论英语委婉语的特点.doc

On Characteristics of English EuphemismThesis Statement: Various characteristics exsit in English euphemism for avoiding or softening coarse and unpleasantness.Introduction.The Origin and Definition of Euphemism.The Characteristics of English Euphemism A. Universality B. Localization C. Contemporaneity D. Language Territory E. National Characteristic F. Having division of the sentimental color G. Having life H. Sociality I. Re-symbolism J. Arbitration K. Relevance and Indirect L. The English Euphemism of Idiom and Temporary M. Fuzziness N. Humorous O. Accuracy.ConclusionAbstract: Euphemism which is in order to avoid coarse or taboos, exsits in every culture and society. For learning the culture of English deeply, this thesis mainly talk about the origin, definition, and characteristics of English from the angle of culture.Key words: English Euphemism substitute express 论英语委婉语的特点摘要：在任何文化和社会中都存在一些为避免粗俗或避免禁忌的委婉语。为加深对英语文化的学习，本文从文化的角度对英语委婉语的起源，定义与特点作了初步的探讨。关键词：英语 委婉语 替代 表达 On Characteristics of English Euphemism1. Introduction In every society there are many things or taboos can not be spoken or mentioned directly,thus,people use some substitutions to express.They are called euphemism. Euphemism is deeply inserted in language,our daily life and work. Along with unceasingly enhancenent of social civilization, speech skill and good interpersonal relationship also more and more profoundly effect peoples life, thus, in the language more and more euphemisms will be produced. Therefore ,it has very important practice significance and practical significance to the euphemism research. But only carefully research the characteristics of euphemism can understand it more accurately, and use it properly. 2. The Origin and Definition of Euphemism English euphemism has a long history,many euphemism words come from The Bible .And in The Canterbury Tales written by Chaucer and plays and poems of Shakespeare,varities of euphemism words were applied.When offering sacrifice to Gods or ancestors in old Greek,people should speak some propitious words,which were considered to be euphemisms.In Britain,the usage of euphemism could be traced back to 11th century. In that time,Genteel Vocabulary and Obscene Vocabulary were distinguished obviously.The former is just the precursor of euphemism. In the early 1580s English writer George Blunt first used word “euphemism”.It originates in Greek prefix “eu” which means “good,sounding well” and stem “pheme” which means “speech or saying”.People applied it in order to avoid mentioning things considered to be taboo and specific unpleasantnesses which relate to such things as accidents,illness,death,sex,excretion,the phenomenon of physiology and natural conduct and so on directly and talk about them in a euphemismistic way.Since 1970s one of the most largest change in linguistic is euphemism has become popular again.And euphemism,as a language phenomenon now,is applied very frequently and widely.American scholar Hugh Rawson once said: The euphemism is so deeply submerges our language that none of us can get down one day without using it, even the same for those brags themselves the straight forward person. Hence, giving it an accruate definition is quite necessary: First,George Blunt defined it as:a good or favourable interpretation of a bad word. Second,in the Radom House College Dictionary it means:the substitution of a mild,indirect,or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt. Third,its meaning is: used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: cither ones own face or through giving offense,that of the audience or of some third party.(Allen,K. and Burridge,K.,1991:18) Fourth,its definition is: that figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a word or expression of comparatively favourable implication or less unpleasant association, instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is intended.(Oxford English Dictionary,1989) Fifth,the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague exprssion for one thought substituted.(Websters Encyclopedic Unbridged Dictionary of the English language,1996) Sixth,euphemizing is generally defined as substituting an in offensive or pleasant term for a more explict,offensive one,thereby veneering the truth by using kind words.(Enright D.J.,1985) Seventh,word,etc,used in place of one avoided as e.g offensive, indecent,or alarming.(Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics, Shanghai Foreign Languages Publishing House,2000) These definitions above,tell us different meanings,however several similar features follows exsit,1. Euphemism is a substitution of unpleasant or taboo words.2. Euphemism should be considered to be a kind of rhetoric skill.3. Euphemism in the language should be function of softening,alleviating,concealing or showing politeness.3.The Characteristics of English Euphemism3.1 UniversalityEuphemizing generally exsits in almost every nation all over the world,no matter how civilized it is.And in every natural languages.both large family of languages and languages of minorities,using euphemism is a common phenomenon.Because almost all cultures seem to have certain notions or things that people try to avoid mentioning directly.That is,nearly every culture has its own taboos.When them are referred to,people always to substitute them by new beautiful things to make them sound better.Though using euphemism doesnt express directly,everyone familiar with English can sound what actually meant immediately.And plenty of usages of euphemizing of taboos are accepted commonly by the people.3.2 Localization The different regions have the differences naturally,the different customs,the different history,the different culture,and these differences embody the localization of languange.Many euphemisms are related to the folklore,and its localization is clearly(张学平,姜艳苹,于年湖,1998:145).In Britain condom is called “French letter”,means “a thing of French ”,while,French call it “capote angise” means “a thing of English”.The same social custom should be dogaded,because different regions have different formulations.Meanwhile,the similar saying have different meanings in different regions for the difference about culture.Thus,people comprehend the notion of so-called euphemism in different ways.For example, “He is in the bathroom.” American may think he is in the toilet,but English may consider that he is taking a bath.Because the word “bathroom”in British English has the meaning of “bathing”,but in American English it becomes to be a substitution of toilet. 3.3 Contemporaneity Language emerged in the process of communication,and it was developed,enriched and evolved continuously.In this process,in order to adjust to the specific environment, people should create different euphemism words on certain things,conduct and phenomenon and so on.And people choose different words to communicate in different places.Such as Vanity Fair Godge mentioned his love,he called his love that business: If I drop,I hope she will never know of that business.When doctor inquire about someones illnesses,he could say directly “How is your micturition”.It is not considered to be coarse.Early in mid-century,even neck,chin,;imb are in the category of taboos,but nowadays such words like leg and sexy would never be vulgar.Language chages frequently all the time,new words appears continuously while the old dispears.Euphemism word is too.Such as the euphemism expression of “to be pregnant” summarized by scholars appeared in different time of English development.It illustrates clearly about the contemporaneity of euphemism. She has cancelled all her social engagements.(1856) She is in an interesting condition.(1880) She is in adelicate condition.(1895) She is knitting little bootees.(1910) She is in a familyway.(1920) She is expecting.(1935) She is pregnant.(1956)(李幸2006:163) Every times has one certain way to express the same thing.100 years later,people speak out the true thing at last.It may be because the speeding of the tempo of modern life,or the improving of the ideological plane,people do not like the redundant words and expressions. These examples above state clearly that euphemism or euphemizing methods has the essence of contemporaneity.3.4 Language Territory Words used in different places,or different sentences have different meanings.because language must be in certain environment.In different language environment or in the same language environment of different age,identity,status,or educating level,euphemism expressions are also different.Such as go to the toilet.Madam may say “to power ones noise”;Men could say “to go to the toilet”,because nature calls.But children may be called “make number one,go to the pot.”And “to rear” is considered to be the usage of men. “go to W.C” is used by the adult. “convenience station” is written language.Some words may be idiom,or joke and so on.Such as “John” is idiom, “bathroom” is oral English,and “poets comer” is just the word of crack jokes. Therefore,when euphemism is applied,we should pay attention to language environment,choosing the different words of features in type of writing,to make sentence more correct,more polite.3.5 National CharacteristicA part euphemism words is general in most of national languages,but another part has the strong national characteristics. If the Chinese places lao behind the surname, such as Li lao , “zhang lao”, not only demonstrated the age is large, but contains deeper respect.But the situation is exactly opposite in British and American countries, old is the topic of taboo.Because British and American emphasize competition and independence, if a person were old,he would lose his status in competition.Therefore, people often use senior citizen,elderly peopleorseasoned men to refer to the old, these two phrases all contain to esteem highly and the meaning for respecting. In Western culture, asking othersage, income, marital status, religious belief and political tendencies are considered to be infringement of privacy and discourteous behavior.In these aspects, there are plenty of euphemisms,and some of them have obvious religious overtones.Such as “God”(the All-Knowing), “Satan”(the Evil), “By Gad”, “By Golly”, “By Gosh”, “By Gum”,”By Jove”(By God),”dash”, “drat”, “doggone”, “G-D-you”(God damn) and so on.Because countries such as The United States ,The United Kingdom,and Canada believe in God and Christianity. The most national citizens are initiative believe in God,and all more or less thought that God is omnipotent. Although religions influence is not deep to the peoples heart like before, but religion is still profound to the Western society psychologys influence and it could not underestimate. Even if people do not believe God ,they are not willing to use words which may offend God and the devil. Therefore formed a set of euphemism words to involve the religion, and covering taboos and swear words. 3.6 Having division of the sentimental colorMentions approximately, euphemism some are lofty, some are affectionate and some are the vulgar bodies. For example, in the expression of death to die in meaning a series of euphemism words, a part has the lofty color; Like to expire “to pay the debt of nature to sleep and so on, but has another part for the affectionate of spoken language, slang or vulgar body, like to kick the buck , “to go west”(张廷茂1996:451).To different people,the using of euphemism words is different.They have obvious division of the sentimental color.3.7 Having lifeSome euphemisms having once completed its social intercourse mission would not be existence, but some then are given new life in the long-term usage,(its meanings) are accepted broadly and inherit to take over down, becoming fixed phrase language or direct expression synonym, and exist in vocabulary.Such as euphemism of the expression of liquor teases: “mediline”, “highcap”, “eye-opener” and so on;And also have some substitutions of trousers , “inexpressibles”, “unwhisperables”, “unspeakable”, “one-must-not-men”, “indiscribables” and so on.3.8 SocialityThe language is a kind of social phenomenon, the different society could not exert a same expression method. Even if in identical societys different social class, social stratum, even different profession in the identical social class, the social stratum as well as the quantity of people under diferent culture background using the euphemism should be also different. For example the word “dead”, in each society, in each culture has the different expression methods. According to concerned scholars statistics, in Chinese the expression of “dead” reaches more than 300, according to the incomplete statistics, in English it probably has more than 230. If in consideration of those tactful parlance of temporary, its amount would be far over this data.Like person believing in Marxist will speak to see a Marx;Person believing in Christianity will say be with God.In brief, the euphemizing would be inevitably applied if one wants to performance in the society.3.9 Re-symbolismFrom the definition of euphemism,we can know clearly that euphemism is using one expression to replace another. “That is to say,euphemism is a re-symbolizing of things,ideas,or events already symbolized with precision in mind. Therefore people cant randomly utilize an expression to euphemize the taboos.The re-symbolizing should provide clues to catch the intended meaning of the taboos and should sound indirect or pleasanter.”Hence,euphemism is a kind of substitution in fact,it is a manifestation of re-sybolism.3.10 ArbitrationEuphemisms come from daily life,and most of them come from ordinary people.Thus,arbitration is one of the most important characteristics of modern euphemism.Once a man was interviewed on a farm on the west of Canada,he called bull “he call”and “gentleman cow”.He used euphemism very optional.And some expressions of going to the toilet are also applied freely.Such as “pass water”, “go to school”,and “wash ones hand” and so on.3.11 Relevance and IndirectDont need to dispute, this is the biggest characteristics of euphemism.Using euphemism just use its underlying way to express and avoid mentioning things or phenomenon directly which may make people uhpleasant.It is the essence of euphemism.Therefore,indirect indirect is one of euphemism main charateristics.Relevance is that euphemism must enable the human to be associates with what it mentions.Euphemism is a substitution of taboo,but it could not substitute things freely.It substitute when is necessary and connection with the taboo.It is called relevance.There is an example:In a few minutes the “madam”,as the current word characterized this type of women,appeared “madam” is always a polite name of women,but here what actually refers to is the brothel madam. This manifested the euphemism to avoid awkward case which is caused by people speaking without reservation. This is just the reason that euphemism enjoys the favor.3.12 The English Euphemism of Idiom and TemporaryMany euphemisms in peoples long times use, have become the fixed expression, already become idiom, and entered English glossary. Some identical meanings content uses the different euphemisms to substitute in different unceaingly.Such as,mad which is instead by crazy,insane,lunatic,mentallyderanged and so on.Some euphemisms are temporary.For example,a man used “euphemism” as “the toilet”,because he once misunderstood his guests punctuation mark within words.The guest said:I need,to use a euphemism,to wash up.But he believed that he need to use a euphemism to wash up.3.13 FuzzinessFuzziness is a basic feature of euphemism.In order to avoid mentioning some notions,things or taboos directly,people alwalys use semantic obscurity to take place of the precise words.The euphemism fuzziness could conceal the brutal reality.There are some examples.We do not say “blind”but say “visual retarded,sight-deprived”;we do not say “be old”,but say “meet with the second childhood;reach ones golden age”;and we do not say “idiot”,but say “totally dependant”.To avoid mentioning the term death,people take pains to substitute it with the terms of pass away,be with God,go to a better world,etc. Moreover, when refers to disease, to avoid vulgarly, the people conceal the truth with the fuzzy words and expressions. For example, some diseases which cure with difficulties. Such as pulmonary tuberculosis before the 1950s and the cancer of contemporary and AIDS, they are incurable illnesses which make people fear deeply. Once suffers, people just liked being sentenced to death. Therefore, massive euphemism words related to illness are formed in English. Like “falls ill” (be out of sorts), “scarlet” (fever), “disease” (disorder), “stroke” (accident), “disgusting”, (stomach awareness), “vomit” (lose a meal), “diarrhea” (Mexican toothache), “pulmonary tuberculosis” (breast complaint), “syphilis” (bad blood), “gonorrhea” (hat and cap), and “AIDS” (social disease ),and so on.(张旭,李盈光2000:27)Therefore,if there is no fuzziness euphemism will lose its euphemismistic value.3.14 HumorousIn the human communcation humorous is one kind perfect way to please others. The euphemistic expression is always likely more pleasant than the direct expression, others also easy to accept. Because it can manifest the humorous effect. The humorous euphemism can help the people facing the reality with ease.People use “push up daisies” to substitute “be buried” so as to ease peoples fea