Similarities and Differences of Taboos in Chinese and English Cultures 英语论文.doc

similarities and differences of taboos in chinese and english cultures 班 级 11级汉英班 专 业 英 语 院 系 外国语学院 授 课 语 种 英 语 学 生 姓 名 学 号 20111101516 指导教师姓名 2013年 12月 18日similarities and differences of taboos in chinese and english culturesabstracttaboos are both exist in chinese and english cultures. based on different cultural origins, different fields and types of taboos are formed, however, there are also many similar identities because of the similarities of the pattern of human life, feelings and thought s and the way of thinking. through the comparison between chinese and english taboos on death, sex, age, colors, numbers and so on, this paper reveals the cultural differences between chinese and western culture.then it points out that under the background of cultural difference, english majors should be based on deep understanding and mastery of culture that taboos attach to.key words: chinese and english cultures; taboo; cultural; differences and similarities摘要禁忌在中西方文化中都存在。基于不同文化根源, 禁忌形成不同的领域和类型, 同时也因为人类生活模式、思想感情和思维方式的相似性, 禁忌也存在很多相似。本文通过对比中西方对死亡，性，年龄，颜色，数字等禁忌认识的同一性和差异性从而反映中西文化的异同。并由此指出英语专业学生应当立足对禁忌所依附的文化进行深层的了解和掌握。关键词: 中西方文化; 禁忌; 文化; 异同i. introduction “anything which is prohibited by religion, tradition or social usage is a taboo” (wang 271). there are behavioral and verbal taboos: what one can not do or say without offending others. as a specific type of language, verbal taboos of a country reflect its specific cultural background. failure to understand foreign cultures may lead to misunderstandings in language communications. taboos in china and english spoken countries have a long history. although there are great differences between chinese culture and that of those two english spoken countries, their verbal taboos display not only differences but also similarities. so some of taboos are passive, superstitious and ignorant while the others are active, rational and scientific (ma 83). therefore it is very necessary for english majors to know something about taboos both in our communications with foreigners and in our target language study. ii. similarities of taboos between chinese and english1. taboos on ill omen words like death in both english and chinese, death is viewed as taboo. in english we can find such euphemisms as “go”, “depart”, “pass away”, etc. in chinese, we can find similar euphemisms as “去了”, “辞世”, “上路”, etc. in both english and chinese, death is compared to “sleeping”, “go to a better word”(wang 265).2. taboos on excreta and acts of human excretionin both english and chinese excreta and acts of human excretion are to be avoided in polite conversations. in english, if they have to be mentioned, the terms of expressions should be euphemistic ones. in chinese, they are also taboos, but the chinese attitude is less strict, and sometimes one may hear people say “吃喝拉撒睡” in serious public talk or conversation(wang 272).3. taboos on certain parts of the body and sexual intercourse it is true that talking about sex and certain parts of body is a taboo in both cultures. due to different cultural backgrounds, however, the degree of prohibition differs. under the influence of sex revolution in the 1960s in america, more westerners hold a freer and more open attitude towards the topics about sex. even so, the “four letter words” such as, tits, dick, cunt, fuck are still considered vulgar or obscene, improper in most conversations (wang 273). in accordance with the ethics and morality highlighted in confucian thoughts, chinese people traditionally regarded speaking about sex a private matter, not for public discussion, and should refrain from sexual desire (liu 106). even nowadays, topics about sex are intentionally ignored in the physiological class in some parts of china, though people have begun to hold a more open attitude towards the topic.iii. differences of terms of color between chinese and english1. taboos on agenative speaker of english, especially those who are no longer young, are very sensitive to their age and to the word “old”. it is only natural they would like to use “elderly people” or “senior citizens” to replace “old people” (wang 268). however, chinese people are quite explicit about their ages, and they think the elderly people have more knowledge and experiences to be respect. 2. taboos on numbers or datesin daily life, people prefer some numbers or dates. they believe these numbers or dates would bring about happiness or good fortune while they dislike other numbers or dates because those numbers or dates would bring about bad luck. for example, in europe, people believe that thirteen is a frightening and annoying number. according to holy bible, when jesus christ and his disciples had supper together, the thirteenth disciple was judas who betrayed jesus for thirty pieces of silver, so jesus was nailed death on friday, 13th. because adam and eve stole the apple from eden and ate it, they were expelled from eden on friday 13th. just because of these reasons, people dislike the number 13 and they call the day when 13th and friday meet together a black friday. while chinese people dislike the number 4, just because it called the same pronunciation as “死” . 3. taboos on colorsbecause of the differences of culture, chinese and english people give one color different meanings, such as a positive and a passive meaning. the passive meaning is taboo. such as, the color red is usually associated with celebrations and joyful occasions. this is true in english-speaking countries as well as in china. so in english one finds, for example, red- letter days- holidays (christmas and other special days)（zhang 86）. such days are printed in red on calendars rather than in black for ordinary days. but in america, most people do not like the red color. they think red makes people annoyed, and red means stop. they also believe that to become red- faced or his face turned red shows embarrassed and unsightliness.iv. conclusionin short, taboo exists in our daily life. if we understand the pragmatic differences of taboos between chinese and english culture，language arts and the use of communication，we can resolve the misunderstanding and embarrassment and more easily communicate with each other. in fact，taboo is a cultural phenomenon of various nations in the world，but only the content and form are different. taboo，as a part of language，plays a significant role in the actual