英語(yǔ)專業(yè)畢業(yè)論文---淺談?dòng)h委婉語(yǔ)的文化差異

1、<p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Acknowledgements……………………………………………………..…………..…I</p><p>　　English Abstract……………………………………………………………….…… II</p><p>　　Chinese Abstract……………

2、……………………………………………….……….III</p><p>　　Chapter1 Introduction………………………………………………….……..…… …1</p><p>　　1.1The definition of euphemism……………………………………….…… 1</p><p>　　1.2The features of euphem

3、ism……………………………………….………2</p><p>　　1.2.1National characteristic………………………………………………2</p><p>　　1.2.2Regional feature……………………………………………….……2</p><p>　　1.2.3Indirect and Implicit………………………………

4、………………3 1.2.4Universality…………………………………………………………3 1.2.5Humor………………………………………………………….……3 1.2.6Vagueness…………………………………………………….……..4</p><p>　　Chapter 2 Euphemism, Language and Culture…………………

5、………………..……5</p><p>　　2.1The definition of culture………………………………………..…………5</p><p>　　2.2Language and culture……………………………………………..………6</p><p>　　2.3Euphemism and culture……………………………………………..…

6、…6</p><p>　　Chapter 3 A Comparison About English and Chinese Euphemism…………..………8</p><p>　　3.1Euphemisms for death……………………………………………………8</p><p>　　3.2Euphemisms for old age………………………………

7、…………….……9</p><p>　　3.3Euphemisms for poverty…………………………………………...……10</p><p>　　3.4Euphemisms for marriage and pregnancy………………………………11</p><p>　　3.5Euphemisms for disease………………………………………

8、…………12</p><p>　　Chapter4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………14</p><p>　　References……………………………………………………………………………15</p><p>　　Acknowledgements</p><p>　　This thesis is a res

9、ult of contributions from many supporting individuals.</p><p>　　During the process of writing, I have received various kinds of help from many people. Because of their help, I have finished writing this thes

10、is so smoothly. Here, I want to render my sincere thanks to all the teachers and classmates who have given me their help in the last four years. The help is not only one of the most important treasures deserving cherishi

11、ng all my life, but also will be a perfect guide in my life in the future.</p><p>　　My deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to my supervisor – Ms. Peng Qiying. In this short but sufficient period, she h

12、as given me many good suggestions for the materials and the ways of organizing ideas. Without her consistent instructions, this thesis would not have reached its present form.</p><p>　　My sincere thanks are

13、also owed to all the teachers who have taught me during the four years of my university study. I also thank the library of Guizhou University and the library of our college for providing me with the facilities and source

14、s that I needed for my research and writing.</p><p>　　I also acknowledge my sincere thanks to all my classmates and friends who have enriched my life with their generous help and precious friendship.</p&g

15、t;<p>　　The finishing of my thesis is not an end but a new beginning. I believe that I can do better and better in my future life. Thank you again, my supervisor, my classmates and my teachers.</p><p>

16、;<b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　One of the most important ways for our human beings to communicate with others is language. Language is an important means for people to maintain their social relation

17、ship. However, there are many things which are supposed to be unspeakable. Many words also make people embarrassed and unhappy. So, in order to avoid the offensiveness and misunderstandings, people usually use the indire

18、ct or pleasant expressions to replace with those unpleasant and rude words in communication. We call that euphemi</p><p>　　Key Words：euphemism, definition, feature, culture, difference</p><p>&l

19、t;b>　　摘要</b></p><p>　　語(yǔ)言是人與人交流的最重要的方法，也是保持社會(huì)關(guān)系的重要方法。然而又很多東西是不能直接說(shuō)的，有很多詞語(yǔ)會(huì)讓人尷尬和不愉快。因此，為了避免冒犯以及誤會(huì)，人們?cè)诮涣鞯臅r(shí)候通常用一些間接的以及令人愉快的表達(dá)來(lái)代替那些令人不高興的粗魯?shù)脑~語(yǔ)。那些詞語(yǔ)就叫做委婉語(yǔ)。委婉語(yǔ)在人們的日常交流中扮演著重要的角色。委婉語(yǔ)是為了避免禁忌語(yǔ)，且存在于各種文化和社會(huì)中。為了幫

20、助語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者更好的了解和掌握委婉語(yǔ)，這篇論文主要討論了英語(yǔ)委婉語(yǔ)和中國(guó)委婉語(yǔ)在文化上的不同。在第一章，作者介紹了委婉語(yǔ)的定義和特點(diǎn)。在第二章，作者介紹了委婉語(yǔ)，語(yǔ)言以及文化三者的關(guān)系。第三章主要是對(duì)比有關(guān)死亡，貧困，婚姻，懷孕和疾病方面的中英委婉語(yǔ)。由此得出結(jié)論，如果想要學(xué)好一門(mén)語(yǔ)言，就有必要了解這門(mén)語(yǔ)言的文化。</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵詞：委婉語(yǔ)；定義；特點(diǎn)；文化；差別</p><p>

21、　　Chapter 1 Introduction</p><p>　　1.1 The definition of Euphemism</p><p>　　Verbal communication is one of the most important methods people apply to maintain the social relationship. In order to

22、 avoid the offensiveness in communication, people usually use some polite or pleasant words to replace the rude or embarrassing ones. Therefore, euphemism emerges.</p><p>　　Euphemism is a common linguistic p

23、henomenon in all cultures, it takes an very important role in people’s daily communication. Euphemism is originated from the Greek. Its prefix “eu” means good, pleasant, and its root “pheme” means speech. Thus, euphemism

24、 literally means “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner” (Neaman and Silver, 1990:32). According to Allan and Burridge (1991:11), the definition of euphemism is: A euphemism is used as an alternative to a disp

25、referred expression, in or</p><p>　　(1)mild or vague expression substituted for a harsher or more direct one. (Pocket Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1996)</p><p>　　

26、(2)the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt. (Webster’s Dictionary of American English, Random House, Inc.1997)</p><p>　　(3)(an example of)

27、the use of a more pleasant, less direct name for something thought to be unpleasant. (Longman English-Chinese Dictionary of Contempo- rary English, Longman Group UK Limited, 1988)</p><p>　　(4)A euphemism is

28、 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 Dic

29、tionary, SFLEP, 2000)</p><p>　　(5)Rhetorical trope: a pleasant replacement for an objectionable word that has pejorative connotations. (Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, FLERP, 2000)</p&g

30、t;<p>　　In China, Chen Wangdao (1997) defined euphemism as a figure of speech in which roundabout and implicit words and expressions are used to substitute direct expressions to hint the meaning. “Weiwan (委婉)” is

31、a figure of speech in Chinese. It is also called “wanqu (婉曲)” or “wanzhuan(婉轉(zhuǎn))”. Another figure of speech in Chinese is called “bihui (避諱)” or “huishi (諱飾)”. The combination of the figure of speech “weiwan (委婉)” and the

32、figure of speech “bihui (避諱)” in Chinese is equivalent to the figure of spe</p><p>　　1.2The features of Euphemism</p><p>　　1.2.1 National characteristic</p><p>　　Euphemism is a comm

33、on language phenomenon in the world culture. However, different countries and different nations in different surroundings and social environment have different production and living manners, and their culture depositions

34、 are also different. So euphemism in different language has some differences either. The differences are the representation of the national characteristic. There is a typical example about the word “poor”, it described a

35、n young woman who lived with hard conditi</p><p>　　“I used to think I was poor. Then they told me I was not poor, I was needy. Then they said it was self-defeating to think of myself as needy, that I was cul

36、turally 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 do not have a dime but I have a great vocab

37、ulary!”</p><p>　　Needy (lack of commodity), culturally deprived(lose the opportunity of education), underprivileged (having less money and fewer opportunities than most people in society), disadvantaged (hum

38、ble). Those four words are the euphemisms for “poor” which the government used to cheat the public.</p><p>　　1.2.2 Regional feature</p><p>　　Different regions have different customs, so do the l

39、anguage. For instance, bread is a kind of daily food in British, and the phrase “take bread out of someone’s mouth” means to go off with someone’s job. And there is another example. </p><p>　　An Australian w

40、oman married to an American man. They spent their honeymoon in America. And one day, the couple intended to go to a party together. But the bridegroom could not find a suitable full dress. The bride took out a birthday s

41、uit that she gave him as a present a few days ago and said: “Why not wear your birthday suit?” However, the whole family were all astonished because in American English, “in one’s birthday suit” is the euphemistic expres

42、sion of “naked”. So this embarrassing situati</p><p>　　1.2.3 Indirect and implicit</p><p>　　The most important feature of euphemism is indirect and implicit. The purpose of euphemism is to use s

43、ome indirect expressions to avoid something that makes people unhappy. And this is the indirect character. Euphemism always gives people hints in a roundabout way. We can infer the deeper meaning and intention from the c

44、onversation. </p><p>　　For example:</p><p>　　--“Don’t you think my cooking is wonderful?” The girl asked.</p><p>　　--“Are you fishing for compliments.” Her boy friend responded. <

45、;/p><p>　　In the conversation above, the boyfriend not only answered the girl implicitly, and did not embarrass his girlfriend. Similarly, when someone is ill, we always say he is under the weather. If someone

46、is mad, we say he is soft in mind.</p><p>　　1.2.4 Universality</p><p>　　Universality is something that is well-known and accepted by all of the human beings. Euphemism almost exists in every lan

47、guage and culture. And each language has its own taboos, such as taboos connected with sex, death, or body functions. Hence, those taboos are replaced by euphemisms. While we say someone is dead in English, we always do

48、not use the word “die”. We prefer to use “pass away” or “kick the bucket”.</p><p>　　1.2.5 Humor</p><p>　　Using euphemisms makes the language more interesting and humorous. It helps the public fa

49、ce something cruel and the unpleasant reality freely and happily. For instance, “push up daisies” replaces “be buried”, “hare-brained” refers to “mad”. “bay window” is a substitution for “belly”, “weekend worries” for “p

50、rostitutes”, “to lose one’s lunch” for “to vomit”. Nowadays, in some families, husband is afraid of his wife, and this kind of husband is called “hen-pecked husband”. </p><p>　　1.2.6 Vagueness</p><

51、;p>　　The formation of many euphemisms are made use of the vagueness of language, it makes the meaning broader. The vagueness of euphemisms can conceal the cruel. Just like the conversation below:</p><p>　

52、　Devizes: Is the pain worse?</p><p>　　Surtees: It is no great pain, sir. I have been to one specialist, sir? Yesterday，it is ? </p><p>　　Devizes: He couldn’t be sure. An operation?</p>&l

53、t;p>　　Surtees: Too late, he said, for that. If I had been operated on long ago, there might have been a chance.</p><p>　　After reading the conversation above, we may not understand what they discuss about

54、, what do the “it” and “that” indicate. It is difficult to understand the conversation correctly. Actually, Devizes and Surtees are talking about the cancer. Since cancer makes people unhappy, they use “it” and “that” to

55、 replace it tactfully.</p><p>　　Chapter 2 Language, Euphemism and Culture</p><p>　　2.1 The definition of culture</p><p>　　Culture is a large, wide and vague conception. It is really

56、 hard to explain the word “culture” clearly. As the world and society are developing, the definition of “culture” is also changing. According to Goodenough (1957:167), culture is “whatever it is one has to know or believ

57、e in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members”. Culture, “Being what people have to learn as distinct from their biological heritage”, must consist of “the end product of learning: knowledge”. Samovar and P

58、o</p><p>　　Spencer-Oatey entented the conception of culture and introduced a number of additional factors apart from values and resultant behaviors or artifacts, including a description of the functions of c

59、ulture: “Culture is a fuzzy set of attitudes, beliefs, behavioral norms, and basic assumptions and values that are shared by a group people, and that influence each member’s behavior and his or her interpretations of the

60、 ‘meaning’ of other people’s behavior”(2000:4). Culture changes with changing circum</p><p>　　Different scholars defined the culture differently for different purposes. In total, all the points perform that

61、culture is all pervasive, including customs and habits, ideas and beliefs, the artifacts made by human beings. Simply to say, culture reflects the whole life of the society.</p><p>　　2.2 Language and culture

62、</p><p>　　Language is arbitrary. Language is vocal. Language is a symbolic system of human communications. Language is an important part of culture and it is the keystone of culture. Language is also the pri

63、mary tool of culture to transmit its values, beliefs and norms. When people communicating with others, they can diffuse their own culture to each other, then, get knowledge of another culture from each other. Culture pro

64、vides people means of thinking, ways of living, and the attitude towards life, eith</p><p>　　On the other side, language refers to the culture. Language is influenced and shaped by culture. In the broadest s

65、ense, language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and cultural background as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking (Deng Yanchang and Liu Runqing,

66、 1989:3). According to Kramsch (2000:3), when language is used in communication, “it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways”.</p><p>　　Language and culture are closely related. Human society c

67、ould not be existed without a means of symbolic communication. Language gives people the access of what was thought and experienced in the past, as well as a way of passing new information on to the next generations. Whe

68、n the language link is broken, the culture is lost to us forever.</p><p>　　2.3 Euphemism and Culture</p><p>　　As we mentioned above, language and culture are closely related, so do euphemisms. U

69、nder the guidance of certain culture, people will consciously select euphemism to represent the “unpleasant words”. Patrick Hartwell (cited in Shao Zhihong, 1997:305) points out that euphemisms are “a natural part of the

70、 social world of words” and they tell us “a good deal about the values of a culture”. Hence, cultural values influence the expressions of politeness, euphemistic way of speaking and ways of avoidi</p><p>　　I

71、n conclusion, euphemisms, language and culture, these three matters that are related to each other. Euphemism is a form of language, language is an integral part of culture, and culture is transmitted by language. The co

72、inage and application of euphemisms reflect people’s attitude, facts, beliefs, ideas, values and knowledge in communication. Culture gets through the task of daily life as well as language. People come to use their langu

73、age to reflect what they value and belief. They view their </p><p>　　Chapter 3 Comparison About English and Chinese Euphemisms</p><p>　　Euphemism is a common phenomenon in both English and Chine

74、se cultures. Chinese and English are language systems that exist individually, so there are more differences than similarities between the both because of the different nature and social environments, life and living sty

75、le, customs, beliefs, values of the nations. And all the differences could be seen in the uses and the expressions of euphemisms.</p><p>　　3.1 Euphemisms for death </p><p>　　Christian is the mai

76、n religion in England so many English euphemisms on death originated from The Bible or Christian legends and allusion and some of them manifest the philosophy of Christianity and its religious interpretation of death. Fo

77、r instance, just because God created people by clay and people are created equal, “to die” is called “to return to dust / earth”. Besides, “to go to heaven”, “to be called to God”, “to be promoted to glory”, “to lie in t

78、he Abraham’s bosom”, “to launch into ete</p><p>　　The Chinese do not have a common and unified religion. We can find followers of Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, etc. As a result, many Chinese euphemisms rev

79、eals the influence of such religions. For example, Taoists expect to gain longevity or even immortality through ascetic practices, such as meditation and self-cultivation. The typical fairy tale “The eight immortals cros

80、sing the sea” has its origin in Taoism. The influence of Taoism on Chinese language can be seen in such euphemisms for deat</p><p>　　Death has always been what people fear throughout the history in all natio

81、ns. As time changes, the euphemism for death is developed. The euphemisms for death are a widely used item, especially when it concerns one’s own families and friends. It has a lot of expressions. For example, “if anythi

82、ng should happen to me” is equal to “when I die”, “die” also can be called “to pass away”, “to depart”, “to go to sleep”, “to be longer with us”, “to be interred”, etc. “Death” has some humorous expressions</p>&l

83、t;p>　　3.2 Euphemisms for old age</p><p>　　The Chinese and English have different attitudes toward being old. In English, it is rude and offensive to call someone old. So, there are lots of euphemisms abou

84、t old in English, they reflect the avoidance of mentioning the old in western society. This is somewhat due to its loose family structure. When the children grow up, they would be independent from their family, and live

85、apart from their parents, the society do not provide sufficient support to the old people, so the old people have to l</p><p>　　Neaman has humorously points out that “There is no one old in modern America. H

86、e is either seasoned or well-preserved”(1990:166). In fact, some euphemistic expressions take the place of old, such as “getting on (in years)”, “past one’s prime”, “feeling one’s age”, “second childhood”, “a distinguish

87、ed gentleman”, “a grande dame”, “third age”, etc. The old people become “an elder statesman” or “old age pensioner” or even use initialing “OAP”. They are not “old” but “l(fā)ong-lived”. And, a home for ol</p><p&g

88、t;　　The Chinese culture places a high value on oldness. The Chinese hold the view that to be old means be experienced, knowledgeable, mature and reliable, which is also reflected in Chinese idioms, such as “l(fā)aodangyizhua

89、ng(老當(dāng)益壯)”, “l(fā)aochengchizhong(老成持重)”, “l(fā)aochenglianda(老成練達(dá))”, “l(fā)aomashitu(老馬識(shí)途)” and so on. The Chinese has a tradition of showing respect for elders. So we call old people “ninlao(您老)”, “l(fā)aoxiansheng(老先生)”, etc. The char

90、acter “l(fā)ao(老)” (means old in English) is quite often used to ind</p><p>　　3.3 Euphemisms for poverty</p><p>　　In western society, poverty is a horrible word. And it is a shame. On the contrary,

91、wealthy means wisdom, power and social status. Though the society has been advocating equality and the civil right, the gap between the rich and the poor are still widening. John Ayto (1993:286) points out “The shame of

92、poverty makes it a natural target for euphemism in English. Neither individuals nor nations like to admit that they haven’t enough money and cannot provide for themselves, and a range of alternati</p><p>　　I

93、n Chinese, euphemisms for poverty are comparatively fewer. Such as “jieju(拮據(jù))”, “shoutoujin (手頭緊)”, “shoutoububian(手頭不便)” and “nangzhongxiuse (囊中羞澀)”. The word “poor” is not so tabooed in traditional Chinese culture as i

94、n western culture. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the proletariat became the leader of the country. In a rather long period of time, people felt glorious because of being poor. In the past twenty y

95、ears, China’s reform and opening-up policy has made more an</p><p>　　3.4 Euphemisms for marriage and pregnancy</p><p>　　There is a great difference between the attitude of western and eastern cu

96、lture toward marriage. Western culture cherishes individuality, especially personal freedom, while the Chinese people emphasize the ethics. Some young people in western society are afraid of losing freedom after marriage

97、. They usually choose such expressions as “have gotten hitched” and “tie the knot” to refer to marriage. “Trial marriage” is used to refer to “cohabitation” in English. “Mistress” becomes “unmarried wife” a</p>&l

98、t;p>　　There are a lot of euphemisms in English and Chinese, which are containing similar denotative meaning while distinct cultural connotation and allusion. Take the euphemisms for pregnancy as an example, a Japanese