英语毕业论文041.中英死亡委婉语之对比分析

中英死亡委婉语之比照分析DeathEuphemismsBetweenChineseandEnglish:AContrastiveAnalysisAbstractEuphemismisatypicalandcommonculturalphenomenoninbothChineseandEnglishcommunities,whichhasalongstandinghistory.Deatheuphemism,whichplaysavitalroleinlinguistics,isanimportantcomponentofeuphemism.ThethesistendstomakeacontrastiveanalysisofdeatheuphemismbetweenChineseandEnglishunderthetwoabsolutelydifferentculturecharacteristicsandtoexplorethedeepcultureconnotationsunderthislanguagephenomenon.

Thisthesisiscomposedoffiveparts:

Partone,theintroduction,presentsabriefviewofeuphemismanddeatheuphemism.Manypreviousresearchesofeuphemismarestatedandprovidethedefinitionofeuphemism.

Parttwo,threeandfourarethemainbodiesofthewholethesis:Parttwoprovidesthetheoreticalbackgroundsandbasesofdeatheuphemism,mainlyabout“thetheoryofthecontextofculture〞andAmericananthropologistFlorenceKluckhohn’s“FiveOrientation〞.PartthreeclassifiesChinesedeatheuphemismandEnglishdeatheuphemismrespectively.PartfourmakesacontrastiveanalysisofdeatheuphemisminChineseandEnglish,mainlyfromthreeaspects,namely,religions,socialcustomsandculturalpatterns.

Thelastpartistheconclusionofthewholethesiswhichaimsatimprovingourunderstandingofotherculturesaswellasourowncultures,especiallydeathcultures.KeyWordsDeath;euphemism;culture;difference

摘要在中国和西方许多地区，委婉语作为一种既典型又普遍的文化现象拥有悠久的历史。死亡委婉语是委婉语的重要组成局部，它在语言学中起着至关重要的作用。这篇论文将要在中西两种截然不同的文化特征下对死亡委婉语做比照分析，并且探讨在这种语言现象下深刻的文化内涵。

这篇论文由五个局部组成：

第一局部，导论，简单介绍委婉于和死亡委婉语,阐述先前多位学者对委婉语的研究并且给委婉语下定义。

第二，三，四局部是整篇论文的主体局部：第二局部为死亡委婉语提供理论背景和根底，主要运用了“语境说〞以及美国人类学家FlorenceKluckhohn’s的“五个价值取向〞。第三局部分别对中英死亡委婉语进行分类。第四局部主要从三个方面即宗教，社会风俗和文化模式对中英死亡委婉语进行比照分析。

最后一局部是整篇论文的结论,希望通过对死亡委婉语的比照分析，在理解自己国家文化的同时对其他国家的文化有所了解，特别是对死亡文化有所了解。关键词死亡；委婉语；文化；差异

IntroductionBothChineseandEnglishCommunitieshavecertainnotionsthatpeopletrytomentionindirectly,eventhenthereissuchaterminthislanguage.Sincewordsrelatedtounpleasantthingswouldmakepeoplefeeluncomfortable.Therefore,whenpeoplementionedsuchnotions,theuserwillsubstituteadifferentoranindirecttermthatsoundsbetterthanthedirectone.

TheEnglishword“euphemism〞comesfromtheGreekeu,meaning“well〞or“soundinggood〞,andpheme,meaning“speech〞or“saying〞thatis,speakingwithgoodwordsorbettermanners.Deathisthemostterribleeventtohumanbeing.Asaconsequence,itisaforbiddenareaineveryculture.Toavoidmentioningdirectly,theword“euphemisms〞arecreatedtosubstituteforit.Deatheuphemismisnotonlylinguisticphenomenon,butalsoaculturalphenomenon,whichcanreflectthetraditionalvalue,religion,andsocialcustomsofthenations.InbothChineseandEnglishdeatheuphemismshasbeenappliedmorethanbefore.Payingattentiontothevariousdeatheuphemismsthatarecommonlyusedmayimproveourunderstandingaboutsociety’sattitudestowarddeath.

Ⅰ.EuphemismandDeathEuphemismMoreandmoreeducatedandnon-educatedpeopleuseeuphemismstoday.Amongtheeuphemisms,deatheuphemismsareplayinganimportantrolewhenpeoplecommunicatewithothers.A.PreviousStudiesofEuphemism

Euphemismhaslongbeendiscussedbyscholarsforalongtime.HughRawson(1981),Leech(1985),张拱贵〔1996〕etc.researcheditintheirrespectivefields.ThemajorconcernofscholarslikeHughRawson,Neaman&Sliver(1983)andAyto(1993),刘纯豹〔1990〕和张拱贵〔1996〕istocollectandcategorizeeuphemismfordictionaries.Thesescholars’studiesaremainlyfocusonorrestrictedinthreeareas:dictionarycompiling,rhetoric,andsemantics.However,thoselinguistsconcernedwiththedetailsoflanguagestructurepaylittleattentiontothecontextinwhichspeechisembeddedortotheconditionswhichthesocio-culturalfactorsuse.Therewilllackssystematicandcontrastiveanalysiswiththeoreticalsupport.Thebriefreviewofeuphemism,especiallydeatheuphemism,isthatsincedeatheuphemismisasocio-culturallanguagephenomenon,thestudyofdeatheuphemismshouldconsideritsculturalcontext.B.DefinitionofEuphemism

HughRawson(1981)says:“Euphemismissociety’sbasiclinguafranca(通用交际语).Assuch,theyareoutwardandvisiblesignsofourinwardanxieties,conflicts,fearsandshames.Theyarelikeradioactiveisotopes(放射性同位素).Bytracingthem,itispossibletoseewhathasbeenandisgoingoninourlanguage,ourmind,ourculture.〞AccordingtoAllanandBurridge(1991),thedefinitionofeuphemismis:Aeuphemismisusedasanalternativetoadislikeexpression,inordertoavoidpossiblelossofface:eitherone’sownfaceor,throughgivingoffence,thatoftheaudience,orofsomethirdparty.

Ⅱ.TheoreticalBackgroundsandBasesThischaptermainlyprovidessocial-linguistictheoriesconcerningthecontextofculturethatservesasthetheoreticalbasesindeatheuphemism.And,FlorenceKluckhohn’sFiveOrientationforthecontrastiveanalysisofculturalpatternsillustrated.A.ContextofCulture

AccordingtoMalinowski(1923),contextcanbedistinguishedintothreetypes:contextofutterance,contextofsituationandcontextofculture.Thecontextofutterancehereissimilartothelinguisticcontextthatlaterscholarsargue,whichreferstothewordsandsentencesinwhichaparticularwordsorsentencesembeds.Malinowskifurtherarguesthattheconceptofcontexthastobebroadenedandthatthesituationinwhichwordsareutteredcanneverbepassedasirrelevanttothelinguisticexpression.Therefore,heputforththeterm“contextofsituationtorefertothewiderideaofcontextorthegeneralconditionsunderwhichalanguageisspoken.〞Andthecontextofculture,Malinowskiobservesthatitistherealityoftheculture,thelifeandthecustomsofapersoninwhichlanguageisessentiallyrooted.Tosumup,Malinowskifindthattounderstandthemeaningofwhatissaid,weshouldnotonlyconsidertheparticularcontextofutterances,butalsotakeintoaccounttheculturecharacteristicofthesociety.

Later,J.R.Forthmapsthenotionsofcontextofsituationintoageneraltheoryoflevelsoflanguage.Forthmakesverylittleuseofcontextofculture.ThenotionofcultureasacontextforalanguageismorefullyarticulatedintheworkofhiscontemporariesSapirandWhorf.Sapirdoesnotadopttheexpressionofcontextofculture,buthedoesinterpretthelanguageasexpressingthementallifeofitsspeakers.BothofSapirandWhorf.Sapirdevelopedtheirpowerfulviewcalled“Sapir-Whorfhypothesis〞whichthecultureprovidesthecontextwithinwordsareinterpreted.Thisthesisalsoadoptthecontextofthetheoriesoffamouslinguistsathome,冯广艺(1997)hasthefollowingclassificationofcontext.

Macro-contextinclude:socialcontext,contextofphysicalcontext,non-verbalcontext.Thecontextofpolitics,contextoftime,contextofnationality,contextofcommunicationandcontextofcultureareunderthesocialcontext.Therearethreecategoriesunderthesub-branch“contextofculture〞,namely,contextofnationalculture,contextofreligion,contextofsocial-customs.ThefollowingchapterwillanalyzetheculturaldifferencesofdeatheuphemisminChineseandEnglishfromthethreeaspectsrespectively.B.FlorenceKluckhohn’sFiveOrientations

Americananthropologist,FlorenceKluckhohn(1961)identifiedfiveorientations,thatis,fivecategoriesofbeliefsandbehaviorsforcomparingculturalvalues.Everyculturehastoworkoutsolutionstotheseissues.Everyhumangroupneedstoadapttothenaturalworldandhastoorderrelationshipsamongmembersofthegroup.Eachculturehasdonethisandcontinuestodoitinitsownway,butsomesimilarvaluesinthepracticesofvariousculturesareidentification.Ineachorientation,therearethreebasicvalues.Theoreticallypeoplecanusethesetoanalyzeacultureandfigureoutwhichofthethreevaluesitmostoftenusestosolvetheissuesforeachoftheorientation,butthisapproachalsohaslimitations.LetusconsideracharttoexpressthedifferencesofbasicvaluesbetweenChineseandEnglishbriefly.Orientation

Basicvalues

Chinesevalues

Westernvalues(Englishvalues)

HumanNature

Basicallyevil

Mixtureofgoodandevil

Basicallygood

Basicallygood

Basicallyevil

RelationshiptoNature

Naturecontrolshumans

Harmonywithnature

Humanscontrolnature

Harmonywithnature

Humanscontrolnature

SenseofTime

past

Present

future

Past

Future

Activity

Being-whoyouare

Growing-becoming

Doing-whatyouaredoing

Being-whoyouare

Doing-whatyouaredoing

SocialRelationship

hierarchy

group

individual

hierarchy

individual

Ⅲ.ClassificationofDeathEuphemisminChineseandEnglishTherearemanydifferentkindsofdeatheuphemismsinbothChineseandEnglish.Thefollowingpassagewillexpressthemrespectively.A.DeathEuphemisminChinese1.DeathofReligiousPeople

TaoismandBuddhismareplayingimportantrolesinChineseculture.DifferentChinesedeatheuphemismshavedifferentexplanations.AccordingtoZhuangzi(庄子),“deathisnothingbuta“rest〞，whendeathbefallsme,Ibeginmyrest.〞“蜕化〞(tuihua)(lit.ecdysis)usedasdeathisalsolikeacircletobeshelled.ReincarnationisthedominantbeliefofTaoism.ThegoalinTaoismistoachieve道(Tao),meanstofindtheway.“道山〞(daoshan).“瑶池〞(yaochi)and“蓬莱〞(penglai)aresomeoftheplaceswheretheylive.“仙化〞(xianhua),“遗形〞(yixing)and“瑶池添座〞(yaochitianzuo)aredeath

euphemismsinTaoism.(张拱贵1996)Sanskrit“virvana〞(death)wastranslatedintoChinese“涅磐〞(niepan)(lit.thestateofbeingawake)and“圆寂〞(yuanji)indicatethatdeathisthebestchoiceforhimashepracticesBuddhismtoaperfectlevel.Buddhismtoasuccessfulend,hewillpassawaywhilesittingcross-legged,inapeacefulmind,whichisnamed“坐化〞(zuohua)(lit.beconvertedwhilesitting).Thehighestrecognitionfor“death〞inBuddhismis“登莲台〞(dengliantai)〔lit.tosteponaBuddha’sseatintheformofalotusflower〕.Ifonetryone’sbesttocontributetotheothersandsocietywillliveabetterlifeafterhisdeathwhileifonedoingevildeedshewillreceivetreatmentafterhisdeath.So,benevolentpeopleafterdeathcalled“升天〞(shengtian)(lit.togotoheaven),“成仙〞(chengxian)(lit.tobecomeimmortals)or“到西天极乐世界〞(daoxitianjileshijie)(lit.togotothewesternworldofhappiness).Ontheotherhand,evilpeoplewill“下地狱〞(xiadiyu)(lit.togotohell)or“见阎王〞(jianyanwang)(lit.tomeettheGodofdeath).“十八层地狱〞(shibacengdiyu)(lit.thehellwhichisdividedintoeighteenlayerswithdifferentlevelsoftortures)isthemostmaliciousoneswherewillsufferallkindsofmiseriesin.(张拱贵1996)

2.DeathofMonarchandCommon

Chinesepeoplebehaveaccordingtotheirstatusandpositions.Therefore,therearemanydifferentdeatheuphemismsforthedeathofdifferentpeople.Thedeathofemperoris“崩〞(beng)hasitsexplanation,“崩,山坏也〞.(“崩〞isbigsoundproducedbytheexplosionofmountains).Theeffectofthedeathofemperorisnolessthanthatoftheexplosionofmountains.“弃朝〞qichao,“弃朝臣〞(qichaochen),“弃群臣〞(qiqunchen),弃臣民〞(qichenmin)and“弃天下〞(qitianxia)

alsowidelyused.“宫车上仙〞(gongcheshangxian)(lit.theKinggoestotheheavenbysedanchair)and“宫车远驭〞(gongcheyuanyu)(lit.TheKinggoestoafarawayplacebysedanchair)arejustwhiteliesusedtoexpressthedeathofemperor.(刘纯豹1990)

Thecommonestpracticeistocomparedeathtosleep.“睡着了〞(shuizhaole),“安〞(an)and“长〞(chang)aretwopopularwordsthatChineseliketousewhensomeonedead.“百年〞(bainian)and“百岁〞(baisui)areusedtodenotethemeaningofdeath.Itisnotsurprisingtouse“断气〞(duanqi),“气绝〞(qijue)and“咽气〞(yanqi)torefertodeath.

“闭眼〞(biyan)and“瞑目〞(mingmu)areusedtorefertothedeathwithoutregret.(刘纯豹1990)3.DeathofOthers

Therearealsodeatheuphemismswhichexpressthedeathofloyalpeople,deathofyoung,deathofbeautyanddeathofothers.Thecharacter“殉〞(xun)whichmeanstodieforsomemeaningfulcareer.“殉国〞(xunguo),“殉难〞(xunnan),“殉义〞(xunyi)and“殉道〞(xundao)arejustforthiscase.Thesoldiersarenotfrightenedbythewordsas“亡〞(wang),“没〞(mo)or“役〞(yi).So“阵亡〞(zhenwang)“阵没〞(zhenmo)and“阵役〞(zhenyi)areoccurredtoexpressthedeathofsoldiers.(张宇平1998)

Chineseculturearenobleandimmortal,Chinesescholarsareindirecttocomparethemselvestojadewhichisakindofpreciousstonesymbolizesconstancyandnobility.So“玉折〞(yuzhe),“玉催〞(yucui),and“玉碎〞(yusui)graduallybecamedeatheuphemismstoexpressthedeathofChinesescholars.

“地下修文〞(dixiaxiuwen)and“修文地下〞(xiuwendixia)areusedtoexpressthescholarswhoregardwritingastheirlives,evenafterdeath,theycontinuetowritingunderground.“栋梁〞(dongliang)isusedtothepeoplewhohastalentsanddevotedhisorhertalentstothenations.Thus,thedestructionofpillarsconnotethedeathofsuchtalentspeopleas“梁催〞(liangcui)and“梁坏〞(lianghuai).(刘纯豹1990)

Deathofyouthisnamed“夭〞(yao)?释名.释桑制?explained“少壮而死曰夭,如取物中夭也〞.So“夭亡〞(yaowang),“夭逝〞(yaoshi),“夭殁〞(yaomo)and“夭殂〞(yaocu)wereoccurred.?说文解字?explained“殇,不成人也.人年十九至十六死为长殇,十五至十二死为中殇,十一至八岁死为下殇〞.(“殇〞meansdeathofthosewhonevergrowup.Deathbetween19and16is“长殇〞,15and12is“中殇〞,11and8is“下殇〞)(刘纯豹1990).

AsfilialpietyisimportantinChinesefamily,parentsmeanbigwealthtochildren;theyprovidehomeandspiritualsupporttotheirchildren.Sothedeathofparentsmeansalottoafamily.Theterm“大故〞(dagu)(lit.abigevent)isusedtoexpressoneofthemostimportanteventshappenedinone’slife.Otherdeatheuphemismsas“见背〞(jianbei),“弃背〞(qibei),“弃养〞(qiyang),“违养〞(weiyang),“失恃〞(shishi)(lit.deathofmother)and“失怙〞(shihu)(lit.Deathoffather)areusedtoexpressthedeathofparentswhichasabigblowtopeopleliving.AfamousChinesescholar韩婴oncesaid:“树欲静而风不止,子欲养而亲不待也〞(lit.thetreeswanttostandstill,butthewindblows;Thechildrenwanttobefilial,buttheparentsarenomore).Inthephrase,thiscomparison“风树〞(fengshu)and“风枝〞(fengzhi)becamedeatheuphemismsforparents.(刘纯豹1990)

文章来源：qqcate英语毕业论文网“佩兰〞(peilan)and“蕙草〞(huicao)arederivedfrom“兰心蕙质〞(lanxinhuizhi)symbolizedbeauty.Thedestructionofthoseplantsareborrowedtorefertothe

deathofbeautyas“蕙损兰摧〞(huisunlancui).Beautiesarepureandpreciousasjadeandpearls.Thus,therearedeatheuphemismsas“珠残玉碎〞(zhucanyusui)and“玉碎珠沉〞(yusuizhuchen)usedtoexpressthedeathofbeauty.(刘纯豹1990)B.DeathEuphemisminEnglish1.DeathofReligiousPeople

ChristianityhasadominantinfluenceinEnglish-speakingcountries.TherearemanydeatheuphemismsinBibletoshowtherespectofChristianstoGod.SirAllan,K.&Burridge(1991)’s“sleepthesleepthatknowsnotbreaking〞hasreligiousorigin.“Asleep〞performsthesamefunction.“Fallasleep〞isacommondeatheuphemismcarvedongravestones.Othersdeatheuphemismsas“asleepintheArmsofGod〞and“asleepintheLord〞arealsousedbymanypeople.HeavenintheChristiantraditionisthemostpeoplewhowanttodwellaftertheydied.So“inheaven〞and“withJesus〞occurred.Heavenisthesoul’struehomeandtheworldthedeadcalled“tobetakenhome〞or“becalledhome〞.Somephrasalverbsincorporating“over〞implythespiritualexistenceofthesoulafterdeath,forinstance,“goover〞,“crossovertheGreatDivide〞or“crossovertheRiverJordan〞.Ifsomeoneisbereavedwanttoeasethepaincalled“beingatrest〞,“ofbeinglaidtorest〞,“tohavefoundrest〞,“atpeace〞or“peaceatlast〞.Otherwidelyusedprepositionalphrasesbroughtoutbyreligionsasin“Godtookhertohimself〞or“Hewasgatheredtohisfatherorancestor〞.2.DeathofHospitalandMaritime

Deathisacommonsceneinhospital,medicalworkerscreatedamountofdeatheuphemismstoreliefthepainoftherelativesandfriendsofthedead.So“tocheckout〞occurred.Inwesternhospitals,patientswhoare“outofpainorhavebreathedtheirlast〞aredescribedas“tocheckout〞,whichmeanstoleavehospital.Ifoneischeckedout,heisnolongerwithus,or“hasgoneunder〞meaninggoneunderthelevelofconsciousnessorofmeasurablevitalsignsassociatedwithlife.Theterm“topulltheplug〞waspopularizedbytheKarenQuinlancase(1925-1976),oneinwhichacomatosepatient’svitalfunctionsweremaintainedbylifesupportmachines.Whethertoturnoffthemachines----andthusperhapspermithertodie----wastheagonizingethicalquestionofpullingtheplug.Theexpressionitselfisanearlierone,whichmeanstowithdrawone’ssupportfromorexposeanotherpersontodangerorunhappiness.Itimpliesthestillearlierimageofunpluggingabathorbarrelandthuspermitting“thewateroflifetorunout〞.

PyeChamberlainnotedintheNewYorkTimes(1981)thattheReaganadministrationhadcoinedmanynewwordsfortaxes,amonghecitedincomeenhancement.Henotedthatinthosedaysnothinginlifeiscertainbut“negativepatientcareoutcomeandincomeenhancement〞.Becauseofhiswords,thisdeatheuphemismcameintobeing.

Manywesterncountriesarenotedfortheirwell-developednavigation.Therefore,deatheuphemismtakesasignificantpartinpeople’sdailylanguage.DavyJones’lockeristhenicknameofthesea.WhenasailordiesintheseaunfortunatelycalledhewilljustgotoDavyJones’locker.Othereuphemismsas“toslipoff〞,“slipone’scable〞,“coiledup〞,“hittherocks〞and“thelastvoyage〞arealsousednowadaysinmanyEnglish-speakingcountries.(Rawson,Hugh1981)3.DeathofOthers

Manymilitarydeatheuphemismsandsportingeuphemismsareusedtoday.Soldiersmustsacrificetheirlivesinpursuingoftheirgoalsthatservetheircauseandtheircountry.Ifso,theyhavedonetheirbit.Alaterexpression“tomaketheultimatesacrifice〞or“thesupremesacrifice〞,“firedhislastshot〞indicatehewouldhavetofightagainsttheenemieswithhislife.Asearlyas1330,thepoemArthurandMerlinpraisedaknightbecause“hislifehelaidthere〞.Derivedfromthisline“tolaydownone’slife〞cameintobeingasadeatheuphemism.In1862,thisphrasewasusedinTempleBarthatrecordedthatamanmightbe“readytolaydownfortune,freedomandperhapslifeitself…〞(Neaman&Silver1983).Othersas“taptoe〞,“turnoffthetaps〞and“tobeblownacrossthecreek〞isstillinusetoday.Shakespearecomparedlifetoastage.Thestageisasmirrorsofdailylife.RobertBrowninginChristmasEveandEasterMorn(1895)wrote,“Ifheblackedoutinablotthybrieflife’sunpleasantness…〞

Here“blackout〞hasbeenreinforcedandamplifiedbycinemasandtheaters.Othello’s“putoutthelight,andwhichlivesaresnuffedout〞wasinherenttheexpression.Sothephrase“blackout〞and“switchoutthelights〞areusedasdeatheuphemisms.Itisnaturaltocomparetheendoflifetotheendofaplay.“Thefallofthecurtainsandmakethelastbow,tobowoffortobowout〞areindicatingtheendoflife.“Outofthepicture〞,“tofadeout〞,“blackout〞and“fadeaway〞usedasdeatheuphemisms.

Thebaseball,steeplechaseandfootballareentertainments.Thebaseballexpression“tostrikeout〞hasbeeninuseinAmericasincethe1930s.Itoriginallymeant“toberetiredafterfailingtohitthreepitches〞.Inthe1950s,amedicalprofessorfollowedthemetaphortoitslogicalocclusionwhenhetoldhisstudents“sometimes,nomatterwhatyoudo,theGreatUmpireupabovewillcall“strikethree〞.〞Expressionsalsocomingfromthesteeplechaseas“tojumpthelasthurdle〞,thefootball“thefinalkickoff〞orsimply“kickoff〞,therugby“tobethrownforaloss〞,andthetable-tennis“todropthecue〞allmean“theendofthegame〞andmetaphoricallytheendoflife.Thedefendwillbe“outofgame〞.Allofthemarelaterdeatheuphemisms.(Ayto,John1993)Ⅳ.ContrastiveAnalysisofDeathEuphemisminChineseandEnglishA.DifferencesofReligion

“AdictionaryofChineseEuphemisms〞,Chinesedeatheuphemismsamountto481items,butmostofthemarewithoutreligiousorigin.Theyaremoreoftenusedwithinthereligiouscirclesastheytakeonregisterlabels.

BothTaoismandBuddhismareplayingimportantrolesinChina.AccordingtoTaoism,itupholdthebeliefthat“livingbeyondlifeanddeathisonlymeanforaspiritualstate〞inthesurvivalofthespiritafterdeath.Taoistsbelievebirthisnotabeginning,anddeathisnotanend.“death〞isjustachangefromlifetoanotherkindofexistence,sodeathiscalled“驾返瑶池〞，〞忽返道山〞,“蓬岛归真〞.“仙〞isanimmortalswordsinChina.“登仙〞(dengxian)(lit.togototheimmortals),“仙逝〞(xianshi)(lit.topassawaytobeamongtheimmortals),or“仙去〞(xianqu)(lit.togoasimmortals),“仙游〞(xianyou)〔lit.totravelasimmortals〕,whichmeansthatfleshandbloodturnsintoimmortalspirit.CranewasadoptedasthesymboloflongevityinChina,so“化鹤〞(huahe)(lit.tobecomethecrane)and“跨鹤〞(kuahe)(lit.torideonacrane)occurred.BuddhismismorefamiliarwithusthanTaoism.ForBuddhism,deatheuphemismisadoorwaythroughwhichonepassesintoadifferentnaturedependonone’sattitudetowardsdeath.Buddhistsbelieveincyclicalbirthandrebirth,thesignificanceoflifeisonlytoprovidegroundfortheeternalhappinessafterone’sdeathbymeansofdoinggoodandremovingevilinthisworld.IfaBuddhistmonkpracticesBuddhismtoasuccessfulend,hewillpassawaywhilesittingcross-legged,inapeacefulmind.TherearemanyphrasestousedtoexpressdeathinBuddhism,“坐化〞(zuohua)(lit.tobeconvertedwhilesitting)，圆寂〞(yuanji).“升天〞(shengtian)(lit.togotoheaven)“到极乐世界〞(daojileshijie)(lit.togototheworldofhappiness).Thesephrasealmostusedbypeoplewhocontributetoothersduringone’slife.Ontheotherhand,“见阎王〞(jianyanwang)(lit.tomeettheGodofDeath),“下地狱〞(xiadiyu)(lit.togototheheel)areusedtoexpressevilpeoplewillsuffermalicioustorturesafterdeath.(张拱贵1996)

ChristianityhasadominantinfluenceontheEnglish-speakingnationsandChristianitycreedsbecometheethnicalrulesabidedbythewesterncommunities.AhugeamountofEnglishdeatheuphemismsareofreligiousorigin,forinstance.SirWalterScott’s“sleepthesleepthatknowsnotbreaking〞alsohasreligiousorigin.“Asleep〞performsthesamefunction.Thedeadis“asleepintheArmsofGod〞,or“asleepintheLord〞and“fallasleep〞isafavoritedeatheuphemismcarvedongravestonesandinobituarynotices.HumanbeingsaresignificantbecauseGodcreatedthem,Godmadethembyearth,thusafterdeath,menwilleventuallyreturnstoearth.GodisthemasterofallcreaturesandmenareboundtobecalledtoGodandanswerthefinalsummons.TheyhandintheiraccountpendingthelastjudgmentmakebyGod.AmoreperemptoryattitudeonthepartofGodandhisagentsisexpressedby“take〞and“gather〞,bothofwhicharewidelyusedwitheuphemismprepositionalphrasesas“Godtookhertohimself〞,or“Hewasgatheredtohisfathersorancestors〞.SincemostpeoplepracticeChristianity,itisnotsurprisingthatthosedeatheuphemismswithreligioushuehaveturnedintothecommoncoreofEnglishlanguageandacceptedbypeopleevennon-religiousonesornon-Christians.AsNeaman&Silver(1983)foundthatagroupofparentswiththeirchildrenundersixteenwhowerequestionedabouthowtobreakthenewsofsomebody’sdeathtoachild,ratherthanhalfhadusedsomeformofeuphemism.Thecommonestwerereligiousones---gonetoheaven,gonetoJesus,andthelike.Theyareadoptedbypeoplewithnorealreligiousconvictionsandnobelievesinanafterlife.ThedeatheuphemismwhichusedisapartofEnglishandcommontobothChristiansandnon-Christianinwesternnations,especiallyinEnglish-speakingnations.Inall,ChristianityexertsapeacefulinfluenceonEnglisheuphemism.B.DifferencesofSocialCustoms

Deathisinevitabletoanyonethoughanyonetrytoavoidit.Funeralisakindofritualforthedeadtorestinpeaceandthelivingtobesatisfied.Bothphysicalandspiritualcontactsbetweenthelivingandthedeatharecontainedinthefuneralcustoms.BeliefinancestorworshipcannotbeseparatedfromdeathritualperformancesincefromtheBronzeAge.ForConfucians,thesocialvalueinthefamily-orientedChinesesocietyisthenaturalrepaymentforthecarebestowedbyparents.Tosomedegree,Chinesefuneralritesandburialcustomsaredeterminedbytheageofthedeceased,themannerofhisdeath,thepositionorstatusinsociety.Thefuneralusuallystartswiththeencoffiningceremony.Encoffiningceremonyisdividedinto“smallencoffining〞(小殓)and“largeencoffining〞(大殓).The“small〞referstoclothingthedeadandincludesaritualizedbathingofthecorpse,accompanyingbyafinalchangeofclothingdeemedtobesuitableforthejourneytotheotherworld,movingthedeadtolieonthebierinthecoffinwhichrefertoas“returntothebighall〞intheHanfolkcustom.Whenthecoffinhasbeensealed,itisreadyforremovedofthedeadthatisthelastformalactinthesequenceofthefuneral.Theprocessoffuneralisthecommunicationbetweenthedeceasedandtheliving.(Allan,K.&Burridge1991)

Modernfuneralcustomsinthewesternnationsareheldmainlyduetogeographicreligion,religiousaffiliation,economicandsocialclass.Thefirstthingonewilldowhendeathoccursistonotifyaphysicianorthepolice.Then,thecauseofdeathiscertifiedbyacornerormedicalexaminer.Afterthefamilypeoplechooseafuneraldirector,thenremovesthebodytothefuneralhomewhereitisembalmed.Afterthat,thefamilymustchooseacasket,theFuneralDirectorsareimmediatelycalleduponsomeone’sdeath,andgenerallycometothehometodirectthefuneralandcarryouttheembalming.Abasketflowersishungonthefrontdoor.Religiousservicesareheldathomeorinthechurch,andthenconcludewithaprocessiontothecemetery.ParticipatoryworshipistobeencouragedforChristianfuneral.Blackclothingdoesnotnecessarytoworn.Beforethecasketissealed,jewelryshouldberemovedfromthecorpsesoitcanbepasseddowntothenextgenerations.Itisatthistimethatfamilymembersmayplaceitemsinsidethecasketthattheywishthedeceasedtobeburiedwith.

Mostmoderncemeteriesarelaidoutinrowsofburialplotsforearthintermentwhichareoperatedbythegovernment,bythechurchesorbytheprivatecorporations.Thepredominantassociationsoftheeuphemis