浅析中英语言禁忌全英文毕业论文.doc

浅析中英语言禁忌浅析中英语言禁忌 Abstract Language as the carrier of culture is created during the process of human beings productive labor and serves as the tool of communication to convey the message between people However it has been endowed with magic and power in particular language acts As the old saying goes troubles come out of the tongue Superstitious people think that the language itself can bring about fortune or misfortune so that taboos to restrict the use of language are created Anyone who violates them will get punishment whereas those who faithfully obey the restrictions of language taboo will get protection Furthermore linguistic taboos change with the development of society The paper firstly analyzes the evolution of linguistic taboo Secondly it is indicated in the paper that linguistic taboo exists in almost every aspect of people s life and is a universal social phenomenon in China and Britain Both Chinese and English cultures are in agreement about linguistic taboos such as pronunciation taboo and vocabulary taboo However influenced by different cultural backgrounds ideologies and the concepts of value Chinese and English linguistic taboos also have differences as is discussed in the paper from the aspects of taboo subjects taboo numbers and names At last this paper puts forward two effective ways of avoiding taboo that is using euphemism and having a good knowledge of the taboo culture And this discussion would help English learners improve their ability of cross cultural communication and achieve better communicational effects Key Words linguistic taboo evolution similarities differences 摘 要 语言是人们在活动过程中产生和发展起来的一种社交工具 其功能就是沟通信息 但 在特定的语言行为中 却被赋予了它自身所没有的超人的感觉和超人的力量 社会成员竟认为语言 本身能给人类带来某种吉祥或不幸 人为地设置了种种语言禁区 他们相信谁要是违背这些语言禁 忌 谁就会受到应有的惩罚 反之 谁要是忠实遵循了语言禁忌的约束 谁就会得到相应的庇护和 保佑 语言禁忌会随着社会的发展而变化 本论文首先论述了语言禁忌的演变 接着提出语言禁忌 存在于人们生活的各个方面 是一种普遍存在的社会现象 在汉英两种语言中 有些忌讳是一致的 文中分析了中英语言禁忌在语音层面 词汇方面的相似性 但是由于汉英民族文化背景 意识形态 价值观念等的不同 中英语言禁忌的内容和形式也有一些差异 因此本论文还探讨了中英语言禁忌 在私人话题 数字和命名称谓方面的互异性 这些异同和发展演进往往会给跨文化交际带来一些障 碍 为此 有效避免使用禁忌语的方法主要是使用委婉语代替禁忌词 并充分了解异国的文化背景 希望本论文的研究能帮助英语学习者加深英汉两种语言和文化的理解 提高跨文化交际能力 避免 交际失败 达到理想的交际效果 关键词 语言禁忌 演变 相似点 不同点 1 Introduction It is manifested in language persons things and activities that are taboo should not be talked about or should be mentioned in a roundabout way in language Words and expressions related to these social taboos are linguistic taboos 1 The above definition shows that Linguistic taboo as an integral part of language is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a social phenomenon Like other parts of language the origin of linguistic taboo is deeply rooted in the primitive social and cultural background and its change is greatly influenced by the development of human society in order to satisfy human beings needs for smooth communications With the advancement of science and technology many puzzles about the universe are solved and with the increase of material wealth human demands for spiritual civilization are also becoming higher Evidently linguistic taboos are a reflection of these social development and the value concepts and beliefs of the culture in which they are born It exists in every aspect of people s life There are some similarities in English and Chinese linguistic taboo but different cultures may not all agree on what is or is not a taboo in a specific context So the differences also exist between English and Chinese linguistic taboo A Lack of knowledge in this field or improper use of linguistic taboos may lead to misunderstandings conflicts and other unknown serious consequences in the cross culture communications which is increasingly frequent and wider now This paper intends to study the evolution of linguistic taboo to analyze the similarities between Chinese and English linguistic taboo in pronunciation and vocabulary and present the differences from the aspects of names numbers as well as taboo subjects in both cultures Last but not least two effective ways are proposed to avoid linguistic taboos 2 The evolution of linguistic taboo The word taboo also spelled as tabu tapu and kapu was borrowed from Tonga an island group in Polynesia and its first recorded use in English was by Captain James Cook 1729 1779 a British navigator He came to the Archipelago of Tonga during his explorations in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean There he heard the word from the local people which originally referred to persons activities including speech or things under prohibition because they were considered on the one hand sacred and consecrated and on the other uncanny dangerous and unclean He introduced it into English in his description of his third voyage around the world in 1777 But taboo phenomena are not unique in Tonga Instead it has long existed in all cultures and language throughout the world 2 As we have mentioned above linguistic taboo is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a kind of social phenomenon The development of society has influenced the development of linguistic taboo So if we want to reveal the whole picture of linguistic taboo we must have a review of the history of linguistic taboo The evolution of linguistic taboo has generally experienced three stages according to the history of human society the primitive superstitions stage the feudal patriarchal stage and modern democratic stage But there is no explicit demarcation line between three stages 3 2 1 The primitive superstitious stages As we all know In the primitive society people didn t get to know well about nature most natural phenomena such as lightning thunder storm earthquake were beyond the understanding of human beings When these phenomena happened they thought that certain supernatural creatures possessed great power They thought that if they were loyal to these supernatural creatures they would be safe or rewarded If they acted against them they would be punished severely As a result the primitive people created different kinds of gods They held a strong religious conviction that these gods controlled the world that they were living in So the first thing they did was to respect these gods through language There is an example from the Seventh Commandment of the Ten Commandment in Bible You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name 4 In a word the earliest linguistic taboo emerged as a result of the ignorance and superstition of the primitive people in ancient times 2 2 The feudal patriarchal stage Feudal society is rigidly stratified A country of feudalism is usually controlled by the royals and sometimes together with those considered with great power given by god During the feudal times people were not equal to the rulers and were suppressed by their superiors The distinction between the upper and the lower classes was also reflected in the evaluation of the language used by them respectively The words of upper class used were considered good and elegant while those used by the lower class were regarded as vulgar and indecent and should be avoided in the speech of ladies and gentlemen For example when referring to 出汗 duchesses used the word perspire but the female servants used sweat when referring to 吐痰 the former people used expectorate but the latter used spit As for 月经 the former used menstruate but the latter used bleed The maxim Horses sweat men perspire young ladies glow more or less can reflect the stratified usage of words which have the same meaning in this period 5 In China during the feudal times men usually play a dominant role in family We can see it from the Chinese expressions 三从四德 三纲五常 etc In order to strengthen their position and to prevent their subjects from violating them the royals and kings put forward different kinds of prohibitions and bans For instance to show their authority and majesty the name of the emperor and his ancestors should not be mentioned At the same time people always avoided speaking out their parents names or even the characters in their parents names The old saying 古人闻父名而泣 can prove this point Most linguistic taboos during this period were put into effect by rulers in order to maintain their superior social position and keep the society under their control However some of them because of their deep rooted influence on people s mind still remain in language even after the collapse of the social system 2 3 The modern democratic stage In modern society as a result of the development of science and technology many natural phenomena are no longer mysterious Human beings not only constantly improve their abilities to exploit the world where they are living through their great wisdom and knowledge but also make efforts to explore the extraterrestrial world Science has much more say in today s society Thereby the superstitious elements in linguistic taboos decrease while those reflecting spiritual civilization increase During such an open minded period people value freedom equality and democracy very much Many minorities struggle for equal rights with the majorities As a result linguistic taboos concerning racial discrimination arise For example in the United States nigger was widely used to call black people in the 1960s but now it is forbidden in normal interaction because such form of addressing shows contempt for the black and goes against the spirit of human rights In addition more and more women step outside their houses to work together with men They don t want to depend on men any longer However the traditional ideas about women stifle the fulfillment of their abilities and they are often treated unfairly in work This forces women to rise and fight for equalities with men and more and more men begin to learn to respect women which will have an influential effect on the language As a result taboos on sexist language increase Besides in an era of peace the relative stability of society and the fast pace of life people don t bother much to avoid things in the objective world Instead they prefer living a pleasant and harmonious life They enjoy spiritual entertainment very much so they try to avoid those words and behaviors that may make others feel unpleasant to keep the harmonious relationship Those professions that were looked down upon in the past are beautified now The substitution of sanitation engineer for garbage collector is a good example for this As a whole since the third stage people today show more respect for science and technology and human right so that the superstitious and feudal elements in linguistic taboos tend to reduce while those reflecting the advancement of human society and spiritual civilization tend to increase 3 The similarities between Chinese and English linguistic taboo There are taboos for religion sex death disease social bias etc in both Chinese and English cultures and they are reflected in their respective language and become a kind of linguistic phenomenon The similarities of Chinese and English linguistic taboo mainly embody in the following aspects 3 1 In pronunciation Both Chinese people and English people believe that saying words that imply misfortunes or disasters may bring them trouble and they thought misfortunes can be prevented by replacing the words with homophones that have better meanings In China many taboos have been caused by superstitions In Shanxi province of China there is a custom that mulberries can not be planted in front of the house and willows can not be planted behind the house because the Chinese character 桑 mulberry sounds the same as 丧 mourning and 柳 willow sounds the same as 绺 They may indicate that there will be a funeral and something will be stolen 6 Gamblers won t say 书 book because the Chinese shu 书 book sound the same with shu 输 defeat Chinese people will not present a clock as a gift in weddings or other ceremonies because clock pronounces zhong 钟 which has the same pronunciation as zhong 终 end meaning death in Chinese Many other examples also can be found in Chinese Some fisherman in South China avoid saying such word as fan 翻 turn over or chen 沉 sink and any other words with similar sounds Some even change their surname chen 陈 which sounds the same as chen 沉 It is said that the chopsticks people in the East use when having meals were originally called zhu 箸 in ancient China Since it had the same sound as zhu 住 stop it was replaced later by kuaizi 筷子 since kuai 筷 sounds like kuai 快 quick In western countries there are also many such kinds of examples When a word sounds the same as a taboo word it needs changing into another expression For instance in earlier 18th century the female in English and American countries always tried to avoid using the word arse the bottom part of the body one sits on which was considered inelegant So people called the animal ass as donkey 7 Another typical example is that fuck a sail feck or fack fact are seldom used or even go out of use because they pronounce the same as fuck Neaman made a conclusion that the reason why some words disappeared were related to the fact that their pronunciation are the same as some taboo words 8 3 2 In vocabulary Roughly speaking taboo words in English fall into three types namely obscenities profanities and vulgarities 9 Based on this classification the part firstly analyzes the three types as follows 3 2 1 In obscenities Obscene words refer to words relating to sex in a shocking and offensive way That is to say obscene words may cause offence to the social moral principles They usually go out of use in public occasion and cannot appear in literary language These words are related to human beings sexual behaviors In both English and Chinese these words are to be avoided in polite conversations because they may cause strong disapproval In America the Sexual Revolution in 1960s and 70s made people more open toward sex but now words such as making love and having sex still seldom appear directly in writing let alone in conversation Western people are serious towards sex terms to a certain degree so to speak The Chinese people also treat terms on sex seriously Chinese people always use the expression of 作风问题 or 不正当关系 to show the immoral relationship between a man and a woman As we all know pregnancy is a normal physiological phenomenon but in daily life people won t say it directly as it is related to sex If someone is pregnant English people will say she is expecting a baby or she is in a family way Similar euphemisms can be found in Chinese 有喜了 行动不便了 3 2 2 In profanities Profanities refer to religious words used in a way that shows a lack of respect for God or holy things Religion is a fertile field of this type of taboo terms A typical example is that Christian cannot refer to God or God s name The Ten Commandments forbid people to take the name of the Lord your God in vain So it is considered very rude to say goddame or goddamned 10 The words such as God Jesus damn and hell etc are considered holly and only properly used in religion If they appear in daily communication they will make people unpleasant and disgusted So people always try to avoid using these taboo words directly They would like to use their euphemisms Gosh Jeepers creepers dash and heck Some people also avoid referring to the devil which is considered disrespectful So they use the deuce the dickens old Nick to substitute the devil We can find similar examples in Chinese In religion people use some complimentary address to refer to awesome gods e g 大帝 大圣 佛陀 Buddha Another example is that tiger is regarded as the divine animal near the Changbai Mountain situated in the Northeast of our country Therefore there was the custom of tiger is the god in ancient times People avoided calling the tiger directly and gave the tiger another name 山君 or 山佛爷 3 2 3 In vulgarities Both in English and Chinese the vulgar words are usually rude and offensive and bring about unpleasantness anger or conflicts Swearwords in English are often called four letter words because most of them are short and many are made up of four letters e g piss shit crap fuck These so called four letter words are considered vulgar 11 Swear words formed by employing some of the animals names are vulgarities too They are very improper expressions in most conversations especially when there are male and female at the same time such as bitch cow swine pig etc The British Parliament has once published a word list The words on the list are abusive and were unparliamentary expressions such as cad cheeky liar prevaricating fascist etc 12 In general situation even in daily communications these vulgar words are considered taboo words In Chinese there are also many similar sayings such as 小兔崽子 羊巴羔子 狗娘 养的 小王八 etc These words are used to insult others People always try to avoid using them in a normal and polite communication The evolution of linguistic taboo indicates that taboos involve in almost every field of life Therefore the above three types of taboo words don t present a complete list of taboo terms and the author has found other types of taboo words in other references 3 2 4 In terms concerning disease death and physical disability Either in English or in Chinese culture disease death and physical disability may horrify people So people don t like to mention these directly in conversation Therefore they are considered taboos In both English and Chinese death is viewed as departing In English we can find many euphemisms for death such as go depart depart from this world go to a better world go the ways of all flesh pass away etc In Chinese we also can find similar euphemisms 去了 离开了我们 辞世 去见马克思了 归西 升天 上 路 etc In both English and Chinese death is compared to sleeping sleep in English correspond to 正寝 长眠 or 永眠 in Chinese Words denoting terrible disease are also sources of horror In English people don t like to talk about terrible disease or disease related to sexual organs directly For instance they use V D instead of veneral disease use big C long disease or terminal illness to replace