语言文化论文-浅谈英语委婉语及其社会影响.doc

语言文化论文-浅谈英语委婉语及其社会影响AbstractLanguagecommunicationisanimportantmethodtomaintainsocialrelationship,sopeopleoftenusetheindirectorpleasantexpressionsintheplaceofthoseconsideredunpleasant,rudeoroffensiveincommunication.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Itreflectssomekindsofcorrespondingculturaltraditions.Thispapermainlyfocusesonthewaysofexpression,themajorfunctionandthesocialinfluenceofeuphemisminEnglish.AndthefirstpartelaboratesuponthedifferentexpressionsofeuphemisminEnglish,dividedintofourparts:figureofspeech,semanticmethod,thevarietyofpronunciationandspellingformandgrammar.Andthenitmakesstudytheapplianceofeuphemismonthreefunctions:avoidance,courtesy,disguiseinsociallife,anddiscussesthepositiveandnegativeinfluencesofeuphemism.Toknowthesecouldhelpustounderstandthemodeofthinking,socialvalues,moralconcepts,andculturaltraditionsinEnglish-speakingcountry,andcouldimproveourlanguagecommunicativeability.Keywords:Euphemism,application,socialinfluence,positive,negative【摘要】语言交际是人类以维系社会关系的重要手段，因而人们在交际中通常避免使用引起双方不快从而损害双方关系的语言，而是采取迂回曲折的方法来表达思想，交流信息，它不仅是种语言现象，而且是社会现象和文化现象。委婉语言体现了相应的社会文化传统。本文主要阐述了英语委婉语的构成方法以及它的社会影响，并着重从修辞手段，语义手段，构词手段及语法手段对委婉语言作了较全面的分析，并对委婉语在交际中的语用功能和表达方式做了一些探讨，从委婉语的“避讳”功能，“礼貌”功能和“掩饰”功能三个方面探讨了委婉语在社会生活中的运用，了解委婉语在运用中的积极作用和消极作用,有助于我们更深入的了解英语国家人们的思维方式、社会价值观、道德观以及文化风俗，对于提高自身言语交际功能是十分必要的。【关键词】委婉语；运用；社会影响；积极；消极1.IntroductionEuphemismisoriginallyfromGreek,meaning,“speakwithgookwords”.“eu”means“wellorsoundingwell”；“pheme”means“speech”.ItsdefinitioninOxfordEnglishDictionaryis“(exampleofthe)useofpleasant,mild,orindirectwordsorphrasesinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectones.”1Theappearanceofeuphemismisbasedontworeasons:oneaimstotaketheplaceof“taboo”.Whengivingupatabooword,peoplewillfindanothernewonetotaketheplaceofit,whichcreatesaeuphemism.Theotheraimstoavoidoffensivenessduringthecommunication.Itisafigureofrhetoricbywhichanunpleasantoroffensivethingisdescribedorreferredtobyamilderterm.InEnglishlanguage,euphemismiswidelyusedinthedailycommunications.Inordertoachievetheaimof“taboo”,itisusedtoavoidtheunpleasantthing；inordertoachievetheaimof“politeness”,itisusedtoavoidtheinelegantthings2,whicharethetwosocialpsychologicalbasisoftheemergenceofeuphemism.Euphemismisoneoftheimportantpartsoffigureofspeech.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Euphemisminusediffersfrompersontoperson,fromprofessiontoprofession,evenfromclasstoclass3,ThatswhysometimesthemeaningofsomeeuphemismswillpuzzleyouifyoudonotknowthebackgroundofEnglishculture.TograsptheEnglisheuphemismcannotonlyhelpusopenoureyes,butstrengthenourabilityofreadingcomprehension.ThispaperaimstodiscusstheapplicationofeuphemisminEnglishandtomakeacknowledgeofitssocialinfluence,whichcouldhelpususeeuphemisminacorrectway.2.Waystoexpresseuphemism2.1.Figureofspeech2.1.1.Metonymy.Thatistousethegeneralwordstotaketheplaceoftheconcretewords.“Passedaway”whichrefersto“dead”belongstometonymy.Itcanbedividedintothefollowingforms:1)tousethecontainertotaketheplaceofthethingsinthecontainer.Forexample:“tobefondofthebottle”isaeuphemismfor“likingtodrink”.2)Tousetheentiretyinsteadofthepart.Forexample:“abdomen”isusedtoreferto“belly”；“limb”refersto“leg”.Forsomespecialoccasions,thepartcanbeusedinsteadoftheentirety.InAustralianEnglish“anoldhand”isaeuphemismfor“anoldprisoner”.3)Tousethetoolstotaketheplaceoftheobjects.Forexample,“pick”isatoolofpryingthelock.Itcanreferto“thief”.4)Touserawmaterialstotaketheplaceoffinishedproducts.Forinstance,“poppy”isakindofflower,butitalsorefersto“opium”.5)Tousecharacteristicstotaketheplaceofobjects.Forexample,“hellow”isagreetingword,anditisalsoaeuphemismfor“prostitute”becauseprostitutesoftenusethiswordtosolicitthewhoremasters；“bloodandiron”isaeuphemismfor“violence”.6)Touseproperwordstoreplacetheobjects.Forexample,“napoleon”isaFrenchgoldencoinonwhichthereisNapoleonsheadportrait.“Borstal”isanameofcountrysideinKentinBritain.Itcanalsoreferto“juveniledelinquency”.Sometimes,someeuphemismsarefrequentlyusedinsteadoftheoriginalwords；peoplegraduallyforgettheireuphemisticidentities.Theyarenotusedintermsofeuphemismsbuthavetheirownindependentmeanings.Forinstance,takeabove-mentioned“poppy”,nowifyoulookupthiswordinthedictionary,youcanfindthemeaningof“opium”,ithaslostitseuphemisticfunction.And,ifyoudonotknowthebackground,youcannotknowthemeaningof“Napoleon”and“Borstal”.Therefore,wecanseetheimportanceofknowingthebackgroundofEnglishculture.Itcanhelpyoualottorecognizeandunderstandtherealmeaningofeuphemismandmakegooduseofit.2.1.2.MetaphorTousemetaphorcaneasilyavoidtheoffensivethings.Forexample,whereforeitisbettertobeaguestofthelaw,which,thoughconductedbyrules,doesnotmeddleundulywithagentlemansprivateaffairs.(O.Henry,TheCopandtheAnthem)“tobeaguestofthelaw”isaeuphemismfor“tobeinprison”4,Manyeuphemismsfor“death”werecreatedbywayofmetaphor,suchasgoingtohislonghome,tobehomeandfree,togotosleep,tosleepthelong(oreternal,never-ending)sleep,torestinpeace,tobeatrest,togotoHeaven(orParadise),tojoinonesancestors,tobegatheredtoonesfathers,tojointheimmortals.Moreexamplesare:agedsunsetyears,tobepoortobepinched,tohaveimpropersexualintercoursewithgirls(especiallymaiden)todeflower；todegeneratetogoastray；breastmilkbottles；catameniatheredflag；tobepregnanttobeonthenest；themoneyofbriberygrease；tobribetogreasesomebodyspalm；handcuffsbracelets.2.1.3PersonificationPeoplesnamesareoftenusedtoreplacetaboowords.Forexample,“BigHarry”refersto“heroin”because“Harry”and“heroin”havethesameinitials.“Lavatory”alsohasmanyeuphemisticalexpressions.In19thcentury,itwascalled“myauntJones”,“Mrs.Jones”,“SirJohn”,“SirHarry”,“theHenry”,whilein20thcentury,itwascalled“jakes”,“john”etc.Butthelattercolorofpersonificationbecomesweak.Thefirstlettercanbewritteninsmallletter.Peoplejustuseitasacommonnoun.Infact,theyhavelosttheeuphemisticfunction.Therearemanyhumorouswaystoexpresscatameniaintermsofpersonification:1)Myfriendhascome.2)Ihaveavisitor.3)Mycousins/countrycousinshavecome.4)Myauntie/grandmotherhascometostay.5)Littlesisterishere.6)Ivegotpaintersin.7)thecardinalhascome.2.1.4.AnalogyIntheeuphemismsforoccupationpeopleoftenuseanalogy,whichmakesthehumblenamemoreelegant5,Forexample,“chef”isaeuphemismfor“cook”.ItisborrowedfromFrenchword“chefdecuisine”.“Beautician”refersto“hairdresser”；“garbologist”refersto“garbagecollector”；“mortician”refersto“undertaker”.Therealsoappearedsomebeautifulnamesforbarbershop:hairsalon,beautyparlour,andstylistparlour.2.1.5.EllipsisThatistoomittheoffensivewordswhilespeaking,suchastobeexpecting(ababy),tohave(sexual)relationswithsomebody,totakeprecautions(againstpregnancy),todepart(fromthisworld).Ofcourse,suchphrasesshouldbeputintoacertaincontext,whichcanexpressthemeaningofeuphemisms.2.1.6.PeriphrasisItisanexpressionofbeatingaroundthebush.Thoughitisamuddledacting,itsaimistoavoidoffendingothers,andtobemorepolite6.Ifsomeoneaskedawomanwhethershewasknittingatinygarment,hemeantthathewonderedwhethershewaspregnant.Suchwayofspeakingishumorous,sweetandagreeable,suchastodietocloseoneseyes,toexpire,tobreatheoneslast；todefecateandtourinatetowashoneshands,toeaseorrelieveoneself,todoonesbusiness；tocourttogowalking；tobepregnanttoeatfortwo；lavatorywashroom,cloakroom；fartwindfrombehind；womensunderclothesunmentionables；trousersnethergarments；askyoutogoawaycallyourcarriageforyou；todismisstogivesomebodythesack；tobeinprisontoliveatthegovernmentsexpense.Teachersoftenusethisexpressiontoavoidthestudentsandtheirparentsawkwardness.Forexample,lazinessiscalled“needingamplesupervisioninordertoworkwell”；“cheat”isdescribedas“needinghelpinlearningtoadheretorulesandstandardsoffairplay”；“lies”iscalled“showingdifficultyindistinguishingbetweenimaginaryandfactualmaterial”；“steal”iscalled“needinghelpinlearningtorespectthepropertyrightsofothers”；“beabully”refersto“havingqualitiesofleadershipbutneedshelpinlearningtousethemdemocratically”；“dirty”iscalled“belackofproperhealthhabits”.72.2.Semanticmethod2.2.1.SynonymForexample,“tight”isusedinsteadof“stingy”；“thrift”isusedinsteadof“economical”,“defecate”replaces“shift”and“urine”replaces“piss”.And“mad”isreplacedby“crazy”,“insane”,and“lunatic”.Sucheuphemismaimstousetheappreciativetermtotaketheplaceofthederogatoryterm.2.2.2.NegationSucheuphemismusesthecontrarytermtoexpressthesamemeaning,anditcouldbemoreusefulthansynonyminreplacingthetabooandmakepeoplemoreunderstandableandcomfortable.Wecouldcallstupidpeopleunwisepeople.“Afatchance”means“aslimchance”and“findwords”standsfor“badwords”2.2.3.VaguewordsandexpressionsThatistomaketheharsheroroffensivewordsmoregeneral.Forexample,ifsomebodyhassomementalproblems,wecanexpressitlikethis:Hisroofleaksalittle；hehasascrewloose/missing；heisnotathome.Thereareotherexampleswhichusevagueexpressions,suchasdiseasetrouble,problem；tocomeacrossanunfortunatethingtohaveanaccident；V.D.(venerealdisease)secretdisease；tolivetogetherillegallytocohabit；intrauterinedevicering；torapesomebodytodoviolencetosomebody；prostituteawom