EnglishEuphemism

1、英 語 委 婉 語english euphemismcontentsabstract···········································

2、················································1key words&#

3、183;·················································&#

4、183;··························1introduction·····················&

5、#183;···············································21. the purpo

6、se and principles of using euphemisms··································31.1 the purpose of using euphemism····

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8、31.1.1 ineffable purpose··············································

9、··························31.1.2 urbanization purpose ···················&#

10、183;········································41.1.3 palliative purpose·····&

11、#183;·················································&

12、#183;··················41.1.4 the evolution of euphemisms·························

13、83;·····························61.2 the principle for using euphemisms··············

14、···································71.2.1 cooperative principle··········&#

15、183;········································71.2.2 politeness principle·····

16、;················································8 1.2.3 sel

17、f-defending principle··············································

18、83;···············82. pragmatic analysis on the receiver of euphemisms··························

19、;·········112.1 pragmatic inference····································

20、3;·····················112.2 one of the major factors affecting pragmatic inference··················

21、3;···123. factors for consideration in translating euphemisms····························133.1 stylistic factor·····

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23、3;····133.2 rhetoric factor··········································&

24、#183;·····················143.3 contextual factor························&#

25、183;·································144. conclusion··············

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27、;············15references····································

28、;···································15english euphemism摘 要：委婉語是人類語言使用過程中的一種普通現(xiàn)象，是人們談?wù)撃切┝钊瞬豢旎驅(qū)擂蔚氖虑闀r(shí)，所使用的的較為禮貌的說法。它是一種修辭格，更是一種文

29、化現(xiàn)象。委婉語源于社會(huì)禁忌，既有宗教性、階級(jí)性，又有時(shí)代性，在不同程度上反映了某一國家、地域和時(shí)代所認(rèn)同的思維模式、價(jià)值觀和道德觀等。委婉語是英漢語言中共同的語言現(xiàn)象，多種形式的委婉語折射出中西方形態(tài)各異的社會(huì)文化背景，反映出形形色色的社會(huì)心理狀態(tài)和語言文化內(nèi)涵。了解東西方委婉語的文化差異，有益于減少跨文化交際中的障礙。關(guān)鍵詞：委婉語；禁忌；文化淵源abstract: euphemism is a common phenomenon in the process of human language using, and is a polite way used when people talk

30、 about those unhappy or embarrassed things. it is a figure of speech, furthermore a kind of cultural phenomenon. euphemism stems from social taboo, it has the state of being religious, class as well as times, and to varying degrees it reflects the pattern of thinking, values, moral concept etc. of o

31、ne country, region and era approved. euphemism is the common language phenomenon in both english and chinese, diversified forms of euphemism refract out different forms of cultural background between chinese and western, refract every description of social psychological condition, language and cultu

32、ral intension. it is useful to reduce the obstacle in cross-language communication by finding out the cultural difference of euphemism between east and west. key words: euphemisms; taboo; cultural originenglish euphemismintroductioneuphemism and historical linguisticshistorical linguistics has revea

33、led traces of taboo deformations in many languages. several are known to have occurred in indo-european, including the original indo-european words for bear (*rktos), wolf (*wlkwos), and deer (originally, hart). in different indo-european languages, each of these words has a difficult etymology beca

34、use of taboo deformations a euphemism was substituted for the original, which no longer occurs in the language. an example is the slavic root for bear*medu-ed-, which means "honey eater"( levinson , 2001)in some languages of the pacific, using the name of a deceased chief is taboo. since p

35、eople are often named after everyday things, this leads to the swift development of euphemisms. these languages have a very high rate of vocabulary change.the "euphemism treadmill"euphemisms can eventually become taboo words themselves through a process the linguist steven pinker has calle

36、d the euphemism treadmill (cf. gresham's law in economics). words originally intended as euphemisms, or "politically correct" phrases, may lose their euphemistic value, acquiring the negative connotations of their referents. in some cases, they may be used mockingly and become dysphemi

37、stic.for example, toilet room, itself a euphemism was replaced with bathroom and water closet, which were replaced (respectively) with rest room and w.c.; similarly, funeral director replaced mortician, which replaced undertaker. in american english, the original sense "comfortable, cosy"

38、of homely has been superseded by the once-euphemistic sense "plain-looking", which is now simply insulting.according to rawson, hugh (1995), connotations easily change over time. idiot was once a neutral term, and moron a similar one. negative senses of a word tend to crowd out neutral one

39、s, so the word retarded was pressed into service to replace them. now that too is considered rude, and a result, new terms like mentally challenged or special are starting to replace retarded. in a few decades, calling someone special may well be a grave insult. a similar progression occurred with c

40、rippled handicapped disabled differently-abled.the euphemism treadmill also occurs with notions of profanity and obscenity. r.w.holder (2003) said that words once called "offensive" were later described as "objectionable", and later "questionable". however, "questi

41、onable" was judged by some to itself contain a value judgment it was replaced with "possibly questionable", though the word "possible" is technically a redundancy.a complementary dysphemism treadmill exists, but is more rarely observed. one modern example is the word "s

42、ucks". "that sucks" began as american slang for "that is very unpleasant", and is shorthand for "that sucks dick". it developed over the late-20th century from being an extremely vulgar phrase to near-acceptability. a child would rarely be disciplined for using the

43、 phrase "that sucks", which has been divorced from its original meaning. as a popular figurative speech, euphemisms are widely used in both chinese and english literal works, newspapers and magazines; so are in our daily life（何善芬，2002）. in chinese-english or english-chinese translation, th

44、e proper rendering of euphemisms is an important factor. however, traditional study of rhetoric has long been limited to the model of “definition + examples + analysis” and hardly have many breakthroughs been seen (宗延虎，2002). but in fact, rhetoric is a boundary discipline with close relations with s

45、emantics, pragmatics, logics, sociology etc. therefore, it can be analyzed in different corresponding aspects. in essence, figures of speech fall into the category of the dynamic and two-way communicating activity, e.g. a pragmatic activity. based on the principles of pragmatism, this paper aims to

46、discuss the pragmatic elements of euphemism by studying the formation (writer/speaker) and receipt (receiver). 1 the purpose and principles of using euphemismsaccording to oxford advanced learners englischinese dictionary/ websters new collegiate dictionary, euphemism is a kind of figurative speech

47、which employs the use of others, usu, less exact but milder or less blunt, words or phrases in place of words required by truth or accuracy and the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. in the light of pragmatism, euphemism is

48、 in fact indirect speech, e.g. the speaker is indirect in expressing his/her view. the following is the authors analysis on the purpose and principle of this indirect speech.1.1 the purpose of using euphemismsaccording to li guonan （李國南, 2001）, rhetoric is generally an instrument in speaking or writ

49、ing; however, as a figurative speech, euphemism is more a purpose than an instrument. in using euphemism, we tend to lay more emphasis on its purpose, or its expressive effect. in communication, the purposes of using euphemisms usually include the following three:1.1.1 ineffable purposeeuphemisms ha

50、ve a large bearing on taboos in language. language taboos stem from peoples erroneous understanding of the relations between language and objective world. in reality, people tend to use euphemistic expressions to replace those things that would arouse fear or panic in mind. for example, people alway

51、s abstain themselves from direct mention of such words as “die, old, sick”; therefore, euphemism is quite abundant in this aspect of natural phenomenon. the author reviewed the english rendering of the work a dream of red mansions, and here are a few examples of the euphemistic expression of “die” i

52、n chinese and their rendering in english:王夫人向賈母說“這個(gè)征候，遇著這樣節(jié)氣，不添病，就有指望了?！辟Z母說“可是呢。好個(gè)孩子！要有個(gè)長短，豈不叫人疼死！”（ 紅樓夢：126 ）“its a hopeful sign,” lady wang told the lady dowager, “ if an illness grows no worse at a season like this.”“yes, of course,” replied the old lady. “if anything were to happen to the dear c

53、hild, im sure it would break my heart.” (yang hsien-yi: 162)e.g. :(1) he worked until he breathed his last. (2) the child is now in abrahams bosom.1.1.2 urbanization purposethe second purpose of using euphemisms is to avoid vulgarity in speech and communication. the speaker or writer tends to blur c

54、ertain words in meaning by means of semantic widening and inflating and magnifying so as to make them sound general and common so that peoples dislike and repulsion is lessened. （范家材,1992）in addition, through the employment of euphemism, the speaker or writer can create mental alienation between the

55、 signified and the signifier in an attempt to conceal or attenuate the straightness or vulgarity of certain taboos, such as taboos related to sex and body excretion. the followings are all common cases of euphemisms in this regard:defecation (如廁)to be caught short (本義)給了個(gè)冷不妨, the call of nature (本義)

56、自然的需要, can i add some powder? (本義)我可以茶點(diǎn)粉嗎? to ease oneself (本義)自我輕松一下1.1.3 palliative purposepalliative purpose plays a large role in the formation of euphemisms in social problems and political life. due to its fuzziness and vagueness, euphemisms are more often than not beguiling and deceptive; the

57、refore, they have become the tools for politicians to cheat and fool the masses. since the 20th century, especially since the two world wars, many new euphemisms in politics, economics, diplomacy and military have come into being. on may 8th, 1995, united states bombed chinese embassy in yugoslavia,

58、 killing several chinese embassy staff; however, nato authority claimed that was an inaccurate military information and bill clinton also called that a tragic mistake in an attempt to cover up their wrong deeds to pacify indignant chinese people. (何善芬, 2002 ) by the same token, to pacify peoples pan

59、ic during economic crisis (經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)), the publicity department of american government used the expressions of economic depression (經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條), economic recession (經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退), economic rolling readjustment (經(jīng)濟(jì)起伏的重新調(diào)整), economic slowdown (經(jīng)濟(jì)減速), economic slump (經(jīng)濟(jì)衰弱) successively.certain trends in american euphemis

60、ms should be noted. in recent years, more and more euphemisms are being used in talking about social affairs. for example, there are fewer occupations called jobs; many have become professions. the names of some professions can be very misleading; the best example is sanitary engineer, a name of a g

61、arbage collector.in times of economic difficulties, such as during a depression, finding a profession may not be easy, even a job of most low-paid involving manual labor might be hard to get. then one might become unemployed; or to use a more recent and sophisticated term, be involuntarily leisured.

62、 of course, long periods of such “l(fā)eisure” can be quite miserable, especially for the poor. the term poor, though, is having a struggle to survive. during the last twenty years or so, several other words have been trying to take its place, at least among educated circles and in “officials”. as some

63、unfortunate person put it: “at first i was poor, then i become needy, later i was underprivileged. now im disadvantaged. i still dont have a cent to my name, but i sure have a great vocabulary.”in education, euphemisms are likewise prolific. some people prefer educator to teacher. students are still

64、 students, but comments about them need to be carefully considered. “negative expressions” have given way to “more positive” ones. the comment for a below-average student might be that she/he is working at her/his own level. that doesnt hurt anyones pride, does it? can do better work with help doesn

65、t sound bad either; its just a less offensive way of saying a student is slow or stupid. of course it would never do to call a youngster stupid or lazy; neither the student nor the parents would tolerate that. so a lazy child is an underachiever. the term doesnt jolt has achieved. the student might

66、be barely getting by, or even flunking. other examples: depends on others to do his/her work = cheats in class; has a tendency to stretch the truth=sometimes lies; takes other peoples things without permission = steals. since the purpose of using euphemisms is to reduce the unpleasantness of a term

67、or notion, it is natural that announcements or publications of businesses, organizations or governments will often resort to them. on the new york subway a fire once broke out on the tracks and delayed the trains. this was announced: we have a fire situation. president ronald reagan, who had promise

68、d the american public to cut taxes, called for revenue enhancements instead of tax increases when he was faced with the realities of national finances. in the area of labor-management relations, at times of labor unrest, there has been talk about what steps to take in dealing with industrial action,

69、 meaning strikes. in other area, when the u.s. government explained its program to gas chickens in pennsylvania in late 1983 in order to control a harmful disease, it was said to have depopulated the birds. the reason was chosen was “to avoid saying slaughter”, according to a federal information off

70、icer. evidently kill was also considered as far too blunt.1.1.4 the evolution of euphemismsaccording to dan sperber and deidre wilson.（2001）, euphemisms may be formed in a number of ways. periphrasis or circumlocution is one of the most common - to "speak around" a given word, implying it

71、without saying it. over time, circumlocutions become recognized as established euphemisms for particular words or ideas.to alter the pronunciation or spelling of a taboo word (such as a swear word) to form a euphemism is known as taboo deformation. there are an astonishing number of taboo deformatio

72、ns in english, of which many refer to the infamous four-letter words. in american english, words which are unacceptable on television, such as fuck, may be represented by deformations such as freak even in children's cartoons. some examples of cockney rhyming slang may serve the same purpose to

73、call a person a berk sounds less offensive than to call him a cunt, though berk is short for berkshire hunt which rhymes with cunt.bureaucracies such as the military and large corporations frequently spawn euphemisms of a more deliberate (and to some, more sinister) nature. organizations coin double

74、speak expressions to describe objectionable actions in terms that seem neutral or inoffensive. militaries at war frequently do kill people, sometimes deliberately and sometimes by mistake; in doublespeak, the first may be called neutralizing the target and the second collateral damage. likewise, ind

75、ustrial unpleasantness such as pollution may be toned down to outgassing or runoff descriptions of physical processes rather than their damaging consequences. some of this may simply be the application of precise technical terminology in the place of popular usage, but beyond precision, the advantag

76、e of technical terminology may be its lack of emotional undertones, while the disadvantage being the lack of real life context(張宇平等，1998).euphemisms for the profaneprofane words and expressions are generally taken from three areas: religion, excretion, and sex. while profanities themselves have been

77、 around for some time, their limited use in public and by the media has only in the past decade become socially acceptable, and there are still many expressions which cannot be used in polite conversation. the common marker of acceptability would appear to be use on prime-time television or in the p

78、resence of children. thus, damn (and most other religious profanity) is acceptable, and as a consequence, euphemisms for religious profanity have taken on a very stodgy feeling. excretory profanity such as piss and shit may be acceptable in adult conversation, while euphemisms like number one and number two are preferred for use with children. most sexual terms and expressions either remain unacceptable for general use or have undergone radical rehabilitation (penis and vagina, for instance).1.2 the principles for using euphemismsthe use of euphemisms is in principle a kind of speech act.