从英汉委婉语中透析中西文化差异.docx
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从英汉委婉语中透析中西文化差异.docx
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从英汉委婉语中透析中西文化差异
本科毕业论文第1页共15页
1Introduction
Euphemism,anappropriatelanguageformcreatedforperfectcommunicativeeffectandanimportantwaytocoordinateinterpersonalrelationship,isacommonlinguisticphenomenonexistinginpeople’suseoflanguage.
EuphemismappearsfirstinShiJing,soithasalonghistory.ChinesescholarChenWangdaodefines“euphemism”andstudiesitfromtheperspectiveofrhetoricinTheOriginofRhetoric.Inthe1970sand1980s,affectedbytheforeignsociallinguistictheory,scholarswhoworkonthestudyofsociallinguisticsbecomeinterestedinthespecialsocialfunctionofeuphemism.InSociolinguistics,ChenYuandiscussestheprofoundhistoricalandpsycho-socialbackgroundofeuphemism,revealingitssocialessenceofavoidingmentioningthoseunpleasantthingsorphenomena.InTheEuphemisminModernChineseLanguagepublishedinChineseLanguageLearning,ShuDingfangattemptstodescribeanddiscussthestructureandresearchscopeofeuphemisminmodernChineselanguagefromtheangleofmodernlinguisticsforthefirsttime.
Thestudyofeuphemismatabroadalsohasalonghistory.Inthe1580s,theEnglishwriterGeorgeBluntcreatedtheword“euphemism”andpresentedthefollowingdefinition:
agoodorfavorableinterpretationofabadword.ReferringtothehistoricalculturalbackgroundofAmericansociety,AmericanlinguistMenkenprobesintothereasonwhyseveralhundredeuphemismsappearandbecomepopularinTheAmericanLanguagepublishedin1936.ThebookADictionaryofEuphemismandOtherDoubletalkwrittenbyEnglishlinguistHughRawsonmanifeststheresearchachievementsabouteuphemismofEnglishandAmericanlinguists.Thebooknotonlyreviewsthestudyhistoryofeuphemism,butalsomakesanextensivediscussionofthecharacteristics,definitionandclassificationofit.
Euphemism,asoneformoflanguagewhichcontainsaffluentculturalconnotations,mustbethereflectionofaspecificculture.Euphemismscreatedindifferentculturalbackgroundsreflectdifferentculturalconnotationsandembodiestheattitudetowardslifeandlife-styleofpeoplelivinginthisspecificlanguagegroup.Thisthesisaimstocontributetoasuccessfulcross-culturalcommunicationbyhelpingpeopleunderstandtheappropriateinterpretationofeuphemisms.
2EuphemismandCulture
2.1LanguageandCulture
Cultureownsdiversekindsofcarriers,suchasart,language,literatureandsoon.Language,asthemostimportantcarrier,isintimatelyrelatedtoculture.Thecomeintobeingandinheritanceofcultureareduetotheappearanceanddevelopmentoflanguage.Thereisnoculturewithoutlanguageandnolanguagewithoutculture.Atthesametime,cultureaffectslanguageallthetime,makinglanguagebecomemoreaccuratetoadapttothedevelopmentandchangeofculture.Thecreationofculturecannotexistwithoutthefunctionoflanguage,andtheaccumulationofcultureisalsoconservedthroughlanguage.Asaresult,languageandculturearesupplementarytoeachotheranddependentoneachotherforexistence.
Languageitself,asthecarrierandasignificantcompositionofculture,bearsthespecialimprintofculture.Althoughlanguageistheoutcomeofthedevelopmentofsocialculture,languageplaysanessentialroleintheformationanddevelopmentofculture.Thelanguagepeopleusereflectstheirrealthoughtstowardswhattheytalkabout.Language,fromabroadsense,symbolicallystandsforapeopleandmakesuptheirhistoricalandculturalbackgrounds.Likeamirror,languagereflectsthecultureofapeopleandrevealstheirwaysofliving.
Cultureisthekeystoneoflanguage.Anykindoflanguagecannotsurviveanddevelop
withoutthesocialcultureenvironment,whichlanguagerelieson.Toacertaindegree,socialculturerestrictslanguage’sevolutionaswellasperfection.Languageitselfhasaninfluenceonpeople’swaysofthinkingandconsequentlyimpactstheculture.However,affectedbyculturegreatly,languagechangeswithcultureundergoingindevelopmentandchange.Justinthecontemporaryworld,millionsofthenewwordsinvariousfieldsprovethatrichandcolorfulculturesmakeallsortsoflanguagescomeintobeing.
2.2EuphemismandCulture
Theword“euphemism”originatedfromtheGreek.InGreek,theprefix“eu”means“good”withtheroot“pheme”meaning“speech”.Asaresult,theliteralmeaningofeuphemismis“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”(NeamanandSilver1.Euphemismisafrequentlyusedfigureofspeech,andthereareotherdefinitionsofit.AllanandBurridgepresentsthefollowing:
“aeuphemismisusedasanalternativetoadispreferredexpression,inordertoavoidpossiblelossofface:
eitherone’sownfaceor,throughgivingoffence,thatoftheaudience,orofsomethirdparty”(AllanandBurridge18.
ForthereasonthattheformationofEnglishandChineseeuphemismshasvariousways,euphemismscanbedivideddifferentlyinaccordancewithdifferentstandards.TheclassificationemployedinthisthesisisfromHughRawson,who,in1981,classifiedeuphemismsintonegativeeuphemismsandpositiveeuphemismsinhisbookADictionaryofEuphemismsandOtherDoubletalkfromtheaspectofsemantics.
Thenegativeeuphemisms,whicharecloselyrelatedtotabooedwords,alsocanbecalledtraditionaleuphemisms.Whatthenegativeeuphemismsandtabooedwordsexpressarethesame.Iflanguages,likesex,disease,physicalandpsychologicaldefects,areexpressedinadirectway,theyarecalledtabooedwords,givingpeoplea
senseofvulgarityandrudeness.Butifthelanguagespresentedabovearedeliveredinanindirectway,theyarecalledeuphemisms,grantingpeopleafeelingofconnotation,eleganceandpoliteness.Forexample,peopleinwesterncountriessubstitute“sex”with“sleepwith”or“gotobedwith”anduse“plainlooking”or“ordinarylooking”toreplace“ugly”.
Thepositiveeuphemisms,alsonamedasstylisticeuphemisms,havenorelationshipwithtabooedwords.Infact,positiveeuphemismsareanalogoustothewordswithameaningofcompliment.“Ittendstoinflateandmagnifythewordmeaning,makingtheeuphemizedseemaltogethergranderandmoreimportantthantheyreallyare”(HughRawson1.Inordertoshowpoliteness,respectorstriveforcooperation,peopleapplybeautifulwordstoexpressthingswhichareunpleasantbutnottabooed.Inthepastdecades,positiveeuphemismshavebeenappliedinsuchareasaseducation,occupationandunemployment.Therearemanyeuphemismsforsomeoccupationswithlowersocialstatus.Agardenerwhoshavestreesandflowerscanbecalled“alandscapearchitect”.Agarbagecollectorisoftensaidtobe“asanitationengineer”andafileclerkwouldbeveryhappytoknowthatsheis“aresearchconsultant”.
Theconceptofcultureissobroadthatdefiningtheword“culture”seemstobeaverydifficultmatterforus.Differentpeopleoftenseethesameobjectindifferentlights.Manyscholarshavedefinedit.LinellDavisdefinescultureas“thetotalaccumulationofbeliefs,customs,values,behaviors,institutionsandcommunicationpatternsthatareshared,learnedandpasseddownthroughthegenerationsinanidentifiablegroupofpeople”(24.AccordingtoGoodenough,cultureis“whateveritisonehastoknowandbelieveinordertooperateinamanneracceptabletoitsmembers.Culture,beingwhatpeoplehavetolearnasdistinctfromtheirbiologicalheritage,mustconsistof“theendproductoflearning:
knowledge”(167.Theculturecoversabroadspectrumandcontainsallthephenomenaoftheuniverse.Allthethingscreatedbypeopleandrelatedtoexperience,knowledge,scienceandtechnologyaswellaseducationandlanguage,canbecalledculture.
Euphemismisalanguageusedpervasivelyinourdailylife.ItisnotonlyalanguagephenomenoninbothEnglishandChineseculture,butalsoisakindofsocialculture.Languageandculturearecloselyrelatedtoeachother.Euphemism,asoneformoflanguage,isalsogreatlyaffectedandshapedbycultureintermsoftheorigin,growthandusage.Simultaneously,euphemismisareflectionofculture.Euphemismbearstheweightofabundantculturalconnotationforthereasonthatitdeeplyrootsinthesoilofapeople’ssocialculture.Itishardforpeopletomakesenseoftheeuphemismsifpeopledonothaveanotionofacountry’sculture.ShaoZhihongpointsoutthathe[PatrickHartwell]considerseuphemismsas“anaturalpartofthesocialworldofwords”andbelievestheytellus“agooddealaboutthevaluesofaculture”(305.
3DifferentCulturalImplicationsReflectedinEnglishandChineseEuphemisms
Languageisthecarrierofcultureandamirrorreflectingsocialculture.Forthisreason,euphemism,asaspecialformoflanguage,mustbethereflectionofaspecificculture.Languagedecidesanation’sculturalfeatures,whichgivesrisetothephenomenonthatEnglishandChineseeuphemismswithoutexceptionwillreflecttheculturaldifferencesoftwonationsaswell.
3.1DifferentConceptsofValue
Intermofconceptofvalue,westernpeoplelivefortheirself-satisfaction.Oncetheycannotgetthematerialinsurance,theyimmediatelythinkthattheirlifewillfallapartandthattheycannotbementionedinthesamebreathwiththeirfriendsbecausetheybelievetheyareinferiortothem.While,deeplyaffectedbyConfucianism,Chinesecontendthatthevalueoflifeliesinthecontributiontheydointheirlivesratherthanthematerialabundance.Euphemismsfor“poverty”inEnglishandChinesereflecttheirdifferentconceptsofvalue.
Theword“poverty”inEnglishisaterriblewordwhichmeans“thereisneitherpower
norsocialstatus”.Inthewesterncommer
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- 英汉 委婉 透析 中西文化 差异
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