毕业设计（论文）-英语委婉语的特征及应用.doc

潍坊科技学院本科毕业设计(论文)题 目 英语委婉语的特征及应用 院（系） 外语与旅游学院 专业 英语_ _ 学 号 学生姓名 指导教师 起讫日期2014年10月10日2015年5月15日 设计地点 潍坊科技学院 _On Characteristics and Application of English euphemism A Thesis Submitted to Faculty of International Studies of WUST in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsByLi HaiyanSupervisor：Wang JingwenApril, 2015AbstractEuphemism is a common expression in our daily life. It is not only a common linguistic phenomenon but also an important method to coordinate the relationships between people in the use of language in our social life. Not only does euphemism have a long and rich history, but it also has a profound cultural foundation. With the development of modern society, euphemism plays a more and more important role in human communication. The use of euphemism is not only beneficial to expand interpersonal communication, but also conductive to keep the harmonious interpersonal relationships. There are many words that may make people unhappy and embarrassed if we use these words in communication directly. And we may make an impolite or even vulgar impression. In order to avoid such unpleasant situation, people usually use words that are indirect and have positive connotations to express themselves. This kind of expression can not only minimize hurt to other people and harmonize the relationship between people but also achieve the purpose of effective communication. In order to communicate with others smoothly, we have to find a suitable linguistic expression. And the euphemistic expression is the most suitable expression in interpersonal communication. So euphemism was created. The characteristics of euphemism also come in need of social communication. And the characteristics of euphemism make it easier for people to express themselves. This paper starts with the definition of euphemism and points out the characteristics of euphemism, and then uses a large number of substantial examples to analyze the applications of euphemism in social communication. Key words: euphemism; characteristic; application 摘要委婉语是人们在日常生活中普遍使用的一种表达方式，它不仅是人类社会中普遍存在的一种语言现象，更是人们社会交际中协调人际关系的一种重要手段。委婉语有着悠久的历史和深厚的文化根基，随着现代社会的发展，它在人们的人际交往中发挥着越来越重要的作用。使用委婉语不仅有利于扩大人际交往，而且有利于保持和谐的人际关系。在我们的日常生活中，总有一些词语会使人感到不悦与尴尬，如果直截了当的说出来，便会给人一种不礼貌甚至粗俗的感觉。因此，为了避免在人际交流中出现这种不愉快的情况，人们通常会使用一些委婉的词语以间接地表达自己的想法。这样既能减少对别人的伤害，实现和谐的人际关系，又能达到有效交流的目的。人们希望在交际中找到一种合适的表达方式以使交际顺利完成，而委婉语便是实现这一理想交际的合适的表达方式。因此，委婉语也便被人们创造出来。委婉语所具有的特征是伴随着社会交际的需要而产生的，它所具有的各种特征使人们能够自由的表达自己的看法。本文从委婉语的定义出发，指出了委婉语在社会交际中的特征，并结合语境与大量的实例深入分析了委婉语在现实生活中的应用。关键词：委婉语；特征；应用Table of ContentsAbstractI摘要IITable of ContentsIIIChapter One Introduction1Chapter Two Euphemism22.1 The Definition of Euphemism22.2 The Causes of Euphemism2Chapter Three The Characteristics of Euphemism43.1 Times43.2 Localization43.3 Register53.4 Indirectness63.5 Fuzziness63.6 Colloquialism73.7 Humor7Chapter Four The Application of Euphemism94.1 Euphemism in Advertisement94.2 Euphemism in Education94.3 Euphemism in Politics and Economy104.4 Euphemism in Business Negotiation114.5 Euphemism in Military Affairs124.6 Euphemism in Occupation13Conclusion15Reference16Acknowledgment17IIIChapter One IntroductionEuphemism is a ubiquitous language phenomenon as well as an important method of harmonizing the relationship between people. It is a cultural phenomenon and an essential rhetorical device which is the reaction of social psychology in language. Compared to the direct statement, euphemism refers to neutral, gentle, roundabout, or inoffensive expressions in place of direct, coarse, or offensive ones. It makes it easier for people to accept your ideas. However, it is just another version of the same meaning. As a part of linguistic language, euphemism is widely used in every field of our daily life. Because of its strong persuasion, almost all the people try to use mild, polite or even flattery terms instead of those considered offensive words to communicate with others. Then the euphemism has also become an important part of English language and a vital topic in cross-cultural communication. Because of the importance of euphemism in language, many researches have been done on it. And a large amount of great works also came into being during the research of euphemism, which made a foundation for further study. A famous book named “A Dictionary of Euphemism and other Double Talks” which was compiled by British linguist Hugh Rawson embodied the achievements of research on euphemism over the decades by British and American linguists. There is no doubt that euphemism has a great effect on our social communication. This paper will pay close attention to the study of the characteristics of euphemism, that is, times, localization, register, indirectness, fuzziness, colloquialism and humor. Besides, this paper will also introduce the applications of euphemism in all fields of our social life.Chapter Two Euphemism2.1 The Definition of EuphemismThere is no doubt that euphemism is a frequently and widely used figure of speech. As a hot research issue in the field of linguistics, it needs a concise criterion to judge the scope of euphemism. The word “euphemism” originates from the Greek word “euphemismos” which literally means “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”. The word “euphemism” is composed of the prefix “eu-” which means “well” or “good”, the root “pheme” which means “speech” and the noun suffix “-ism”. Together is “good speech” or “word of good omen” means. Generally speaking, euphemism is a mode of expression used by speaker to be less offensive to the listener than the word it replaces. With the development of the modern civilization, everyone tries to avoid conflict when they are communicating with other people. So it is common that people tend to have a talk in a rather indirect manner. By this means, people can state the facts or express themselves that will not hurt others and avoid rudeness. There are many meanings of euphemism. As an important rhetorical device, the Random House College Dictionary ever defined euphemism to be the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt. It means that people use pleasant, indirect and kind words instead of unpleasant, rude and harsh words in daily communication. Undoubtedly the euphemism has different definitions in different books, but they all based on the similar idea: euphemism is a roundabout, polite, and indirect mode of expression which is used to talk about something unpleasant. It can make atmosphere better and make conversation smoother. The most important aspect is that it can make people feel good and can help both speaker and hearer avoid losing face.2.2 The Causes of Euphemism Euphemism has a long history. It actually derived from verbal taboo, which originated from religion superstition, the confusion and misunderstanding of natural phenomena and the force of nature, reflecting the importance of social psychology. There is no doubt that every culture has its own taboo. People usually think about some indirect terms to replace something that they dare not to call them by name directly. In ancient time, people do not understand the natural phenomena and natural law such as the setting and the rising of the sun, tide, lighting, storm，ring of fire and death. So people created the God and regarded it as the lord of all creation. And all things that may profane the God will be regarded as the taboos. No one could offend them. There is no reason for euphemism to exist if we do not need taboos. It is the existence of taboos that stimulates the production of the euphemism and promotes the number of euphemism. This is the first as well as the most important cause of euphemisms development. Besides, it is necessary for people to create a harmonious phenomenon to talk with each other. However, sometimes we have to speak some sensitive and offensive words. In order to make it easier for people to accept, we usually use some gentle and indirect words instead of sensitive and offensive ones. Then it became the second important reason. The last reason is the thought of seeking elegance. People usually use euphemism for the purpose of behaving gracefully. Then they can leave a good first impression on others.Chapter Three The Characteristics of Euphemism3.1 Times Language is a kind of social phenomenon. And the formation and development of euphemism are closely related to the changing of society and times. Therefore, there is no doubt that it will leave an imprint of social life and reflect the track of the social development. The changing of language depends on the need and development of society. From the diachronic point of view, language changes unceasingly with the appearance of new words and disappearance of old words. So euphemism also changes with the development of times. A small number of euphemisms are temporal, but they will become fixed euphemisms when they are used widely.Here is an example that can reflect the euphemisms characteristic of times. The euphemisms of the word “urination” have “make water”, “pass water” “see the moon”, “empty ones bladder” and so on. When Coca flooded the market, the phrase “make a Coca stop” emerged at the same time. And the phrase “go to the toilet” was called “go to necessary house” in early English. Then we said “go to W.C.” when people began to use water-closet. Later, we said “go to spend a penny” when we have to pay for the public toilet. That social issues influence psychological states in different times can also be reflected in euphemisms. For instance, the word “mistress” is the euphemism of “concubine” and “paramour” in early time. Nevertheless, people called them “unmarried women” when Western society came into an age of erotic freedom. Then the “mistress” changed into the “wife”.The use of English euphemism is the need of social life and this social phenomenon is still developing. Some dirty words become acceptable. But with the increase of euphemism, people begin to tell a bare-faced lie.3.2 Localization Different regions have different customs and cultures. Thus there are different meanings of the same expression because of different cultures of different regions. Using the word “bathroom” as an example, it has different meanings in different regions. In Britain, bathroom refers to a room in which there is a bath .But it refers to a room in which there is a toilet in America. For instance, if you say that “I want to go to the bathroom” to different people from different regions, they may have different comprehension. British people may think that you want to take a shower, but American people may consider that you want to use the toilet. Each place has their own customs and these differences become regional differences in language. For example, bread is the homely food in Britain. So the phrase “take the bread out of someones mouth” is endowed with the meaning of “taking away ones job”. Another example is the word “humble” which was composed of “umble” and “numbles”. “umble” and “numbles” refers to the edible animal innards such as deer. When the Normans conquered Britain more than a thousand years ago, only the planters and nobles can ate venison pie. But hunters and servants can only ate the pies which are made of innards of deer. Then the people who eat “umble pie” are regarded as the people who are low in social status. Later, “umble pie” changed into “humble pie” because of the changes in pronunciation. And “eat humble pie” also became the indirect expression of “being forced to apologize to others”. And because of historic and cultural reason, there are many words that are different from other countries. For example, in Britain, “condom” is called “the French disease”, “syphilis” or “French letter”. And “the American letter” “Italian letter” and “Spanish letter” are also the euphemistic expression of “condom”. Besides, “Dutch act” means “commit suicide”; “Egyptian physical training” is a euphemism for “to sleep at daytime”; “spirit heroin” also refers to “Chinese white”.3.3 Register The same meaning may be expressed in different ways because of the different circumstances. And even though in the same circumstance, people with different ages, status also express themselves differently. For example, “powder your nose”, “to freshen up”, “get some fresh air”, “fix ones face”, “go to visit ladies room” and “go to no-mans-land” are all feminine terms. So when a lady stands up and says that she wants to make a phone or powder her nose at a dinner party, the people present realize that the euphemism means go to the toilet. Besides, “to rear”, “go to mans room”, “go to the Green man”, “go water the lawn”, “to relieve oneself” and “go to the Gents” are often used by men. And “go to little boys or girls room”, “pass water”, “go to the pot” and “make number one or number two” are the language of children. Though they are different expressions, all of the phrases send the same message. That is, somebody wants to go to the toilet. So in order to make your utterance more polite, one should pay close attention to the combination of context. The rate of euphemism use of women is higher than men, so the women are more constrained by social rules. Then they hold the opinion that the women should be careful in speech. And the rate of euphemism use of nobles is higher than the civilians, so the nobles make extensive use of euphemisms in order to show their noble status.3.4 Indirectness Indirectness is the most prominent characteristic of euphemism. If we say something that was taboo directly, it will be regarded as aggressive, unpleasant and impolite. So we always try to use some indirect expression. For example, if we ask somebody for something, we usually say “Could you.?” “I wondered.” instead of “Can you.?” “I wonder. ” . That is because past tense is more euphemistic than simple present tense in English. We often speak of some sensitive topics such as physical defect, disease and physique. We will offend or hurt others if we talk about it directly. So we usually use some euphemisms. For instance, we use the word “crippled” instead of “the lame person”, “visually retarded” instead of “the blind”, “imperfect hearing” instead of “the deaf” and so on. Besides, if we say “He suffered from a long illness”, it usually means that he got cancer. In order to avoid hurting others, we usually use “plump” to replace “fat”, “slim” to replace “thin”, “plain”, “ordinary” to replace “ugly”.3.5 Fuzziness Language is a unity of distinct and indistinct. If we use the distinct language all the time, it is difficult to reflect the complicated and changeable world vividly. In the process of communication, in order to achieve certain purpose, we have to use fuzzy language to convey our feelings. For example, “You have lost your license”. We need to check what situation the use of “license” is in. About “license”, it can politely express “Your suit is untimely” or “Your fly is open”. The fuzzy language is based on the ambiguity of human thinking. The world is complicated while the cognition of people is limited. So that is the inevitable result of the ambiguity of human thinking. The produce of euphemism actually changed the original scope of the word. For example, people usually use “bottom” “backsides” “behind” to replace the clear word “hip”. These words blur the clear meaning that the word “hip” expresses. It not only avoids the embarrassment between speakers and listeners, but also achieves harmonious communication. Similarly, the phrase “developing country” is also a vague notion. Actually, it can express any countries including developed country, less developed country and poor country. However, the fuzzy degree of “poor country” is less than “developing country”, so we use “developing country” to replace “poor country” so as to achieve the purpose of euphemism.3.6 Colloquialism Some English euphemisms that are used for a long time turned into fixed expression and English vocabularies. They are used widely in our daily life and they can be understood by people. We all know that death is an inevitable stage at the end of our lives journey. People use euphemism to respect the dead, or to memorize them, sometimes to praise them, sometimes only to avoid using this dreadful word. For example, “His grandfather returned to the dust last night”. The word “death” was a taboo, so people usually use the euphemisms of “death” in our daily communication. The phrase “to return to the dust” has been accepted by people after a long time. Thus when we hear those words, we all know that his grandfather died last night. While some expressions that have same meaning are replaced by different euphemisms constantly. A common example is the word “mad”. It is replaced by different words such as “crazy” “insane” “lunatic” “mentally”. And the word “queer” is often used euphemistically for “mad”.3.7 Humor Humorous euphemisms can help people to reduce embarrassment in communication and face the facts easily when something bad happen. Take “Mary” for example, when the host induces the guest to have more, people will say “I am willing, but Mary is not” if his stomach is completely full. People usually use “Mary” to replace “stomach” so that it can reduce embarrassment and create a harmonious communicative circumstance. For another example, during the Gulf War, British soldiers were always attacked by American warpl