaking countries, and we can find its expression in English and Chinese. This paper gives a brief introduction of the origin of taboos. And then analyzes its evolution process. People can be aware of the fact t

8、hat linguistic taboos exist in almost every aspect of their daily life, and it is an universal social phenomenon in China and Britain. They share some similarities in certain aspects. Nevertheless, under the influence of different social customs and culture backgrounds, they take on different forms.

9、 To avoid the unnecessary troubles caused by misusing taboos, we replace it with euphemisms. Then we can communicate with each other effectively.Key words：taboo words, comparison ,similarities, cultural difference, euphemismCONTENTS1. Introduction 12. Analysis of Gender Differences in College Englis

10、h Education in China 23.1 The phenomena of gender differences 23.1.1 Female students are more than male students in English department 23.1.2 Female students get higher achievement than male students in English learning 33.2 Analysis of the factors in gender differences 33.2.1 Physiological gender d

11、ifferences in language learners 43.2.2 Emotional and psychological gender differences in language learners 43.2.3 The influence of family education 53.2 4 The influence of school education 63.2.5 The influence of traditional society 84. Enlightenment of Gender Differences in College English Educatio

12、n 84.1 Influence caused by gender differences in college English education 94.2 Revealing gender inequality in education in China 95. Synthetic Ways to Achieve Gender Equality in Education 105.1 Enact education policies 105.1.1 Incorporate gender equality into school education 105.1.2 Incorporate ge

13、nder equality into college and university admission policies 105.2 Incorporate gender equality into textbooks 115.3 Teaching by gender 115.3.1 Changing gender stereotypes by teachers 115.3.2 Classroom teaching by teachers 126. Conclusion 13Works Cited 141. Introduction22. The origin and definition o

14、f linguistic taboo53. The evolution of linguistic taboo54. The similarities between English and Chinese taboos7 41 Taboos on religion 7 42 Taboos on human excretion parts8 43 Taboos on sex8 44 Taboos on diseases or death8 45 Taboos on social positions8 46 Taboos on age and weight85. The differences

15、between English and Chinese taboos10 51 Taboos on names and appellation 10 52 Taboos on ages10 53 Taboos on privacy affairs11 54 Taboos on numbers116. The analysis on linguistic taboos between English and Chinese117. Conclusion141. IntroductionIn the communication between Chinese and western culture

16、s, many people feel strongly the difference between the two cultures on many aspects, such as social life, politics, culture, religion, etc. In addition, the particular historical process and social backgrounds have a great impact on the formation and evolution of their languages. A successful cross

17、-cultural communication requires us to break through the cultural barriers. A good command of taboo culture guides people to speak and behave at a proper time, place and to a proper degree. Taboo is a common social and cultural phenomenon in both Chinese and Britain. So the words created by it also

18、take on a new form. However, influenced by different cultural backgrounds, ideologies and concepts of value, the content and forms of taboos are different. Therefore, the discussion of the relation between the taboo and language is conducive to English teaching and communication. Whats more, it can

19、also help us to have a better understanding of attitudes and thinking models between China and Britain.2. The origin and definition of linguistic taboo.The term “taboo” was borrowed from Tonga, an island group in Polynesia, and its original meaning is “sacred” “untouchable”. When it came into Englis

20、h vocabulary, it became the synonym of taboo, which stands for prohibition or repression. It is specifically used to describe some special languages and behaviors.3. The evolution of linguistic tabooAs it is mentioned above, linguistic taboo is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a kind of so

21、cial phenomenon. It is influenced by the development of society.As we all know, in the primitive society, people didnt get to know about nature. They were confused about the natural phenomenon, such as lightning, thunder, storm, earthquakes, etc. So they believed in the natural powers and became sup

22、erstitious. They thought only in this way could they survive the hard environments, therefore, they must respect nature and mighty god when they use language. Here is an example: from the seventh commandment of the Ten Commandment in Bible “You should not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord yo

23、ur god, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name”1In the Medieval period, many countries were divided into many groups of different social status according to innumerable religious rules. People couldnt do and get they want to. It is the darken age, people in that time should show re

24、spect to the decadent rules and religions. So there are many taboos during the period. For instance, the religion listed the buttock, jaw, and forehead as the linguistic taboos. In China, during the feudal period, it is the feudal code of ethics that dominate the country for more than 2000 years. Me

25、n are the major role in the society, and women should be obedient to their father, husband, and son. Besides, as an old saying goes: Ignorance is a womans virtue. So women are not allowed to attend class. We can see it from the Chinese expression: Three from the four virtues. Three cardinal guides a

26、nd the five permanent members, etc. Many taboos are preserved as the form of the feudal code of ethics, for example, in order to show the royals authority and majesty, the name of the emperor and his ancestors should not be mentioned. At the same time, people always avoid speaking out their parents

27、names or even the characters in their parents names. Taboos have turned into pure commandment without a shade of superstition. In modern society, with the rapid development of science and technology, the scope of the concept of taboo has been widened. Most people are becoming more and more rational,

28、 and they never believe in or rely on the superstitions. Therefore the superstitious elements in linguistic taboos decrease and those reflecting spiritual civilization increase. With the frequent interaction between China and the western countries, the tradition of taboos influences each other. In r

29、ecent years, there are many taboo words that reflect a demeaning attitude towards certain social or ethic groups. Racist language and sexist language, for example, are offensive to the social or ethic groups discriminated against. 2For example, the term “Nigger” was used in the 1960s, which was wide

30、ly used to call the blacks. But now, it is considered as a taboo word in the usual social interactions. For such form of addressing is against the American Human Rights. Whats more, because of the Women Liberation, many women step into all walks of life to work with men. The traditional ideas restri

31、ct their activities and spirits during the feudal time. However, everything has changed, we can not ignore the forces of women, and they also do a very good job. Therefore, the number of taboo words on sexist language increases.As is mentioned above, in modern society, people are becoming more and more conscious of other peoples feelings. So they create many taboo words to avoid hurting others. Most of the words can also be called euphemisms. In a word,