英语毕业论文从礼貌原则上看中西委婉语的差异.docx

1、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：Comparison of English and Chinese Euphemism Based on the Politeness Principle 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）二一五 年 五 月AbstractAlong with the continuous development of globalization, the communications between Chin

2、a and western countries have been increasing gradually in economy, politics and culture. More and more of us are required to understand people coming from countries and cultures different from our own, so the impact of difference between Oriental and Occidental cultures on international trade become

3、s increasingly exposed. In the cross-culture communication, we can not be ignorant of the differences between English and Chinese euphemism. In addition, politeness is the symbol of human culture and societys universal phenomenon. However, the different cultures has different politeness principle wh

4、ich does not use to weigh the standard as well as the expression way. Learning the different usages of English and Chinese euphemisms based on the politeness principle aims at pointing out that people can put the euphemisms into right usage only if people understand correctly different cultures. Onl

5、y in this way, we can avoid some mistakes, misunderstanding or even conflicts. Thus, we can promote the cross-cultural communication going effectively and to be in the best condition.This paper aims at discussing the differences between English and Chinese euphemisms that are faced in todays interna

6、tional communication and evolving appropriate measures to deal with those.It consists of four parts, with an introduction and a conclusion preceding and following them. As euphemism is a linguistic phenomenon, chapter two first states the origin and the definition of the euphemism, and the analysis

7、of the obedience of the English and Chinese politeness principle, thus building up a better understanding of euphemism. Chapter three illustrates the differences of English and Chinese euphemism and discusses the factor for the differences. All of these can help people to avoid pragmatic failures in

8、 communication.Key Words: Euphemism，Politeness Principle，Contrastive Analysis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

9、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ContentsChapter One IntroductionEuphemism, as a social lubricant of co

10、mmunication, plays a very important role to promote the understanding of differences in Chinese and western culture. At the same time, It is the most significant and indispensable part of the international communication. The study of euphemism has long been with us during the development of globaliz

11、ation. After all these years, many Chinese and foreign scholars have a great achievement on the study of euphemism. However, there are a lot of people have not yet fully realized the importance of euphemism, or have not understood the pragmatic failures in communication because of the differences be

12、tween Chinese and English euphemism. So, it is necessary for us to try hard to review the researches of predecessors. In the meantime, we have to make a analysis of Chinese and English euphemism to strengthen the consciousness of cross-cultural communication.In the early 1780s, Gorge Blunt gave a de

13、finition for the meaning of euphemism: （Euphemism）is a good of favorable interpretation of a bad word. Then, there were many scholars studying on euphemism one after the other. Menken explored the formation of euphemism in The American Language in 1936. Neaman and Sliver described the origin and dev

14、elopment of euphemism in Kind WordsA Treasure of Euphemisms in 1983. D.J.Enright collected many papers of euphemism in Fair of Speech，the Use of Euphemism in 1985. Allen and Burridge studied on English euphemism based on the pragmatic perspective in Euphemism and Dysphemism in 1991. China also has a

15、 lot of researches about euphemism. Liu Chunbao showed the semantics in Dictionary of English Euphemism in 1994. Su Dingfang expounded the pragmatic functions of euphemism based on the theory of Grice and Leech in 1995. Xu Haiming introduced the pragmatic functions of euphemism in Pragmatic Study of

16、 Euphemism in 1996. Peng Wenzhao wrote about the cultural influence to the euphemism in Euphemism-Language Mapping in the Social Culture in 1999.With the evolution of modern social civilization, the social functions of euphemism are widening. Therefore, the comparison of English and Chinese euphemis

17、m based on the politeness principle can reduce the obstacle in cultural communication. Because of the lack of researches in China, more and more scholars will conduct the researches of euphemism thoroughly. Through the contrastive study of English and Chinese euphemisms based on the politeness princ

18、iple, we can learn about lots of both similarities and peculiarities of the two languages, which is of considerable value and guidance to our foreign language learning and cross-cultural communication.Chapter Two Literature Review2.1 The Origin of EuphemismThe history of euphemism can be traced back

19、 to the ancient times. Its earlier emergence had a close relation to language taboos and religion. In the primitive society, the social system hindered the economic growth. They came to believe that there were some supernatural powers, or the existence of devils and gods that controlled their lives

20、and even the whole world. They dared not to mention the names of the devils and gods directly. Thus, language taboos came into being. Because of the needs in communications, people used euphemisms to substitute the names of those things they feared in circumstances that they had to speak of them. Al

21、ong with the advance of the society, the effects of euphemism was more and more important when people felt that they were somewhat distant from what they were afraid of and their safety, happiness, health and good luck were guaranteed. Thus, euphemism got the unprecedented development. Nowadays, it

22、still exerts a strong influence on China and western nations.2.2 Definition of EuphemismEuphemism is originated from the Greek. It is an inoffensive word or phrase substituted for one considered offensive or hurtful. In addition, euphemism is a common phenomenon during the use of human language and

23、exists in a lot of languages concerned with religion, sex, death, or excreta. The followings are two definitions of the euphemism from the reference books: (1) “Using a statement of vague, and making people feel happy or ambiguous, instead of the expression of an unhappy meaning or with not enough r

24、espect.” (Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, Stockton and Hartmann) (2) “An indirect word or phrase that people often use to refer to something embarrassing or unpleasant, sometimes to make it seem more acceptable than it really is.” (Oxford Advanced Learners English Chinese Dictionary, the com

25、mercial press & Oxford University press)So far, the definitions of the euphemism are a lot, and the followings are the definitions of the euphemism from research scholars:(1) The mild or vague expression substituted for a harsher or more direct one. (Pocket Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary) (2) The

26、 substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt. (Websters Dictionary of American English) (3) (An example of) the use of a more pleasant, less direct name for something thought to be unpleasant. (Longman English-Chinese Dictionary of Contempo-

27、rary English) (4) A euphemism is a polite, pleasant, or neutral word or expression that is used to refer to something which people may find upsetting or embarrassing to talk about, for example, sex, the human body or death. (Collins Cobuild English Dictionary) (5) A pleasant replacement for an objec

28、tionable word that has pejorative connotations. (Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics) 2.3 The Politeness Principle The politeness principle is a constraint observed in human communicative behavior, influencing us to avoid communicative discord or offence, and maintain communicative conc

29、ord.2.3.1 The Obedience of the English Politeness Principle(1) Approbation maxim: Minimize dispraise of other; Maximize praise to other.For example: Your sentence isnt correct, but your answer is good.In western countries, teachers generally grade students with appreciation. Although some students g

30、ive the wrong answers, teachers always use the praise strategy properly and take the expressions of “Right”, “Good”, “Well done”, “Good job”, “Excellent” when students have a positive performance. For students, praise is the powerful encouragement. (2) Generosity maxim: Minimize benefit to self; Max

31、imize cost to self.For example: In my humble opinion, she was neither quite pretty nor quiet plain. “Plain” is used instead of “ugly”. That is to state some serious things in a temperate way in order to avoid being awkward and strident. This king of expression not only minimizes benefit to self in c

32、ommunication, but show respect to others.(3) Modesty maxim: Minimize praise to self; Maximize dispraise to self.For example: I used to think I was poor. Then they told me I wasnt poor, I was needy. Then they said it was self-defeating to think of myself as needy, that I was culturally deprived. Then they told me deprived was a bad image, that I was underprivileged. Then they told me that underprivileged was overused, that I was disadvantaged. I still dont have a dime but I have a great vocabulary.(Harper Dictionary of Contemporar