基于合作原則的英語委婉語言研究【畢業(yè)論文】

1、<p><b>　　（20_ _屆）</b></p><p><b>　　本科畢業(yè)設(shè)計</b></p><p><b>　　英語</b></p><p>　　基于合作原則的英語委婉語言研究</p><p>　　A Research on English Euphemi

2、sm Language Based on the Cooperative Principle</p><p><b>　　摘 要</b></p><p>　　委婉語是一個語言學(xué)概念，同時也是一種文化現(xiàn)象，長久以來一直受到人們的關(guān)注。合作原則, 它作為語用學(xué)的理論基石之一，可以很好地解釋話語的字面意義和實際意義的關(guān)系，這對于交際委婉語顯得尤為重要。本文將從委婉語的定義

3、及交際功能入手，在回顧前人研究的基礎(chǔ)上，著重從合作原則的角度，分析委婉語言與合作原則各準則之間的關(guān)系。</p><p>　　合作原則是指人們在交際過程中應(yīng)該遵循質(zhì)量、數(shù)量、關(guān)聯(lián)和方式準則，而委婉語言恰恰違反了這些原則，文章引用了大量說服性的實例說明了委婉語的使用是如何違反合作與原則以更好地達到對話效果。對于英語學(xué)習(xí)者來說，理解委婉語言和合作原則的關(guān)系顯得尤為重要，能更好地運用委婉語言進行交際。</p>

4、<p>　　關(guān)鍵詞：委婉語言；合作原則；交際功能</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　Euphemism, as a cultural phenomenon as well as a linguistic concept, has attracted people’s attention for a long tim

5、e. It has long been a topic of much interest in linguistic research, and is playing a more and more important role in our daily life. Cooperative Principle, the cornerstone theory of pragmatics, can explain what the lite

6、ral meaning is and its real intention in communication and ensure that in an exchange of conversation. Based on the scholars’ achievements, this paper studies euphe</p><p>　　Cooperative Principle refers to t

7、he quantity maxim, quality maxim,relation maxim and manner maxim which people should observe in communication. However, it turns out that euphemisms violate the principle. There are many examples confirm it. As it for En

8、glish learners, understanding the relations between euphemism and Cooperative Principle is of great importance in communication. </p><p>　　Key words: euphemism language; cooperative principle; communicative

9、functions</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Abstract………………………………………………………………………………II</p><p>　　1. Introduction............................................................

10、........……..……………………1</p><p>　　1.1 The definition of Euphemism………………………………………………..1</p><p>　　1.2 Communicative Functions of Euphemism…………………………………..2</p><p>　　1.2.1 Avoiding Taboo……

11、…………………………………………………...2</p><p>　　1.2.2 Showing Politeness…………………………………………………….3</p><p>　　1.2.3 Concealing Truth……………………………………………………….4</p><p>　　2. Literature Review………………….………………………

12、………………...........4</p><p>　　2.1 The Rhetoric Perspective………………………………………………...5</p><p>　　2.2 The Semantic Perspective……………………………………………….5</p><p>　　2.3 The Pragmatic Perspective………………

13、………………………………6</p><p>　　3. Introduction to Cooperative Principle………….………….…..……….……....7</p><p>　　3.1 Cooperative Principle………………………………………………………...7</p><p>　　3.2 Four maxims of Coope

14、rative Principle……………………………………....8</p><p>　　3.3 Wide application of Cooperative Principle…………………………………..9</p><p>　　4. Euphemism and Cooperative Principle.………….…..…………………..........10</p>

15、<p>　　4.1 Euphemism violating Maxim of Quantity…………………………………..10</p><p>　　4.2 Euphemism violating Maxim of Quality……………………………………11</p><p>　　4.3 Euphemism violating Maxim of Relation……………………

16、……………..12</p><p>　　4.4 Euphemism violating Maxim of Manner…………………………………...12</p><p>　　5. Conclusion ..............................................................................................

17、...............13</p><p>　　Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...14</p><p>　　Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………….15</p><p>　　I．Introduction</p><p>　　The word

18、“euphemism” comes from Greek, in which “eu” means “good” and “pheme” means “speech” or “saying”, and together it means literally “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”. Euphemism is a form of language created

19、 in social relations to achieve ideal communication. Using euphemism can help to make the language communication go smoothly and successfully.</p><p>　　1.1 The Definition of Euphemism</p><p>　　A

20、s a special mode of expression, a widely studied object, euphemism has been defined differently in different books by many researchers.</p><p>　　Some western linguists give its definitions as follows:</p&

21、gt;<p>　　(1) Euphemizing is generally defined as substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words. (Neaman.J.S.& Silver.C.G., 1

22、983:1)</p><p>　　(2) Euphemisms are mild, agreeable, or roundabout words used in place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones. (Hugh Rawson, 1981:1)</p><p>　　However, the various definitions of eu

23、phemism presented by Chinese scholars are similar to those given by westerners. Chen Wangdao was the first person who gave euphemism a definition. In his Introduction to Rhetoric the definition reads: </p><p&g

24、t;　　“Euphemism” means “to say something indirectly, but connoting and substituting it with roundabout and implicit words or even metaphorical expression.” (Chen Wangdao, 2006:129)</p><p>　　Similarly, Chen Yu

25、an defined euphemism from the social–cultural perspective:</p><p>　　Euphemism more or less originates from taboo…; euphemism is to use pleasant, implicit and less offensive words…to substitute the language t

26、aboo. (Chen Yuan, 1983:337)</p><p>　　Through scholars at home and abroad have defined euphemism differently from different perspectives, the above-mentioned definitions share some features:</p><p&

27、gt;　　1. The purpose of using euphemisms is to avoid directly speaking out the unpleasant or taboo reference like death, the dead, the supernatural, etc. </p><p>　　2. Euphemism is a kind of polite and roundab

28、out mode of expression.</p><p>　　3. Euphemism is used to soften or beautify the unpleasantness of reality.</p><p>　　1.2 Communicative Functions of Euphemism</p><p>　　The definitions

29、 of euphemism analyzed above show that euphemism has played an important role in people’s daily communication. It has such functions as avoiding taboos, showing politeness and concealing truth, which will be discussed in

30、 details below.</p><p>　　1.2.1 Avoiding Taboos</p><p>　　Just like what Allan. K. said, “Words are powerful and the reticence and fear that some taboo terms arouse in people can be strong.” (Alla

31、n.K. and Burridge. K. 1991:6) </p><p>　　The word “taboo” is from Polynesian, meaning “scared” or “accused”. Taboos can help avoid evil, expect happiness, reveal the relationship of social classes, seek

32、on courtesy and proper decent speech, and express good wills. Because of the great importance of taboos, people are likely to use other pleasant words in their daily communication. </p><p>　　In this way, eup

33、hemism plays an important role. Every country seems to have some concepts or things that cannot be mentioned directly, so euphemism is used to substitute taboo words. When people are afraid of or feel unpleased with some

34、thing, they tend to use euphemism. For instance, “death” is a taboo, as well as an unpleasant word in our daily communication. Losing their beloved ones, people often feel very sad. Using the word “death” is so direct th

35、at it will bring more harm to them. In order</p><p>　　“Disease” is almost as dreadful as “death”, so people tend not to speak it directly either. In the modern society, although many diseases can be cured, “

36、disease”is still an unpleasant topic to talk about. So they usually use euphemistic words when they mention it. For example, the “Big C” replaces “cancer” and “AIDS” substitutes “acquired immune deficiency syndrome”. <

37、;/p><p>　　Words about the “birth” are also seldom mentioned directly because they make people think of sex. When a woman is pregnant, she is described as “to have one watermelon on the vine”, “in a particular c

38、ondition”, “to have one on the way”, etc. </p><p>　　From the examples listed above, it is evident that taboos are used in many fields and euphemism has a relation with taboos.These tendencies motivate people

39、 to use euphemism more frequently, moreover largely promoting the evolution of euphemisms in the English language. </p><p>　　1.2.2 Showing Politeness</p><p>　　“Politeness” is best expressed as t

40、he practical application of good manners or etiquette. The goal of politeness is to make all the relationships relaxing and comfortable with one another. To establish a positive relationship between each other and be awa

41、re of the other person’s values are very important in our life. So another important factor of using euphemism is our strong desire to avoid offending others or hurting others’ feelings. Sometimes, the use of “kind words

42、” shows courtesy and resp</p><p>　　Nowadays, people are commonly classified in terms of their occupation. People who have good jobs may look down upon those who have indecent jobs such as dustman, cleaner an

43、d so on. In western countries, in order to make people feel them important and respectful, they use euphemistic words to replace the unpleasant ones. For example, we would rather use “sanitation engineer” or “was

44、te-reduction manager” to replace “garbage collector”; “kitchen police” as “indigenous personnel” and “hairdr</p><p>　　Whatever one’s true feelings are, criticisms, arguments and disagreements are not welcome

45、d by us; we should be polite and respectful to others. Therefore, euphemism becomes the mechanism by which we produce or consolidate harmony. It can help to form a positive communication atmosphere to establish and maint

46、ain harmonious social relationships and eventally to obtain the desirable communication goals.</p><p>　　1.2.3 Concealing Truth</p><p>　　Apart from the two functions discussed above, euphemism is

47、 used to remove or reduce or even conceal the unpleasant meaning of a term or notion. Some euphemisms can conceal reality so much or so well that they are especially utilized for deception.</p><p>　　In polit

48、ical areas, “underdeveloped country” and “poor and backward country” have the same meaning at the first sight; both of them refer to a country which is very poor and develops very slowly. But these two phrases give peopl

49、e different impressions of a country; the second one gives a worse view about the country. In order to balance the relationship between them, such countries are called “developing countries”, “emerging countries”, “devel

50、oped countries”, “underdeveloped countries”. </p><p>　　On the other hand, euphemism is a common and successful way used in commercial advertisements, for it seems that everybody prefers compliments an

51、d praise to harsh and upsetting truth. Airline companies are experts who are good at using euphemisms. They use “deluxe class” to replace “first-class”, then “second-class” becomes “first-class” and the “third-class” is

52、“economy class”, “business class” or “tourist class”. In this case, passengers in the third-class will not feel inferior and don’t lose</p><p>　　From the definitons and functions of euphemism analyzed above,

53、 it is shown that euphemisms can be observed everywhere in our daily life. Using euphemisms can help good interpersonal relationship, save face, enhance politeness and conceal truth.</p><p>　　II. Literature

54、Review </p><p>　　As an indispensable and natural part of English language, English euphemism has been arousing wide interest and many linguists and scholars have studied the linguistic phenomenon from such

55、different perspectives as rhetorics, semantics and pragmatics, etc. </p><p>　　2.1 The Rhetoric Perspective</p><p>　　In the early 80s of the sixteenth centry, a British writer named George Blunt

56、put forward the word “euphemism” which was defined as “a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word” (Shu Dingfang, 1995:19). Ever since then, a lot of great works came into being on the study of euphemism, which lay

57、s a foundation for further research.</p><p>　　Generally speaking, most studies on euphemisms are from rhetorical perspective. Rhetorics is the study of effective speaking and writing. The rhetorical view hol

58、ds that euphemism is a kind of figure of speech, a way to use a neutral or elegant word or expression deliberately instead of a sensitive or vulgar one so as to establish a graceful and desirable public image. </p>

59、<p>　　From rhetorical point of view, euphemism is analyzed as a technique used to affect a communicative goal by larding our speech with agreeable words or at least non-offensive expressions. Euphemism can always

60、be realized in connection with other rhetoric devices, such as metaphor, pun, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, onomatopoeia, irony, etc. (Chen Wangdao, 1976; Fan Jiacai, 1992)</p><p>　　Many Chinese sch

61、olars study euphemism from rhetoric perspective. In 1976, Chen Wangdao published the book Introduction to Rhetorics. He gave a definition of euphemism and studied euphemism from the angle of rhetoric. Euphemism study in

62、terms of rhetoric is not restricted to the lexical level, but is extended to the level of sentence and discourse. Fan Jiacai offered a detailed description of euphemism. In his book The Appreciation of English Rhetorics,

63、 he discussed the causes, features and forma</p><p>　　As the frequency of euphemism application is highlighted, the appropriate figurative expressions make language more vigorous and concrete. However, these

64、 studies pay much attention to its rhetoric and aesthetic effects at the superficial level.</p><p>　　2.2 The Semantic Perspective</p><p>　　Semantics examines how meaning is encoded in a language

65、. It is not only concerned with the meanings of words as lexical items, but also with levels of language below the word and above it.</p><p>　　From the semantic perspective, euphemism is a kind of meaning sh

66、ift in that meets the demand of being polite, pleasant and strategic by means of substituting the negative meanings of certain words with the neutral or positive meanings of other words, and thus the division of positive

67、 euphemism, neutral euphemism and negative euphemism.</p><p>　　Some foreign scholars study euphemisms from semantic perspective. In 1981, British linguist Hugh Rawson compiled A Dictionary of Euphemisms and

68、Other Double talks. The preface of the dictionary is very valuable because of its extensive discussion of the definition, classification, features and domains of euphemism. The year 1983 saw the publication of Kind Words

69、 — A Thesaurus of Euphemisms, compiled by Neaman and Silver, which is of great value to euphemism study. In 1985, Enright D.J. published</p><p>　　These studies, based on existing research, fall into the cate

70、gory of linguistic formation of euphemism. However, the semantic view pays too much attention to the lexical level without expounding the role of context.</p><p>　　2.3 The Pragmatic Perspective</p>&l

71、t;p>　　Pragmatics is the study of language in use, and its aim is to find principles governing language use. From the pragmatic perspective, euphemism is a communicative strategy used by the utterer to realize his inte

72、ntion. Euphemism can be used in favor of the speaker, or both the speaker and the hearer.</p><p>　　Allan and Burridge's book Euphemism and Dysphemism (1991) is very valuable to the study of English euphe

73、mism from pragmatic perspective. It analyzes the functions of euphemism in communication according to the cooperative principle. It states that “Generally speaking, the greater the oncoming face-affront, the greater is t

74、he politeness shown, and the greater the degree of euphemism required.” (1991:17) </p><p>　　III. Introduction of Cooperative Principle</p><p>　　Cooperative Principle (CP for short), which

75、describes how people interact with one another, is a significant theory in pragmatics. As phrased by Paul Grice, who introduced it, it states, “Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occu

76、rs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.” (Grice, 1975)</p><p>　　3.1 Cooperative Principle</p><p>　　Ever since its birth, CP has undergone modifica

77、tion or revisions, and has been applied to the analysis of various linguistic phenomena. In order to explain clearly the complicated theory, it is advisable to analyze two simple examples below.</p><p>　　(1)

78、 A: Can you tell me the time?</p><p>　　B: Well, the mail has already come.</p><p>　　(2) A: Are you going to John’s birthday party?</p><p>　　B: I’ve heard Mary is going.</p>&

79、lt;p>　　In the two conversations above, B doesn’t answer what A wants to know. In the first example, because A and B both know when the mail comes, A can understand what B means in this conversation. In the second one,

80、 B answers in this way because he doesn’t want A to know whether he goes or not because of some reasons.</p><p>　　In our daily communication, people do not usually say things directly but tend to imply them.

81、 Just as Grice noticed,</p><p>　　“Our talk exchanges do not normally consist of a succession of disconnected remarks, and would not be rational if they did. They are characteristically, to some degree at lea

82、st, cooperative efforts: and each participant poses, or at least a mutually accepted direction.” (Chen Xinren, 2007:163).</p><p>　　The previous two examples may appear problematic, because both answers from

83、B seem irrelevant or not relevant enough, to A’s questions. This, however, is an important means to ensure smooth communication among people.</p><p>　　3.2 Four Maxims of Cooperative Principle</p><

84、p>　　To specify CP further, Grice introduced four categories of maxims as follows:</p><p>　　1. The maxim of Quantity (concerning the amount of imformation to be convered):</p><p>　　(1) Make yo

85、ur contribution as imformative as is required (for the current purposes of exchange).</p><p>　　(2) Do not make your contribution more information than is required.</p><p>　　2. The maxim of Quali

86、ty (try to make your contribution one that is true):</p><p>　　(1) Do not say what you believe to be false.</p><p>　　(2) Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.</p><p>

87、　　3. The maxim of Relation (make your contributions relevant)</p><p>　　4. The maxim of Manner (concerning not so much what is said as how it is said, be persipicuous):</p><p>　　(1) Avoid obscuri

88、ty of expression.</p><p>　　(2) Avoid ambiguity.</p><p>　　(3) Be brief.</p><p>　　(4) Be orderly (Chen Xinren，2007:164)</p><p>　　It is said that the conversation would be

89、 most successful if the principle and these maxims would be complied with. But people always violate this principle or these maxims, which make the conversation partially successful or simply a failure, or generate conve

90、rsational implication.</p><p>　　3.3 Wide Application of Cooperative Principle</p><p>　　As the cornerstone theory of pragmatics, the Cooperative Principle is one of the major principles guiding p

91、eople’s communication. The Principle and its maxims can clearly expound the literary meaning and its implication of communication. Therefore, the principle can be applied to various areas.</p><p>　　Among the

92、 large number of articles about CP, literature analysis, translation, language teaching have occupied a number of positions . On the Degrees of Salience in the Utterance and in the Interpretation-Analysis on the Dialogue

93、s of the Teleplay of “Between His Wife and Mother” (Zhang Zhenzhong, 2009). In the Conversational Implicature Analysis in Pride and Prejudice from the Pragmatic Angle by Xu Xiaoying, for example, she picks up evidences o

94、f violating each of the CP maxims to get an ironic </p><p>　　Nowadays, business is becoming one of the most frequently mentioned fields in daily life as well as in academic circles. The specific four rules o

95、f Girce's CP are closely connected with the content of almost all the business events, especially in business negotiations. In recent years, CP has also been applied to the analysis of business negotiations. For exam

96、ple, Jin Li (2005) conducted the series of surveys on company managers showing that CP is closely related to the communication ability, sp</p><p>　　Obviously, Cooperative Principle is applied in many areas.

97、“In reality, people who go into conversation with each other follow the maxims of Cooperative Principle, that is, both the speaker and listener are assumed to want the conversation to work. Its maxims specify what partic

98、ipants have to do in order to talk in a rational, efficient, and cooperative way and that they should speak sincerely, relevantly and clearly while providing sufficient information” (Levinson,1987:72).</p><p&g

99、t;　　However, people violate the principles to make their conversations work. The usage of euphemism is typical of the violation of Cooperative Principle.</p><p>　　IV. Euphemism and Cooperative Principle</

100、p><p>　　In conversational exchanges, the use of such terms as “principle” and “maxim” does not mean that the CP and its maxims will be followed by everybody all the time. Sometimes people do not say what they m

101、ean directly and would choose to express their meanings in a roundabout way in order to make the conversations successful. People sometimes conceal the truth so as to show their politeness and make people pleased. People