Euphemistic Expression in Business English and Their Translation 商业英语委婉语及其翻译.docx
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Euphemistic Expression in Business English and Their Translation 商业英语委婉语及其翻译.docx
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EuphemisticExpressioninBusinessEnglishandTheirTranslation商业英语委婉语及其翻译
EuphemisticExpressioninBusinessEnglishandTheirTranslation
Introduction
Asthecooperationofbusinessoveralltheworldbecomingmoreandmorefrequent,peoplepaymoreattentiontotheetiquetteofinternationalbusiness.Theareaofbusinessisoftencomparedtothebattlefield,however,theweaponsinbusinessisdifferentfromthoseinthewar.Theydonotapplytomunitionsbutthepoliteexpressions,appropriatewritingsandeuphemisticutterancestoestablishtheprofileofacompanyandtosatisfythevariedneedsoftheircustomers,whichformtheoutstandingfeaturesofthebusinesslanguage.Toestablishaperfectprofileofcompanies,thebusinessmenoftenturntotheeuphemismswhicharepolite,appropriate,andeuphemisticwhentheyneedtoexpresstheirwishesandopinions,andatthetimetheyneedtocomeupwithsomesuggestionsorrequirements.EuphemismandeuphemisticexpressionsarewidelyusedinbusinessEnglishwhichnearlycoverallprocesses,suchasinquiry,offer,counter-offer,shipment,insuranceandstatusinquiry.InChinese,peopleoftenapplyto您,贵toshowtherespecttotheircustomers,to请tosuggest,to是否,能否,可否toweakenmodality.ComparedwithChineseeuphemism,theeuphemisticexpressionsinEnglisharequietvariedandflexible.ThispaperanalyzeseuphemisticexpressionsinbusinessEnglishfromtheaspectsofgrammarandglossarytohelpustounderstandandappropriateeuphemism.
Euphemismplaysanindispensablepartinoursociallife,whichaidstoachievesuccessfulsocialinterchangeandco-ordinatehumanrapport.Beingakindoflubricantinbusiness,euphemismhascaughtmoreandmoreattentionsofenterprisesandlinguistics.Bystudycloselytothelanguagepattern,wewillbemorequalifiedtothrowourselvesintothebusinessworld.
Despitethelargenumberofstudiesdoneoneuphemism,wefindthateuphemisticexpressioninbusinessEnglishasasub-stream,stillhasfurtherroomtoexplore.ConsideringtheimportanceofeuphemisminbusinessEnglishandthetranslationoftheeuphemisticexpressionsineverydayuse,webelieveitisofsignificancetostudyit.Asaresultofthis,myessayendeavourstoapproachtheissuefromtheclassificationandthetranslationgrounds.Webelievetheprinciples,thestudyoflanguageusecanrenderusthenature,motivationrealmeaningandfunctioningmechanismoftheeuphemisticexpressionusedinbusinessEnglish.
Thisthesiscontainsthreeparts,whichcanbefurtherdividedintothreechapters.
Partoneintroducesthedefinitionandoriginsofeuphemism,whichwehopetopavewayforourfurtheranalysis.
Parttwoisthemajorpartoftheessaywhichincludestwoclues----thefirstpartpresentstheprincipleandstandardswhenweusetheeuphemismsinbusinessEnglish;inthesecondpartpresentsaliteraturereviewtotheclassificationoftheeuphemisminglossaryandgrammar.
PartthreeisalsoanimportantpartinthepaperinwhichvariousstrategiesarelistedsothatwecanunderstandandusetheeuphemismmorefluentlyinbusinessEnglish.
BecausetheeuphemismissoimportantinbusinessEnglish,wehavetofigureouthowtheyareusedinbusinesscommunications.Whenweresearchthenegotiationsandotherpatternsofinternationalbusiness,euphemismscanbefoundthroughthewholeprocess:
inquiry,offer,count-offerandacceptanceetc.ThereisagreatamountofEnglisheuphemism;undoubtedly,thetranslationofeuphemismbecomesextraordinarilyvitalinbusinesscommunication.
Therefore,thispaperwillgiveascientificclassificationoftheeuphemisticexpressioninbusinessEnglishtogetherwithsomeprinciplesofitsapplication,inordertopresentasystematicknowledgeaboutEnglisheuphemisminbusiness.Asforthetranslation,thepaperwilltrytostatetheappropriatestrategiesandalsosomeprinciples.Inthisway,wewillbemorequalifiedintheinternationalbusiness.
ChapterOneDefinitionandDevelopmentofEuphemism
1.1TheDefinitionofEuphemism
ThewordeuphemismisderivedfromaGreekwordmeaningfairspeech.Theprefixeumeansgood,soundwellandphememeanssayingandspeaking.Hencetheliteralmeaningofeuphemismistospeakwithgoodwordsorinagoodmanner.Itisdefinedanindirectwordorphrasethatpeopleoftenusetorefertosomethingembarrassingorunpleasant,sometimestomakeitseemmoreacceptablethanitreallyisintheAdvancedLearner'sEnglish-Chinesedictionary.Theeuphemismisusedtoavoidtaboostoachieveidealcommunication.Itissuchanimportantsocial-culturalphenomenonthatweshouldplaceagreatattentiononit.Agoodknowledgecanhelptoimprovesocialcommunication.
IncurrentEnglishdictionaries,euphemismsaredefinedasfollows:
l)Substitutionofaninoffensivetermforoneconsideredbluntoroffensive.(AmericanHeritageDictionary,the3rdedition,1992)
2)Word,etc.usedinplaceofoneavoidedase.g.offensive,indecent,oralarming.(OxfordConciseDictionaryofLinguistics,ShanghaiForeignLanguagesPublishingHouse,2000,12)
1.2TheDevelopmentofEuphemism
Asweallknow,languageisusuallyregardedasamirrorreflectingsociety.Then,euphemism,whichisacrucialpartoflanguageinviewofcommunication,reflectsthephenomenonofpeople'spsychologicalworld.Euphemismoriginatedfromprimitivesociety.Atthattime,peoplebelievedthatlanguagewasnotonlyasymbolbutalsowithmagicpower.Itcouldbringthemmisfortunesaswellasfortunes,mentioningacertainthingsrantheriskofbeingpunished,sotheyusuallyavoidedthesetaboos.Forexample,oneoftheTenCommandmentsinBiblewasThoushaltnotspeakmynameinvain.ThusGodwasgenerallycalledasGad,J.C.,thealmighty,theCreator,andSatanastheGoodman,BlackOne,theOldGentleman,etc.Nowadaystherearestillalotofeuphemismsusedinthesimilarway.E.g.peoplewouldtrytoavoidsuchtaboosasold,diseaseordeathastheymeansomethingunhappy.Foroldpeople,thereareeuphemismssuchasseniorcitizens,goldenage,seasonedman,theelderly,etc;fordiseases,therearealsomanyeuphemisms,suchasAids,TB,BigC,socialdisease,mentaltrouble,etc;andfordeath,depart,sleep,gohome,jointhemajority,arefrequentlyused.Astimegoeson,peoplebegintouseeuphemismnotonlytoavoidtaboos,butalsotospeakinapoliteandelegantway,andtoavoidunhappinessinconversations.
Englisheuphemismactslikeakindoflubricantwhichmakescommunicationsgoingonsmoothly.Asanimportantsocial-culturalphenomenon,euphemismhasarousedgreatinterestsoftheexpertsandscholarsathomeandabroad.Theyhadgivendetaileddescriptiontoeuphemism,inwesterncountries;euphemismiscloselyconnectedwithtraditionaltaboossuchasdisease,sex,death,excretion,etc.Theyaredefensiveinnature,offsettingthepoweroftabooedtermsandotherwiseeradicatingfromthelanguageeverythingthatpeopleprefernottodealwithdirectly.Gradually,theeuphemismhasbecomeanindependentresearcharea,whosemainbranchistheeuphemisticexpressionsinbusinessEnglish.
Sincethepeopleinvolvedinbusinessarefromdifferentculturalbackgrounds,theyhavetoavoidthetaboosfromdifferentculturalcommunitiesincommunication.Astheinternationalbusinessdevelops,theeuphemisticexpressionhasdevelopedintoamainbranchinthestudyofeuphemism.
ChapterTwoEuphemisticExpressioninBusinessEnglish
InbusinessEnglish,peoplecannotsurvivewitheuphemisticexpression.Theeuphemismexistsineverystageoftheinternationalbusiness:
inquiry,offer,count-offer,shipmentandetc.Regardingtothedifferentculturalbackgroundsandlongdistanceoftheshipment,thereareoftensomedisputesandmisunderstandingsintheinternationalbusiness.Iftherearenoteuphemisms,thebusinesscouldnotgoforwardbecauseofsomedirectandunpleasantwords.Onthecontrary,theeuphemismaidstodealwithsometaboosandconflicts,whichmakestheinternationalbusinessbecomemoreandmoresmoothly.
Whenpeopleusetheeuphemisticexpression,theyarealwaysobeyingtothreeprinciples:
cooperativeprinciple,politenessprincipleandfacialprinciple.Thethreeprinciplesareconcludedbytheirfunctions:
avoidance,politenessandgloss-overfunction.However,thepaperendeavorstothedifferentwaystousetheeuphemisticexpressioninbusinessEnglishaccordingtothefunctionsandprinciples.
2.1StandardsandPrinciplesoftheEuphemisticExpressionsinBusinessEnglish
2.1.1CooperativePrincipleandtheEuphemisticExpressioninBusinessEnglish
PaulGrice,aphilosopherandlogician,madeanattempttoexplainthecourseofnaturalconversation,inwhichimpliedmessagesarefrequentlyinvolved.Hisideaisthatinmakingconversation,theparticipantsmustfirstofallbewillingtocooperate;otherwise,itwouldnotbepossibleforthemtocarryonthetalk.ThegeneralprincipleiscalledCooperativePrinciple,abbreviatedasCP.Itgoesasfollows:
Makeyourconversationalcontributionsuchasrequiredatthestageatwhichitoccursbytheacceptedpurposeordirectionofthetalkexchangeinwhichyouareengage.
TheCPhasfourbranches,whicharefloutedbyeuphemism.
Themaximofquantityrequireswhatonesaysshouldbeinformativebutdonotmakeifmoreinformativethanneeds.Themaximofqualityrequiresonenottosaywhatyoubelievetobefalseandnottosaythatforwhichyoulackadequateevidence.Themaximofrelationrequiresonehastosaywhattoberelevant.Inordinaryconversations,peopleoftensaythingsthatarenotrelevantwiththetopicoftheconversation.InChinese,thereisasayinggoes顾左右而言他.Themaximofmannerrequiresonetoavoidobsc
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