英语论文A Tentative Study on Different Expressions of English Euphemisms and Their Functions.docx
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英语论文A Tentative Study on Different Expressions of English Euphemisms and Their Functions.docx
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英语论文ATentativeStudyonDifferentExpressionsofEnglishEuphemismsandTheirFunctions
ATentativeStudyonDifferentExpressionsofEnglishEuphemismsandTheirFunctions
1.Introduction1
1.Waystoexpresseuphemisms4
2.1.3 Personification5
2.1.5Ellipsis6
2.1.7Understatement7
2.2 Semanticmethod8
2.2.4Loanwords8
2.3Thevarietyofpronunciationandspellingform9
2.4.2Syntacticalnegation11
2.4.3Firstpersonalpronouns11
3.Thefunctionsofeuphemisms11
3.1.3Theeuphemismsforillness13
3.1.4Theeuphemismsforsex14
3.1.5Theeuphemismsforbirth14
3.2.3Theeuphemismsfortheagedandweightandappearance17
3.2.4Theeuphemismsforpovertyandunemployment18
3.2.5Theeuphemismsforexcretion18
3.5Coveringupfunction20
3.5.1Theeuphemismsfortherequirementsofpolitics.20
3.5.2Theeuphemismsfortherequirementsofwar21
3.5.3Theeuphemismsforpressconferences21
3.5.5Theeuphemismsforcrime22
3.6Usingcountries’namesaseuphemisms23
References26
1.Introduction
Thereisahumor:
AnAustralianwomanmarriedtoanAmericanman.TheyspenttheirhoneymooninAmerica.Andoneday,thecoupleintendedtogotoapartytogether.Butthebridegroomcouldn’tfindasuitablefulldress.Thebridetookoutabirthdaysuitthatshegavehimasapresentfewdaysagoandsaid:
“Whynotwearyourbirthdaysuit?
”However,thewholefamilywasallastonished.
InAmericanEnglish,“inone’sbirthdaysuit”istheeuphemisticexpressionof“naked”.Sothisembarrassingsituationresultsfromtheregionaldifferencesineuphemisms.
Thesecondhumor:
OnceaParistouristresidedinUK.Alandladytoldhimsadly:
“myhusbandhasjustpassedtotheotherside.”Theguestlookedfromthefenceofthegardenbutsawnoone,feelingconfused.Thelandladyexplained:
“Imeanhe’skickedthebucket.”Theguestcomfortedher:
“Ihopehisfootwillbebettersoon.”Thelandladyfeltunintelligibleandsaid:
“no,hewasn’there,hesnuffedit…youknow.”Theguestwonderedandsaid:
“Butyou’vegotelectricityhere.”
Thereasonswhytheguestdidn’tanswerproperlyarethathedidn’trealizethatthelandladyusedeuphemisms,nordidheunderstandthe“conversationalimplication”oftheeuphemisms.Actually,weknowwhatthelandladywantedtosayisthatherhusbandhaddied.
Thethirdhumor:
A:
HowisJohndoingwithhisstudyatschool?
B:
He’samachine.
Here,fromtheliteralmeaningofB'sreply,heseemshasn’tansweredA’squestion.However,wecanguesstheimplicationbetweenamachineandstudy.Atlast,wecaninferthatJohnishard-working.
Ifthehumorsarecarefullyobserved,wecanrealizethatthecommonthingamongthemisthateuphemismsareused.AsanindispensableandnaturalpartofEnglishlanguage,Englisheuphemismshaveattractedpeople’sattentionforalongtime.What’smore,Englisheuphemismshavecloserelationshipswiththewesternculture,andtrulyreflectthelifeandvaluesofEnglishpeopleandtheirhistory.Inthiscase,euphemismsinusedifferfrompersontoperson,fromprofessiontoprofession,evenfromclasstoclass,whicharewhysometimesthemeaningofsomeeuphemismswillpuzzlepeopleiftheydonotknowthebackgroundofEnglishculture(FengCuihua,1995a:
208).
Then,whatdoEnglisheuphemismsmean?
Let’shavealookatsomedifferentdefinitions.
Theword“euphemism”isderivedfromtheGreekword“euphemismos”.Theprefix“eu”means“good,sound,pleasant,well”and“pheme”means“saying,speech,speaking”.Thustheliteralmeaningof“euphemism”is“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”(HeShangfen,2002:
362).
InWebster’sNewCollegiateDictionary(1973)thedefinitionreads,“substitutionofanagreeableorinoffensiveexpressionforonethatmayoffendorsuggestsomethingunpleasant.”(FengCuihua,1995b:
207-208).
EncyclopediaBritannica(1994)alsodefines“euphemism”as“afigureofspeechinwhichsomethingofanunpleasant,distressingorindelicatenatureisdescribedinlessoffensiveterms”(WuChangqi,2004).
IntheOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish–ChineseDictionarytheexplanationof“euphemism”is"(exampleofthe)useofpleasant,mildorindirectwordsorphrasesinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectones"(ASHornby,1997:
491).
Fromthefirsthumor,weknowthatacultureshockhappenswhenonedoesnotknowthevalues,aestheticconceptionsandmoralconceptsinanothercountry.Fromthesecondhumor,weknowthatpeoplealwaysusepleasant,mildorindirectwordsorphrasestoreplacesomedisgustingwordswhichmakepeoplefeelembarrassed.Fromthelasthumor,weknowthat“unlikepresuppositionsandentailments,implicationsareinferencesthatcannotbemadefromisolatedutterances.Theyaredependentonthecontextoftheutteranceandthesharedknowledgebetweenthespeakerandthehearer.”(LiuShuang,2003).Furthermore,onlywhenweknowhowtomakeuseofeuphemismsindifferentbackgroundandenvironmentcanweavoidmanyconflictsintheprocessofsocialcommunication,minimizetheimpolitenessandmaximizethepolitenessanddoeffectivemulti-culturalintercommunication.Then,thereisagreatneedforustouseatactfulwaytoexpressemotionandexchangeideas.ThispaperaimstodiscusstheapplicationofEnglisheuphemismsandtomakeacknowledgementoftheirfunctionswhichcanhelpususeEnglisheuphemismsinacorrectway.
1.Waystoexpresseuphemisms
TherearefourwaystoexpressEnglisheuphemisms:
figureofspeech,semanticmethod,thevarietyofpronunciationandspellingformandgrammar.
2.1Figureofspeech
Indifferentwaystoexpresseuphemisms,figureofspeechplaysaveryimportantrole.
2.1.1Metonymy
Thatistousethegeneralwordstotaketheplaceoftheconcretewords.Itcanbedividedintothefollowingforms:
1)Tousethecontainertotaketheplaceofthethingsinit.Forexample:
“tobefondofthebottle”isaeuphemismfor“likingtodrink”.2)Tousetheentiretyinsteadofthepart.Forexample:
“abdomen”isusedtoreferto“belly”;“limb”refersto“leg”.Forsomespecialoccasions,thepartcanbeusedinsteadoftheentirety.InAustralianEnglish“anoldhand”isaeuphemismfor“anoldprisoner”.3)Tousethetoolstotaketheplaceoftheobjects.Forexample,“pick”,whichisatoolofpryingalock,canreferto“thief”.4)Touserawmaterialstotaketheplaceoffinishedproducts.Forinstance,“poppy”isakindofflower,butitalsorefersto“opium”.5)Tousecharacteristicstotaketheplaceofobjects.Forexample,“hellow”isagreetingword,anditisalsoaeuphemismfor“prostitute”becauseprostitutesoftenusethiswordtosolicitthewhoremasters;“bloodandiron”isaeuphemismfor“violence”.6)Touseproperwordstoreplacetheobjects.Forexample,“napoleon”isaFrenchgoldencoinonwhichthereisNapoleon’sheadportrait;“Borstal”,anameofcountrysideinKentinBritain,canalsoreferto“juveniledelinquency”.
Sometimes,someeuphemismsarefrequentlyusedinsteadoftheoriginalwords,inthisway,peoplegraduallyforgettheeuphemisticidentities.Therefore,wecanseetheimportanceofknowingthebackgroundofEnglishculture.Itcanhelpusalottorecognizeandunderstandtherealmeaningofeuphemismsandmakegooduseofthem.
2.1.2Metaphor
Euphemismsmaybemadebyaprocesscalledmetaphoricaltransfer,thecomparisonofthingsofonekindtothingsofanother.Tousemetaphorcaneasilyavoidtheoffensivethings.
Forexample,“tobeaguestofthelaw”isaeuphemismfor“tobeinprison”;“todeflower”isfor“tohaveimpropersexualintercoursewithgirls(especiallymaiden)”and“tohavearoadtotravel”isfor“tohavealongtimetoreachanagreement”.
Moreexamples:
offensiveword
euphemism
offensiveword
euphemism
aged
sunsetyears
breast
milkbottles
handcuffs
bracelets
themoneyofbribery
grease
severedamage
constructivedestruction
shock
randombombing
tobepoor
tobepinched
todegenerate
togoastray
2.1.3 Personification
People’snamesareoftenusedtoreplacetaboowords.
Forexample,“BigHarry”refersto“heroin”because“Harry”and“heroin”havethesameinitials.“Lavatory”alsohasmanyeuphemisticalexpressions.In19thcentury,itwascalled“myauntJones”,“Mrs.Jones”,“SirJohn”,“SirHarry”,“theHenry”,whilein20thcentury,itwascalled“jakes”,“john”etc.Butthelattercolorofpersonificationbecomesweak.Infact,theyhavelosttheeuphemisticfunction.Andtherearemanyhumorouswaystoexpresscatameniaintermsofpersonification:
(1)Ihaveavisitor.
(2)I’vegotpaintersin.
(3)Myauntie/grandmotherhascometostay.(4)Myfriendhascome.
(5)Littlesisterishere.(6)Thecardinalhascome.
2.1.4 Analogy
Intheeuphemismsforoccupationpeopleoftenuseanalogy,whichmakesthehumblenamemoreelegant.
Forexample,atendencytoelevatemenialorunskilledjobs—sometimessubstitutingagrandtitleforalargesalary—canmakeoffalsmelllikearosebypromotinggarbagementosanitationengineersoreventowaste-reductionmanagers.Byimplication,theybecomehighlytrainedtechniciansandexecutives.
Moreexamples:
lesselegantword
euphemism
lesselegantword
euphemism
barbershop
hairsalon/beautyparlor
hairdresser
beautician
healthclubstaffs
fitnesscoordinators
janitor
buildingmaintenanceengineer
2.1.5Ellipsis
Thatistoomittheoffensivewordswhilespeaking.Ofcourse,suchphrasesshouldbeputintoacertaincontext,whichcanexpressthemeaningofeuphemisms.
Forexample,totakeprecautions(againstpregnancy);todepart(fromthisworld);Ineedtogo(tothelavatory);sheisexpecting/anticipating(ababy);someoneisout(ofwork).
2.1.6Periph
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