英语论文The Pragmatic Study of English Euphemism.pdf

1 the pragmatic study of english euphemism 1 introduction 2 2 ageneral survey of euphemism 2 2 1definitions of euphemism 3 2 2features of euphemism 4 2 2 1 feature of indirection or implicitness 4 2 2 2 feature of universality 4 2 2 3 feature of times 4 2 2 4 feature of region 5 3 pragmatic functions of euphemism 6 3 1 taboo function 6 3 1 1 euphemistic expressions for death 7 3 1 2 euphemistic expressions for sex 9 3 1 3 euphemistic expressions for disease 9 3 1 4 euphemistic expressions for physiological flaw 10 3 2 elegant function 11 3 2 1appearance euphemism 11 3 2 2 commerce euphemism 12 3 2 3 occupation euphemism 13 3 2 4 unemployment euphemism 14 3 2 5 poverty euphemism 15 3 2 6 crime euphemism 16 3 3 covering up function 16 3 3 1 political and military euphemisms 17 3 3 2 economy euphemism 18 3 4 positive function 19 3 4 1 positive function in school education 19 3 4 2 positive function in economics poverty unemployment 20 3 5 polite function 21 3 5 1age euphemism 22 3 5 2 communication euphemism 22 3 5 3 toilet euphemism 23 4 conclusion 24 references 25 2 1 introduction there is a humor once a paris tourist resided in uk a landlady told him sadly that my husband has just passed to the other side the guest looked from the fence of the garden but saw no one feeling confused the landlady explained i mean he s kicked the bucket the guest comforted her that i hope his foot will be better soon the landlady felt unintelligibly and said no he wasn t here he snuffed it you know the guest wondered and said but you ve got electricity here the reasons why the guest did not answer properly are that he did not realize that the landlady used euphemism nor did he understand the conversational implicative of euphemism what the landlady wanted to say is that her husband died the word euphemism comes from the greek word euphemos meaning auspicious good fortunate speech which in turn is derived from the greek root words eu good well pheme speech speaking liu yi 2002 the eupheme was originally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that should not be spoken aloud such as taboo by speaking only words favorable to the gods or spirits the speaker attempted to produce good fortune by remaining in good favor with them 2 ageneral survey of euphemism in english language euphemism in use differs from person to person from 3 profession to profession even from class to class feng cuihua 1995 208 that s why sometimes the meaning of some euphemisms will puzzle you if you do not know the background of english culture in order to grasp the pragmatic functions of the euphemism in english the following will be based on its definitions and features firstly 2 1definitions of euphemism no doubt euphemism is a widely and frequently used figure of speech as a hot research issue in the field of linguistics it needs a concise and definite criterion to judge the scope of euphemism some of the definitions are listed below 1 that figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a word or expression of comparatively favorable implication or less unpleasant associations instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is intended simpson j a and weiner e s c 1989 2 the substitution of a mild indirect or vague expression for one thought substituted newmark p 1996 3 euphemizing is generally defined as substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit offensive one thereby veneering the truth by using kind words enright d j 1985 4 word etc used in place of one avoided as e g offensive indecent or alarming kramsch c 2000 euphemism plays an important role in people s daily communication it is an appropriate language form created by people to achieve an ideal communicative effect in the social interactions enright d j 1985 stated that if euphemism doesn t exist 4 the movement of the world will stop and it will be filled with hatred nearly no one can live without euphemism 2 2features of euphemism in order to comprehend the pragmatic functions of euphemism profoundly this paper will elaborate on four main features of euphemism below they are features of indirection or implicitness universality times and region 2 2 1 feature of indirection or implicitness the most important character of euphemism is indirection or implicitness euphemism always gives people hints in a roundabout way we can infer the deeper meaning and intention from the context for example when someone is ill we always say he is under the weather if someone is mad we say he is soft in mind 2 2 2 feature of universality universality is something that is well known and accepted by all of the people though euphemism is indirect and it doesn t come straight to the point people can easily infer its deeper implication some taboos connected with sex death or body are replaced by euphemism for example when we refer to death we seldom say die we use the expression pass away 2 2 3 feature of times the changes of language depend on the need and changes of the society 5 moreover euphemism undergoes a process of metabolism it bears a marked brand of times li guonan 2001 245 for example she is pregnant has many different euphemistic expressions in different eras 1 she has canceled all her social engagements 1856 2 she is in an interesting condition 1880 3 she is in a delicate condition 1895 4 she is knitting little bootes 1910 5 she is in a family way 1920 6 she is expecting 1935 7 she is pregnant 1956 nevertheless after 1960s euphemisms of pregnant develop slowly because in modern times people are not so implicit they always mention things directly now the phenomenon of pregnant is a cheerful thing people will not be shy when mentioning it the word gay at first it means happy and homosexuality however as euphemism develops the word gay only reminds us the meaning of homosexuality thus people do not use the expression we are young and gay xiang rengdong 2005 2 2 4 feature of region in english euphemism there are some regional differences an australian woman married to an american man they spent their honeymoon in america one 6 day the couple intended to go to a party together but the bridegroom couldn t find a suitable full suit the bride took out a birthday suit that she gave him as a present few days ago saying why not wear your birthday suit however the whole family all astonished because in american english in one s birthday suit li guonan 2001 251 is a euphemistic expression of naked therefore this embarrassing situation resulted from the regional differences in euphemism since having a general knowledge of features of euphemism the following will research into pragmatic functions of english euphemism by special examples 3 pragmatic functions of euphemism pragmatic functions of english euphemism are functions of the way in which language is used to express what somebody means in particular situations especially when the actual words used may appear to mean something unpleasure in the following the paper will have a brief statement of euphemism s pragmatic functions mainly based on its five aspects they are taboo function elegant function covering up function positive function and polite function 3 1 taboo function taboo is the main psychological basis of the emergence of euphemism euphemism is the avoidance of unpleasant inelegant things a famous sociolinguist mr chen yuan once said generally speaking the coming into being of euphemism 7 all begins from taboo williams 1963 from the origin of euphemism we can see that taboo is the first function of euphemism when we say something about death sex or disease we cannot say them out directly but only to use certain tactful words instead this kind of words has been used widely up to now today people also create more taboo euphemisms 3 1 1 euphemistic expressions for death one of the terms that seem to be almost universally avoided is death for whatever reason the usage of a number of inoffensive substitutes is required for the word die or whatever the basic word for this notion may be in a particular language there are more than 100 expressions about death in english take some for examples breathe one s last breath to return to the dust to be gathered to one s fathers hand in one s accounts in addition phrases of the following are common to hear go to glory go west join the majority pay the debt of nature to expire etc those euphemistic phrases for death mentioned above are for one s relatives and friends however for different kinds of death there exists corresponding euphemisms examples of death related to religion go to heaven be with god be asleep in the arms of god in jesus lie in abraham s bosom safe in the arms of jesus go the way of all flesh launch into eternity have one s name inscribed 8 in the book of life table 1 euphemisms of death related to religion examples of death in wars fall lay down one s life give one s life lay down with one s shovel and hoe lay down one s life for kiss the dust bite the dust the ground be present at the last roll call be written off fire one s last shot answer the last muster fall in battle table 2 euphemisms of death in wars furthermore feed the fishes instead of death for drowned devote oneself to instead of death for country or career death by hanging is substituted by go up or to dance on a rope liu yi 2002 death is not an auspicious thing thus whatever man or thing if has something to do with death it is referred in a euphemistic state in the past people often used graveyard to express the place where the dead sleep peacefully however the associations that give us are horrified and gloomy now people use funeral home and memorial park to replace them moreover use memorial service to replace funeral ambulance replace hearse casket replace coffin etc euphemism may really comfort people 9 3 1 2 euphemistic expressions for sex sex whether in ancient or modern time is under taboo in fact words related to sex are usually replaced by euphemism not to mention sexual organs sexual behaviors and sex knowledge since the word of pregnant makes people too shy to speak in the past then there are many roundabout expressions for it such as 1 she is to become a mother 2 she has been unwise 3 she is in a honey way 4 she is in trouble 5 she is knocking up etc for sexual organs use private parts to replace sexual organs for sexual behaviors we use have carnal knowledge sleep with to replace intercourse use birth control or family planning to replace contraception for sex knowledge knowledge about sex has been said to be the facts of life use adult film to substitute pornographic movie free love replace trial marriage and so on 3 1 3 euphemistic expressions for disease in different times there are different cultures and different taboo topics however the fear for disease is constant people yearn for health abstain from being ill and discussing illness in order to mitigate the patients inner burden enhance their minds to defeat disease we should avoid mentioning some terrible names of disease in this 10 situation we had better to apply euphemism disease is often substituted by the word trouble such as lung trouble liver trouble heart trouble stomach trouble etc in modern english for the sake of tactful expression it also uses abbreviation to replace the whole name of disease like t b tuberculosis v d c venereal disease flu influenza and so on yu jianghai 2000 204 besides the word sick is replaced by the phrase under the weather there are the same in the following mental health center madhouse or mental hospital social disease venereal disease the old men s friend pneumonia big c or long illness cancer irregularity constipation hansen s disease leprosy 3 1 4 euphemistic expressions for physiological flaw generally the behavior of speaking one s flaw bluntly should be avoided as a taboo in fact people wouldn t like to hurt the crippled the words lame and cripple are unpleasant to hear xu xiaohong 2003 57 for this reason it is best to use euphemism there are some examples below crippled physically handicapped or physically inconvenienced deformed students special students 11 blind students visually retarded students a mongol baby a down s baby retarded mental deficiency deaf hard of hearing auditory impaired 3 2 elegant function elegant function is a function to use graceful and attractive words or phrases in place of the actual words which may cause displeasure in our life it is beneficial to uphold others self esteem thus people are abstaining from speaking discriminatory words especially those words are relevant to occupation sex mental and physical health then communication will go on smoothly consequently the elegant function for euphemism emerged such a function reflects in six aspects 3 2 1appearance euphemism different people have different appearances they are consisting of beauty and ugliness fatty and thinness even deformity except for beauty when we talk about those imperfect persons exceedingly to female we often apply euphemism thereby those persons can clear up their inferiority and cowardice speaking of one s figure westerners think that to be fat is in an abnormal state as a result fatty is under taboo some ordinary examples are the word plump replaces the word fat to decorate fat female while stout and mighty are mainly 12 for male chubby has been used to describe child while heavyset and full figure are both to express wealth what a fat person wears is called king size surely both too fat and too thin are not good once we see a skin lady we should not speak her of skinny instead we use other adjectives such as slender slim willowy svelte and so forth alean man adorns a skinny man speaking of one s look everyone castes for beauty therefore to praise a girl that she looks very attractive is a good deed however to say someone ugly is on the other side for english speakers when they refer to the appearance they do not use the word ugly or awful which has strong derogatory sense instead they use the word plain looking not pretty homely or ordinary xiang rengdong 2005 appearance euphemism also includes deformity as the old saying do not talk about tall in front of the short to the same the deformities are sensitive to hear others comments on their building styles in that case to apply euphemism is necessary for examples crippled is replaced by physically inconvenienced acne is replaced by problem skin and pimple is described as blossom beauty spot and so forth 3 2 2 commerce euphemism on commercial occasion it is too rude to speak some words or phrases bluntly then commercialists need to change their expressions into an indirect pleasant accessible way some commercial service industries try their best to satisfy their customers vanity by this way they attract more customers and get a great benefit 13 take airline companies as an example in order to make passengers good impression these companies embellish names of cabin rank positively therefore tourist class or business class replaces the third class liu ye 1993 82 for some customers even though they can not afford the first or second class they will be pleasant when hearing euphemistic phrases second hand furniture which is embellished to be antiques is another example euphemisms for this factor also have second hand car pre owned car costume jewelry fashion jewelry vomit bag for motion discomfort etc 3 2 3 occupation euphemism euphemism is a mirror we can learn the values and moral concepts of the society in the past few years the western countries held a series of equal opportunity movements to opposite discrimination in order to embody fairness equality many euphemisms emerge as times demand originally occupation has no differences in its social status since some jobs are treated at a low state a lot of good names for occupation have risen to satisfy and cater human s demands there are various patterns about occupation one of the occupation euphemisms is making offensive and jarring jobs good names once a host introduced his servant to his guests he said this is my domestic help this kind of address uses euphemism although his expression is not clear it avoids embarrassment and defends the servant s self esteem as well for another instance many jobs are too degrading to call instead they have other expressions such as beautify lady of the 14 evening street girl as prostitute the street girls say what they do as business or even do social service janitor has beenbeautifiedas security officer undertaker equals to grief therapist chief waiter equals to captain and so on liu ye 1993 84 another kind of occupation euphemism is to heighten some low level for a cook as he has been called as a chef his status heightened as well when we call waiters dining room attendants we raise their social status to be supervisors it is the same to use shoe rebuilder to substitute cobbler moreover a butcher can also be addressed as a meat technologist apart from the above engineer is such a pleasant word to hear that people from all different careers use this word to beautify their jobs by gathering there are many examples below 1 telephone repair man telephone engineer 2 mechanic automobile engineer 3 dustman garbage man garbage collector sanitation engineer 4 man dishwasher utensil maintenance man even then the housewives have been wrapped in a nice sounding phrase domestic engineers 3 2 4 unemployment euphemism as long as competition exists unemployment is unavoidable undoubtedly it is an utmost attack for everyone who loses job however euphemism has prettified this 15 phenomenon by bringing the jobless greatest comfort for examples frank expressionstactful expressions be firedbe terminated be selected out unemployment to be developing a new project to be in a consultancy to be self employed unemployedunwaged the less fortunate dole chequeunemployment benefit these humorous and relaxed euphemisms not only embellish the unemployment but ease the jobles