1、English Euphemism and Its Social Finctions浅谈英语委婉语及其社会功能浅谈英语委婉语及其社会功能【关键词】委婉语；起源；形成；社会功能I. IntroductionEuphemism is a cultural phenomenon as well as a linguistic concept. Every language has its own euphemism, so does English. It is deeply rooted in social life and has a great influence on social comm
2、unication. As an indispensable and natural part of English language, English euphemism has attracted peoples attention for a long time. Since euphemism was coined, it has played a very important role in peoples communication. The communication without euphemism is unimaginable. Euphemism is used lik
3、e lubrication, which makes the communication go on smoothly. This thesis will have an overview of the origin of English euphemism, and state its formation and social functions.As a linguistic concept, English euphemism has close relationships with western cultures, and it truly reflects living value
4、s of English people and their history. Euphemism is a particularly good medium for access to language force, which has provided an effective approach to understanding the human mind. The study of English euphemism can help us understand the western culture and promote the international development b
5、ecause euphemisms are widely used in international negotiations. So there is a great need for us to study English euphemism, including: its origin, its formation and its social functions, etc.II. The Definition and Classification of English EuphemismA. DefinitionEuphemism is a universal linguistic p
6、henomenon. Nearly in every language, there are some disgusting words which make people feel embarrassed. In the process of communication, the unsuitable or too direct words will make people feel uncomfortable, even angry. Then there is a great need for us to use a tactful way to express emotion, exc
7、hange ideas. That is to say, to use a pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases take the place of tabooed words.It is known that euphemism is a form of language intentionally created in social relation to achieve ideal communication. Without them, any language would seem to be blunt and flavorless
8、, void of politeness and vividness to some extent. As a tool in the process of people using language, euphemism is an important way for people to deal with the social relationships. Like a kind of lubrication, euphemism enables people to express what cannot be uttered directly and ensures communicat
9、ion to be carried smoothly. It is a linguistic strategy in civilized society for avoiding taboo. It is unimaginable if there is no euphemism in daily communication.The word“euphemism” is derived from the Greek word“euphemismos”, which means“fair speech”. The prefix“eu” means“good, sound well” and“ph
10、eme” means“saying” or“speech”. And thus the literal meaning of“euphemism” is“to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”. That is to say, euphemism is used as an alternative to unpleasant expression, in order to avoid possible losing face, either the speakers face, or the fact of the audience,
11、 or of the third party. This unpleasant expression may be tabooed, fearsome, or for some other reasons that speakers cant or intend not to use some certain expression directly on some occasions. In Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language euphemism is the substitution of a
12、 mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought substituted. Rawson Blunt, a British writer, defined euphemism as a good favorable interpretation of a bad word. Encyclopedia Britannica(1994) also defines euphemism as a figure of speech in which something of an unpleasant, distressing or indelic
13、ate nature is described in less offensive terms.From the above mentioned, we could clearly see that euphemism is characterized as avoidance language and evasive expression. The speakers use words or expressions as a protective shield against the anger or disapproval of natural or supernatural things
14、. It is one form of language and a linguistic phenomenon.B. ClassificationGenerally speaking, there are two kinds of Euphemisms: one is the traditional euphemism, which is related with the taboo words, such as four-letter words, death, illness, poor, old, etc. The other is the stylistic euphemism, w
15、hich is not connected with the taboo words. It is the“diplomatic” way of using a less offensive or less direct word or phrase or saying to replace something unpleasant or harsh. It is kind of tactful expression. It is primarily used in occupation. We can find such words in some airline companies: de
16、luxe class or premium class means the first class, while the first class means the second class, and business/economic/tourist class refers to the third class. Moreover, we should pay more attention to the characteristics of euphemism. Being looked horizontally, different countries have different eu
17、phemisms. For example, the lunar calendar in 1933 is symbolized by the rooster. Why is it a rooster instead of a cock? Because in the U.S.A., cock, the same as ass, bull, is a taboo. Being looked vertically, different euphemisms have different times mark. Being a special characteristic of Victorian
18、literature, euphemism reflected a mental or moral way of in which it was indecorous to speak openly of the legs of a table, and of which the very word unmentionables is a revealing symbol. Before that, especially in the novel and the play, literature was sufficiently outspoken, and writers during th
19、e present century are certainly not backward, in calling a spade.III. The Origins of English EuphemismA. The Religious Origin of English EuphemismThe earliest English euphemisms come from“taboo”. The word“taboo” comes from Togan, a kind of Polynesian. It indicates evasive language or action.1 The em
20、ergence of English euphemism is to meet the need of avoiding taboos. In primitive society, people couldnt explain such things as ailment and some supernatural phenomena.“People have confusion between the name of the things and things themselves. The name is viewed as an extension of things. Just as
21、the idiom says,Speak of devil and he appears. Naturally the words or phrases related to such things become taboos.” In the ancient times, people had blind faith in ghosts and Gods they respected. They whispered and even feared them so they did not dare to address their names directly. They thought i
22、t profane to name God. Therefore the names of gods become the earliest taboos. To speak names of gods was to evoke the divinity whose power then had to be confronted. Such dangerous practices were reserved for priests skills in negotiating with the supernatural. So the usual way to avoid is to emplo
23、y euphemisms. Therefore, for the religious need, a lot of euphemisms about religion emerged. For example, in order not to desecrate God, people in English-speaking country always use some other name for God instead of calling directly, such as“Adonai, the Almighty, Caesars Cruth, the Creater, Dod, G
24、ad, Land, Lawks, Lawd.”2 The opposite side of god is devil, which is more terrible for people. When people refer to them, they tend to use such euphemisms to replace: D, the Big D, the Evil one, the Black one, the Goodman, Jesse, Old boy, Our father, Lord of lords, King of kings, the Light of the wo
25、rld, etc.3From the above mentioned, we can find that religion brings many euphemistic terms in the religious matter, especially the naming and addressing of God to the language.B. The Racial and National Origins of English EuphemismIt is known to all, the phenomenon of racial discrimination is deepl
26、y rooted in America in which“equal opportunity” is flattered by American white people as an equal right enjoyed by everyone. Due to the pressure of social public opinion, although some whites discriminate the black from their heart, they will not expose this kind of prejudice in public. Meanwhile, f
27、ew people dare to humiliate and persecute blacks publicly for no reason at all. In other words, the way of discrimination becomes tactful. There are many euphemisms emerging for this reason. In the 1930s,“nigger” is still a neutral noun in England, and has no meaning of humiliating blacks. But since
28、 this word has the obvious meaning of discriminating the blacks, most of people in England and Americans use some other euphemistic words, such as“colored black” instead. When talking about some other races, it does not often use the direct words that are related to color. People often use some euph
29、emistic expressions, such as the geographic names. E.g. Asian replaces the yellow.IV. The Formation of English EuphemismThe ways of forming English euphemism are various, which can be analyzed from different angles. In this thesis, I make analyses in the following fives ways.A. Phonetic MeansEnglish
30、 is phonographic language; so phonetic means can widely used to coin euphemism. Some unpleasant sounds or word-forms are be omitted or hidden. Phonetic means mainly refers to phonetic omission and phonetic distortion.1. Phonetic OmissionIt refers to omitting some parts of the sound to make pronuncia
31、tion shorter and less unpleasant.E.g. lavatorylav ex-convictex-conHypodermichypo brassierebra2. Phonetic DistortionIn order to avoid violating taboo, the speakers make some alteration in spelling and pronouncing of the taboo words. For example, very religious people consider it a sin of using the na
32、me of God in a disrespectful way, so“God!” was distorted to“Gosh/Golly!” It generally includes:(1) abbreviation, e.g. tuberculosisTB Jesus ChristJC(2) Reduplication, which reduplicate some syllables or letters of the words to form euphemism. E.g.“sis-sis”,“pee-pee” or“wee-wee” replace“piss”(3) Distortion of the pronunciation, for example,“bloody” is pronounced as“blurry”.B. Lexical Means1. Vague MeaningVague meaning refers to the generalization of the specific meanings to alleviate the bad effect of fear, shame or anxiety.E.g.“Youve lost license” instead of“your fly is
