英语专业毕业论(2).doc

A Contrastive Study of Euphemisms in English And Chinese AbstractEuphemism exists in any language. Its one of the most important ways of expression and rhetoric devices in both English and Chinese. As an indispensable and natural part of language, euphemism has been arousing wide interest. Many linguists and scholars have studied this linguistic phenomenon. As a result, achievements in the study of euphemism have been conspicuous. Thus, on the basis of others researches, this paper aims at a comprehensive analysis of English and Chinese euphemisms by comparatively analyzing their differences in formation, culture and pragmatic function.I. Introduction Euphemism is a very important language phenomenon. It plays an irreplaceable role in human social activities and interpersonal communication. It can make distasteful ideas seem acceptable or even desirable, thus maintaining better social relationship and exchanging ideas. Euphemism is also a cultural phenomenon as well as a linguistic concept. Every language has its own euphemism, so do English and Chinese. It is deeply rooted in social life and has a great influence on social communication. As an indispensable and natural part of language, euphemism has attracted peoples attention for a long time. Euphemism has close relationships with culture, and it truly reflects the life and values of people and their history. With the development of economy and the policy of reform and open up, there have been more and more communications and cooperation. However, as people have little knowledge about others culture and their expressions of euphemisms, there has been difficulty in communication. Thus, there is a great need for us to study euphemisms, especially the differences between Chinese and English euphemisms. The study of Chinese and English euphemisms can help us understand the Chinese and western cultures and promote the international development. II. Euphemism (I). Definition of Euphemism A. The Definition of English Euphemism The word euphemism comes from the Greek word (euphemia), meaning the use of words of good omen, which in turn is derived from the Greek root-words eu (), good/well + pheme () speech/speaking. The prefix “eu” means “good, sound well”, and “pheme” means “saying” or “speech”. And thus the literal meaning of “euphemism” is “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”. Some of the definitions are listed below:(1). an indirect word or phrase that people often use to refer to sth embarrassing or unpleasant, sometimes to make it seem more acceptable than it really is. (Oxford Advanced Learners English- Chinese Dictionary, Sixth Edition )(2). that figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a word or expression of comparatively favorable implication or less unpleasant associations, instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is intended. (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989)Given from the prospective of rhetoric, all the above definitions are determined in a narrow sense. Many linguists think that the definition of euphemism needs to be framed in a broad sense. American linguist, Bolinge Dwight once pointed out: “Euphemism is not restricted to the lexicon: there are grammatical ways of toning something down without actually changing the content of the message.” B. The Definition of Chinese Euphemism Euphemism of the study of Chinese has been mainly in the areas of rhetorical category. Rhetoricians treat rhetoric as a figure of speech. Euphemism has existed in the Chinese language for thousands of years.The Chinese equivalent for “euphemism” is “委婉”, “婉转” or the most popular one “婉曲” containing “婉言” and “曲语” ; “婉言” means “substituting an implicit expression for an explicit one” while “曲语” implies the original meaning through describing things relevant to it.The various definitions of euphemisms presented by Chinese scholars are similar to those given by westerners. Chen Wangdao (陈望道) was the first person who gave euphemism a definition. In his Introduction to Rhetoric (修辞学发凡),the definition reads, “婉曲辞” means “ to say something indirectly, but connoting and substituting it with roundabout and implicit words or even metaphorical expression” ; Chen Wangdao says that when we speak of tabooed things, we do not “ call a spade a spade”, but use pleasant expressions to cover them up is “讳修辞格” (说话时遇有犯忌触讳的事物，便不直说该事物，却用旁的话来修饰美化，叫做讳修辞格). At the beginning of the 1980s, Chen Yuan ( 陈原 ) defined euphemism from the social-cultural perspective, “ Euphemism more or less originates from taboo, euphemism is to use pleasant, implicit and less offensive wordsto substitute the language taboo.” The definition put forward by Chen Yuan combines the euphemism ( 婉曲辞 ) with taboo words (讳修辞格) and reveals the direct relation between euphemism and taboo, which has been accepted by Chinese linguists.Though scholars at home and abroad have defined euphemism differently from different perspectives, the above-mentioned definitions share some features:1. The purpose of using euphemisms is to avoid directly speaking out the unpleasant or taboo reference like death, the dead, the supernatural, etc.2. Euphemism is a kind of polite and roundabout mode of expression.3. Euphemism is used to soften or beautify the unpleasantness of reality.(II). Features of EuphemismA. University And DiversityEuphemism exists widely in any language in the world. Its use is very extensive, from the international political affairs, economy, education, literature, and even peoples daily life. Euphemism is permeable to all kinds of social life.American scholar Hugh Lawson once said, “Euphemism rooted in language so deeply that almost no one - including those who claim themselves the most straightforward - can live one day without the use of euphemism.Influenced by the time, space and many social factors, euphemism has many variant forms. In different fields, there are different forms of euphemism. Because of the users gender, age and social status, the use of euphemism is also not the same. On the same topic, there are a lot of euphemisms for choice. For example, in almost all societies, people regard death as a mystery, and they abstain from saying death. Therefore, no matter in what kind of culture, people always find some words which dont contain hurt feelings to express it. In both Chinese and English languages, there are many alternative sayings.“Death” in Chinese euphemism is different as class, status, rank, objectives, manners and other aspects are not the same. In the terms of the same taboo subject, euphemistic needs and habits are also different both in English and Chinese. In Chinese, a euphemism for “die” can represent different identities, genders, ages of the people. This shows the fine and rich in Chinese euphemism. There are also a variety of terms to describe the subject of death, such as: be gone, be among the missing, be no more, etc.B. Indirect And Implicit The most important feature of euphemism is indirect and implicit. Euphemism always gives people hints in a roundabout way. We can infer the deeper meaning and intention from the context. For example, when someone is ill, we always say he is under the weather. If someone is mad, we say he is soft in mind.C. National And Regional Feature Language contains all aspects of a nations cultural characteristics. It reflects a nations cultural feature, cultural sense and its own thinking pattern and behavior which are distinct from other nations. If different regions have different history, their customs and taboos are also different. This difference reflected in language is performed as regional difference in language. In different cultural and social customs and habits of the nation or country, taboos are different. And these will be reflected in euphemism. The different attitudes towards “old” is the typical embodiment of the cultural difference of Chinese and western. Respecting the old is a national civilization, so the euphemisms of “old” are very few. Chinese people are used to using “old” to express respect, such as “老人家” “老教授” “老寿星” “老先生” etc. The “old” in Chinese is the symbol of wisdom, experience, mature, and therefore there are some idioms with respect and praise, such as “老马识途” “老骥伏枥” “老当益壮” “老成持重”, etc. These expressions embodied the Chinese nations value of “respect for the old”. While, western culture is the embodiment of the value of “despise the old” and the spirit of innovation. Therefore, people from United States and other western countries abstain from using the word “old”, because “old” means “useless, good for nothing” instead of “experienced or respected”. Therefore, in English there are many euphemisms, such as: senior citizen, the advanced in age, the longer living, golden age, distinguished gentleman replacing “old”. So, in different ethnic groups and regions, peoples attitudes towards the same thing may be opposite.D. Feature of Times The changes of language depend on the need and changes of the society. And euphemism undergoes a process of metabolism. It bears a marked brand of times.For example, “She is pregnant” has many different euphemistic expressions in different eras.1) She has canceled all her social engagements. (1856) 她取消了她所有的社交活动。2) She is in an interesting condition. (1880) 她处在很有兴味的情况中。3) She is in a delicate condition. (1895) 她处在很微妙的情况中4) She is knitting little bootees. (1910) 她正编织小囡的袜子。5) She is in a family way. (1920) 她快当家了。6) She is expecting. (1935) 她快生(孩子)了。7) She is pregnant. (1956) 她怀孕了。But after 1960s, euphemisms of pregnant develop slowly because in modern times, people are not so implicit. They always mention things directly. And now, the phenomenon of pregnant is a cheerful thing. People will not be shy when mentioning it.III. Differences Between English and Chinese Euphemisms (I). Formative Differences As far as linguistic patterns of forming euphemism are concerned, English euphemism and Chinese euphemism not only share some in common but also have their respective means of formation. Lets compare them from phonetic, lexical and grammatical angles. A. Phonetic DeviceEuphemisms may be created by phonetic device light reading and phonetic distortion. Light reading is a popular way of euphemism which means that when you mean something that you have to mention, but you are shy to mention it, usually you say it in a low voice. Phonetic distortion refers to the changing of a sound in word for the purpose of euphemism, which is more acceptable in English because its writing is alphabetic. Usually crude or inauspicious words become acceptable by using these devices. Phonetic distortion includes abbreviation, reduplication, distortion of pronunciation, etc. There is abbreviation like “TB” for “tuberculosis”, “vamp” for “vampire”, “JC” for “Jesus Christ”, “WC” for “Water Closet”, “SOB” for “son-of-a-bitch”, “BS” for “bull shit”, and so on. There is reduplication like “Pee-pee” or “wee-wee” for “piss”, and there are distortions of pronunciations like “Gripes” for “Christ”, “Gad” for “God” and so on. There is no direct link between Chinese character and its pronunciation. Thus, compared with English, the Chinese language does not have the convenience of phonetic distortion. We can find fewer phonetic distortions in Chinese and the most common phonetic device is assonance, which mostly employs the homophone for there are so many homophones in Chinese. For example, instead of speaking “解溲” we use “解手”, “手”is an assonance of “溲” (dejects of soil). “隐君子” stands for “瘾君子” (the person who is addicted to drugs). 那几个小子是孔夫子搬家，尽是书（输）啊. In Chinese, “书” (book) and “输” (lose, fail) sound the same. The tone of a Chinese character also can be used to achieve a euphemistic effect. For example, in the Qing Dynasty (221-206BC), to avoid the name taboo, the tone of “正月” (zhng yue: it means first month of lunar year) was changed from the fourth tone into the first tone “正月” (zhng yue) for fear of sounding like the name of the emperor “嬴政” (Ying Zhng)Besides, as the Chinese character is a kind of hieroglyph, which has its own unique synthetic method, Chinese people like to make use of a very unique way in euphemism formation: character separation. Here are two examples:1). 周先生，你一人十一划有吗？（沙陆集魂断梨园） Here 十一划 is the euphemistic expression of opium. For in common saying, opium is 烟土 or 土 and the character 土 can be separated into 十 and 一2). 张俊民道：“胡子老官，这