SimilaritiesandDifferencesOfEnglish-ChineseEuphemismsinCulture30

1、英汉委婉语在文化上的异同Similarities and Differences Of English-Chinese Euphemisms in CultureContentsAbstract 1Keywords .1I. Introduction .2 II. Literature Review 4III. Euphemism and Culture 7IV. The similarities of English-Chinese Euphemisms in Culture 71. The human body 82. Disease and death 83. Sex 84. Socia

2、l status or grade 85. Age 86. Religion 8V. The Differences of English-Chinese Euphemisms in Culture 91. Culture background 92. Value orientations .103. Cultural custom .114. Ethics and moral concepts 12VI. Conclusion .13 References 14Similarities and Differences of English-ChineseEuphemism in Cultur

3、eAbstract: Euphemisms are mild, agreeable, or roundabout words used in place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones. The term Euphemismcomes from the Greek, ofwhich eu meaning well or soundin,g pghoeomd e means speech, and thewhole term literally means good or pleasant speech. As an indispensable and

4、 natural part of language, euphemism has been arousing wide interest. Many linguists and scholars have studied this linguistic phenomenon from the perspectives of rhetoric, semantics, pragmatics and sociolinguistics. When we carry on the contrast of the similarities and differences of Chinese and En

5、glish euphemisms, we can find that the euphemisms in these two languages are actually implanted in its own culture, which is the chief aim or purpose of this thesis, that is, to tell us the differences of euphemisms of both the English and Chinese languages in culture.Keyword: English and Chinese eu

6、phemisms, orientations of culture, the similarities and differences摘 要： 委婉语是用一种不明说的、能够使人感到愉快或含糊的说法代替具有令人感到不悦的含 义或不够尊敬的表达法。从辞源角度看，在英文单词euphemism 中，eu 是希腊前缀，意为“好”； phemism意为“说法” ，整个单词 euphemism 的字面意义为 “好的说法” 。委 婉语是语言中不可或缺的一个组成部分，引起了人们广泛的关注。许多语言学家、学者 已从修辞学、语言学、语用学及社会语言学的角度对委婉语进行了广泛研究。目前，这 方面的研究硕果累累。本文将

7、借鉴其他学者的研究成果，通过对比英、汉委婉语的语言 及文化特征，对英、汉委婉语进行充分地对比分析。在进行委婉语映现的英、汉文化对 比时，我们发现英、汉委婉语相似的“外观”实际上根植于相异的“文化内涵” , 从各 自文化中的可以看出英、汉委婉语差异。关键词： 英汉委婉语， 文化价值，异同之比较第 1 页 共 16 页I. IntroductionFrom the time the word came into being, there followed, at an undetermined but one assumes decent interval, private, harsh, and

8、 dirty words. Invention here is the mother of necessity, the need for euphemism arose. Epstein (1985:56)In every society there are certain things that are not supposed to be speakable or mentioned directly. A fair number of words in English are labeled as frivolous, vulgar, or at least inconsiderate

9、. But in the communication, in order to maintain social relationships and exchange ideas, people have to resort to a kind of language form, which can make distasteful ideas seem acceptable or even desirable. This type of language is defined as euphemsmi in linguistics, which is represented in a vari

10、ety of forms and used for a variety of reasons.Much research has been done on euphemism because of its prominence in language since the word was coined. A lot of great works came into being during the study of euphemism, which lay a solid foundation for further research. In 1936, in his book The Ame

11、rican Language, American linguist, Mencken, fully discussed why hundreds of euphemisms had been born and became popular on the basis of American history and social cultural background. His book has become a valuable legacy for euphemism study. In 1981, British linguist Hugh Rawson compiled A Diction

12、ary of Euphemisms and Other Double talks, which embodies the achievements of research on euphemisms over the decades by many British and American linguists. In its tenpagelong preface, Hugh Rawson not only traced the history of euphemism, but also widely accounted for characteristics of euphemism as

13、 well as its definition, classification, and scope of use. The year 1983 saw the publication of Kind WordsA Thesaurus of Euphemisms ,compiled by Neaman and Silver, which is of great value to euphemism study. In 1985, Enright D.J. published a collection of essays on euphemism, The Uses of Euphemism ,

14、in which some specific topics like euphemisms and the media, euphemisms and children, and euphemism and sex, etc. were put forward in relation to the different euphemistic uses in the social field. Last but not least, Allan and Burridge published the book Euphemism and Dysphemism: Language used as s

15、hield and weapo nin, which an interesting perspective on the human psyche is to be gained from the study of euphemism used as a protective shield第 2 页 共 16 页 against the anger or disapproval of natural or supernatural beings. This book is of great significance to the study of English Euphemisms from

16、 the pragmatic perspective.Compared with those flourishing studies on euphemism in western countries, Chinese scholars theories on euphemism seem rare. Although the research of euphemisms in China has quite a long history and we can find the earliest recordation in The Book of Songs（诗经, scientific a

17、nd systematic research had not been done in this field until several decades ago. In 1976, Chinese scholar Chen Wangda陈o 望（ 道 ,1976） published the book Introduction to Rhetoric （修辞学发凡 ） which describes a definition of euphemism and studied euphemism from the angle of rhetoric, so the Chinese euphemi

18、sm study in terms of rhetoric is not restricted to the lexicon level, but is extended to the level of sentence and discourse.thDuring the 70s and the 80s of the 20 th century, western theories of linguistics were introduced into China in succession. Inspired by the newly introduced theories, some Ch

19、inese scholars expanded the scope of euphemisms tudy into the perspective of social functions, and one of the most famous is Chen Yuan陈 （原 ,1983），who published the book Sociolinguistics, which contributes a lot to the study and analysis of euphemism. In the following years, a number of Chinese schol

20、ars published many a article to air their views on euphemism from different angles, such as Yu Yalun （于亚伦，1984）, Li Guonan （李国 南，1989）, Shu Dingfang （束定芳，1989）, etc. All of these papers have widened our vision and enriched the study of euphemism.II. Literature ReviewEuphemism as a widely and frequen

21、tly used figure of speech and a hot research issue in the field of linguistics needs a concise and definite criterion to judge the scope of euphemism. Western linguists think the word euphemismco mes from the Greek eu（ meaning good ）p ahnedm e（meaning speech or saying ）, and lltyh us it litera means

22、 to speak with good words. Later on, euphemism is defined differently and moreprecisely. Some of the definitions are listed below:1）Euphemisms is kind of figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a第 3 页共 16 页 word or expression of comparatively favorable implication or less unpleasant a

23、ssociations, instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is intended. (Oxford English Dictionary , 1989)2) Euphemism is the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought substituted. (Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the

24、 English Language, 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. (O

25、xford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics, Shanghai Foreign Languages Publishing House, 2000)5) Used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either one s own face or through giving offences, that of the audience, or of somethird party. (Allen, K. and Bu

26、rridge, K., 1991:18)As traditional western linguistics restricts euphemism study to the lexicon, euphemisms are, therefore, words or phrases in place of things considered to be rude or unpleasant.Given from the perspective of rhetoric, all the above definitions are determined in a narrow sense. Many

27、 linguists think that the definition of euphemism needs to be framed in a broad sense, one of whom is American linguist, Bolinger Dwight. He once pointed out: Euphemismi s not restricted to the lexicon; there are grammatical ways of toning something down without actually changing the content of the

28、message. (1981:148)The application of euphemism (委婉语 ) has existed in the Chinese language for thousands of years, Which can be found in The Book of Songs(诗经 ). This is a book containing Chinese poems composed between the 11th. and the 6th century B.C. The Chinese euphemism 习习谷风，以阴以雨 taken from The

29、Mountain Gales(谷风 ) indicates that the unfortunate event is going to take place through describing cloudy weather and rain.When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ( 汉武帝 , 15687 B.C.) proscribed all nonConfucian and espoused Confucianism as the state ideology and abolished other schools of thought( 罢黜百家，独

30、尊儒术 ), people enjoyed rare ideological freedom and had第 4 页 共 16 页to be careful with their words and deeds or they would be punished or even executed. Because of this euphemism （ 委婉语 ） developed and flourished in Chinas feudal society.The Chinese equivalent for euphem委is婉m， is婉 转，or the most popular

31、 one婉曲c ontaining 婉言a nd 曲语.婉言m eans substitutinga n implicit expression for an explici t one , while 曲语 implies the original meaning through describing things relevant to it. Let s compare:1） 我尝想：公文书里罢黜一个人的时候常用 人地不宜四字，总算是一个比较体面的下台 的借口。（梁实秋骆驼祥子 ）2） 阿刘哑告诉，姓孙的那几个人打牌，声音太闹，给法国管事查到了，大吵其架，自己的 饭碗也砸破了，等会就得卷

32、铺盖下船。 （钱钟书围城 ）Example 1 falls into 婉言,using an implicit parlance to reduce the provocation. Example 2 belongs to 曲语 in Chinese, or periphrasis re isnp Eecntgivlieslhy. So it isapparent here that euphemism in Englis委h婉 and in Chinese are similar in that bothare used to indicate mild , agreeable ro, u

33、ndabout exp ressions in place of coarse, painful, and offensive ones.The various definitions of euphemism presented by Chinese scholars are similar to those given by western scholars, too. Chen Wangdao （陈望道 ） was the first person, who gave euphemism（ in his words 婉曲 and 讳饰）a definition. In his Intro

34、duction to Rhetoric （修辞学发凡），he defines the euphemism as 婉曲辞, which means to say something indirectly, but connoting and substituting it with roundabout and implicit words or even metaphorical expression. 说话时不（直白本意，只用委曲含蓄的话来烘托暗示的叫婉曲 辞）; Chen Wangdao says that when we speak of tabooed things, we do no

35、tcall a spade aspade , but use pleasant expressions to cover them 讳up饰 辞格说（话时遇有犯忌触讳的事 物，便不直说该事该物 ，却用旁的话来装饰美化的，叫做讳饰辞格。 ）At the beginning of the 1980s, Chen Yuan（陈原 ） defined euphemism from the socialcultural perspective. He said Euphemismm ore or less originates from taboo ; euphemism is to use pleas

36、ant, implicit and less offensive words to substitute the language taboo. The definitionf opruwta rd by Chen Yuan combines the euphemism 婉（曲 辞） with taboo words （ 讳饰辞格 ） and reveals the direct relation between euphemism and taboo, which has been widely accepted by Chinese linguists.第 5 页共 16 页Though

37、scholars at home and abroad have defined euphemism differently from different perspectives, the above-mentioned definitions share some features:1. The purpose of using euphemisms is to avoid directly speaking out the unpleasant or taboo reference like death, the dead, the supernatural, etc.2. Euphem

38、ism is a kind of polite and roundabout modes of expression.3. Euphemism is used to soften or beautify the unpleasantness of reality.From the above, we can find there exist the similarities about euphemism at abroad and home, but there are more or less different due to the different culture. The foll

39、owing we will mainly talk about the relationship between euphemism and culture.III. Euphemism and CultureEuphemism, as an indispensable part of every language, is a mirror of morality, customs, politics, life style, social psychology, etc, which itself cannot exist without social culture, of which e

40、xpressions used in sensitive areas tend to pick up negative connotations and be replaced by euphemisms. For example, we are sensitive about death, the word graved igger , being often replaced by undertaker orig,i nally a general word foranother Latinate word morticiansomeone who assumes a job or a m

41、ission; later on the word undertaker was replbayc ed. We are sensitive a boudti ly functions too, and we can find there are many euphemisms for bathroom (itself a euphemisrme,p lacing theearlier euphemism toilet from the French toilette originally a cloth used in shavin hairdressing).Knowing euphemi

42、sm well means more than merely mastering the pronunciation,words and grammar, but means learning to see the world as native speakers do, and means learning the ways in which their language reflects the ideas, customs, and behavior of their society, and learning to understand their language owf ethll

43、.e Tmhien drelations haisp between euphemism and culture is obvious: euphemism, as a cultural linguistic product, displays its multiple relations with culture; it changes along with the development of society, and varies with the variation of the context. It is a reflection of culture which carries

44、vestigial patterns once dominant in a society. Within a single culture, whether第 6 页 共 16 页 acceptable or forbidden, the subjects and portions of euphemisms have varied from one historical period to another and understanding of the culture underlying euphemisms enables us to catch the meaning of eup

45、hemism conveyed.IV. The similarities of English-Chinese euphemisms in cultureThere are certain things that are not supposed to be mentioned directly, people tend to use euphemism to make distasteful ideas seem acceptable or even desirable. This is a common culture phenomenon whatever you are the Chi

46、nese or the foreigners. We can divide the similarities of English-Chinese euphemisms into six parts.1. The human body eliminationWhen we express the meaning going to toilet w e generally use euphemisms wash one s hand、 relieve oneself or powder her nos ein English; while we should say 洗 手“, 解手” ,“去化

47、妆间”in Chinese. As for woman menses ,in English we usually say period but,“例假 , 老朋友 in Chinese2. Disease and deathAs for the defective person, we call them disabled person in English, and we use disabled person to instead the cripple in Chinese. About death, we use if anything happen to me in English

48、, we can say 有什么三长两短 in Chinese (means coffin long high, take advantage of pointing the coffin) or similarly there is a phrase tob e with Godin English, we have 见阎王in Chinese.3. SexAs it is believed that sex and sexual behavior are generally considered asuor dirty in which people often use euphemism

49、s. Taking the male sexual organ for example we use cucumber or hotd ogi n English, and 命根子 , 老二in Chinese, About the sexual behavior, people often use makelo ve in English , while 云雨i n Chinese.4. Social status or gradeAbout the poverty, we use disadvantaged or underprivislehg, eadnd 生 in Engl 活困难，手

50、头拮据in Chinese. To indicate the bad student in study, we have under achiever or evade slow student in English, and correspo,n pdeinogpllye often use 后进第 7 页共 16 页生，困难生 in Chinese.5. AgeOld people in Great Britain and America do not like the word old wh en talking about their age, thus the euphemism l

51、ike senior citizen (old citizen), goldenperson of times of gold) have arisen. Asis often aolsds ociated with death ,we oftenfind substitute words as 高龄, 年长 to avoid the word old in Chinese.6. ReligionDuring Middle Ages, because of the religious rules, people are forbidden to talk about buttock ,s ha

52、nk , chin an, d forehead dire ctly, as they all belonged to forbidden zone in the English language at that time. For example people couldn uts e breast and leg in their talking even for describing the chicken tsh,e refore white meat and dark meat ca,m eetc i.n to being. Similarly during the period o

53、f feudalism in China, there were a lot of taboo rules, for example same or even similar character concerned with 李世民 should be avoided in commonp eople nsame in the Tang Dynasty. The same case is that we call Kong Qiu without speaking his name directly.These common grounds of euphemism reflect the c

54、ommon value of the English and Chinese culture and general modes of thinking and the expression manners. They show the human culture have the common characteristic. They also body the different culture influence and permeate each other.V. The Differences of English-Chinese Euphemisms in CultureSapir

55、 Edward, a famous linguist, said languageis a guide to social reality . Although there are similarities between Chinese and English, they belong to different language system. As different nation has different culture, it the characteristics of euphemism may be different greatly due to the different

56、history background, religious beliefs, different customs, etc.1. Culture backgroundAs English and Chinese belong to different harmonious sound systems, the spelling forms are different to a great extend and it is very easy to change the wardfso rm in English but Chinese is relatively stable. So, on

57、the whole, the form about Chinese euphemism is fixed. While a euphemism of in English has wide range methods of word-building, one of the word-building forms of the euphemism is the borrowing from第 8 页共 16 页the foreign languages. This is the common situation; we find three sources of synonyms of modern English: native English, French and Latin respectively. The aborig