从委婉语和禁忌语看中西文化差异

1、Ack no wledgeme ntsI am in debted to our uni versity for provid ing me with such a precious opport unity of writ ing this thesis to con clude my four yearsun dergraduate educati on .In the course of writ in g, I have gained more kno wledge and en lighte nment tha n I expected.I would like to express

2、 my most sin cere appreciati on to my respected supervisor, Mrs. Gao Yanm ei, an amiable and kno wledgeable teacher, who patiently and painstakingly fulfilled the task of reading, critiquing, shaping and polishing all the preliminary drafts of this thesis.In addition, my thanks also go to my family

3、as well as the classmates who have offered me help and suggesti ons.AbstractTaboos and euphemisms are Ian guage phe nomena that arise from social n eeds. Taboos are the words that we should avoid using because of traditi onal habits or social customs. To avoid taboos or express in directly, people c

4、hoose to use the words which are mild and uno bjecti on able. These words are called euphemisms. Whether in Chi na or western coun tries, taboos and euphemisms have their dist in ctive cultural characteristics. Euphemisms and taboos accumulate richly cultural connotations. In this paper, on euphemis

5、m, researches carry out from the traditional euphemism, cultural values and different ways of thi nking. Taboos are studied from the religious taboos, topic taboos, color taboos and other aspects. Euphemisms and taboos are importa nt parts of Ian guage. Rati onal using of euphemisms and avoid ing ta

6、boos can make the com muni cati on betwee n people become more harm onio us. This paper uses the methods of summarizati on, comparis on, literature research and so on to explore the culture hidden behind words so that people can com muni cate with each other more smoothly.Key Words： com muni catio n

7、; euphemisms and taboos; reas ons for differe nces;comparis on摘要 禁忌语和委婉语都是语言现象，是因为社会的需要而产生的。因为传统习惯或社会风俗等原因，需要避免使用的词语或的行为，我们称它为禁忌。为了避免禁忌或表达不雅的事物或不宜直接提到的对象而采用的婉转而温和的语言我们 称之为委婉语。无论是在中国还是西方国家，禁忌语和委婉语都有其鲜明的文 化特征。委婉语和禁忌语具有丰富的文化内涵。本篇论文中，在委婉语方面，将从传统委婉语，文化价值观和思考方式的不同来展开研究。在禁忌语方面，将从宗教禁忌，话题禁忌，颜色禁忌等方面来进行研究。委婉语和

8、禁忌语都是语言的重要组成部分，合理使用委婉语和避免禁忌语可以使人们之间的交流变 得更加融洽。本文运用了归纳总结法，对比法，文献研究法等方法来探索隐藏 在语言背后的文化，使得人们能够更加顺畅的进行交流。关键词：交流；委婉语和禁忌语；差异产生的原因；比较Con te ntsTOC o 1-3 u 1.1 Production 12. TheoreticalBackground12.1 On Euphemism 12.2 On Taboos 23. Relati on ship betwee n Lan guage and Culture 34. The Culture Discrepa ncies

9、 Hidde n beh ind Euphemisms and Taboos 44.1 Differe nt Aspects of Euphemisms 44.1.1 Traditi onal Euphemisms 44.1.2 Cultural Values 54.1.3 Th in ki ng models 64.2 Classificati on74.3 Differe nt Aspects ofTaboos84.3.1 ReligiousTaboos84.3.2 Calli ngTaboos94.3.3 TopicTaboos104.4.4 NumberTaboos104.3.5 Co

10、lor Taboos 105. Con clusi on 11Bibliography 12The Discrepa ncies betwee n Chin ese Culture and Western Culture from the Perspective of Euphemisms and TaboosIn troductio nWith the developme nt of scie nee and tech no logy in moder n society, dista nee is no Ion ger a problem. People in differe nt cou

11、n tries have more face-to-face com muni cati on n eeds. For a smooth com muni cati on, it is very importa nt to un dersta nd the kno wledge of euphemisms and taboos. To un dersta nd the cultural differe nces that are hidde n beh ind them will narrow the distance between each other. They will help us

12、 understand each other better. Just as there are no two identical leaves in the world, the history, religion, and concept of each country are differe nt. Differe nt Ian guages reflect the differe nt aspects of a country s culture.Theoretical Backgro undDue to religious, political, cultural excha nge

13、s and other reas ons, some Ian guages which are called taboos are forbidde n to use. When people use mild,agreeable, or roun dabout words in the place of coarse, painful or offen sive on es. These are called euphemisms.2.1 On EuphemismWestern lin guists thi nk that the word“ euphemism comes from the

14、Greek word “euphemismos , which is composed of“eu” and “ phemethe first morpheme“eu” here means“good” while the second refersto “ speech” , so euphemism suggests “good speech ”“words of goodomen ,“the gilded words ” , or “dramatic words ” . Literally, thismeans “ to speak with good words or in a ple

15、asant manner” . Afteryears, euphemism is recog ni zed as differe nt and more proper. It is depicted as“ substituti on of mild or haze or round expressi on forstrict or direct one in the New Edition of the Oxford ConciseDiction ary. Euphemiz ing is ofte n defi ned as substitut ing an inoffen sive or

16、happy term for a more explicit, offen sive one, thereby ven eeri ng the truth by using good words. In Chi na,“ one ki nd ofspeech, say ing someth ing in directly, but connoting and substituti ng with roun dabout and implicit words or eve n metaphorical expressi on.”is the earliest definition of euph

17、emism, which was given by famous writer called Che n Wan gdao. (Chen 167)The history of euphemism can date back to the An glo-Sax on times, some euphemisms have bee n found in its epic. Euphemism origi nates from verbal taboo, which is the basis of euphemism and the use ofeuphemism bega n from avoid

18、a nee of taboo. Taboo exists everywhere. Almost every culture has its own taboo. The emerge nee of taboo is related to social psychology. People dare not call somethi ng by n ame directly because of the psychology of fear. People work out in direct terms to replace them. The euphemisms come out. Peo

19、ple feel they are far away from fear whe n they use euphemisms. Gradually, euphemisms become popular.2.2 On TaboosTaboo is a com mon social-cultural phe nomenon, which ofte n encoun tered by us in our daily life, especially in the in tercultural com muni cati on activities. Taboo is a lin guistic ph

20、e nomenon that is full of specialties of local or social dialect. Besides, it susually conn ected with religi on, daily Ian guage, discrim in ati on, privacy and so on. The taboos origi nated in the Polyn esia n Tonga Ian guage which means the n eed for extreme atte nti on. The word“ taboocan also b

21、e written as “ tabu ” or “ tapu ” . It formerly refers to those heave nly facts or thi ngs which can not be spoke n or touched. It was firstly no ted by Captai n James Cook, a British sailor, duri ng his visit to Tonga in 1771. When he came to the isla nds in the southPacific, he observed many stra

22、nge social phe nomena. For example, some things could only be used by their leaders or only by Gods, but some can be used by com mon people. Some objects can only be used for special purposes, but some only for gen eral purposes. The local people call this phenomenon “tabu ” , which means“to be holy

23、 oruntouchable ” . A man called Cook introduced the concept into the En glish Ian guage, from the n on, it got widespread curre ncy and was to be spoken as“taboo ” in English. Taboos were most highly developedin the Polynesian societies of the South Pacific, but virtually they have been showed in al

24、l cultures. From its origins in Polynesian society, the word has beg in to spread throughout all the En glish- speak ing world. A taboo is a strong social custom. It excludes someth ing like use, approach, or men ti on because of their sacred and inviolable nature. The taboo is mainly used in situat

25、ions where religi on can not be spoke n directly for some reas on. With the progress of society and the developme nt of culture to a certa inexte nt, it is not reduced but in creased. Today, the word“ tabooas a special noun for this kind of special phe nomenon, is brought to sociology and anthropolo

26、gy, linguistics and other fields. Just asHass M.R. i n In terli ngual Word Taboos said,“ Taboos exist in manyimportant etiquettes and customs of one s life from his/her birth tohis/her death ” . (Hass 45 )Relatio nship betwee n Lan guage and CultureMany social scie ntists have deliberately expressed

27、 their opinions inthese questions. Culture is too inclusive a concept to define. Manyphilosophers, sociologists, an thropologists and lin guistics tried tomake satisfactory defi nes for it. Un til now, none of them has everbee n recog ni zed as a norm. Accord ing to Goode no ugh s defi niti on,“ aso

28、ciety s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know orbelieve inorder to operate in a manner acceptable to its members,and to do so in any role that they accept for any one of themselves” .(Goode no ugh 93) The defi niti on means that culture refers to whatevera pers on have to know for being

29、 acceptable in a special society.Culture, in a broad sense, leads to what has been made spiritually insocial activities of huma n bein gs,n amely all the achieveme nts ofcivilizati on made by huma n beings, for example, literature, biology,philosophy, religi on, scie nee and tech no logy. It is the

30、multiple unitof the huma n and their achieveme nts. (Gudyk unst 168) That means allthe activities huma n beings done con sciously and uncon sciously bel ongto the category of culture, such as customs, habits, own values andpsychology etc. Culture, in a n arrower sen se, refers to socialideology and

31、its releva nt everyday systems and orga ni zatio ns. Itin cludes social ethics and morality, political systems, traditi ons,eth no-psychology, thinking modles and habits of everyday in tercha nged.As Kramsch remarked, “la nguage is the prin cipal means we con ductour social lives. Whe n it is used i

32、n con texts of com muni cati on, it isbound up with culture in multiple and complex ways” . (Kramsch 89 )It means you can not understand one of them without the knowledge ofthe other. They are un ited as a whole. Lan guage serves as a vehicleby which a culture transmits its information, such as beli

33、efs, socialvalues, and traditions etc. Cultural worth and convictions are inpart constitutive of linguistic relativity.” Different culturesmeans differe nt beliefs, values and norms about what to be made andfun cti on as a one of them. People un der the same cultural backgro unddecide their own way

34、of using Ian guage, which is mostly in flue need bytheir convictions, worth and norms prese nted in the culture. Lan guageis culture are in a dialectical relation. Language is the prese ntati on of culture.The Culture Discrepa ncies Hidde n beh ind Euphemisms and TaboosIn flue need by many factors i

35、n clud ing history, locati on and so on. Chin ese and Wester n cultures are differe nt, so do the cultures beh ind euphemisms and taboos. Through the explorati on of these, we can study more about the discrepa ncies betwee n the East and the West.4.1 Differe nt Aspects of Euphemisms4.1.1 Traditi ona

36、l EuphemismsFor the differe nces of Chin ese and wester n ethical ideas on Euphemism, Chin ese cultures are more emphasis whe n people talk about the con cept of hierarchy, which from the Han culture in the taboo art is evide nt.In the feudal society, the so-called national taboo, mainly to avoid th

37、e emperors own name and clothing. The status of the emperor is supreme and can not be touched. For example, if people have the same name with the emperors , to express the respect to emperors, they will change their name and avoid saying the words which have the same pronun ciati on with the emperor

38、s n ame. In additi on, there are family taboo, holy taboo and so on. The so-called home taboo is the daily conversation or writing which should avoid the name of the elders. Because in the Han culture, respect for the ancestral tradition is deeply rooted. People mi nd the rank of the families. This

39、is because of the uniquen ess of Chin ese characters, which is coupled with the Chin ese peoples unique cultural psychology and the formatio n of the an cie nt taboos. The con cept of hierarchy in Chin ese culture is still continuing. For example, the superior, leadership and cautiousness. Most peop

40、le dare not to address their names and dubbed title. Gradually, people are particularly good with explori ng the private and mak ing psychological comparis ons. In daily conv ersati on, people always talk about each others occupati on, ide ntity, status to determ ine their own sense of pride or in f

41、eriority. Westerners like to get along with others like all are equal. For example, subord in ates can call the name of the manager, the son can address his fathersn ame. For the privacy of the in dividual, Western culture takes a more respectful, tolerate and desali nate attitude. They would start

42、a conv ersatio n mostly from the weather topic, rather tha n ask the pers onal in formati on. People will use euphemistic expressi on to talk about the topic of privacy. For example, they will use“love childto replace “ bast ard ” to show the same attitude. For the people with disabilities, they oft

43、e n use“ special man ” in stead of“ disabled man ” ； they do not say “ backward countries ” or deny“ poor country ” , but use “ developing country ” . The description of huma n appeara nee in En glish is rarely used hush words, like“ ugly“ awful ” , mostly they will use the words which are neutral v

44、ocabulary, like “ plain ” ,“ordinary ” .4.1.2 Cultural ValuesFrom the euphemism in the differe nces betwee n Chin ese and Westerncultural values, people in China do not deny the“ old ” . It isgen erally believed that the“ old ” word represe nts the experie nee,and eve n the status of dist in guished

45、. For the older elders, peoplelike to use the words which are very respectful. However, i n westerncountries,“old ” is the taboo of society. People do not want totalk about it even they know the arrival of death is a life course.Hoari ness is a biological period that is easily overlooked in thehuman

46、 life cycle. Among those who are old, the subject is morbid,bori ng and vulgar. They build a barrier to discuss agi ng. People useeuphemisms and optimistic words to avoid talking about the elderlyproblem. In conversations, they rarely use“old people ” but use“golden age, senior citizen” to express m

47、eaning. Han nationalityhas a long traditi on of respect ing the old culture, while wester nculture is more emphasis on youth, vitality and the creation of values.4.1.3 Thi nki ng ModelsFor the differe nces of Chin ese and wester n modes of thi nking from euphemism, Most Chin ese people are emoti on

48、al, and the Ian guage expression is much more subtle. Even if a man is admired by praise, his mouth will say, “just so so. ” or other self-humble words. This is the art of taboo is the speaker inten ti on ally reduce the severity of the error to express their own emotions or to reduce the stimulus t

49、o the liste ner for express ing ones own feeli ngs or reduci ng thestimulus to the hearer. For those which would be taboo thin gs, peoplewill use some well-crafted Ian guage to express, this is clever art.Westerners are more straightforward to receive praise, they will behappy to accept the words of

50、 praise and express sin cere gratitude.4.2 ClassificationEuphemism, which is a very importa nt part of Ian guage, is ofte n used in no rmal com muni cati on. For a thorough un dersta nding, scholars classify euphemism into differe nt types accord ing to differe ntsta ndards. To some exte nt, sta nda

51、rds may not be the same in differe nt Ian guages. Here are the typical classificatio ns gen erally received byresearchers home and abroad.From the perspective of sema ntic mutatio n, euphemism can be dividedinto two general types: positive and negative. (Rawson 145) Thepositive ones expa nded magnif

52、y, gett ing the euphemism grow anddiminish. They are defensive in nature; counteract the power oftaboos and otherwise perish ing from Ian guage all the thi ngs thatpeople rather not to deal with directly. Positive euphemisms donthave in flue nee on deali ng with taboos. They are special ones whichma

53、ke the items be beautiful and make them be heard more decent andimportant than they really are. Euphemisms of this kind can avoid thethings or facts that are un pleasa nt or making people lose face, suchas “ hired girl ” for “domestic helper ” ,“exceptional child ” for“retarded child ” . If a boy is

54、 lazy in study, we can say“he shoulddevote more diligently to study” or“ I m afraid he has a generalidea of the positive euphemisms. Actually, this kind of euphemism isusually used in the fields of institutions, industries, professionaltitles and politics. For instanee,“ madhouse is called“ mentalho

55、spital ” or “ men tal health ” . Eve n some small bus in ess can be promoted to a proper way of in dustry, such as“garbage in dustry,women s beauty industry ” etc. As for the vocational calls, we oftenuse “engineer ” in many names of the humble professions, that save the amours of workers by stre ng

56、the ning their job status. For example,san itati on engin eerfor garbage collector ,engin eerfor“rat catcher ” .In the field of politics, euphemistic expressionsen able people to con ceal the truth and the n achieve some purposes ofusers, e.g. “ Strike ” is called “ in dustrial action ” or“ in dustr

57、ial dispute” . On the con trary, n egative euphemisms areclosely related with tabooed subjects. They are called traditi onaleuphemisms. Gen erally they are mai nly used to talk about sen sitivetopics, n substitute in direct expressi ons for taboos, or avoidmen ti oning god directly.In both Chin ese

58、and western culture, there are many com mon sen sitivetopics concerning sex, disease, death, body parts etc. People tend tochoose euphemisms to avoid the embarrassme nt and make successfulcom muni cati on. Euphemisms can be divided in to perma nent and temporaryeuphemisms accord ing to the life spa n. W