Cultural Differences in Chinese and English Euphemism on Death.doc

毕业论文（设计）Cultural Differences in Chinese and English Euphemism on Death1. Introduction12. Euphemism22.1 Definitions22.2 Characteristics33. Death Euphemism44. The comparative study of the “death” Euphemism in Chinese and English54.1 The origin of Chinese and English euphemism on death.54.2 The reflections of different religious beliefs, social status, social values and lifestyles.64.2.1 Death euphemism and religious beliefs64.2.2 Death euphemism and social status84.2.3 Death euphemism and social values104.2.4 Death euphemism and social lifestyles115. Death euphemism and cross-culture communication126. Conclusion14References161. IntroductionLanguage is used to avoid saying certain things as well as to express them (Ronald Wardhaugh, 2000). In every language there seems to be certain unmentionable words. As Ronald Wardhaugh (2000) claims, “Certain things are not said, not because they cannot be, but because people do not talk about those things; or, if those things are talked about, they are talked about in very roundabout ways.” Thus there are two linguistic conceptstaboo in the first place as well as euphemism in the second, so as to avoid mentioning certain matters in the direct way. “Euphemism” can be divided into the “eu” and “phemism”, “phemism” means “words of good omen” or “good speech” in the language of Greece (Oxford Dictionary of Euphemisms, “death euphemism,” int. 1995). Euphemism, in Bolingers (1975) eyes, is a name for something unpleasant producing the same qualms as the unpleasant thing itself, and tends to be avoided. Euphemism as a part of our lives is everywhere. “Death” Euphemism is a major part of the Euphemism. People use the euphemism of death to make the “dead” sounds not so terrible. According to Oxford Dictionary of Euphemisms (“death euphemism,” int. 1995), there are about 400 kinds of wordings of the “death” euphemism in English. Death is described as “having passed away”, “departed” and so on. “Death” Euphemism is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also reflects cultural differences between the different cultural phenomena. Numerous researchers have tried their best to give their particular and systematic explanations on this kind of euphemism. This thesis analyzed the different wordings of death euphemism in English and Chinese. By studying from the “death” euphemism which reflects on the cultural phenomena and differences, we can better understand the characteristics of death euphemism in the language and culture between Chinese and English.2. EuphemismIn this part, we will learn something about euphemism. 2.1 DefinitionsThe term “euphemism” comes from the Greek eu, meaning “well” or “sounding good”, and pheme, “speech”. Thus comes the literal meaning of “euphemism”, that is, “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”. To use euphemism equals to use mild, agreeable words in place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones. Certain definitions can be seen about this term:-“Substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using in words.”(From Neaman and Silver, 1983:1)-“A mild or vague periphrastic expression as a substitute for blunt precision of disagreeable truth.” (From Fowler, 1965)2.2 CharacteristicsEuphemism, to some extent, is endemic in our society, “the glorification of the commonplace and the elevation of the trivial.”(Rawson, 1981)Through euphemism, we can express our inward anxieties, conflicts, fears, and shames by using these outward and visible substitutes. Euphemism affects us although we may not be as deeply conscious of the effects, but affects us rather deep as it does. Euphemism reflects societys ambivalent feelings on certain subjects. Or put by Rawson (1981), euphemism is like “radioactive isotopes. By tracing them, it is possible to see what has been (and is) going on in our language, our minds, and our culture.” Rawson (1981) gives a systematic and vivid description of principles applied in creating and deciphering euphemism. There are altogether seven principles listed by him: 1. Simplest is to make a straight substitution, using a word that has happier connotation than the term one wishes to avoid.2. Foreign languages sound finer.3. Bad words are not so bad when abbreviated.4. Abstractions are not objectionable.5. Indirection is better than direction.6. Understatement reduces risks.7. The longer the euphemism the better. We will have a detailed look at the application of some of these principles above in the following part.3. Death EuphemismDeath and dying, as well as living, accompany every mortal so far as he or she is on the earth. The deep love to life strengthens the deep fear of death, or vice versa. Hence, the prettying up of death and dying becomes a linguistic necessity in a civilized emotional community or society. People may refer to a harmless euphemism, a poetic metaphor like sleep or rest in place of dying. It is no wonder that a nice description on death can be seen in the following :“The loved ones are under the good care of the kind bereavement counselor, after an everlasting cosmetic by the derrma surgeon, they wear a slumber robe, and will be put in a slumber box, then carried to a final resting place, i.e., a memorial, and terminally go to the happy hunting grounds.” ( Zhu Xinhua & Li Lijun, 2000)“Death euphemism”, together with other euphemism, falls into the larger framework called language. Language is a mirror through which we can see the mysterious and colorful cultures of the society. Goodenough (1957) himself gives a well-known definition to culture, “a societys culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members, and to do so in any role that they accept for any one of themselves.”To research into the various “death euphemism” both in English and Chinese will contribute a lot in studying the different cultures around a specific subject. Furthermore, we can have a clear comparison and contrast between the two different cultures and put it into practice in order to maintain a more successful cultural exchange. 4. The comparative study of the “death” Euphemism in Chinese and English“Death euphemism”, from the viewpoint of culture, mirrors the various kinds of social life including the social structure, the national psychology, the religions, the value system, the customs, etc (Rawson，1981). Without social culture, there will be no death euphemism. In order to analyze the cultural meaning of death euphemism, we start from the study of the origin of “death” Euphemism.4.1 The origin of Chinese and English euphemism on death.Language mirrors the various cultures of the society. Different cultures organize their background knowledge differently. Early in human society, there were many natural phenomena could not be explained. Such as, “death”, people couldnt understand why they died. They believed that it must be controlled by some mysterious power. Death was so dreadful to human so that they didnt want to mention it. The fear of losing family members, the uncertain world after death, and the decay of body made them uncomfortable. So they found something less dreadful. Either in English or Chinese, metaphor was widely used in euphemism for death. For instance, the English idiom “go to ones long home” and the Chinese expression “回老家去了” (back to ones hometown) are all euphemism for death. Furthermore, “go to sleep forever” and “长眠” (sleeping forever) indicates death. All this euphemistic expression makes death less dreadful.4.2 The reflections of different religious beliefs, social status, social values and lifestyles.In this part, I will compare and analysis the common and distinct characters of “death” euphemism in English and Chinese, and further study the two different ways to express the common and differences in Chinese and English.4.2.1 Death euphemism and religious beliefsIn order to clear off the worry and fear of human beings, different religions give different interpretations on death and even describe the afterlife world. These views deeply influence people in their view of death and life, which reflects in their language. Most of the English-speaking countries believe in God. They believe that God created human beings, thus human being are the children of God. God loves his children and vice versa. They have to be loyal to God in order to be saved and sent to Heaven with God. This is reflected in their view of death: “to answer the final summons, to be called to God, to depart to God, to be asleep in the Arms of God, to join the Heavenly Host, go/pass to ones record, to join the angels, to join the angelic choirs, to be called to the Great Beyond, to be taken to paradise, to go to Heaven, go to/reach a better world, be in the golden hence, be in/go to heaven, go to meet/join ones Maker, go to ones last, be with God, go to Heaven, go to ones Maker”. Quite a lot “death euphemism” just comes from the Bible, for instances, “cross the Jordan” “hand in ones accounts” and “go to ones (long) accounts” come from Day of Judgment.（Shu Dingfang，1989）The most influential religions in China are Buddhism and Taoism. Buddhism, originated in India, influences traditional Chinese culture a lot. It holds that all the living (mortal) should shoulder some great changes and hardships and difficulties in order to be accepted by the Great Buddha without any pain. This could only be done by very prestigious monks. There is some euphemism in describing the death of the monks. “涅磐,圆寂, ,归真, ,坐化, etc.(nirvana, parinirvana, pass into the real world, pass away in a sitting posture, etc.).In Taoism, Chuang Tzu (Chuang Tzu is believed to lived in the Fourth or Third Century BCE, at a time when China was split up into a number of states weakly held together by the Chou dynasty. He was a minor government official for a while and was offered higher office, but declined on the grounds that it would limit his freedom) holds that life and death are a continuous whole; human should conform to his fate and be calm to death since it is natural. As Chuang Tzu mentions in one of his dialogues, “In the beginning we lack not life only, but form. Not form only, but spirit. We are blended in the one great featureless indistinguishable mass. Then a time came when the mass evolved spirit, spirit evolved form, form evolved life. And now life in its turn has evolved death. For not nature only but mans being has their season, its sequence of spring and autumn, summer and winter. If someone is tired and has gone to lie down, we do not pursue him with shouting and bowling.” (Birch，1965). So when his wife died, Chuang Tzu did not mourn for her but let his friends find him drumming and singing. And he believed that his wife had lain down to sleep for awhile in the Great Inner Room (another place), thus breaking in upon her rest with the noise of lamentation would but show that he knew nothing of natures Sovereign Law(the laws of nature). The philosophy of submitting to the will of heaven and being contented with ones lot is probably the influence of Taoism. So there comes such euphemism: 隐化,羽化,气散,归道山,etc.(disappear, ascend to heaven and become an immortal, breathe ones last, return to the hill, etc.) And to be immortal is the aim of Taoism, so there is such euphemism:升天,跨鹤,仙逝,驾鹤西游. (ascended to heaven, on Crane, to be among the immortal, journey to the west on Crane). Such euphemism reflects humans wish to be immortal.4.2.2 Death euphemism and social statusDifferent cultures have different sources for their “death euphemism”. China had been a feudal society for more than 2,000 years and the social classes were distinct from each other. Under the deep-rooted influence of Confucianism, Chinese made it clear that there should be an order in everything they do, even in death (Li Siguo, 2001). So in their death euphemism, there are different expressions for people in different social classes:“天子死曰崩,诸侯曰薨,大夫曰卒,士曰不禄,庶人曰死.” (the death of emperor to be called “beng” the heaven falls or collapses; feudal lords to be called “hong” pass away; grand master to be called “zu” comes to the end, intelligentsia to be called “bu lu” not taking wages forever; common people to be called “si” die.)As for the English-speaking countries, there also existed feudal classes for quite a long time. But the classes were divided on the basis of their land instead of mere social order like that in the ancient China (Li Siguo, 2001). There was no much difference in death euphemism for different classes. A characteristic feature of death euphemism in English mainly contributed to the diversity of professions in these countries, besides other minute cultures. Look at the following examples:（Li Siguo, 2001）From journals: be cut off, ring off, to ring out From finances and accounts: to pay the debt of nature, to pay ones last debt, to close up ones accounts, to set ones accounts, to cancel ones accounts, to settle ones accounts, to put ones affairs in order, to give/grant the quietus From operas and films: to black out, to switch out the lights, to drop the curtain, to bow off, to bow out, to fade out, to fold(up)the final curtain, curtain(s),be written out of the script, to make ones final exit From travels: to take a one-way trip/ride, to buy a one-way ticket, to hop the last rattler From old American West: to hang up ones harness, to hang up ones hat, to hang up ones tackle From politics: to go up Salt River 4.2.3 Death euphemism and social valuesChinese add great weight on the community and the whole society. Those who devoted their lives to the society will receive great respect and social recognition. In their eyes, an individual should conform to the social community and do ones responsibility to the society. So it is no wonder that Chinese people often say, “it is my duty” instead of “it is my pleasure”, although it is often in fact a pleasure for them. Even in their death euphemism, there are many glorious words, for examples:牺牲,捐躯,殉国,效死,马革裹尸(to make the ultimate sacrifice , to give ones body, die for the country, do ones bit for ones country, to lay down with ones shovel),and so on. In contrast, those who died for himself seem deserve mere negative terms:送命,完蛋,见阎王,回老家,翘辫子 (lose ones life, to the end, go to see the Yama, back to ones hometown, turn up ones toes)and so on. People in English-speaking countries, in contrast, pay more attention to the individual. They hope the individual should get peace on death. In their eyes, the whole society should try to respect and satisfy the individuals. Most of these countries believe in God, thus they hope they could be with God on death. So in English, there are not so many words for death even in the army. We can see that in the following examples, to be present at the last roll call, to be written off, to fall, to fire ones last shot, its taps, while “to lay down ones life” “to make the ultimate sacrifice” “to do ones bit” are rather a little heroic. More common examples are “pass away, go west, depart”, etc. 4.2.4 Death euphemism and social lifestylesLanguage came from life. The language of certain specific ethnic groups truly reflected the nations social life. The euphemism for death originated with different ideas. At the end of Middle Age, the famine and plague happened frequently. And Grim Reaper becomes the synonym to death. According to Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture, “The Grim Reaper is often thought of as a skeleton in a cloak with a hood, carrying a scythe to reap his crop” (“death,” def. 1992). During the Renaissance of English, people use a nap or sleep as the metaphorical expression of death. From the middle age, death is always considered as a master of man. People try to defeat it. Life is like gamble, it never come back if you lose. So there are some euphemistical expressions that originated from gamble. The euphemism of death is evolving with the society developing. It changes with the changing of cultural background and transmits in different history periods. Even in the same history period, people in different social lifestyles use different euphemisms to express the meaning of death.Britain is an island nation which has always been famous on developed seafaring. Many sailors and the nautical jargon eventually become a part of the universal language. There are many death euphemisms which come from maritime navigation: to be gone to Davy Jones locker, to coil up ones ropes, to hit the rocks, to slip ones ropes. Most English and American are sports-lovers, they concern about all kinds of sports, and some sports jargon has entered the daily social vocabulary, into the death euphemism. Such as: to be knocked out, to drop the cue, to jump the last hurdle, to run ones race. Chinese death euphemism is blank in these areas. It is true reflection of the different social lifestyles between Chinese and English. 5. Death euphemism and cross-culture communicationWith the globalization rapidly developing in various fields nowadays, cross-cultural communications are more and more common and necessary. Death euphemism, together with other related linguistic devices, pushes forward the communications in a much friendlier framework. A good understanding of “death euphemism” can help us avoid the unpleasant terms to maintain the shared feelings and even develop the human relationship with each other. To refer to “death euphemism” in unavoidable circumstances shows ones respect to the dead, also exhibits the speakers being well-educated or well raised, coloring a charming brush on his whole personality. The most common problems existed in cross-cultural communications might be cultural shocks. “Death euphemism”, though a l