Euphemism in International Business Negotiation.doc

毕业论文（设计）Euphemism in International Business Negotiation1. Introduction- 1 -2. A General review of English euphemism- 3 -2.1 The definition of euphemism- 3 -2.2The classification of euphemism- 4 -2.2.1 Positive euphemism- 4 -2.2.2 Negative euphemism- 5 -2.3The characteristics of euphemism- 5 -2.3.1 Universality- 5 -2.3.2 Indirectness- 6 -2.3.3 Distinctness- 6 -2.4. The functions of euphemism- 6 -2.4.1 Substitution for taboo words- 7 -2.4.2 Politeness- 7 -3. A Brief survey of business negotiation- 8 -3.1 The definition of business negotiation- 8 -3.2 The characteristics of international business negotiation- 9 -3.3 The goals of international business negotiation- 10 -3.3.1 Commodity goal- 10 -3.3.2 Relation goal- 11 -4. Euphemistic strategies in international business negotiation- 11 -4.1 Vagueness- 12 -4.2 Using passive statement- 13 -4.3 Using modal verb- 14 -4.4 Using different expressions- 15 -4.4.1 Changing angles of expressions- 15 -4.4.2 Interrogative instead of imperative- 16 -4.5 Caring for opponents feelings- 17 -5. Conclusion- 18 -Reference- 20 -1. IntroductionEuphemism has been widely used in human society. It should be pointed out that in every language, there are a certain amount of euphemisms. Euphemisms are used to replace taboo, unpleasant or sensitive topics. Enright(1985:29) stated that, “a language without euphemisms would be a defective instrument of communication”. Hugh Rawson(1981:3) also put forward “euphemisms are embedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even those who pride themselves on being plain spoken, ever get through a day without using them”. Originating from the Greek, the word euphemism has been discussed by many scholars. It means “speaking with good words or in a pleasant manner”(Neaman and Silver,1983:1). As the society develops day by day, people attach more importance to others beliefs and privacy. When people talk about offensive or taboo topics but want to be polite at the same time, they would usually apply euphemism, especially in international business negotiation.Being an interpersonal action, business negotiation plays an important role in cross-national economic interactions. Both parties will try to get the most profit. However, a successful negotiation does not mean winning by defeating the other party, but winning by getting what both parties want(王海云, 2003:64). For the common goal and interest, negotiators have to cooperate with each other to prevent the negotiation from going to extreme. In order to avoid the deadlock of negotiation, it is necessary for negotiators to create a friendly and harmonious atmosphere which will eventually improve the negotiating conditions and keep the negotiation going on smoothly. There are various strategies for negotiators to apply to maintain a friendly negotiating ambience. Among them, euphemism is one of most effective strategies, which means expressing something indirectly.This thesis is firstly to introduce the classifications and characteristics of euphemism, then demonstrate the characteristics and goals of international business negotiation and finally conclude some euphemistic strategies in it. 2. A General review of English euphemism2.1 The definition of euphemismEuphemism is a common device that people use in communication(李鑫华, 2000:45). It has been studied for dozens of years and defined differently. Here are some definitions.Longman Dictionary of American English(1992:408) defined euphemism as “a polite word or expression that you use instead of a more direct one to avoid shocking or upsetting someone”. ADVANCED LEARNERS English-Chinese Dictionary (2004:581) defined it as “a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing”. One of the famous scholars Rawson(1981:1) also stated that, euphemisms are “mild, agreeable, or roundabout words used in place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones. While Allan & Burridge(1991:11) regard euphemisms as “alternatives to disprefered expressions, and are used in order to avoid possible loss of face. The disprefered expression may be taboo, fearsome, distasteful, or for some other reasons have too many negative connotations to felicitously execute speakers communicative intention on a given occasion.” Although different dictionaries and scholars define “euphemism” diversely, most of them share a general point: euphemisms are the use of a polite or pleasant term in the place of those regarded as offensive or rude. As a common phenomenon in human language, euphemism has a great deal to do with culture. Since euphemism came into being, it usually serves as a lubricant of human communication and makes it carry out more smoothly. As people are paying increasing attention to civilization, euphemism will be more widely used and become more complicated. In this case, great importance should be attached to the research of euphemism.2.2The classification of euphemismEuphemisms differ from each other due to many factors such as time, culture and so on. According to Hugh Rawson, euphemism should be divided into two general types: positive and negative.2.2.1 Positive euphemismGenerally speaking, “positive euphemism is stylistic”(Rawson, 1981:5). In fact, it is a kind of compliment and has nothing to do with the taboo. It is used to make something seem more important than they really are in order to be polite and satisfy speakers and hearers(Rawson, 1981:5). It is commonly applied in formal documents or official language, focusing on the exaggeration to replace something that are not taboo but will easily make others upset and unpleasant. For example, “mental house” or “mental health center” are substitutions for “madhouse”. The positive euphemism also elevates workers status. For example, “landscape-architect” is the substitution for “gardener”, and “sanitation engineer” is used to replace “garbage collector”. This kind of euphemism is widely used in politics, economy diplomacy and so on.2.2.2 Negative euphemismNegative euphemisms are closely related to the taboos which are also called traditional euphemism(Rawson, 1981:1). They “deflate and diminish the word meaning, offsetting the power of tabooed terms and otherwise eradicating from the language everything that people prefer not to deal with directly.”(Rawson, 1981:1). Negative euphemisms and taboos express the same thing but in different ways. Take the word “die” for example. There are hundreds of negative euphemism about it, such as “pass away”, “come to end”, “breathe ones last”, “join the majority”, and so on. By substituting euphemism for taboo, people will feel more acceptable. Negative euphemisms are considered as conventions in human communication.2.3The characteristics of euphemism2.3.1 UniversalityIn almost all cultures there are certain things which are strongly forbidden by traditional custom. That is taboo. Generally speaking, people will try to avoid mentioning taboos directly. When people have to mention it, they are likely to substitute other expressions that sound better. So euphemism exists in almost all human communities in the world.2.3.2 IndirectnessThe most distinctive characteristic of euphemism is indirectness. It is agreed that the more directly someone presents, the worse communicative effect he get. In English, the phrase “could you”sounds more polite than “can you”. For example, the sentence “Could you pass me the salt?” is not an interrogative sentence to know whether the hearer has the ability of passing the salt or not. It is just a sentence “I want you to pass me the slat.” expressed indirectly.2.3.3 DistinctnessAlthough euphemism is the general language phenomenon of all nations, the use of it is different because of different histories, cultures and customs. Take “age” for example, in western countries, it is a very sensitive topic. However, in China, people always like to use“老(old)”to show someone who is experienced, for example,“您老高寿?(How old are you?)”. The use of euphemism is various depending on different culture backgrounds.2.4. The functions of euphemism It is no doubt that euphemism is a lubricant in human communication. D.J. Enright(1985:3) says that “without euphemisms the world would grind, unoiled, to a halt, universal animosity covering all”. Although many people criticize euphemism for it sometimes causes ambiguity, the significant role it pays in communication is irreplaceable. It can be found that people use euphemism to avoid offence everywhere. Euphemism basically has two functions: substitution for taboo words and politeness.2.4.1 Substitution for taboo wordsTaboo is generally regarded as a social phenomenon related to custom and culture. Every human community prohibits some kinds of statements. If some statements are defined as taboos, people are not expected to mention them in public. Otherwise, it will be taken as offence to others. On the whole, there are several types of taboo words: words showing disrespect to God; words about sex; words making unpleasant like death, disease, old age etc. The words above are “deemed unfit for normal linguistic usage and by community consensuses are banned in everyday language in the public domain”(Asher and Simpson, 1994:4512). However, it is inevitable to talk about taboo topics in human daily communication. In that case, people can turn to euphemism for help. Euphemism can serve as a substitution to ease embarrassment. It allows people to talk about unpleasant things in a polite way. Just as Wardhaugh(1986:231) suggested, “it allows us to give labels to unpleasant tasks and jobs in an attempt to make them sound almost attractive”. W.D. Redfern(1992:423) had also mentioned that, “euphemism provides a way of speaking about the unspeakable. It falls midway between transparent discourse and total prohibition.”. 2.4.2 PolitenessSome euphemisms are not created to substitute taboo words. This kind of euphemism is often applied in commercial activity to show politeness. Proper euphemism can serve to smooth conversation and help keep a friendly and polite controversy. Take the following sentences for example, “Im afraid weve got to let you go”. “Youre fired”. The above two sentences have the same meaning but apparently the first one is more polite than the second one. With its special function, euphemisms are prevalent in the fields of education, economy and diplomacy. The two functions of euphemisms show that euphemism is indispensable in human daily communication. It is “the set of communicative strategies human being has evolved to refer to a topic under a taboo, without actually contravening its terms”(Ayto, 1993:1). In this way, euphemisms prevent people from saying offensive topics. Thus, it can draw a conclusion that a language without euphemisms is imperfect.3. A Brief survey of business negotiation3.1 The definition of business negotiationThere are many researchers who have studied and defined business negotiation. James Wall(1985:4) defined negotiation as “a process through which two or more parties coordinate an exchange of goods or services and attempt to agree upon rate of exchange for them”. While Putnam(1992:15) argued that, “it is a process by which parties attempt to reach an accord that specifies how they will act toward one another”. Another scholar Ways Max(1979:15) defined it as “a process in which two or more parties, who have both common interest and conflicting interest put forth and discuss explicit proposals concerning specific terms of a possible agreement”.Although business negotiation is defined in various terms, there is one thing the definitions share: it is a process during which both parties interact in order to gain specific goals.3.2 The characteristics of international business negotiationThe main characteristic of international business negotiation is that it usually affected by a wide diversity of environments. Some trivial factors in domestic business negotiation may be crucial in international business negotiation and sometimes could even become barriers to achieve agreement(杨林聪,2002:76). These factors include: cultural background, ideological differences, political and economic view and religious belief.When one takes the simple process of negotiation into an international one, it becomes more complicated. There will be more barriers to communication which will often causes misunderstandings. In international business negotiation, people from different cultural backgrounds may think in various ways and carry out different negotiating styles(炎昌, 1989:85). For example, Americans take directness and frankness seriously to show their truth to economic antagonist. But for Japanese, it is often considered as insincerity.When comes to make agreement, members from different nations may focus on different aspects. In some nations, people pay more attention to specific details of the contract, while others will concentrate on the performance of the contract. For example, the Americans purpose is only to sign a contract. However, the Japanese prefer to establish personal relationship. Negotiation may easily break down because of negotiators poor understanding of their adversarys cultural background. Negotiators should attach great importance to the characteristics of international business negotiation for it may increase the risk of failure.3.3 The goals of international business negotiation Business negotiators interact not to have fun but to attain goals(徐宪光, 2001:135). There are two goals which negotiators are mainly concern with: commodity goal and relation goal.3.3.1 Commodity goalIn business negotiation, one party promotes his commodity and his opponent purchases it at last. This is the basic intention for negotiators to carry on negotiation. So the commodity goal is the first goal negotiators want to achieve. The commercial benefit that commodity goal brings consumes negotiators attention. One side should supply commodity with an economical price, while the other side have to consider whether it is fit for them or not.3.3.2 Relation goalRelation goal is the outcome of the principle of reciprocity. A stable purchase of commodity is attractive to both the seller and the buyer. Consequently, both parties aim to maintain business relationship. In this case, negotiators will not just focus on their own interest due to the potential for future interaction inherent in relationships. Instead of concentrating on the present benefit, negotiators are more concerned with the future needs and problems. Relation goal is aimed at future cooperation, and it requires sincerity. To achieve this goal, both parties have to show trust to the other party and should be careful enough to avoid saying something that harms their relation.4. Euphemistic strategies in international business negotiationIn international business negotiation, Pragmatic strategies are vital for it may result in different situations. The euphemistic strategy is one of the most prevalent. When the negotiators want to state their opinions, sometimes he may not say it directly because of the restriction of particular time, place, and atmosphere. It is no doubt that euphemism can relieve the tension of negotiating climate. Besides avoiding embarrassment and conflict, euphemism is often easily accepted by the opponents psychologically. Applying euphemism does not mean lacking of confidence. As a matter of fact, it is an effective skill for both parties. Due to different culture backgrounds, Chinese euphemisms and English euphemisms have many similar features but also many differences. In order to make a friendly ambience, negotiators all try to use mild phrase instead of harsh phrase. Using euphemisms properly can make people feel comfortable, pleasant. On the contrary, if one uses an improper word, it will exert bad effect on the hearer. There are several euphemistic strategies that can be used in international business negotiation. Some of them are cited as follow.4.1 VaguenessEuphemisms are criticized by many scholars as “weasel words”, “gilded words”, “doublespeak” or even “language of deceit”(Goshgarian, 1995:73). It is true in a certain sense. However one of the values of euphemism lies in the fact that people can use vague words to express indirectly and inoffensively. By the strategy of vagueness, negotiators can impress the opponents that they are not completely against the other party, which can also soften the tone in case of hurting opponents. People can use some expressions to achieve vagueness, such as “Im afraid”, “It seems to me”, “We would suggest”, “We would say that”. These expressions turn the strong tone into a mild one and will ultimately get euphemistic effect. Here are some examples.(1) a. We can not agree with your request.b. Im afraid we can not agree with your request.(2) a. Our products enjoy a high reputation in the market. b. We would say that our products enjoy a high reputation in the market.(3) a. It was unwise of you to have done that. b. It seems to me it was unwise of you to have done that.Comparing the three examples above, it can be found that the first sentence of each example is not easily accepted. Sentence a of the example one and two are so blunt and direct. As for the example three, this sentence will give others an impression that someone is too conceited.4.2 Using passive statementIn international business communication, it is usually unnecessary to know who the executor of the action is. In this case, passive statement can serve as an excellent communicative tool for it omits the executor of the action. In most situations, there is much more possibility to guess who is responsible for the negotiation. It may be the speaker, the su