（外国语言学及应用语言学专业论文）英语委婉语的语用分析.pdf

摘 要 委婉语是语言使用中协调人际关系的一个重要手段。 委婉语是一种用曲折的方式表 达说话者思想的特殊的语言表达方式。英语委婉语不仅可以是一些词、短语、句子、篇 章，甚至可以是特殊语境下的身体语言，同时它也可以是语言交流的某种形式。在一些 场合下，英语委婉语可以掩饰一些不愉快的、冒犯的或者恐怖的事实，而且它也可以掩 饰一些尴尬的事情来保护交际双方的面子。因此，英语委婉语是语言交流中的一种“润 滑剂”，它在人们的日常社交活动中使用十分广泛，是语言使用中人们协调人际关系的 重要手段，使用委婉语有利于提高交际效果和保持和谐的人际关系。 作为英语词汇中不可分割的一部分，英语委婉语一直引起人们的关注。多年来，语 言学者们分别从不同角度诸如社会语言学、心理语言学、哲学等对这一语言现象进行分 析研究，并且取得了可喜的成就。但他们的研究存在着两大缺陷：忽视了语境在英语委 婉语研究中的重要作用；研究总体上仍局限于词汇层面。鉴于此，本文作者借鉴前人的 研究成果，提出了一种新的研究方法，即从语用学的角度着手，探讨委婉语与语用学的 关系。 本文首先从语用学的角度重新定义委婉语，分析其分类、构成方法及原则。然后本 文以语用学的一些基本理论来分析委婉语，探讨委婉语与语用原则之间的关系。它的创 新点在于分析了英语委婉语和合作原则的关系、英语委婉语和礼貌原则的关系，以及它 违反合作原则的各准则而遵守礼貌原则。英语委婉语的选择及理解都依赖于语境，并遵 循礼貌原则、间接言语行为理论和面子理论，使日常交际成功进行并保护了自己和他人 的利益及尊严。 合作原则要求人们在交流中遵守真实、充分、关联、清楚原则，但由于各种各样的 原因，人们经常违反它们以达到期待的效果。英语委婉语正是通过违反合作原则的一些 准则而取得其交际效果。 在交际中为避免冒昧和无礼，人们尽量用一种令人愉快的、委婉有礼的、听起来不 刺耳的词语来代替令人不快的、粗鲁无礼的、听起来刺耳的词语，以避免伤害对方的感 情，这样委婉语遵循了礼貌原则。 另外，人们在使用委婉语时也遵循间接言语行为理论。间接言语行为是一种语用手 段，体现说话者的交际策略和交际意图，委婉语可视为间接言语行为的一种方式，其目 的在于间接表达说话人的意图以达到交际目的。 除了礼貌原则和间接言语行为理论，在人际交往中，如果人们认为某事谈起来不愉 快或根本不能提及， 但又不得不提及时， 为了保全双方面子， 他们通常会尽多用委婉语， 遵循了面子理论。 本文从语用学角度对英语委婉语进行了详细分析， 以便于学习者更好地了解和掌握 英语委婉语，从而减少语用失误，减少文化冲突带来的摩擦，进而增进相互了解。 关键词：英语委婉语；语用学；合作原则；礼貌原则；语境 abstract euphemism is an important means of the use of languages in coordinating interpersonal relationships. euphemism is a special language expression in a tortuous way to extend the peoples ideas. english euphemism can not only be some words, expressions, sentences and discourses, and it even can be some body languages in a particular context, at the same time it can be some forms of language exchange. in many occasions, english euphemism can cover up some unpleasant, offensive or even terrible facts, meanwhile it can cover up some embarrassing things so as to save the face of both sides in communication. therefore, english euphemism is the “lubricant” of language, which has a wide range of use in peoples social activities of daily life and is an important means in coordinating the interpersonal relationship among people. using euphemisms can improve the communicative effects and maintain harmonious interpersonal relationships. as an integral part of english vocabulary, english euphemism has drawn much concern. over the years, the linguistic scholars have made analysis of the language phenomenon from different angles such as social linguistics, psycholinguistics and philosophy and they have made great achievements. however, their researches have two major deficiencies: 1) neglecting the important role of context in english euphemism; 2) the overall level of their research is still limited in vocabulary. in view of this, the author of this thesis draw on the previous research results and put forward a new research method, that is, to discuss the relationship between english euphemism and pragmatics from the pragmatic aspect. this thesis firstly redefines english euphemism, analyzing its classification, formation and formative principles from the perspective of pragmatics. and then some basic theories of pragmatics are used to analyze english euphemism and the relationship between english euphemism and pragmatic principles. the innovation lies in its analysis of the relationship between english euphemism and the cooperative principle, the relationship between english euphemism and the politeness principle, as well as its violation of the maxims in cooperative principles and its compliance with the politeness principle. the choice and the understanding of english euphemism depend on the context and follow the politeness principle, indirect speech act theory and the face theory, so that daily communication will be successfully carried out and the interests and dignity of both sides in communication will be protected. the cooperative principle requires people to follow the quantity maxim, quality maxim, relevance maxim and the manner maxim in communication, but because of a variety of reasons, people often violate them to achieve expected results. english euphemism achieves the communicative effects by violating certain maxims of the cooperative principle. people use pleasant, tactful and courteous, not ear-piercing words to replace the unpleasant, rude, and harsh words in communication as much as possible to avoid hurting the feelings of others, in this way english euphemism follows the politeness principle. in addition, when people use euphemism, they also follow the indirect speech act theory. the indirect speech act is a pragmatic means, reflecting the speakers communicative strategies and intentions, and euphemism can be regarded as a form of indirect speech act, whose purpose is to indirectly show the speakers intention and achieve the communicative purpose. besides the politeness principle and indirect speech act theory, in interpersonal relationships, if people think something unpleasant or could hardly be mentioned but they have to mention, they will use euphemism as much as possible to save the face of both sides, which follows the face theory. this thesis makes a detailed analysis of the english euphemism from the perspective of pragmatics, so that learners will better understand and master english euphemism, thereby reducing the pragmatic failure and reduce the friction caused by cultural conflicts, thus enhancing the mutual understanding of others. keywords: english euphemism; pragmatics; cooperative principle; politeness principle; context 中南民族大学中南民族大学 学位论文原创性声明学位论文原创性声明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的论文是本人在导师的指导下独立进行研究所 取得的研究成果。除了文中特别加以标注引用的内容外，本论文不包含任 何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写的成果作品。对本文的研究做出重要贡 献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的 法律后果由本人承担。 作者签名：韩莉芬 日期： 2009 年 6 月 8 日 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，同意 学校保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版，允许论文 被查阅和借阅。本人授权中南民族大学可以将本学位论文的全部或部分内 容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存 和汇编本学位论文。 本学位论文属于 1、保密，在_年解密后适用本授权书。 2、不保密。 （请在以上相应方框内打“” ） 作者签名：韩莉芬 日期： 2009 年 6 月 8 日 导师签名： 日期： 年 月 日 acknowledgements this thesis is a pragmatic analysis of english euphemism, which is finished with hard work, here id like to firstly thank associate professor lv wanying, my supervisor, for giving me some good advice about the writing and organizing of this thesis, and instructing me how to write it in a logic way, which are invaluable for the writing of this thesis. i also would like to extend my thanks to other teachers during my three years postgraduate study, who have given me enlightening courses and helped me in many ways. and then id like to thank my classmates who have discussions with me about the outline and the structure of this thesis, lastly id like to thank my roommates who give me much effective information in finding some relative material to this topic. 1 introduction 1.1 background the generation and use of euphemism is a common linguistic phenomenon. the english euphemism was firstly from the religion. at the early time of human beings, because of the underdevelopment of science, human had limited level of understanding nature and could not explain the natural world or the things around, so they prayed for the divine protection. therefore, they show much veneration for the god as well as fear for the evil. people thought that addressing the name of god directly would offend him, or even may get into trouble, so they used some indirect ways to refer to the supernatural, for example, using their signs, symbols, title, or their territories. it could be said that religion is one of the most important sources of english euphemism. at the same time, english euphemism is also closely related to taboos. in any society or culture, language taboos exist. because of different customs, traditions, and social customs, some words which will cause a strong reaction, dissatisfaction or annoying effects should be avoided. in different cultures, even within the same culture in different historical periods, taboos and what can be talked about are not entirely consistent. even in the golden age of the anglo-saxon period with language freedom, people were especially careful not to offend those of politicians and religious leaders. in the early 1580s, a british writer, george blunt, created the term “euphemism” and defined it as “a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word” (neaman “euphemize” means “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”; and “euphemism” means “the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant”, or “words of good omen or good speech”. the word “euphemism” is firstly recorded in english in the early 1580s, in george blounts glossographia, where it is defined as “a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word.” euphemism has been defined differently in different books and dictionaries by different scholars. until now, no agreement has been reached on a universally acceptable definition of euphemism. some influential definitions are cited as follows: a) a polite, tactful or less explicit term used to avoid the direct naming of an unpleasant, painful or frightening reality (websters third new international dictionary, 1961). b) use of other, usually less exact but milder or less blunt words or phrases in place of words required by truth or accuracy (oxford advanced learners dictionary of current english, new edition, 1979). c) substitution of mild or vague or round about expression for harsh or blunt or direct one (concise oxford dictionary (7th edition), 1982). d) substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicate, offensive, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words (neaman. j. n. while, “intercourse” originally means “running between or communication”, but it can euphemistically mean “sexual intercourse”, which narrows the scope of its meaning. 3.2.4 grammatical approach a) the use of past tense the achievement of euphemistic effect actually depends on a psychological “distance”. people think the linguistic signs and the objects have a kind of equivalent relations, and taboo words have been banned because people equal them to the things they refer to. to avoid the direct association, the radical method is to increase the distance between the two. the past tense is to show the distance, including the distance of the anti-clockwise time as well as the psychological distance. using the past tense can drag peoples willingness backwards, which makes people feel that those unacceptable things or face injury have been the past, thus creating a certain degree of psychological distance to achieve euphemistic effects. for example, (28) i wish that i was elected monitor of the class. (i want to be the monitor of the class.) (29) you might as well speak your mind. (speak your mind.) b) the use of progressive tense the progressive tense emphasizes the temporary movements. using it in euphemism makes people feel that it is only an immature thought of the speaker, and the listener can reject it without worrying about hurting others face. for example, (30) im hoping to hear from you. (write to me soon.) (31) im concerning when you will put on another performance. (when will you put on another performance?) c) the use of passive voice in the passive voice, the objective is the subject of the sentence, so it focuses more on the objectivity of things and avoids referring the subject so as to help people speak tactfully and achieve euphemistic effect. for example, (32) it is hoped that everybody will be there on time. (everybody must be there on time.) (33) no newspapers are permitted to be taken out of the reading-room. (we dont permit you to take any newspaper out of the reading-room.) d) the use of negation negation is a very common means of euphemism. for example, (34) i dont think he was wise. (he is foolish.) (35) i dont like him very much. (i dislike him.) this means is much more tactful, which expresses in an indirect way and is very helpful in saving others face. 3.2.5 rhetorical approach a) metaphor this approach means to describe the taboo as acceptable things that have similar characteristics with it. the euphemistic expressions formed on the lexical basis are often more romantic and more poetic than the original words, and the tone is more relaxed, thus they can beautify some unpleasant or demeaning things and names. for example, “domestic engineer” and “house maker” for “housewife”, “meat technologist” for “butcher”, “hair dresser” or “beautician” for “barber”, “active defence” for “attack”, “a rescue mission” for “invasion”, and “dark meat” for “coprinus”. b) metonymy this approach is used to replace the parts that are inconvenient to mention by using the whole, for example, using “chest” to replace “breast”, using “limb” to replace “leg”, and using “rear end” to replace “buttocks”. c) litotes this approach is to express those unpleasant things from the opposite point of view so as to achieve euphemistic effects, making the specific semantic meanings ambiguous and general, and finally change those taboo words or shameful words to achieve euphemistic effects. for example, “senior citizen” replaces “old man”, and “the needy” replaces “the poor”. d) understatement this approach means a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said, or to say the serious things in an easy way and to express the implicit and inconvenient arguments in a roundabout way. for example, “smelly” replaces “stinking”. this way is in a tactful tone and the expressions are easy to accept. for example, (36) sorry, this is in fact more than i can promise. if said in a direct way like “i cant promise”, it will cause unnecessary offensiveness to others. another example, (37) this piece of work is nothing to be proud of. it is more polite than the expression “this piece of work is disgraceful”. 3.3 the formative principles of english euphemism the ways in which english euphemisms are formed are various. they generally must comply with the following three principles: the principle of distance, the principle of relevance and the principle of pleasantness. 3.3.1 the principle of distance the principle of distance means to increase the distance between the linguistic symbols and the things they refer to. in english euphemisms, mild or moderate means are used to express certain facts or ideas in order to reduce the vulgarity. sometimes a number of taboo words are involved in social communication and people have to find other expressions to replace them, and that is why english euphemisms rely on a kind of psychological “distance”. the swiss psychologist edward bullough firstly proposed the “psychological distance”. bullough thought that perception originated from the super-utilitarian “psychological distance” was maintained by subject and object. that is to say, “psychological distance” is the basic principle for creating and appreciating the beauty, and the actual or practical things are not beautiful, but if people put aside all of them and watch the objects on a certain distance with an aloof attitude, then the objects will be regarded as beauty. from the aesthetic point of view, euphemism is a kind of “beauty” to readers and listeners, which is the result of the “distance” between people in communication. actually, this is the reflection of the aesthetic principle “distance creates beauty” in euphemism. this principle increases the distance between the language symbols and taboos psychologically, and it also temporarily eliminates the bad associations so as to achieve the communicative purpose. expressing the original meaning and at the same time easing the tone not only provides room for people to think but also avoids disrespected or indecent words, so people will get some psychological comforts in this way. for example, (38) she is not beautiful. (39) he had been sent to the big house. here “not beautiful” really means “ugly”, and “the big house” means “prison”. from the above two examples, we know that people can increase the distance between these pleasant words and the real meaning, the speaker avoids some indecent terms and the listener will not feel too sharp or embarrassed, and the euphemistic effects will be achieved. 3.3.2 the principle of relevance the principle of relevance means that the language form of euphemism to some extent has links with the original language form. its true that the greater the distance, the more tactful the sentence, but if the distance between the language form and the object is so large that the listener can not understand the meaning, thereby creating barriers in communication and the communication does not proceed smoothly, then the use of euphemism is a failure. the use of euphemism must have certain relations with the original language form so that the listener can understand the meaning through the context. in other words, to some extent, the listener can find some clues from the euphemism and have a correct understanding. the principle of distance requires that the distance between the euphemism and the thing should be large, while the principle of relevance requires that the distance between the two should not be too large so that other people can understand in normal context. for example, some students cheat in schools, people do not say “he cheated in class”, but say “he depended on others to do his work”. the distance between the euphemism and the fact is just enough for people to understand the implied meaning and at the same time save others face. if one had stolen others things, people will say “he took other peoples thing without permission”. in this sentence, the word “steal” is avoided, and the persons face is saved. although the above two cases avoid the indecent associations in different degrees, they both have certain intrin