英语禁忌语的语用修辞策略及其双重约束
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浅析英美文学作品双关语的修辞效果及翻译策略双关语是修辞手法中一种常见的修辞手法,它能够给作品增添趣味性和深度,同时也会带来一定的翻译难度。
在英美文学作品中,双关语的运用十分广泛,它不仅能够丰富作品的表达方式,还具有丰富多彩的修辞效果。
本文将对双关语的修辞效果及翻译策略进行浅析,以期为读者和翻译者提供一定的参考和启发。
双关语作为修辞手法之一,其修辞效果主要体现在以下几个方面:双关语能够为作品增添趣味性。
通过双关语的巧妙运用,作品能够表现出一种幽默、俏皮的风格,吸引读者的注意力,增强作品的趣味性和娱乐性。
在Lewis Carroll的《爱丽丝梦游仙境》中,他用双关语来描述怪物的名字,如“哇喀喀”(Jabberwock)和“诺格汉普”(Knave of Hearts),这些双关语不仅让读者感到好笑,而且也为故事增添了神秘色彩。
双关语能够增强作品的表达深度。
通过双关语的运用,作品能够达到一种意义的多层次表达,不仅在表面上有一层意思,还隐藏着另外一层更深的意义。
这种多义的表达方式,使作品更具有厚重感和内涵,能够引发读者对作品的深入思考。
在莎士比亚的《哈姆雷特》中,主人公哈姆雷特说的一句名言“to be or not to be, that is the question”(生还是死,这是个问题),这句话中的“be”既指存在也指幸存,具有双重意义,体现了哈姆雷特内心的挣扎和矛盾。
双关语可以增强作品的艺术感染力。
通过双关语的运用,作品能够呈现出一种独特的艺术魅力,使读者在审美上得到更多的享受。
双关语的巧妙运用能够使作品的语言更加丰富多彩,让表达更加生动生动。
例如在奥斯卡·王尔德的《道林·格雷的画像》中,他用双关语来讽刺社会上的虚伪和虚伪,使作品具有了一种深刻的艺术感染力。
双关语还能够为作品增添一定的神秘色彩。
通过双关语的巧妙运用,作品能够营造出一种神秘、禅意的氛围,使读者产生一种探秘、探索的兴趣。
浅析英美文学作品双关语的修辞效果及翻译策略【摘要】英美文学作品中的双关语是一种常见修辞手法,具有独特的表达效果和文化内涵。
本文从双关语的修辞效果、翻译策略、应用、文化内涵以及传播与接受等方面进行分析。
双关语在英美文学作品中的重要性体现在丰富了作品的意义和表达方式,同时也增加了读者的阅读趣味和思考深度。
翻译双关语的难点也不可忽视,需要在保持原意的基础上进行恰当的转译。
双关语对文学作品的丰富性起到了重要作用,是英美文学中不可或缺的一部分。
【关键词】浅析、英美文学作品、双关语、修辞效果、翻译策略、应用、文化内涵、传播与接受、重要性、难点、丰富性1. 引言1.1 英美文学作品中的双关语双关语在英美文学作品中被广泛运用,通过巧妙的双关表达方式,作品更显幽默、机智、生动。
双关语在英美文学中既可以通过语言的音韵、词义、结构等方面进行构思,也可以通过对话、描写和叙述等方式呈现。
它不仅能够增加作品的趣味性和艺术性,还能够丰富作品的内涵和体现作者的独特思维。
双关语的灵活运用使得英美文学作品更具有创意和神秘感,使读者在阅读过程中不仅能够感受到文字的美感,更能体味到其中蕴含的深刻含义。
英美文学中的双关语不仅仅是一种修辞手法,更是一种独特的表达方式,是作品的灵魂和生命力所在。
通过对双关语的深入探究和翻译策略的运用,我们能更好地理解和欣赏英美文学作品中隐藏在双关语背后的精妙之处。
2. 正文2.1 双关语的修辞效果双关语作为修辞手段在英美文学作品中发挥着重要的作用,其修辞效果主要体现在以下几个方面:双关语可以增加作品的趣味性和幽默感。
通过双关语的巧妙运用,作者可以在言辞中融入幽默和俏皮的元素,使作品更加生动有趣,吸引读者的注意力。
双关语可以增加作品的表现力和艺术性。
由于双关语的含义多重,作者可以通过不同的解读和理解给作品赋予更丰富的意象和寓意,使作品更加深邃和具有艺术价值。
双关语在英美文学作品中的修辞效果丰富多样,不仅可以增加作品的趣味性和幽默感,还可以增加作品的表现力和艺术性,使作品更具有吸引力和内涵。
浅析英美文学作品双关语的修辞效果及翻译策略双关语是一种修辞技巧,常用于英美文学作品中,其修辞效果主要表现在字面意思和隐喻意义之间的相互作用上。
通过双关语的使用,作家能够增加文学作品的趣味性和幽默感,同时也能够提升作品的表达力和复杂度。
双关语可以带来幽默感。
通过相同的语言形式,双关语能够同时引起多种理解,使得作品更具趣味性。
这种幽默感可以通过多种手法达到,如语音的重复、字形的互文等。
莎士比亚的《哈姆雷特》中,哈姆雷特曾经玩弄双关语来迷惑、激怒和逗笑他人,如“to be or not to be”(生存还是毁灭),既可以看作是对生死问题的思考,又可以理解为对自己生存状态的怀疑,从而增加了该剧的幽默感。
双关语可以丰富作品的表达方式。
通过双关语,作家可以用简洁而多义的语言表达复杂的思想和感情。
双关语不仅可以在文学作品中制造出多层次的意义,还可以通过扭曲和颠倒词语本义来创造出意想不到的效果。
刘易斯·卡罗尔的《爱丽丝梦游仙境》中,他使用了大量的双关语来描绘奇幻的世界,如“吐丝自救”(虫丝作为绳索),这种双关语的使用使得读者感受到了作者独特的表达方式。
双关语在翻译中需要采取特定的策略。
由于不同语言之间存在着巨大的文化差异和语言差异,翻译师需要在保持原文双关语意义的考虑到译语的语言特点和文化背景。
一种常用的策略是转换意象。
翻译师可以通过转换双关语的意象,使其在译语中产生双关效果。
另一种策略是模糊概念。
当原文中的双关语无法在译文中保留其幽默和双关效果时,翻译师可以通过模糊概念的方式,保留住原文的意思和特点。
翻译师还应该考虑到译文的语言流畅度和自然度,避免过于生硬地翻译双关语。
双关语作为英美文学作品中常用的修辞技巧,具有增加趣味性、提升表达方式和丰富作品意义的效果。
在翻译中,翻译师需要采取特定的策略来保留原文的意义和特点,同时考虑到译语的语言特点和文化背景。
浅析英美文学作品双关语的修辞效果及翻译策略双关语是一种修辞手法,也是文学作品中常见的修辞形式之一。
它在英美文学作品中被广泛运用,具有独特的修辞效果。
本文将从双关语的概念、修辞效果以及翻译策略等方面进行浅析。
一、双关语的概念双关语,即一个词或一句话具有两种意思,又或者是一词由音节上相同或相近的词组成。
在英美文学作品中,双关语可以增加文学作品的趣味性,同时也能够表达作者的深意。
双关语在英文中的表现形式多种多样,可以是同音异义词、同音同义词、同形异义词等等。
二、双关语的修辞效果1. 增加幽默感双关语在英美文学作品中常被运用于幽默的场景中,通过给读者带来意想不到的双关解读,达到引人发笑的效果。
在奥斯卡·王尔德的《道林·格雷的画像》中,有这样一句话:“我们都是混血儿,母亲是织布机,父亲是农夫。
”这里“织布机”和“农夫”分别有其字面意思和隐喻意思,给人以幽默感。
2. 增强意境双关语的巧妙运用可以增强作品的意境,使作品更加生动、形象。
在莎士比亚的《哈姆雷特》中,有这样一句名言:“to be or not to be, that is the question”。
这句话不仅是提出了存在的问题,同时也是在用双关语强调人生的选折。
3. 增加隐喻和象征双关语在英美文学作品中也常被运用于隐喻和象征的表达中,通过双关语的多重解读,为作品增添更多的意义。
在约翰·克里斯多夫的《乌鸦》中,有这样一句话:“有人看见一只乌鸦,这是多么寓意深长啊!”这里乌鸦不仅代表了实际的鸟类,还暗喻了死亡和厄运。
三、双关语的翻译策略翻译双关语是一项相当有挑战性的任务,因为要在翻译中保持原文的双关意味并不是一件容易的事情。
以下是几种常见的翻译策略:1. 直译在翻译双关语时,有时候可以选择直译的方式,将原文中的双关意味完整地保留下来。
这种方式适合一些语言环境相似的情况,可以更好地传达原作的意思。
2. 转化有时候双关语在英美文学作品中的修辞效果和翻译的效果并不完全对应,这时候可以选择转化的方式进行翻译,将原文的双关意味转化为与之相对应的双关意味。
English Taboo Words and Its PragmaticFunctionsAbstract:Different countries have different taboos. Furthermore, linguistic taboos change with the development of society. With the increasing importance of communication between English and Chinese, English taboo words usually become block for English learners.Therefore, learning English taboos and their pragmatic functions is quite essential. The paper firstly tries to make an analysis of what linguistic taboo is on the basis of some research study and its significance. Secondly, it introduces several important classifications of English taboo. The paper points out that different taboos have different pragmatic functions and the ways of avoiding taboo.Key Words: English taboo words; evolution; pragmatic functions; formsⅠ. IntroductionIn language communication, for some reasons, certain words are avoided to be used by people. They consider them sacred, dangerous, unpleasant or offensive. These words are to be forbidden in many situations, particularly in modern civilization, but only allowed and used by certain people in some specific circumstances. This phenomenon is what we call linguistic taboo.Taboo phenomenon has been widely found in all cultures in the word. When this phenomenon is extended to language, linguistic taboo comes into being. Language and culture are closely related, and the differences between cultures have a tremendous impact on the features of language. Therefore we can conclude there is vast difference in English and Chinese taboo.However, not everyone knows their specific difference which causes easily to make mistakes and embarrassment in cultural exchange. For example, in China, we usually ask people how old they are. On the contrary, in England, it is extremely not polite to ask their age, which is regarded as an exceedingly private question. What‟s more, some words may lead to relevant psychological behavior of using those reverent or unpleasant words. These words perhaps result in uneasiness, dread or sadness, so people try to avoid using these displeased words directly. These annoying words gradually belong to linguistic taboo. Then euphemism which is thought to be less offensive or unpleasant than anotherword and expresses these meanings naturally emerged. For instance, English people hardly use the word “die”, instead, they may use “pass away or go to heaven” to express the same meaning. This phenomenon actually exists widely in England, but few English learners know it and may ignore it. A lack of knowledge in this field or improper use of linguistic taboos may trigger misunderstandings, conflicts and other unknown serious consequences in the cross-cultural communications which is becoming increasingly frequent and wider now. Hence, it becomes a great of importance for us to know English taboo and its pragmatic functions. The correct way to avoid taboo is to know what English taboo words are, try to avoid them and use relevant euphemisms for the purpose of successful cultural exchange.Recently, there have been some books and assays on research of English taboo which comes from a number of aspects. For example, in An Analysis of the Social Functions of Taboo Words(Cui Ai yong,2006:4), it focuses on the analysis of English linguistic taboo, its translation, its trend of development, its social functions or its usage in English movies. Other research is about the discussion of the differences and similarities of English and Chinese taboo or cultural connation of English taboo. According to these aspects, my essay mainly focuses on detailed introduction of English taboo, namely, its definition, resource, significance, classification and its pragmatic functions. In my opinion, knowing English taboo and how to use it in correct and suitable way is essential to us English learners for good cultural communication.1.1The definition of English tabooAmerican linguistic Victoria Fromkin considers that taboo is actually the word which is forbiddened to be used or at least should not be used in this elegant society. In Oxford Advanced Learner‟s English-Chinese Dictionary, taboo can be defined that it is this word likely to be considered offensive, shocking or indecent by certain people and to be thought not necessarily by everyone. On the basis of these definitions, my conclusion is that the taboo word is a type of language people in some situations, out of politeness or avoiding spurring strong dislike but could not or wouldnot literally use.1.2The evolution of linguistic tabooThe word “taboo”was borrowed from Tonga, a Polynesian language, with the meaning of something forbidden or banned. Its first recorded use in English was by Captain James Cook (1729-1779), a British navigator .In the 18 century, he came to Tonga for adventure in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. He discovered many odd customs and taboo phenomena there. For example, some certain things could only be used by God, King or monks, the type of special people rather than ordinary people. Some names and words were absolutely forbiddened. People who went to taboo place or touch taboo object would suffer sever injury. Offenders must be punished by supernatural power. People on this island all called this phenomenon “tabu”.Then James Cook brought back the word “tabu” to Britain, which later became the English word “taboo”. So the word taboo originated from Polynesian word “tabu” or “tapu”, meaning holy, special or unclean.As a matter of fact, taboo phenomena were not unique in Tonga. On the contrary, they have long existed in all cultures and languages throughout the world. Linguistic taboo or the fact of avoiding mentioning certain words and expressions in a language is a common practice in more than one society. In ancient undeveloped society, people believed some languages, tools or behaviors would bring misfortune or disaster. For the purpose of having a stable, happy life, people were or not aware of protecting the power of taboo and sustaining the implement of taboo. It merely originated from people owe to some magic power, and included accumulating experience of people‟s long struggling with nature.Ⅱ.The importance of English tabooEnglish taboo as a constituent part of language has an indispensable relation with social culure.In the ancient times, taboo was created to avoid disasters from supernatural power or dangerous things, so it is the limitation of certain people, articles and behaviors and the self-eradiation. Thus, we can find that English linguistictaboos reflect people‟s psychology for good will, for safety, for fortune and for pleasantness. For successful, decent conversions, some words cannot be spoken out in direct way publicly, because they may make people unpleasant, uneasy and even horribale.Therefore,taboo is created to avoid using these displeased words directly. In short, taboo can restrain people‟s speech and help the speakers to overcome psychological obstacle when talking about some things to dilute or cancel various unpleasant imagination. In conclusion, the English people restrict their words and deeds through taboos, trying to keep a harmonious relationship between human and nature, or between people and society.What‟s more, taboo is helpful to adjust interpersonal friendship and coordinate relation between humanity and nature, as well as the link between people and society. Though some taboo is superstitious, negaltive, fatuous, it contains profound psychology, experience, wisdow and fun. In fact, taboo can reflect incisive affection of taboo users, so it is deserved to be deeply researched.Ⅲ.The classification of English tabooThere are a vast number of categories in English taboo. Here, I am making a list of types of English taboo in ten aspects. In the beginning, it is taboo in greeting. In England, it is rude to ask their pravicy, including their income, age, wet, marriage, ect. Words about these parts belong to taboo. The best way of greeting is to talk about weather with them .Secondly, it is taboo about religion. People merely use God, Jesus, the Devil, and Holy in their daily life. In England, abusing the name of God gets no respect from others. As a result they try their efforts to avoid using them.Thirdly, it is the word of human bodies, which is thought obscene and easily arouses people‟s imagination.Teat,its(乳头),leg(腿),buttocks,ass,arse(屁股,臀部)and vagina(阴道) all belong to taboo .The fourth type of taboo is about excretion and vomiting since these words include some uncivilized behaviors. Taboo about excretion is ,namely, to shit, to make waste(小便), to go to water closet, to urinate, to pass water, to go to latrine/privy/lavatory. The other taboo words are vomit, sick, bring up, throw up, disgorge, retch, gag, spew, puke, nauseate and so on.The fifth kind of taboo is about sex. Though sexy liberation broke out in England in 1960s, people still take seriously in the topic of sex in public and use relevant euphemisms. Thus men usually use phrases like make love, make it, and sleep together instead of the word sex. Next; it is taboo about death and disease. In these issuses, people like using euphemisms to avoid these fearful problems and show their respect. Let me set the speech of Engles as an example, On the 14th of March, at a quarter to three in the afternoon, the greatest living thinker ceased to think, when we came back we found him in his armchair, peacefully gone to sleep, but forever. In this lecture, Engles use “ceased, gone to sleep” rather than”died”to express the meaning” death”. Taboos on disease are below, mad(发疯),AIDS(艾滋病),crippled(瘸子),venereal disease(性病),pimple(粉刺).The seventh kind of taboo is about evil and fault, such as, to tell a lie, to be sent to the prison, picker, stealer, light fingers, kleptomaniac, lifter, filcher, bag snatcher. The eighth category is the unacceptable, defensive word that makes people undelighted,like,bastard(私生子),bribe(贿赂),son of a bitch,slow(迟钝),skinny(皮包骨),ugly(丑八怪),in debts(负债).Ninethly, words about color also belong to taboo as well as figures. In the view of English people, “thirteen” is an extremely horrible figure. Therefore they will avoid it in every effort. People have embodied color special meaning, positive and negative. The negative aspect accordingly belongs to taboo. For example, sending white flowers particularly white lily is taboo. The last type is about profession and social status. People occupied in service are no longer discriminated, so their profession is named in a more descent way. For instance, garbage collector(清除垃圾的工人) which easily make people arouse dirty, broken articles is replaced by sanitation engineer(卫生技师).What‟s more, hair stylist(发型专家) takes the place of hairdresser, barber(理发员) and chef de cuisine(烹饪大师) is substituted for cook(厨子).In addition the word prison is replaced by big house, black hole, cross bar hotel, sheriff‟s hotel.Ⅳ. Important classification of English tabooAs a matter of fact, there are a majority of types of English taboo as I listed above. Nevertheless, here I want to focus on analyze on several essential kinds of taboo. These taboo words accruing more frequently take a significant role in Cultural exchange. I will make a detailed expression of these taboo words and how to use there correctly. In short, we can find that English linguistic taboos reflect people‟s psychology for good will, for safety, for fortune and for pleasure. The English people restrict their words and deeds through taboos, trying to keep a harmonious relationship between human and nature, or between people and society. Although the traditional linguistic taboos contain superstitions, ignorance and negative elements, the new taboos on racism bear positive features. They are a reflection of people‟s pursuit of freedom and equality.4.1Taboo Dealing With SexSex is a complicated and tabooed subject in nearly all societies. Expressions concerning sex, sex organs, sexual acts form an important part of taboo words in both English and Chinese. “These words are often socially considered as obscenities or vulgarities and are only acceptably in intimate relationships or in medical context.”(Kristeva, 1989) Only several decades ago, some of these words could not even be printed or broadcast, and they are still comparatively unusual in polite or formal speech nowadays.However, in the west, the sexual revolution took place in the 1960s and had a gigantic impact on this tabooed situation in some way. The tendency is towards a freer, more open attitude in the English-speaking countries. Whereas, many people still prefer to employ some “dressed up ”terms such as “make it”, “do it”, “make love”, “sleep together”, “go to bed”, “art of pleasure”, “have relations”etc to describe the sexual acts.However,those “four letter words ”,such as fuck,tits,cock,hell,damn,shit,in English language are considered improper in most situations. Some serious writers always try to avoid words concerning sex in their works, replacing vocabulary of this type with euphemisms. The following passage well illustrates the point:“Denies, I do love you. I‟ve never felt like this. Don‟t tremble so. You‟re notfrightened, are you? Denies, tell me how many girls have you had?”“How many girls have you made love to, been to bed with?”“None”.In English, some expressions are avoided simply because they bear the sexual connotations. For example, the word “gay”, which originally used as a synonym for “pleased”,”joyous”, has become the property of word “gay”, which has preempted all other meanings, thus people come to avoid using this word to mean “happy”. According to thi s, “a gay arty” is not a phrase used to describe a lively gathering any more but has the specific meaning of a social occasion for homosexuals. In a word, English people are not wiling to use the word “h omosexual”straight-forward, and replace it with “gay”,”queer”,”fairy”,”queen”.Generally speaking, the motive for such avoidance of expressions in this category is mainly due to the demand of decency, elegance and the attempt to avoid the violation of morality.There are some words with different meaning. However, this kind of meaning is taboo, which is often ignored by Chinese learners. If you don‟t know them, you are likely to make a mistake. Every one knows the word “cock”(公鸡).However, in slang, it is translated men‟s genital. For instance, if you want say “他有两只鸡” in English, make sure not to say “He has two cocks”. This must lead to misunderstandings and embarrassment. The word “rooster” is a better choice. If you want to say “我是鸡年生的”,just say “I was born in the year of rooster”.Look at this example. In an English corner, a crowd of students were talking with a new coming foreign teacher, he said, “Linda. I‟ve been reading a novel called Godfather. Some of the sentences really confuse me. One of them is …son of a bitchi‟.what does that mean?” When hearing this, she suddenly felt embarrassed and stopped smiling. And she answered,”Sir, this is kind of taboo. We usually should try to avoid it in public.”En effect,” son of bitch” is taboo in English.Another phenomenon needs noting here is that many of such words, which are usually regarded as obscenities and vulgarities in common sense, are often used in swearing or curses in colloquial speech to express strong emotions such ashatred,anger,annoyance,surprise,insult,envy or contempt. Examples of such use are provided as follow (Swan, 1995:550)Bugger! There‟s Mrs.Smith.I thought she was on holiday.Where the fucks are car keys?Oh, fuck! I‟ve lost the address!He‟s a real prick!You bastard!4.2 Taboo Referring to bodily ExcretionsWords referring to bodily excretions and defection with the exception of tears and perhaps sweat can all have taboo associations. Excreta and acts of human excretion are to be avoided in polite conversation in English and Chinese cultures. Words such as piss/shit(小便),fart,arse,arsehole,menstruation(月经)etc.are usually considered as dirty or unpleasant and often substituted with some polite or neutralized words and expressions with similar meanings. English has a large variety of euphemisms in this category.People may use “stomach awar eness”, “lose a meal”, instead of “vomit” directly to express “恶心”.People might use “go to restroom”, “use the bathroom”, “do one‟s needs”, “do one‟s business”, “wash one‟s hands”, “see a man about a horse”, “answer the nature‟s call”, “relieve oneself”etc.to refer to the fact of using the lavatory or toilet, a “dirty” place which is ungraceful to mention in polite speech. Women prefer to use such euphemisms as “fix one‟s face”, “fresh up” and“powder one‟s nose/face”. Therefore, it is impolite to say “shit”,”make waste”, “to urinate” straightforward. In some social activities, people can use “Will you excuse me for a few minutes?” For example, in Edward Alcee‟s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, a guest has said that she would like to powder her nose. George responds with:“Martha, won‟t you show her where we keep the euphemism? (Mc Arthur(ed), 1992:387)There is also a range of urinary taboo because these words give people a sense of shame. Let me set an example of menstruation(月经). In English, to menstruate canbe euphemistically expressed as: I am having my friend with me; I am having my period, in her period, in the flowers, in problem days, in blue days. Also it is not right to say someone is pregnant(怀孕) direct, but employ certain euphemisms, such as she is “to be in the family way”, she is “to be expecting”, she is “to be an expectant mother”, she is “to be a mother-to-be”, she is “heir-conditioned”, she is “lade-in-waiting”.2.3Taboo Relating to Disease and DeathThe fear of death carried over human spirit originating from the beginning of human existence. It is quite understandable to notice the fear of the words having to do with death in the view of the widespread confusion of symbols with things symbolize. No one is immortal, but the fact of death may certainly lead to great suffering and sorrow to one‟s family members and friends. Death becomes something so frightening that people are even afraid of talking about it or unwilling to mention it. For whatever reason, death is considered as a strong taboo in almost all languages, as is apparently manifested from the great number of substitutes used to avoid the word “die” or死in both English and in Chinese.In English, there are recorded nearly 400 kinds of words expressing death. I am here listing some corresponding euphemisms, namely, be gone, depart, depart from life, pay one‟s debt to nature, breathe one‟s last, leave the land of the living, go/depart hence, go out, depart from the world forever, go to a better world, be with God, troubles be over now, go the way of all flesh, join the majority, quite the world, close one‟s eyes, join one‟s ancestors, lay down one‟s life, rest in peace, go to heaven, go west, see Marx,etc.This is particularly true in literary works that euphemisms are frequently used. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer written by Mark Twain, a sentence described the death of Jimmy Hodges:It seemed to him that life was but a trouble, at best, and he more than half envied Jimmy Hodges, so lately released.Here, Mark Twain used the word “released”to express death and convey thatJimmy Hodges had finally gotten rid of the earthly vale. In English, one can say “When I go to see Confucius one day, I will not regret what I have done.”“To see Confucius” means to die.In the meantime, the subject of “disease” may horrify people, so people do not like to mention these directly in conversations. Therefore, we can find a large number of euphemisms referring to diseases. “Big C”, “long disease” and“terminally ill”takes the place of the word “cancer(癌症)”, incurable disease. Syphilis(梅毒) is underplayed “social disease”, “blood disease”. In order to convey that she has mental disease, people are more likely to say she is not all there, she is a little eccentric or she is a little confused. Abbreviations are often used to alleviate the shocking effect. For instance, SARS is used to substitute the terrible name “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes”.People tend to have sympathy for physical disability. If someone looks ugly, we will say she looks plain/ordinary. We won‟t use the word “fat” to describe a man. We only use “heavily set”. If a girl is thin, we won‟t use “skinny” but “slender”, and when we refer to a crippled, we will employ “physically handicapped”. If someone is old, we had better not call him/her Old Smith or Old Brown, which makes them unjoyful.The better way is to say “He is a seasoned man, a well-preserved man, an elder statesman, or he is advanced in age or in golden years”.2.4 Taboo Relating to ReligionIn modern English society, Christinarity has a deep effect in western countries, not to mention in England. Because of it, many taboo words come from it, so people avoid this kind of taboo in every effort. In 1873, England proposed a bill “The Law on Blasphemy”for the purpose of banning people to use blasphemy against God and Jesus. In addition, in 1930, shows in Hollywood emerged similar clauses. That is profane God and religion or speak out gross languages in public is prohibited.Even though some people don‟t hold the faith of God, they are not willing and deliberate to use some words unrespectful to God, let alone defend God. Therefore, most words referring to jinni and God all belong to taboo.Chiristian hardly bearpeople deliberately speaking out God‟s name. For example, saying God‟s name “Jehovah” is the most serious taboo word. As a result, various words about God like God, devil, heaven, hell, Christ, Jesus, damn, can merely be used in extraordinarily strict occasion. In daily life, people try to avoid using these words, so it occurs to the emergence of relative euphemisms. For instance, golly and gosh replace God, and Old Nick, His Sable Majesty, the cadence and the dickens substitute the devil.For Christ‟s sake! God damned! Hell! Oh, damn it. These sentences have more serious meaning than those we Chinese say “你这个畜生” .Since they all defend God and may cause sever consequences.Therefore, to convey the same meaning, we are able to say “for goodness sake”, “for crying out loud”. An example can prove this:“How would our Lord have been if Peter had rescued him in the Garden?”(Ernest Hemingway,” A Farewell to Arms”‟)From this sentence, we can see “our Lord” refers to “Jesus Christ”.The number “thirteen” is also taboo, because in Bible, it is recorded that Jesus was betrayed by Jewish on the 13th.Due to their respect to Jesus and faith in Christianity, in England people are fearful of the number, regarding it as an unlucky number so they will try their effort to avoid this number. For example, in a tall building, you hardly find the 13th floor. In the hotle, there is no room in number 13.People avoid inviting 13 people. Even on the 13th, people are afraid to go out and fraught with horror, so important holidays are not held that day.Furthermore, Friday is also considered a black day due to the story “The Last Supper” in Bible. The number “666” is also an unlucky figure. In Bible, it is even a horrible number, a core name of monster.Ⅴ.ConclusionLanguages and cultures rely on each other and influence each other. Languages are formed and developed under certain cultural background. So linguistic taboo is a kind of social phenomenon. Its existence and development are restricted and influenced by specific cultural background. University of linguistic taboo exists in almost every language and culture, and its range is wide. Different nations have manydifferent taboos and euphemisms.The world increasingly becomes an earth village, and under this tendency, it has become a demanding to understand some customs of other countries and nations. In varied cross-culture communication and exchange, it is extremely important to understand the taboo and their euphemisms of a language. It is an effective way to reduce culture shock and have a better communication by using euphemism. If one wants to avoid violating taboos, he or she should have a good knowledge of what is or is not a taboo in this culture. For example, English people always connect the “old” with “uselessness”and”death”.Therefore,when contacting with English people, the saying of “somebody is old” should be avoided in order not to arouse unpleasantness.A smooth cross-cultural communication greatly benefits from the good command of a foreign language‟s cultural background knowledge. It is hard to imagine a person who has a poor knowledge of English taboo culture can intercommunicate with the English people smoothly and without offending them.Awareness of linguistic taboo helps people improve their communicative competence and reduce miscommunications and conflicts in cross-cultural communications.Therefore, it becomes essential for English learners to know English taboo for the purpose of successful cross-cultural exchange.Reference[1]Cox, Brenda. A Book about Languages for Kids [M]. The Shoes String, 1995.[2]Grice H P.Logic and Conversation [M ].New York:Acedemic Press,1975[3]李文中.语言的委婉与粗俗[M ].外语学刊,1993[4]胡壮麟.语言学教程[M ].北京大学出版社,2001[5]庄和诚.英语禁忌语当议[J]. 现代外语1990 (2).[6]祖利军.夏彩霞.英语禁忌语及其发展趋势浅析[D].华北电力大学2006.3.[7]臧永红.禁忌语的表现形式及其社会心理基础[D].湖南城市学院2006.1.[8]曾剑平.汪华.语言禁忌与文化心理[D].南昌航空工业学院外语系2001.[9]李先进.英汉禁忌语的文化内涵与对比研究[D].云梦学刊2004.5[10]崔爱勇.简析禁忌语的社会功能[D]. 语文学刊2006(4)[11]马伟林.影响禁忌语发展的社会因素透析[M ].北京第二外国语学院学报2001(6)[12]范庆华.禁忌语浅论.东疆学刊[J]1999.1[13]郭学文.浅析禁忌语在教学中的作用[J].乐山师范学院学报,2003[14]王振亚.实用英语语言与文化[M ].河北大学出版社,2004英语禁忌语及其语用功能摘要:不同的国家有着不同的禁忌语。
话说英语的双关话说英语的双关(ENGLISH PUN)双关语(pun)英语中一种常见的修辞手法。
该修辞格巧妙利用词的谐音、词的多义或歧义等,使同一句话可同时表达不同意义,以造成语言生动活泼、幽默诙谐或嘲弄讥讽的修辞效果,使人读来忍俊不禁、英语中双关语的构成通常需要两个基本条件,即双重情境(double context)和多义词或同音异义词。
其构成方式主要有以下四种:1)同音异义双关(谐音双关)指在一个语境中巧妙运用两个或多个词语的同音或谐音达到讽刺或具诙谐意味的效果。
eg 1. Seven days without water makes one weak.七天不进水,人就会虚弱。
weak和week是同音异义词。
因此这句话听起来可以理解为:Seven days without water makes one week.eg2. You earn your living and you urn your dead.生前劳碌奔命,死后化灰入土。
earn与urn(火化)同音异义,用在一起显得俏皮,别有趣味。
2)同词异义双关(多义词双关)指在同一语境中运用一个词语的两种意思巧妙地达到幽默风趣的效果,使读之别有韵味。
eg1. A: What's the longest sentence in the world?世上最长的句子是什么?B: Prison for life. 无期徒刑。
sentence既有“句子”的意思,也有“刑期”的含义。
eg2. Women have a wonderful sense of right and wrong, but little sense of right and left.女性对善恶感觉惊人,而对左右感觉麻木。
该句借用同词异义双关讽刺女性方向感差,开车左右不分。
eg3.We must all hang together, or we shall all hang se-parately. 我们必须团结一致,否则将一一被绞死。
英语拒绝言语行为策略使用制约因素分析李光霞【摘要】通过对美剧中拒绝言语行为的分析,探讨拒绝实施者的年龄、起始语、社会距离、社会权利等因素对拒绝策略的影响.研究表明,美国人在拒绝他人时直接拒绝策略与间接拒绝策略使用情况相似,但倾向于使用间接拒绝策略.拒绝策略的使用受到请求、建议、邀请和提供等不同的起始语的影响,在拒绝要求、建议和邀请时首先采用的策略偏重于间接拒绝策略,但在拒绝提供时,倾向于采用直接拒绝策略.在社会距离与拒绝策略的关系方面,本研究印证了Wolfson提出的U型理论,同时社会权利对美国人的拒绝言语行为也有一定的影响.【期刊名称】《长春工程学院学报(社会科学版)》【年(卷),期】2012(013)004【总页数】4页(P47-50)【关键词】拒绝言语行为;社会距离;社会权利;拒绝策略【作者】李光霞【作者单位】浙江师范大学行知学院,金华321004【正文语种】中文【中图分类】H313一、引言近年来,言语行为已成为语用学和社会语言学领域中研究的重要课题之一。
拒绝作为人们在日常交往中经常遇到的一种威胁面子的言语行为得到了大量的研究和探讨。
根据Searle[1]的分类,指令性言语行为的意图是指说话人不同程度的指使听话人做某事。
这一类言语行为包括邀请,建议,要求等。
承诺类言语行为的意图是说话人对未来的行为做不同程度的承诺,其中提供(offer)就是其中之一。
拒绝是对邀请、请求、建议、提供等各种施为性言语行为作出的反应。
英语拒绝言语策略的选择因受到邀请、请求、建议、提供等各种施为性言语行为的制约以及各种社会因素如文化背景、心理、社会地位、性别、交际角色关系等因素的影响而成为中国英语学习者的掌握英语的难点之一。
国内外对于学者们对Brown和Levinson[2]的三个社会决定因素,即影响言语行为变化的因素包括社会距离、社会权力和行为的难易程度,提出了试验反证。
Wolfson[3]通过大量的言语行为研究发现:在美国中产阶级的社会交往中,社会距离与礼貌之间的关系不是直线型而是倒U型,即在关系不稳固的同事、熟人或朋友之间的言语比关系固定的亲戚、密友或陌生人之间的言语礼貌。