A Comparative Study of English Euphemism and Chinese Euphemism
CONTENTS
Abstract
Acknowledgements
- Introduction……….………………………………………………………..…..1
- Review of Literature………………….………………………………………4
2.1 Definition of Euphemism…………………………….………………….…4
2.2 Classification of Euphemism………………………………………….. …7
2.2.1 Positive Euphemism and Negative Euphemism…………….….….7
2.2.2 Conscious Euphemism and Unconscious Euphemism………..……9
2.2.3 Other Classifications of Euphemism…….……………………..…10
III. Language, Culture, Taboo and Euphemism……………………………….11
3.1 Language and Euphemism………………………………………………11
3.2 Culture and Euphemism…….…………………………………….…….12
3.3 Taboo and Euphemism…………………………………………..………13
- Comparison Between Chinese and English Euphemisms……………..…….15
4.1 In terms of Formation……………….……………………………………15
4.1.1 Phonetic Device..…………………………………….…………..15
4.1.2 Lexical Device..…………………………………….……………16
4.1.3 Rhetorical Device…………………………………..……………21
4.1.4 Grammatical Device………………………………………………22
4.2 In terms of Range of Use……..……………….……….……………….24
4.3 In terms of Culture….…………..………………………..……………..26
4.3.1 Different Religions..…………………………….………..………26
4.3.2 Different Practices..………………………………..…..…………29
4.3.3 Different Connotations of Old….………………..……………….30
- Communicative Functions of Euphemism………..………………………..33
5.1 Avoiding Taboo………..…………………………………………………..33
5.2 Showing Politeness………………………………….……………………35
5.3 Concealing Truth………………………..………………………………38
- Translating of English and Chinese Euphemisms……………..…….……41
VII. Conclusion………………………………………….………….…..……….45
Bibliography……………………………………………………….……………47
ABSTRACT
Euphemisms are mild, agreeable, or roundabout words used in place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones. The term comes from the Greek， eu meaning “well” or “sounding good” and pheme meaning “speech”. Euphemism literally means good or pleasant speech. As an indispensable and natural part of language, euphemism has been arousing wide interest. Many linguists and scholars have studied this linguistic phenomenon from the perspectives of rhetoric, semantics, pragmatics and sociolinguists. As a result, achievements in the study of euphemism have been conspicuous. Thus, on the basis of others’ researches, this thesis attempts to do a comprehensive analysis of English euphemisms and Chinese euphemisms by comparatively analyzing their linguistic and cultural characteristics.
This thesis consists of five parts, with an introduction and a conclusion preceding and following them. As euphemism is a linguistic phenomenon, Chapter Two first states the definition of euphemism and the classification of euphemisms and then analyzes the linguistic features of euphemism, thus building up a better understanding of euphemism.
Chapter Three illustrates the relationship among language, culture and taboo.
Chapter Four compares English and Chinese euphemisms in formation, range of use, and then goes on to evaluate the importance of euphemism. Formation refers to phonetic device, lexical device, grammatical device and rhetorical device. The range of use covers such topics as death, old age, disease and physical shortcomings. Culture, embodied by the language system, is closely related to euphemism. Therefore, as an indispensable and natural part of language, euphemisms are often culture-loaded and carry cultural information. Cultural differences between the English and Chinese language and their impact on euphemism are also addressed as a complementary study.
Euphemism plays an important role in our daily communication. From the day it came into existence, euphemism has been functioning to lubricate our communication, help establish a good relationship between human beings and even strengthen social stability.
Chapter Five illustrates three communicative functions, namely avoiding taboo, showing politeness and concealing the truth.
Chapter Six discusses three ways to translate English or Chinese euphemisms—(1) to find the exact counterpart in the target language, (2) to translate the euphemistic meaning of the source language, and (3) to add footnotes and explanatory words.
Chapter Seven is a conclusion, which pointes out that society is in a constant state of development and change, so is language. As a common language phenomenon, euphemism is also changing constantly. The fast speed of metabolism compels us to take the dynamic feature of euphemisms into consideration. Through the contrastive study of English and Chinese euphemisms, we can learn about lots of both similarities and peculiarities of the two languages, which is of considerable value and guidance to our foreign language learning and cross-cultural communication.
内容提要
委婉语是用一种不明说的、能够使人感到愉快或含糊的说法代替具有令人感到不悦的含义或不够尊敬的表达法。从辞源角度看，委婉语的英文euphemism中，eu 是希腊前缀，意为好；phemism意为说法；euphemism 意为好的说法。委婉语是语言中不可或缺的一个组成部分，引起了人们广泛的关注。许多语言学家、学者已从修辞学、语言学、语用学及社会语言学的角度对委婉语进行了研究。目前，这方面的研究硕果累累。本文将借鉴其他学者的研究成果，通过对比英汉委婉语的语言和文化特征，对英汉委婉语作对比分析。
本论文除前面引言和后面结论外，共分五章。第二章从语言学的角度对其定义、分类作了阐述。由于委婉语是一种语言现象，了解它的基本特征有利于我们更好的理解委婉语。
第三章谈到了语言、文化及禁忌语之间的关系。
第四章从英汉委婉语的结构形式、应用范围、以及各自不同的文化作了对比。在结构形式方面，英汉委婉语都可以通过语音、词汇、语法及修辞等手段实现，但英汉各属不同的语言体系，因此在结构方面各有其特征。通过对比，我们发现英汉委婉语在应用范围上也有相通之处。如都可以应用在“死亡、年老、疾病、身体缺陷”等方面。语言体现出文化，委婉语作为语言的不可分割的组成部分也是文化的载体，包含文化信息。中西文化的差异及对各自委婉语形成的影响也在本章中有所涉及。
日常人际交往中，委婉语的作用也是不可低估的。从委婉语产生的第一天起，它便在人际交往中起润滑剂作用，帮助人们建立起良好的人际关系，加强社会的稳定。第五章主要论述了委婉语的三个交际功能：避讳功能、礼貌功能和掩盖事实真相功能。
第六章探讨了怎样翻译英汉委婉语的问题。总的来说，有三种方法： 第一种在目标语中找其对应的委婉语。第二种方法把委婉语的委婉意思翻译出来。第三种方法添加注释和解释。
结论中指出,社会在不断的发展和变化之中，语言也不例外。作为一种普遍的语言现象,委婉语也在变化。其推陈出新的速度也很快。在研究委婉语的时候也应将委婉语的动态特点考虑进来。通过英汉委婉语的比较研究，我们可以了解两种语言的许多共性和个性，这对于我们的外语学习，跨文化交际均有很大的指导意义。
