(全英文论文)英汉委婉语的跨文化对比研究

本科毕业论文第 1 页共 15 页1 IntroductionEuphemism, an appropriate language form created for perfect communicative effect and an important way to coordinate interpersonal relationship, is a common linguistic phenomenon existing in people’ s use of language.Euphemism appears first in ShiJing , so it has a long history. Chinese scholar Chen Wangdao defines “ euphemism ” and studies it from the perspective of rhetoric in The Origin of Rhetoric. In the 1970s and 1980s, affected by the foreign social linguistic theory, scholars who work on the study of social linguistics become interested in the special social function of euphemism. In Sociolinguistics , Chen Yuan discusses the profound historical and psycho-social background of euphemism, revealing its social essence of avoiding mentioning those unpleasant things or phenomena. In The Euphemism in Modern Chinese Language published in Chinese Language Learning, Shu Dingfang attempts to describe and discuss the structure and research scope of euphemism in modern Chinese language from the angle of modern linguistics for the first time.The study of euphemism at abroad also has a long history. In the 1580s, the English writer George Blunt created the word “ euphemism ” and presented the following definition: a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word. Referring to the historical cultural background of American society, American linguist Menken probes into the reason why several hundred euphemisms appear and become popular in The American Language published in 1936. The book A Dictionary of Euphemism and Other Doubletalk written by English linguist Hugh Rawson manifests the research achievements about euphemism of English and American linguists. The book not only reviews the study history of euphemism, but also makes an extensive discussion of the characteristics, definition and classification of it.Euphemism, as one form of language which contains affluent cultural connotations, must be the reflection of a specific culture. Euphemisms created in different cultural backgrounds reflect different cultural connotations and embodies the attitude towards life and life-style of people living in this specific language group. This thesis aims to contribute to a successful cross-cultural communication by helping people understand the appropriate interpretation of euphemisms.2 Euphemism and Culture2.1 Language and CultureCulture owns diverse kinds of carriers, such as art, language, literature and so on. Language, as the most important carrier, is intimately related to culture. The come into being and inheritance of culture are due to the appearance and development of language. There is no culture without language and no language without culture. At the same time, culture affects language all the time, making language become more accurate to adapt to the development and change of culture. The creation of culture cannot exist without the function of language, and the accumulation of culture is also conserved through language. As a result, language and culture are supplementary to each other and dependent on each other for existence.Language itself, as the carrier and a significant composition of culture, bears the special imprint of culture. Although language is the outcome of the development of social culture, language plays an essential role in the formation and development of culture. The language people use reflects their real thoughts towards what they talk about. Language, from a broad sense, symbolically stands for a people and makes up their historical and cultural backgrounds. Like a mirror, language reflects the culture of a people and reveals their ways of living.Culture is the keystone of language. Any kind of language cannot survive and developwithout the social culture environment, which language relies on. To a certain degree, social culture restricts language’ s evolution as well as perfection. Language itself has an influence on people ’ s ways of thinking and consequently impacts the culture. However, affected by culture greatly, language changes with culture undergoing in development and change. Just in the contemporary world, millions of the new words in various fields prove that rich and colorful cultures make all sorts of languages come into being.2.2 Euphemism and CultureThe word “ euphemism ” originated from the Greek. In Greek, the prefix “ eu ” means “ good ” with the root “ pheme ” meaning “ speech ” . As a result, the literal meaning of euphemism is “ to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”(Neaman and Silver 1. Euphemism is a frequently used figure of speech, and there are other definitions of it. Allan and Burridge presents the following: “ a euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either one’ s own face or, through giving of fence, that of the audience, or of some third party”( Allan and Burridge 18.For the reason that the formation of English and Chinese euphemisms has various ways, euphemisms can be divided differently in accordance with different standards. The classification employed in this thesis is from Hugh Rawson, who, in 1981, classified euphemisms into negative euphemisms and positive euphemisms in his book A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk from the aspect of semantics.The negative euphemisms, which are closely related to tabooed words, also can be called traditional euphemisms. What the negative euphemisms and tabooed words express are the same. If languages, like sex, disease, physical and psychological defects, are expressed in a direct way, they are called tabooed words, giving people asense of vulgarity and rudeness. But if the languages presented above are delivered in an indirect way, they are called euphemisms, granting people a feeling of connotation, elegance and politeness. For example, peo ple in western countries substitute “ sex ” with “ sleep with” or “ go to bed with” and use “ plain looking” or “ ordinary looking” to replace “ ugly ” .The positive euphemisms, also named as stylistic euphemisms, have no relationship with tabooed words. In fact, positive euphemisms are analogous to the words with a meaning of compliment. “I t tends to inflate and magnify the word meaning, making the euphemized seem altogether grander and more important than they really are ” (Hugh Rawson 1. In order to show politeness, respect or strive for cooperation, people apply beautiful words to express things which are unpleasant but not tabooed. In the past decades, positive euphemisms have been applied in such areas as education, occupation and unemployment. There are many euphemisms for some occupations with lower social status. A gardener who shaves trees and flowers can be called “ a landscape architect” . A garbage collector is often said to be “ a sanitation engineer” and a file clerk would be very happy to kn ow that she is “ a research consultant” .The concept of culture is so broad that defining the word “ culture ” seems to be a very difficult matter for us. Different people often see the same object in different lights. Many scholars have defined it. Linel l Davis defines culture as “ the total accumulation of beliefs, customs, values, behaviors, institutions and communication patterns that are shared, learned and passed down through the generations in an identifiable group of people”(24. According to Goodenough, culture is “whatever it is one has to know and believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members. Culture, being what people have to learn as distinct from their biological heritage, must consist of “ the end product of learning: know ledge” (167. The culture covers a broad spectrum and contains all the phenomena of the universe. All the things created by people and related toexperience, knowledge, science and technology as well as education and language, can be called culture.Euphemism is a language used pervasively in our daily life. It is not only a language phenomenon in both English and Chinese culture, but also is a kind of social culture. Language and culture are closely related to each other. Euphemism, as one form of language, is also greatly affected and shaped by culture in terms of the origin, growth and usage. Simultaneously, euphemism is a reflection of culture. Euphemism bears the weight of abundant cultural connotation for the reason that it deeply roots in the soil of a people’ s social culture. It is hard for people to make sense of the euphemisms if people do not have a notion of a country’ s culture. Shao Zhihong points out that he [Patrick Hartwell] considers euphemisms as “ a natural part of the social world of words ” and believes they tell us “ a good deal about the values of a culture” (305.3 Different Cultural Implications Reflected in English and Chinese EuphemismsLanguage is the carrier of culture and a mirror reflecting social culture. For this reason, euphemism, as a special form of language, must be the reflection of a specific culture. Language decides a nation ’ s cultural features, which gives rise to the phenomenon that English and Chinese euphemisms without exception will reflect the cultural differences of two nations as well.3.1 Different Concepts of ValueIn term of concept of value, western people live for their self-satisfaction. Once they cannot get the material insurance, they immediately think that their life will fall apart and that they cannot be mentioned in the same breath with their friends because they believe they are inferior to them. While, deeply affected by Confucianism, Chinese contend that the value of life lies in the contribution they do in their lives rather than the materialabu ndance. Euphemisms for “poverty” in English and Chinese reflect their different concepts of value.The word “ poverty ” in English is a terrible word which means “ there is neither powernor social status ” . In the western commercial societies, people hol d the belief that money talks and admit poverty directly incurs disdain. Although the society thinks highly of the view that everyone is equal and has his own civil right, the phenomenon that the gap between the poor and the rich keeps widening still exists. However, there is no person who would like to acknowledge that they do not have enough money to afford them a normal life. Therefore, people in West spare no effort to refrain from mentioning “ poverty ” for the sake of the poor themselves. The followin g example will show us how western people avoid “ poverty ” :“ I used to think I was poor.” She wrote. “ Then they told me I was not poor, I was needy. Then they said it was self-defeating to think of myself as needy, that I was culturally deprived. Then they told me deprived was a bad thing, that I was underprivileged. Then they told me underprivileged was overused, that I was disadvantaged. I still do not have a dime—but I have a great vocabulary.” (William and Mary 229In the short section of speech above, there are four euphemisms –“ needy ” ,“ culturally deprived ”, “ underprivileged ” and “ disadvantaged ” , which have the similar meaning as “ poor ” . All these words are just some indirect ways western people use to avoid saying the word “ poor ” b ecause most people regard the possession of material wealth as the symbol to measure people’ s ability of survival.There are also many other euphemisms for “ poverty ” : “ hard up for money” , “ less well off ” , “ down on one ’ s luck ” , “ in a awkward financial situation ” , “ in reduced circumstances ” , “ badly off ” , “ the have-nots ” , “ man of modest means ” , “ negative saver ” and so on.By contrast, being poor does not seem to be a horrible thing in China. Chinese people embrace the perspective that though one is poor, he has lofty aspirations and believe that poverty can exercise people ’ s perseverance and character. Nevertheless, beingpoor is not a thing to be proud of, so there are only a few euphemisms for the word “ poverty ” in Chinese. The words used most frequently in Chinese are “ 揭不开锅” , “ 手头不便” , “ 拮据” and “ 囊中羞涩” . The small quantity of euphemisms for“ poverty ” may be relevant to the reason that the word in Chinese is not tabooed as that in English. Specific culture creates special language. China today is a country brimming with rich cultural elements, which makes the new euphemisms for “ poverty ” emerge. With the implementation of reform and opening-up and the rapid growth of economy, millionaires and even billionaires appea r in China. The word “ 富翁” sounds good, but the meaning of the word “ 负翁” has an entirely opposite meaning. Some people of the salariat are called “ 月光族” because they never have surplus salaries at the end of the month.3.2 Different Concepts of RankChina is a nation of courtesy with a cultural heritage running several thousand years and a nation which attaches importance to Confucian culture and feudal patriarch system. However, democracy, referring to freedom, equality and human right, is the main idea of western people. Euphemisms for “ address forms ” reflect the different social values of rank in English-speaking countries and China and also show the relationship among people.People in West have every confidence in the belief that all men are equal. This view stresses that citizens are equal both in laws and mentality, which means there is no rule to judge people whether they are noble or poor. Consequently, western people lay more emphasis on individuality, and they are not so conscious of the concept of familyhierarchy as Chinese to show their respect for seniority. No matter what people ’ s social status are, they can get along with each other like friends and call their names on a first-name basis. In western families, children usually call the ir parents’ names instead of“ father ” and “ mother ” when they grow up. However, the parents do not blame them for the change of titles; on the contrary, they feel that the relationshipbetween them and their children is cozy. Furthermore, the concept of address forms in West is relatively general and ambiguous. Men who are of the same generation of children’s parents are called “ uncle ” , women on the generation base are called “ aunt ” and their children are called “ cousin ” no matter what gender they are. The phenomenon that family members address each other directly regardless of the family hierarchy is a common occurrence in western families while it is not accepted in an old-fashioned Chinese family. The reason lies in that the address forms in English do not belong to the scope of language taboos.On the contrary, Chinese people pay much attention to the arrangement of rank, etiquette and the order of seniority and inferiority, which directly reflected in the“ address forms” . In ancient times, or dinary people were forbidden to address directly the names of emperors and government officials. They had to use other words to replace the name; otherwise, they would be punished because of showing no respect. For instance, in Tang Dynasty, the name of em peror is called “ 李世民” . In order to avoid the word “ 世” , people use “ 代” to take the place of “ 世” , substitute “ 世” with “ 人” and shorten the word “ 观世音” to “ 观音” when they write or communicate. Title taboos derive from the concept of the ancient patriarchal clan system. With the changes of times, this phenomenon has been no longer in existence, but some title taboos continue to be used even today. Nowadays, people always address other people in a way of adding the title of a post to show respect between the superior and the subordinate, the young and the old and even peers, such as “ 张局长” , “ 刘书记” and “ 赵老师” . When it comes to the relationship between friends, people usually address friends by adding “ 小” or“ 老” for the sake of intimacy, such as “ 小王” and “ 老李” . In a Chinese family, parents always educate their kids that they are not allowed to address the elders directly. The younger generation is obliged to call the older generation in terms of kinship to express their esteem, such as “爷爷” , “ 奶奶” , “ 爸爸” , “ 妈妈” , “ 叔叔” , “ 阿姨” , “ 舅舅” , “ 舅妈” . If people address other people’ s names directly, they will be considered as uneducated and impolite.本科毕业论文第 9 页共 15 页 3.3 Different Concepts of ReligionChristianity, a very prevailing religion in West, has a long-term and profound effect on the society, deeming that everybody is guilty and laying stress on a person ’ s imperfection and inherent evil tendency. In China, people mainly believe in Buddhism and Taoism, which guide people to establish perfect personality and even be Buddha and immoral by means of enhancing their self-cultivation. Each language has its own religious faith, which leads to the different uses of euphemisms for “ death ” .In West, people, from heads of state to the common people, almost all of them believe in Christianity which is dominant among the diverse religions. Christians deem that the value of human body is inferior to the soul for the reason that the fresh will die eventually, but the soul is immortal. They stick to the faith that their souls will enter into the heaven rather than hell after death if they make great efforts to do spiritual practice. Affected by this faith, they are confronted with death calmly. As a consequence, a large amount of English euphemisms for “ death ” come from the Bible and give expression to the basic Christian doctrine that people’ s lives given by God are destined to go through sin, indulgence and expiation, and people can only get saved in the other world after expi ating the sins. For example, the “ death ” is called “ to return to dust/earth” because God creates people with clay; “to pay the debt of nature” is a statement of “ death ” for the reason that people are born with sins and their death is to atone for sins. God is the master of the earth, so people have to “ be called to God ” or “ to answer the final summons ” after death. Other euphemisms for “ death ” contain “ go the way of allfresh” , “ to go to a better world” , “ be asleep in the Arms of God ” , “ go to one’ s final reward” and so on. All these euphemisms for “ death ” are the real portrayal of perfect lives western people believe in.Chinese people never have a unified faith for China is a country with many religions. Buddhism and Taoism make a large difference to Chinese culture. Buddhism, spreading into China since Tang Dynasty, is to set people free from the eternal cycle本科毕业论文第 10 页共 15 页 of birth and death. Buddhism advocates spiritual practice to live up to the highest realm, which is c alled “ 圆寂” or “ 灭度” in Chinese. That the Buddhists die peacefully with a gesture of sitting in meditation is called “ 坐化” , which indicates that they are not in dread of death. Other euphemisms for Buddhists’ death, which are too numerous to be listed,include “ 升天” , “ 殉道” and “ 登莲界” . Taoism, another religion Chinese people have a deep faith in, aims to live forever to be immortal, so it considers people’ s death as “ 仙逝” , “ 仙游” , “ 仙去” and so on. In addition, the view that people can be supernatural beings riding on white cranes when they pass away, results in the appearance of “ 骑鹤” , “ 化鹤” or “ 鹤化” . Taoism denies that there is no differences existing in the world and believes that a person’ s life is just from birth to death, so we have the expressions of “ 物化” , “ 隐化” and “ 遁化” . All the examples above reflect a fact that the diversity of religious belief is bound to generate the diversity of language.3.4 Different Concepts of TraditionPeople in West generally avoid asking others’ ag e for the reason that age is a sensitive topic in their eyes. On the contrary, people in China, who are familiar with the traditional customs of respecting the elderly, do not have many taboos in age. However, to be old will surely lead to death. As a result, each nation takes full advantage of euphemisms to prevent embarrassments of “ old age” from happening.Western culture pays much attention to youth, energy and creativity. The word “O ld ” is a derogatory term in western culture, which results in the p henomenon that people are aware of shunning the word especially on account of the serious aging of population in western societies, the increasing problems of social security and ability to provide for the aged as well as the advocation of family structure with DINK lifestyle. Western people are afraid of becoming old and their fear for becoming old has reached the degree of putting an end to the use of the word “ old ” . They meditate deeply on borrowing other words to express the word “ old ” in a tactful way. “ Old本科毕业论文第 11 页共 15 页people ” are addressed as “ senior citizens ” , “ seasoned men ” , “ well-preserved men ” , “ the advanced in age” and the like. They all get complimented for their “ longer life” . Even the “ old people ’ s home” can be called as “ nursing home” , “ home for adults” , “ rest home ” and “ adult communities”. Western people cherish the dream of never growing old, so they call the “ old women ” as “ distinguished women ” and the “ old men ” as “ distinguished men” . In ad dition, the euphemisms for “ old people” include “ golden age” , “ sunset years” , “ the mature” and “ the elderly” . In today’ s society where the young age is advocated, people attach more and more importance to the address of old men, which certainly gives rise to the increase of euphemisms for “ old ” .The euphemisms for “ old ” in China are not as abundant as those in West. Once in a while, people can see the statement in written form, such as “ 华发” , “ 黄昏恋” and “ 夕阳红” , but people are not very sensitive to the word “ old ” . Chinese people hold the view that being old is the honor of family and society. In China, people are deeply convinced that it is a traditional virtue to respect the old and take good care of children. As a result, people advocate the power and status of the old. Although the traditional family structure of four generations under one roof has been broken up in the modern society, the old generation is still the core member of a family. In Chinese culture, the word “ old ” has bee n equipped with the meaning of knowledge, maturity and reliance,which are reflected in Chinese by means of such expressions as “ 老当益壮” , “ 老成持重” and “ 老将出马,一个顶俩” . People in China are not in dread of talking about the age, naturally resulting in the p henomenon that the use of the word “ old ” in the society is not considered as a taboo. People call “ the old” “ 您老” and “ 老人家” to show a sense of respect. The word “ old ” in China can also convey the connotation of seniority and experience, which can be seen from “ 老师傅” , “ 老教授” and “ 老总” . Furthermore, Chinese people usually put the word “ old ” after family name to address the old people who have a high virtue and a glorious name to express their respect, such as “ 陈老” , and “ 李老” .ConclusionEuphemism, both a common linguistic phenomenon and a social culture, is created by different cultural backgrounds, moralities and values and reflects different cultural connotations and characteristics. At the same time, it is essential for people to realize the importance of the appropriate interpretation and application of euphemisms in cross-cultural communication.This thesis reveals the different cultural implications in the aspects of the concept of value, rank, religion and tradition reflected in English and Chinese euphemisms by comparing different euphemisms. Euphemisms for “ poor ” in English and Chinese tell us that western people have a stronger desire for money than Chinese people, and euphemisms for “ address forms ” give us some information tha t China is rigidly hierarchical while western countries are democratic and free. In addition, euphemisms for “ death ” show us the different religious cultures people in each country believe in and euphemisms for “ old ” explain the reason why the word “ old ” is tabooed in English but advocated in Chinese. All the comparisons between English and Chinese euphemisms suggest that the usage and goal of them are roughly similar in that both of them use nice words to replace the vulgar things which are likely to give people a sense of embarrassment, to make the language more elegant, polite and acceptable. However, thecomparison also shows that backgrounds for the usage of English and Chinese euphemisms do not go all the way, sometimes even are totally different. Euphemisms are adopted by people to render their speeches and manners to be rational, to promote the interpersonal relationship and to enhance the exchanges and cooperation. Understanding the deep implications reflected in English and Chinese euphemisms is beneficial to handle the language more skillfully and eliminate the negative effect produced by euphemisms in cross-cultural communication.Bibliography1 Allen, K. & K. Burridge. Euphemism and Dysphemism [M]. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.2 Bolinger, D. Aspects of Language [M]. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World Inc., 1981.3 Davis, L. Doing Culture: Cross-Cultural Communication in Action [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2001.4 Fasold, R. The Sociolinguistics of Language [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000.5 Goodenough, W. H. Cultural Anthropology and Linguistic [M]. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 1957.6 Leech, G. N. Principles of Pragmatics[M]. London and New York: Longman Group Ltd, 1983.7 Menken, H. L. The American Language [M]. New York: Blackwell Publishers, 1936.8 Neaman. J. S. & C. G . Sliver. Kind Words-A Thesaurus of Euphemisms [Z]. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1983.9 Rawson, H. A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk [Z]. New York: Crown Publisher, Inc., 1981.10 William & Marry Morris. Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage [Z]. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1975.11 陈北郊 (Chen Beijiao. 汉语语讳学 [M]. 山西 : 山西人民出版社 , 1991.12 陈望道 (Chen Wangdao. 修辞学发凡 [M]. 上海 : 上海教育出版社 , 1979. 13 陈原 (Chen Yuan. 社会语言学 [M]. 上海 : 学林出版社 , 1983.14 刘纯豹 (Liu Chunbao. 英汉委婉语词典 [Z]. 南京 : 江苏教育出版社 , 1993. 15 李国南 (Li Guonan. 英语中的委婉语 [J]. 外国语 , 1989, (3 : 23-27.16 邵志洪 (Shao Zhihong. 英汉语研究与对比 [M]. 上海 : 华东理工大学出版社, 1997.17 束定芳 (Shu Dingfang. 现代汉语中的委婉语 [J]. 汉语学习 : 1989, (2 : 34-38.18 王逢鑫 (Wang Fengxin. 英汉比较语义学 [M]. 北京 : 外文出版社 , 2001. 19 于亚伦(Yu Yalun. 当代英语委婉语初探 [J]. 外语学刊 , 1984, (2 : 45-49.20 张拱贵 (Zhang Gonggui. 汉语委婉语词典 [Z]. 北京 : 北京语言文化大学出版社 , 1996.AcknowledgementsI would like to avail myself of the opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all the people who have helped me in completing the thesis.Firstly, I really feel grateful to my academic supervisor, Miss Wang Yanfang, who has given me so much useful advice on my writing. Her patient and inspiring instruction and careful modification have greatly contributed to the completion of this thesis.Secondly, I should be thankful to all the other teachers at the department of English of the College, classmates and friends for their useful advice and kind help in my graduate studies. Their profound knowledge and enlightening academic achievements greatly benefited me.Finally, I owe a particular debt of gratitude to my parents, who have given me a lot of consideration and great encouragement during these four years. They are my intimate tutors on my life path.。

英汉委婉语不同点对比研究摘要：现代社会突飞猛进地发展，越来越多的人能够接受教育，人们的素质也因此有了很大的提高。

在我们的日常交流中，人们越来越讲究得体，说话越来越委婉。

因此，委婉语成了现代社会不可或缺的一部分。

汉英委婉语的功能基本是相同的，但其中也有少许的不同之处。

本文旨在就汉英委婉语的内容进行对比，找出其不同点，并且试着探究这些差别产生的原因。

只有注意到这些差别并尽量避免冲突，跨文化交际才能顺利进行。

关键词：委婉语内容跨文化交际1. 引言委婉语（ euphemism）一词发源于希腊语，意思是说好听的话，古希腊人在祭祀时，都得讲吉利话，即使用委婉语（张曲，2007）。

委婉语不仅仅是一种语言学现象，而是一种文化现象。

现在，在人们社会生活的每一个方面都可以看到委婉语的使用。

委婉语就是用来淡化或美化一些人们通常认为是禁忌，或令人难堪的事物的词语，句子，或一段话（陈彦彦，2007）。

中英文中有很多委婉语，因为他们是一种语言学现象，因此存在很多相似点。

然而，文化能反映在某种语言上，作为一种特殊的文化符号，委婉语能够反映特定的文化现象。

不同的国家有着不同的文化，所以不同国家的委婉语也有着其不同点。

国内外很多人对委婉语进行了研究。

然而，很少人对中英委婉语不同点进行系统地的分析。

为了跨文化交际的顺利进行，不能想当然地认为中英委婉语都一样。

因此本文旨在试图对中英委婉语中的不同点进行对比并分析其原因。

2. 英汉委婉语的不同点一般说来，英汉委婉语中的相同点远远多于其不同点。

英汉语中在禁忌、说话的得体性方面就有着很大的相似。

除了这些相似点外，其的不同点应引起人们的注意。

2.1 年长由于美国是一个工业化国家，其文化是以个人主义为中心，独立与进步这两个品质被给予极高的重视。

英语国家的人追求创新，因为害怕遭到歧视，他们害怕变老。

单词“old”对西方人来说是一个禁忌因为它意味着在思想或行动上缓慢。

因此，一些含单词“old”的英语短语都是贬义的，比如“ old-fashioned， old school， old gentleman”等。

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英汉“死亡”委婉语文化对比分析摘要:委婉语是人类社会中存在的一种语言现象。

由于东西方文化的不同，在委婉语的使用上也存在许多差异。

本文对中西委婉语跨文化现象进行了对比研究，揭示了其内在联系。

关键词:委婉语;传统委婉语;文体委婉语;宗教文化委婉语（Euphemism）一词源自希腊语的前缀eu=well 和词根pheme=speaking。

根据《英语委婉语详解词典》的定义，委婉语是一种用无害的或悦耳的词语替代那些较直接的、唐突的言词，用善意的话语把事实掩盖起来的修饰手段。

它不仅是一种社会语言现象，更是一种文化现象。

一、委婉语的分类和功能英语委婉语一般可分为两大类：传统委婉语(traditional euphemisms)和文体委婉语(stylistic euphemisms)。

所谓传统委婉语，是与禁忌语密切相关的。

如生、死、病、性等禁忌事物，如果直接表达，就是禁忌语，给人的感觉是粗鄙、生硬、无礼；反之如果间接表达，就是委婉语，给人的印象是典雅、含蓄、中听、有礼。

所谓文体委婉语，实际上是恭维语，溢美之词与禁忌语无关。

委婉语的功能有:避讳功能、避俗功能或雅化功能、礼貌功能、掩饰功能和褒扬功能（淡化或夸张功能）。

死亡是人类普遍面临的重大问题之一，在日常生活中时有发生。

由于英汉两种文化背景不同，所反映出的对死亡的看法存在很大差异。

二、英汉两种语言死亡委婉语不同的原因1、不同的宗教文化带来的表达差异基督教在英语国家的人们生活中发挥着重要作用，其关于死亡的委婉语多半来自《圣经》，与基督教信仰密切相关。

许多基督徒都相信“来世”和“原罪”之说，在他们看来，死亡就意味着"to go to heaven"(进天堂)、"to be called to Cod"(被召唤到上帝那) or "to cancel ones account"(销账)。

在中国，没有一种宗教能像基督教在英语国家所具有的重要地位和影响。

研究汉英委婉语的语用功能对比委婉语(euphemism)是一种比较常见的语言现象，在各种语言中都有存在，几乎所有民族都在自觉或者不自觉的使用。

委婉语指的是由于不情愿或是不能够进行直接表达，而使用间接的、比较含蓄的、或是迂回而又曲折的语言来进行表述，其目的是在交流过程中使倾听者更容易接受，让交际活动可以顺畅完成。

不仅在汉语中如此，英语亦然，本文从语用方面对汉英中的委婉语进行比较。

一、回避禁忌的功能委婉语最直接的功能是用来回避某些禁忌。

在我们的观念中，禁忌物是不利的甚至可能是有害的、惹人讨厌的或是令人不愉快的[1]。

所以，委婉语的避讳功能也即是为了规避使用禁忌语言，它可以让人们比较随意的谈论禁忌物。

1、关于死的委婉语不管是汉语还是英语，对于死都有其委婉语。

自古以来，死亡都被视为不吉利的事情，“死”是一个忌讳讲的词，中国将死人的事情称为“丧事”。

“死”的婉称有“逝世、长眠、走了、登仙、牺牲、殉职、咽气”等。

在西方社会，人们用“pass away, go to a better world，tick the bucket be with the God之类的词来表达对于死这种令人不愉快的事情。

2、关于肤色及种族的委婉语对于肤色及种族之类的忌讳仅存于西方国家，我国并没有。

在英文里解释“黑人”的词有Nigger、Negro、colored people及black people。

而在美国的民权运动中，曾有黑人提出“黑即是美”的口号，希望以此来激起种族自豪感，如此black就摆脱了贬损的意义[3]。

尽管这四个词均有“黑”的意思，但是其中的贬损意义、种族歧视观念在不断的淡去，这就更容易让黑色人种接受。

3、关于姓名的委婉语无论中英，均有关于姓名的避讳。

在汉语中和姓名有关的禁忌较多，在封建社会里，人名的避讳则是委婉语的重要组成部分。

例如为表达对于长辈的尊敬、对圣人的崇敬，就有了家讳及圣讳。

同样，在说英语的国家中，人名也有着避讳现象，例如像上帝之名“Jesus”和“Christ”等，是不能够随意起的，不然就是对神灵的不敬。

毕业论文英文论文题目：Study the Chinese and Western cultures From theEuphemisms中文论文题目：从委婉语看中西文化差异姓名：秦耀峰学号：090300432320004学习中心：弘成上海学习中心专业：英语（商务方向）指导教师：杨宏二〇一二年七月毕业论文承诺书提示：根据北京语言大学网络教育学院论文写作的规定，如发现论文有抄袭、网上下载、请人代写等情况，毕业论文一律不及格。

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签名：______ _______ 日期：________________摘要目录1 Introduction (1)The Origin of Euphemism (1)The Definition of Euphemism (1)2 The Classification of Euphemism (3)The Positive Euphemism and the Negative Euphemism (3)The Unconscious Euphemism and the Conscious Euphemism (3)3 A Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemism (5)A Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemism in Terms of Formation Device (5)Phonetic Device (5)Lexical Device (6)A Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemism in Terms of Culture (7)Euphemisms of Old Age (8)Euphemisms of Poverty (8)Euphemism of Deities and Devils in English (9)4 Conclusions (11)Study the Chinese and Western culturesFrom the Euphemisms摘要Euphemism is a widespread culture phenomenon．So far most of its studies deal with individual culture and language．There is a shortage of contrastive research between two culture and languages．Therefore，this thesis tries to make a contrastive study of the English and Chinese euphemism to discover the similarities and differences between them．First the author introduces the origin and the definition of euphemism as well as the classification of euphemism．Then the author makes a contrastive study of the English and Chinese euphemisms in terms of formation devices and culture．Euphemism is a language phenomenon，So it can be analyzed from the phonetic，lexical，figurative and grammar aspects．Euphemism is also a culture phenomenon，So it can be analyzed from cultural aspects．The contrastive study is made in several main types of euphemisms--the euphemism of old age，the euphemism of poverty，the euphemism of occupation，the euphemism of unemployment，the euphemism of sex，the euphemism of death，etc．Through the contrastive study of English and Chinese euphemism，we can lean the similarities and differences between the two languages and the two cultures，which are of considerable value and guidance to our foreign language learning and teaching, intercultural communication，translation，dictionary compilation and so on．The essay studies the importance, necessity and purpose of politeness in conversation, Keywords: euphemism contrast language culture1 IntroductionEuphemism is a common linguistic phenomenon in different cultures．From the moment it is coined，it plays all important role in people‘s daily communication They are embedded so deeply in our language that most of us，even those who pride themselves on being plainspoken，never get through a day without using them．Like a kind of lubrication，it enables people to express what cannot be uttered directlyThe Origin of EuphemismWhen talking about euphemisms，we cannot neglect taboo．In ancient times，productivity was in a very low level，the primitives were often confronted with baffling and threatening situations and phenomena，such as death，and they failed to understand the essence of them．To find a way out，they became superstitious about supernatural power, or the existence of devils and gods．In their mind，everything was alive with spirit，capable of bringing down blessings and misfortunes，and thus language took upon a kind of supernatural sense．This led to the forbidden use of certain language that gradually became taboo．When people are unwilling to or dare not speak out something regarded as taboo，they have to shun them by using mild substitutes，to imply those things which people are reluctant to mention and to prompt something both speaker and listener know but refuse to say out by direct expressions．To the things that have to be mentioned，people work out indirect terms to replace them．Thus euphemisms come into being．The Definition of EuphemismThe word euphemism comes from the Greek eu．Meaning good and pheme meaning speech or saying，and thus it means literally to speak with good words (Carroll 2000:34)．Later on，euphemism is defined differently and more precisely．In the Concise Oxford Dictionary，it is described as “substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or direct one(Carroll 2000:491)”．It is taken assubstitution，restraint，softened expression，mock modesty, metaphorical speech，verbal extenuation word in verbal good taste，over delicacy of speech，affected refinement of language in Webster Word History (Mish 1989:283)．In China Chen Wangdao was the first person who gave euphemism a definition，in his Introduction to Rhetoric，the definition reads，one kind of figures of speech saying something indirectly, but connoting and substituting with roundabout and implicit words or even metaphorical expression” (Mish 1989:56). Euphemism is roundabout and mild word，so it call execute the speaker’s psychological necessity to soften the shock of reality．But many linguists think that the definition of euphemism needs to be determined in a narrow and broad sense．Traditional western linguistics restricts euphemism study to the lexicon. Euphemisms are therefore words or phrases in place of things considered to be rode or unpleasant Euphemisms of such kind ale called euphemisms in the narrow sense．They are the conventionally established one，which are widely met in our daily life.In China，euphemism sale mainly expressed by using indirect words，phrases，sentences and even discourses that are applied mostly in literature writings to achieve some vivid and aesthetic effect．It can be found very often from ancient times tjll nowadays．This phenomenon has close relationship with Chinese traditional cultural psychology．Chinese scholars have long been advocating the literature norm that people write articles that are full of rich and bright colors，but they should create implicitly．Through defining euphemism in narrow and broad sense，we can have a better understanding of euphemism and can easily understand the indeed intention of the expressions.2 The Classification of EuphemismThe Positive Euphemism and the Negative EuphemismAccording to Hugh Rawson，euphemism can be divided into two types：the positive and the negative from the angle of semantics．The positive euphemisms also can be called stylistic ones，which “inflate and magnify the word meaning，making the euphemized seem altogether gander and more important than they really a re”(Rawson 1989:1)．The positive euphemisms include the many fancy occupational titles，which save the egos of workers by elevating their job status．For example，”sanitation engineer” is the euphemism for“garbage collector”，and ”custodian”is the euphemism for “janitor”．They also include many institutional euphemisms，which convert “madhouse”into “mental hospital”，“college”into ”universities”．This kind of euphemism is usually used widely in the official language and some other formal styles.The negative euphemisms are extremely ancient，and closely connected with the taboos．They are also called “traditional euphemisms”．They deflate and diminish．They are defensive in nature，offsetting the power of tabooed terms and otherwise eradicating from the language everything that people prefer not to deal with directly．In many cultures，it is forbidden to pronounce the name of God，so Jesus Christ, Christ，goodness is for God and My Gum for My God．Many tabooed subjects such as sex，disease，death，excretion，bodily function，etc, should be euphemized in this way.The Unconscious Euphemism and the Conscious EuphemismAll euphemisms，whether positive or negative，may be used either unconsciously or consciously．So euphemisms also can be divided into unconscious euphemisms and conscious euphemisms (Rawson 1989:3)．The unconscious euphemisms refer to those of which original denotations have been forgotten by people for a long time．Forexample，the word“cemetery”(from the Greek word for sleeping place or dormitory , serves as a euphemism for graveyard．The word indisposition is a euphemistic expression for disease．These words mentioned above，because of their long time use，users are not conscious of their original meaningsConscious euphemisms are different．When employing this kind of euphemisms，people not only know their original meanings，but also understand the referred meanings．For example，in a dinner party，a lady stood up and said that she wanted to powder her nose．In a word，euphemisms like this stand for something else，but everyone pretends, that something else does not exist．It is essentially duplicitous nature of euphemisms that makes them attractive to those people who have to hide and find it convenient to lie about what they are doing．3 A Contrastive Study of English and Chinese EuphemismA Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemism in Terms of Formation DeviceThe English and Chinese languages respectively belong to different language systems．The English is alphabetical language and the Chinese is ideographic language，so there are differences in their formation devices．But the two languages also share something common in linguistic structure，and there are also similarities in their formation devices．Generally speaking，there are four basic devices-·the phonetic device，the lexical device，the figurative device and the grammar devicesPhonetic DeviceWhen we encounter words that we dare not speak directly，we may distort their sounds or change their spelling for the euphemistic purpose(Liu 2001: 10)．This way is called phonetic distortion，which is much acceptable in English because its writing is alphabetic．Phonetic distortion includes reduplication and distortion of pronunciation．etc．There is reduplication like “Pee-pee’’ or “Wee-wee’’for”Piss” and there are distortions of pronunciations like Gripes for Christ , Gad for God and so forth(Neaman 10-11).There is no direct link between Chinese character and its pronunciation．Therefore we can find less phonetic distortion in Chinese and the most common used deviceis assonance．For example，instead of speaking”解溲”(jiěsōu)which means the excrement，we use”解手”(jiěsōu)，bacause”溲”(sōu)and”手”(sh ǒu)sound similar．Sometimes，homophone is another good way, since there are so many homophones in Chinese．Take this as an example，”那几个小子是孔夫子搬家，尽是书(输)啊，In Chinese,”书”which means”book”and”输”which means “fail” share the same sound “shū”．The tone of a Chinese character also can be used to realize euphemism．For example，in Qin Dynasty of ancient China，to avoid the taboo on thename of the emperor “赢政”(Yíng Zhèng)，the first month of the lunar year”正(Zhèng)月”was changed into”正(zhēn曲月”(Guo 100).Besides，Chinese has a very unique way in the formation of euphemism：character separation．Lexical DeviceVague words and expressions can blur the undesirable yet explicit associations that taboo words arouse(Liu 2001: 12)．So in both English and Chinese，people use vague words and expressions to create euphemisms．For instance, ‘in difficulty’is used to mean ’ in debt’．’to have an accident’ to mean ’to have an unfortunate accident’,’a woman of the street’ to mean ’a prostitute’, ‘to do violence to sb’ to mean ’to rape’，’a man of doubtful taste’ to mean”a man of bad taste”，”the needy’’ to mean”the poor”, “friend”，”companion”，”partner” and ”roommate” to mean ”the homosexual”(Liu 2001: 12)Similarly in Chinese，to encourage those who lag behind in doing things，people often speak of them as“后进”instead of“落后”；to help juvenile delinquents to turn over a new leaf, people speak of them as“失足青年”instead of“青少年犯罪”hence the place where to reform them as“工读学校”instead of青少年犯劳教所”Both English and Chinese words are abundant in their synonyms．Substituting the original words with their synonyms can form euphemism．Let’s examine the following two examples: (1) Do not be so tight with your money. (2 )Even though she had plenty of money，the old woman was very thrifty.In example(1)，the commendatory word“tight”is used to replace the derogative word“stingy”．In example(2)，“thrifty”is used to replace “economical” to form a more tender and pleasant expression.Similarly in Chinese，the word“残废”is seldom used，instead“残疾”and“残障”have been widely accepted and used．Though the difference is only in one character, the emotional color is totally different．A Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemism in Terms of CultureEuphemism is a common phenomenon in both English and Chinese cultures．Both of them cover the similar topics as poverty, death，sex，occupation，tc．But the euphemism，as a part of culture，is influenced and shaped by the cultural radiation or social values of a particular society．There exist more differences between English and Chinese euphemisms due to the different beliefs，social alues, customs, life styles and behaviors of the two different cultures．Since the understanding of euphemisms requires the understanding of the culture，a contrastive study will be done in this part in terms of culture．. Taylor 1871:, a famous British anthropologist，from an anthropological perspective, first put forward his classic definition of culture in his Primitive culture．He describes culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society”(Taylor 1871: 19)．Sapir stated that ‘‘culture may be defined s what a society does and thinks，language is a particular how of thought”(Taylor 1871: 74)．Larry Samovar and Richard Porter interpreted culture from the angle of communication一“Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge experiences，meanings，beliefs，values，attitudes，religions，concepts of sell the universe，and self-universe relationships，hierarchies of status，role expectations，spatial relations，and time concepts acquired by a large group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving”(Taylor 1871: 23)．Different scholars define culture from their respective perspectives．As time goes on，there will be more and more interpretations of culture．But these and other definitions all point to the fact：Culture is all pervasive，including not only customs and habits，ideas and beliefs，but also the artifacts made by humans．Putting it simply,culture refers to the entire life of a society.Euphemisms of Old AgeSocial value influences euphemism greatly．Chinese and English language respectively belongs to eastern and western cultural system．The great social value differences between the two societies greatly influence the development of euphemisms.Take the euphemism of old age as an example．There are numerous euphemisms for old age in English．Which reflect the avoidance of mentioning the old in western society．This is somewhat due to its loose family structure．When the children grow up，they live apart from their parents and the society cannot provide sufficient support to the old people，so they have to live by themselves，feeling lonely and dull．Therefore the old becomes a word that people avoid to talk about Neaman has humorously points out that“There is no one old in modem merica．He is either seasoned or well preserved”(Taylor 1871: 166)．In fact，he can also become“an elder statesman”01 at least“a senior citizen’’or vaguely be called“an old aged p ensioner”which can also be initialized into “O AP”(Summers et al 1998:935)．He is not old but “longer living”．He is not“a candle in the wind’’but“in golden years’’ He is also promoted to“eldedy”，“mature”，“an adult”，“a distinguished gentleman”，“feeling one’s age” or “third age”(Liu 2001: 2-6)Euphemisms of PovertyPoverty is a piece of fertile soil for English euphemism．In western society, money is all—powerful and poverty is shameful and should be concealed by the society and the people．This leads to the blossom of poveay euphemisms．Take this poor young lady’s complaining as an example: 1 used to think 1 was poor,” she wrote．“Then they told me 1 wasn’t poor；I was needy．Then they said it wasself-defeating to think of myself as needy，that I was cultured deprived．Then they told me deprived was a bad image，that I was underprivileged．Then they told me that underprivileged was overused that 1 was disadvantaged．I still don’t have a time—but I have a great vocabulary (Waldron 1975:229).This example draws a vivid picture of the amount of the euphemisms for poverty in English．Besides these，there ale also many other euphemisms，such as badly off'’，“less well off'”，“indigent”，“down on one’s luck’’ and “hard up for money”，etc．Euphemism of Deities and Devils in EnglishAs we have discussed before，euphemisms originate from taboos．In ancient times，the productivity is very low，human beings cannot explain the natural phenomena so they become fearful about the supernatural power．They consider that very thing in the universe has magic powers，even the language has a magic power, and thisphenomenon is called‘‘Word Fetishism”．Due to the fear and respect about the deities and devils，their names should be avoided．Therefore，“the subject of the earlier euphemism was undoubtedly religious”(Neaman et al 1990:11)．The Ten Commandments in the Holy Bible writes，“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”(Neaman et al 1990:20)．Therefore the euphemisms of God are numerous．For instance，God is called“the Creator”, “the Maker”，“the Supreme”，“the Almighty”，“the Eternal”，“the Savior'’，“the Light of the World”，“King of the kings”，“Lord of the lords”，“Sovereign of the Universe”，“Divine Being”，“Most High”，President of the Immortals”，etc．Also the “God” is misspelled as “Gad”，“Gosh”，“Golly”or“Godfrey”(Liu 2001: 595—97)Most people believe in Christian doctrines in western society．Christian culture penetrates into the English language．It is a piece of fertile land for English euphemisms．The Chinese do not have a common and unified religion．Therefore，religious influence is not obvious on Chinese euphemisms.4 ConclusionsEuphemism is a common linguistic phenomenon both in English and Chinese．When people are unwilling to or dare not speak out something regarded as taboo，they have to shun them by using mild substitutes，thus euphemisms come into being．It is the use of a pleasant，polite，or harmless sounding term in place of those considered unpleasant，rude or offensive．It can be classified into the positive euphemism and the negative euphemism from the angle of semantics，or the unconscious euphemism and the conscious euphemism according to whether they are used consciously, or other types from different angles．Euphemism is a linguistic phenomenon．There exist both similarities and differences between the English and Chinese languages．The same is the case with euphemism．First，the formation devices are contrasted between the English and Chinese euphemisms．As far as this point is concerned，the English and Chinese languages both make use of the phonetic device，the lexical device，the figurative device and the grammar device to create euphemisms，but due to the fact that they belong to different have different to realize euphemization.Furthermore，euphemism is a cultural phenomenon．Language is a part of culture and euphemism as one form of the language is inevitably influenced by culture and carries cultural information．Since there exist similarities between the western and the eastern societies，both the English and Chinese euphemisms cover the similar topics as poverty, death，sex，occupation，etc．But the euphemism is also influenced and shaped by the cultures of a particular society．Due to their different beliefs，social values，customs，life-styles and behaviors，there exist differences between English and Chinese euphemisms，even the same topic have different means of realization．Therefore to make a contrastive study of two languages is，in a sense，to make a contrastive study of the two cultures．The understanding of euphemism requires the understanding of the culture．Through this contrastive study, we can see that euphemism is both a linguistic and a social cultural phenomenon．Its generation and development are the outcome ofvarious social and value factors．Euphemism is，in a sense，a keystone of culture By tracing them，it is possible to see what has been going on in our language as well as in our culture．Therefore by contrastively studying the English and Chinese euphemisms we may get to know different religions，different values different historical backgrounds as well as the different cultures，which is invaluable for our foreign language learning and teaching，cross culture communication and so on．It is worth all the efforts to explore.参考文献1 Carroll，．Psychology of Language. Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，20002 Mish,．Webster's Word history．Springfield，Massachusetts: Merrjam Webster Inc．，Pubblishers，19893 Rawson, Hugh．A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Double-talk．New York:Crown Publishers，19814 刘纯豹．英语委婉语词典．北京：商务印书馆，20015 Taylor，. Primitive Culture Oxford：Oxford University Press，18716 Summers, a1．Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture England：Addison Wesley Longman Ltd., 19987 Waldron，William＆Mary Morris．Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage New York：Harper＆Row，Publishers，19758 Neaman，.,at a1．Kind Words：A Thesaurus of Euphemisms．New York：Facts On File，Inc．1990。

122《名家名作》·翻译［摘 要］ 委婉语在现实意义中有着语言以及文化两方面的影响。

各个国家不同的文化背景是导致汉英委婉语有区别的根本原因，二者之间的区别主要体现在跨文化交际中使用方式和场景的不同。

通过分析可以发现：汉英委婉语在生老病死、颜色词及姓名称谓等方面存在不同之处。

为了避免在跨文化交际中引起冲突和不必要的误解，人们应当注重汉英委婉语的使用，并减少语用失误，提高跨文化交际的能力。

［关 键 词］ 委婉语；汉英对比；跨文化交际跨文化交际下汉英委婉语的对比研究李佳秀1 李博宇2一、委婉语的含义与起源（一）委婉语的含义委婉语是指在交际中运用的一种特别的言语形式，具有地域性、时代性、民族性、习语化和模糊性等特点。

委婉语是利用不同的发音技巧以及有方向地选择不同的词汇来进行搭配，在巧妙运用语法的加持下，有效避免粗鄙词汇和句子的使用，最终实现礼貌表达忌讳或粗俗话语的目的。

对于委婉语的准确定义，社会各界都有不同的观点。

其中李军华在其著作《关于委婉语的定义》中明确阐述：委婉语是在不便于直接交流的场所或不能违背的某种社会道德规范标准下而产生的一种特殊语言现象，主要作用是采取意思相近的词语来委婉阐述讲述者本身想要表达的真正意思。

［1］因此，我们可以知道委婉语是人们为了有效地进行交流而使用的语言表达。

（二）委婉语的起源“委婉语”（euphemism）与大部分英文词汇相同，都是起源于希腊。

其前缀eu-在英语中的主要含义为well，good，pleasant；-pheme-意为 speech，language，甚至可以解释为talk，say，speak 等与‘说’有关的行为。

［2］委婉语其实是一种间接性的语言表达，通过说将其展示出来。

委婉语在社会的进步和发展中逐渐形成了丰富的文化内涵。

它能够反映不同民族的思想、社会心理、风俗习惯、文化背景和民族文化传统等。

正确使用委婉语对人们的跨文化交流具有重要意义。

二、汉英委婉语的不同（一）对生、老、病、死的理解不同生、老、病、死是人类必然会经历的自然过程。