Euphemism—the-rhetorical-s-I-have-learned.docx

Euphemismthe rhetorical methods I have learnedRhetorical methods I have learned, the most important one to me is euphemism. As a cultural phenomenon, euphemismi s categorized as a l i n g u i s t i c concept as well. Euphemism is closely associated with social life and it strongly reflects social and cultural values. Every society, every speech community and every social class has their own unique euphemisms. Enright stated: “a language without euphemisms would be a defective instrument of communication.”1. IntroductionEuphemism means speaking with good words or in a pleasant manner. Euphemisms have various reasons for existence. They conceal the things people fear the mostdeath, the supernatural. The function of euphemism is to protect the speaker/writer, listener/reader, or all of them from possible offense. According to the definition, in Chinese both “上西天” and “长眠” are euphemisms for“死”. Euphemism can be divided into many kinds according to different standards. From the angle of semantics, euphemisms can be classified into two types: positive and negative. All euphemisms, whether positive or negative, may be used either unconsciously or consciously. In this way, euphemisms can be divided into unconscious euphemisms and conscious euphemisms. There are mainly six ways by which English euphemisms formed: loanwords, widening or narrowing of meaning, formed by rhetorical means, phonetic distortion, semantic shift and omission.2. The Social Functions of EuphemismThere are many functions of euphemism, and generally four of them are of great importance and attract more linguists attention. They are: substitution of taboo words, strategic use of language, expression of politeness, humor and satire.2.1 Substitution of Taboo Words“Euphemism originates from taboo and it is a significant and active part in linguistics.” (Wang Chunna, 2008: 60) As a cultural phenomenon, taboo is generally recognized to be related to superstition and custom. If a community or the society as a whole considers some articles or certain acts as taboo, usually the names of these acts and things must not be referred to, at least in public. People are offended by different types of taboo words which denote some unpleasant matters like death, disease, old age, fatness, ugliness, racism and sexism. Yet, these taboo things or acts must from time to time be referred to. In this case, euphemisms are employed as substitutes for taboo words. Euphemistic words and expressions allow us “to give labels to unpleasant tasks and jobs in an attempt to make them sound almost attractive” (Wardhaugh, 1986: 231).2.2 Strategic Use of LanguageSome euphemisms do not function as substitutions of taboo words; instead, they are strategic use of language for purposes ranging from politeness to plain lying or deceit. Carefully chosen euphemisms can serve to smooth conversation and help to keep controversy reasonable and polite. For example, “Im afraid weve got to let you go” is a polite alternative to the brutally direct sentence “Youre fired”.2.3 Expression of PolitenessIt is generally considered that compared with direct expression, euphemisms could be more polite. Politeness is an essential psychological foundation for euphemisms, and plays a very important role in social interaction and conversation. In other words, “face saving” must be taken into consideration to ensure smooth communication. For example, we often use “wash ones hands” or “relieve oneself” to replace “go to W. C.”.2.4 Humor and SatireCompared with the three functions mentioned above, the function of humor and satire is rather minor or not indispensable, whereas euphemistic expression may certainly make language more humorous and vivid. It may conceal all the unpleasantness and embarrassment into humor or elegance. A typical case in point is to call “naked” by saying “in birthday suit”. And many euphemisms for “pregnancy” bear a sense of humor and lifelikeness, for example “to swallow a watermelon seed”.2.5 Uses for ModestyEuphemism for modesty is called antieuphemism. It is used to uplift others status or dignity by lowering his own status or dignity of the speakers to show respect to others. There are many such kinds of euphemisms in both English and Chinese culture, such as “your humble servant” and the Chinese words “贱内”for the speakers wife, “犬子” for the speakers son, etc.3. The Connection between Euphemism and Cooperative Principle in PragmaticsIt is a universal fact that in linguistics all the subjects are correlated, and there is not any subject isolated from the others, and of course sociolinguistics cannot be an exception. Actually, sociolinguistics has a close relation with Pragmatics, and there are many domains where the two different courses are closely related. This paper will introduce the connection between euphemisms of sociolinguistics and the Cooperative Principlesof Pragmatics.3.1 An Introduction of Cooperative PrincipleThe theory of Cooperative Principle was first put forward by the Oxford philosopher Paul Grice. Grice proposes that all speakers, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, adhere to a basic principle that he terms as the Cooperative Principle. That is, the participants will try to cooperate with each other in a conversation. The Cooperative Principle and its maxims are as follows: the Maxim of Quantity (make your contribution as informative as is required), the Maxim of Quality (try to make your contribution true; specifically do not say what you believe to be false; do not say what you lack adequate evidence), the Maxim of Relation (make your contributions relevant), and the Maxim ofManner (be explicit and avoid ambiguity; be orderly and be short). In brief, participants should observe these maxims so as to make the conversation maximally efficient, reasonable, and cooperative. That is, they should speak informatively, truly, relevantly and perspicuously.3.2 Four Violations of Cooperative PrincipleIn communication, generally people are required to observe the Cooperative Principle. Nevertheless, to achieve a certain communicative purpose, no one actually always speaks by observing these maxims faithfully. Grice notes that a participant in a talk exchange may fail to fulfill a maxim. In fact, there are several cases of the violation of these maxims, and the speaker doesnt intend to deceive or mislead, but wants to spur the hearer to seek for an additional meaning which is different from the expressed one. Grice calls this additional meaning “Conversational Implicature”. A speaker can take advantage of euphemism to produce Conversational Implicature which a hearer can understand by breaking certain maxim(s). In the following section, lets see how each maxim is violated by using euphemisms.3.2.1 The violation of Quantity MaximUnder certain circumstance, speakers may offer non-informative information or provide more or less information than needed, violating The Quantity Maxim. Many euphemisms are created by contributing less information to violate the Quantity Maxim in order to make taboo, unpleasant and rude words sound more pleasant, polite, and elegant. For examples, there are some euphemisms such as “SOB” for “son-ofbitch”; “BS” for “Bullshit”, etc. Through contributing less information, these euphemisms achieve euphemistic effects.3.2.2 The Violation of Quality MaximThe Quality Maxim is violated by saying false things and making irresponsible comments by speakers. Euphemisms tend to violate Quality Maxim so as to express taboos or offensive things in an indirect and pleasant way. Thus, to understand the real signification of euphemisms, the hearer should infer the conversational implication according to the context. In communication, in order to avoid such unpleasant and indecent terms as “poor, ugly, disease, attack, mad, race, lying”, etc., people usually violate the Quality Maxim, such as “plain” for “ugly”; “exceptional children” for“handicapped children”; “subnormal” for “mad” etc.3.2.3 The Violation of Relation MaximFor diverse reasons and purposes, the speakers maybe violate Relation Maxim by uttering something irrelevant to the context. The speaker uses euphemisms to express what he intends to say and cant say with irrelevant utterances on the surface, while the implied meaning of the utterances is actually relevant. For example, in English, “a guest of the law” means “a criminal”; “to take without permission” means “to steal”; “to distort or misrepresent the facts” means “to lie”.3.2.4 The Violation of Manner MaximMany English euphemisms tend to avoid the Manner Maxim by providing obscure and inexplicit information so as to attain the agreeab