英漢委婉語對(duì)比研究-英語專業(yè)畢業(yè)論文

AContrastiveStudyofEuphemismsinEnglishAndChineseAbstractEuphemismexistsinanylanguage.It'soneofthemostimportantwaysofexpressionandrhetoricdevicesinbothEnglishandChinese.Asanindispensableandnaturalpartoflanguage,euphemismhasbeenarousingwideinterest.Manylinguistsandscholarshavestudiedthislinguisticphenomenon.Asaresult,achievementsinthestudyofeuphemismhavebeenconspicuous.Thus,onthebasisofothers’researches,thispaperaimsatacomprehensiveanalysisofEnglishandChineseeuphemismsbycomparativelyanalyzingtheirdifferencesinformation,cultureandpragmaticfunction.I.IntroductionEuphemismisaveryimportantlanguagephenomenon.Itplaysanirreplaceableroleinhumansocialactivitiesandinterpersonalcommunication.Itcanmakedistastefulideasseemacceptableorevendesirable,thusmaintainingbettersocialrelationshipandexchangingideas.Euphemismisalsoaculturalphenomenonaswellasalinguisticconcept.Everylanguagehasitsowneuphemism,sodoEnglishandChinese.Itisdeeplyrootedinsociallifeandhasagreatinfluenceonsocialcommunication.Asanindispensableandnaturalpartoflanguage,euphemismhasattractedpeople’sattentionforalongtime.Euphemismhascloserelationshipswithculture,andittrulyreflectsthelifeandvaluesofpeopleandtheirhistory.Withthedevelopmentofeconomyandthepolicyofreformandopenup,therehavebeenmoreandmorecommunicationsandcooperation.However,aspeoplehavelittleknowledgeaboutothers’cultureandtheirexpressionsofeuphemisms,therehasbeendifficultyincommunication.Thus,thereisagreatneedforustostudyeuphemisms,especiallythedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglisheuphemisms.ThestudyofChineseandEnglisheuphemismscanhelpusunderstandtheChineseandwesternculturesandpromotetheinternationaldevelopment.II.Euphemism(I).DefinitionofEuphemismA.TheDefinitionofEnglishEuphemismThewordeuphemismcomesfromthe\o"Greeklanguage"Greekwordευφημ?α(euphemia),meaning"theuseofwordsofgoodomen",whichinturnisderivedfromtheGreekroot-wordseu(ευ),"good/well"+pheme(φ?μι)"speech/speaking".Theprefix“eu”means“good,soundwell”,and“pheme”means“saying”or“speech”.Andthustheliteralmeaningof“euphemism”is“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”.Someofthedefinitionsarelistedbelow:(1).anindirectwordorphrasethatpeopleoftenusetorefertosthembarrassingorunpleasant,sometimestomakeitseemmoreacceptablethanitreallyis.(OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary,SixthEdition)(2).thatfigureofspeechwhichconsistsinthesubstitutionofawordorexpressionofcomparativelyfavorableimplicationorlessunpleasantassociations,insteadoftheharsherormoreoffensiveonethatwouldmorepreciselydesignatewhatisintended.(OxfordEnglishDictionary,1989)Givenfromtheprospectiveofrhetoric,alltheabovedefinitionsaredeterminedinanarrowsense.Manylinguiststhinkthatthedefinitionofeuphemismneedstobeframedinabroadsense.Americanlinguist,BolingeDwightoncepointedout:“Euphemismisnotrestrictedtothelexicon:therearegrammaticalwaysoftoningsomethingdownwithoutactuallychangingthecontentofthemessage.”B.TheDefinitionofChineseEuphemismEuphemismofthestudyofChinesehasbeenmainlyintheareasofrhetoricalcategory.Rhetoricianstreatrhetoricasafigureofspeech.EuphemismhasexistedintheChineselanguageforthousandsofyears.TheChineseequivalentfor“euphemism”is“委婉”,“婉轉(zhuǎn)”orthemostpopularone“婉曲”containing“婉言”and“曲語”;“婉言”means“substitutinganimplicitexpressionforanexplicitone”while“曲語”impliestheoriginalmeaningthroughdescribingthingsrelevanttoit.ThevariousdefinitionsofeuphemismspresentedbyChinesescholarsaresimilartothosegivenbywesterners.ChenWangdao(陳望道)wasthefirstpersonwhogaveeuphemismadefinition.InhisIntroductiontoRhetoric(《修辭學(xué)發(fā)凡》),thedefinitionreads,“婉曲辭”means“tosaysomethingindirectly,butconnotingandsubstitutingitwithroundaboutandimplicitwordsorevenmetaphoricalexpression”;ChenWangdaosaysthatwhenwespeakoftabooedthings,wedonot“callaspadeaspade”,butusepleasantexpressionstocoverthemupis“諱修辭格”(說話時(shí)遇有犯忌觸諱的事物，便不直說該事物，卻用旁的話來修飾美化，叫做諱修辭格).Atthebeginningofthe1980s,ChenYuan(陳原)definedeuphemismfromthesocial-culturalperspective,“Euphemismmoreorlessoriginatesfromtaboo,euphemismistousepleasant,implicitandlessoffensivewords…tosubstitutethelanguagetaboo.”ThedefinitionputforwardbyChenYuancombinestheeuphemism(婉曲辭)withtaboowords(諱修辭格)andrevealsthedirectrelationbetweeneuphemismandtaboo,whichhasbeenacceptedbyChineselinguists.Thoughscholarsathomeandabroadhavedefinedeuphemismdifferentlyfromdifferentperspectives,theabove-mentioneddefinitionssharesomefeatures:Thepurposeofusingeuphemismsistoavoiddirectlyspeakingouttheunpleasantortabooreferencelikedeath,thedead,thesupernatural,etc.Euphemismisakindofpoliteandroundaboutmodeofexpression.Euphemismisusedtosoftenorbeautifytheunpleasantnessofreality.(II).FeaturesofEuphemismUniversityAndDiversityEuphemismexistswidelyinanylanguageintheworld.Itsuseisveryextensive,fromtheinternationalpoliticalaffairs,economy,education,literature,andevenpeople’sdailylife.Euphemismispermeabletoallkindsofsociallife.AmericanscholarHughLawsononcesaid,“Euphemismrootedinlanguagesodeeplythatalmostnoone---includingthosewhoclaimthemselvesthemoststraightforward---canliveonedaywithouttheuseofeuphemism.Influencedbythetime,spaceandmanysocialfactors,euphemismhasmanyvariantforms.Indifferentfields,therearedifferentformsofeuphemism.Becauseoftheusers’gender,ageandsocialstatus,theuseofeuphemismisalsonotthesame.Onthesametopic,therearealotofeuphemismsforchoice.Forexample,inalmostallsocieties,peopleregarddeathasamystery,andtheyabstainfromsayingdeath.Therefore,nomatterinwhatkindofculture,peoplealwaysfindsomewordswhichdon’tcontainhurtfeelingstoexpressit.InbothChineseandEnglishlanguages,therearemanyalternativesayings.“Death”inChineseeuphemismisdifferentasclass,status,rank,objectives,mannersandotheraspectsarenotthesame.Inthetermsofthesametaboosubject,euphemisticneedsandhabitsarealsodifferentbothinEnglishandChinese.InChinese,aeuphemismfor“die”canrepresentdifferentidentities,genders,agesofthepeople.ThisshowsthefineandrichinChineseeuphemism.Therearealsoavarietyoftermstodescribethesubjectofdeath,suchas:begone,beamongthemissing,benomore,etc.IndirectAndImplicitThemostimportantfeatureofeuphemismisindirectandimplicit.Euphemismalwaysgivespeoplehintsinaroundaboutway.Wecaninferthedeepermeaningandintentionfromthecontext.Forexample,whensomeoneisill,wealwayssayheisundertheweather.Ifsomeoneismad,wesayheissoftinmind.NationalAndRegionalFeatureLanguagecontainsallaspectsofanation’sculturalcharacteristics.Itreflectsanation’sculturalfeature,culturalsenseanditsownthinkingpatternandbehaviorwhicharedistinctfromothernations.Ifdifferentregionshavedifferenthistory,theircustomsandtaboosarealsodifferent.Thisdifferencereflectedinlanguageisperformedasregionaldifferenceinlanguage.Indifferentculturalandsocialcustomsandhabitsofthenationorcountry,taboosaredifferent.Andthesewillbereflectedineuphemism.Thedifferentattitudestowards“old”isthetypicalembodimentoftheculturaldifferenceofChineseandwestern.Respectingtheoldisanationalcivilization,sotheeuphemismsof“old”areveryfew.Chinesepeopleareusedtousing“old”toexpressrespect,suchas“老人家”“老教授”“老壽星”“老先生”etc.The“old”inChineseisthesymbolofwisdom,experience,mature,andthereforetherearesomeidiomswithrespectandpraise,suchas“老馬識(shí)途”“老驥伏櫪”“老當(dāng)益壯”“老成持重”,etc.TheseexpressionsembodiedtheChinesenation’svalueof“respectfortheold”.While,westerncultureistheembodimentofthevalueof“despisetheold”andthespiritofinnovation.Therefore,peoplefromUnitedStatesandotherwesterncountriesabstainfromusingtheword“old”,because“old”means“useless,goodfornothing”insteadof“experiencedorrespected”.Therefore,inEnglishtherearemanyeuphemisms,suchas:seniorcitizen,theadvancedinage,thelongerliving,goldenage,distinguishedgentlemanreplacing“old”.So,indifferentethnicgroupsandregions,people’sattitudestowardsthesamethingmaybeopposite.FeatureofTimesThechangesoflanguagedependontheneedandchangesofthesociety.Andeuphemismundergoesaprocessofmetabolism.Itbearsamarkedbrandoftimes.Forexample,“Sheispregnant”hasmanydifferenteuphemisticexpressionsindifferenteras.1)Shehascanceledallhersocialengagements.(1856)她取消了她所有的社交活動(dòng)。2)Sheisinaninterestingcondition.(1880)她處在很有興味的情況中。3)Sheisinadelicatecondition.(1895)她處在很微妙的情況中4)Sheisknittinglittlebootees.(1910)她正編織小囡的襪子。5)Sheisinafamilyway.(1920)她快當(dāng)家了。6)Sheisexpecting.(1935)她快生(孩子)了。7)Sheispregnant.(1956)她懷孕了。Butafter1960s,euphemismsofpregnantdevelopslowlybecauseinmoderntimes,peoplearenotsoimplicit.Theyalwaysmentionthingsdirectly.Andnow,thephenomenonofpregnantisacheerfulthing.Peoplewillnotbeshywhenmentioningit.III.DifferencesBetweenEnglishandChineseEuphemisms(I).FormativeDifferences Asfaraslinguisticpatternsofformingeuphemismareconcerned,EnglisheuphemismandChineseeuphemismnotonlysharesomeincommonbutalsohavetheirrespectivemeansofformation.Let’scomparethemfromphonetic,lexicalandgrammaticalangles.PhoneticDeviceEuphemismsmaybecreatedbyphoneticdevice—lightreadingandphoneticdistortion.Lightreadingisapopularwayofeuphemismwhichmeansthatwhenyoumeansomethingthatyouhavetomention,butyouareshytomentionit,usuallyyousayitinalowvoice.Phoneticdistortionreferstothechangingofasoundinwordforthepurposeofeuphemism,whichismoreacceptableinEnglishbecauseitswritingisalphabetic.Usuallycrudeorinauspiciouswordsbecomeacceptablebyusingthesedevices.Phoneticdistortionincludesabbreviation,reduplication,distortionofpronunciation,etc.Thereisabbreviationlike“TB”for“tuberculosis”,“vamp”for“vampire”,“JC”for“JesusChrist”,“WC”for“WaterCloset”,“SOB”for“son-of-a-bitch”,“BS”for“bullshit”,andsoon.Thereisreduplicationlike“Pee-pee”or“wee-wee”for“piss”,andtherearedistortionsofpronunciationslike“Gripes”for“Christ”,“Gad”for“God”andsoon.ThereisnodirectlinkbetweenChinesecharacteranditspronunciation.Thus,comparedwithEnglish,theChineselanguagedoesnothavetheconvenienceofphoneticdistortion.WecanfindfewerphoneticdistortionsinChineseandthemostcommonphoneticdeviceisassonance,whichmostlyemploysthehomophonefortherearesomanyhomophonesinChinese.Forexample,insteadofspeaking“解溲”weuse“解手”,“手”isanassonanceof“溲”(dejectsofsoil).“隱君子”standsfor“癮君子”(thepersonwhoisaddictedtodrugs).那幾個(gè)小子是孔夫子搬家，盡是書（輸）啊.InChinese,“書”(book)and“輸”(lose,fail)soundthesame.ThetoneofaChinesecharacteralsocanbeusedtoachieveaeuphemisticeffect.Forexample,intheQingDynasty(221-206BC),toavoidthenametaboo,thetoneof“正月”(zhèngyue:itmeansfirstmonthoflunaryear)waschangedfromthefourthtoneintothefirsttone“正月”(zhēngyue)forfearofsoundinglikethenameoftheemperor“嬴政”(YingZhèng)Besides,astheChinesecharacterisakindofhieroglyph,whichhasitsownuniquesyntheticmethod,Chinesepeopleliketomakeuseofaveryuniquewayineuphemismformation:characterseparation.Herearetwoexamples:1).周先生，你一人十一劃有嗎？（沙陸集《魂斷梨園》）Here十一劃istheeuphemisticexpressionofopium.Forincommonsaying,opiumis煙土or土andthecharacter土canbeseparatedinto十a(chǎn)nd一2).張俊民道：“胡子老官，這是你做法便了，便成了，少不得言身寸?！蓖鹾印拔夷莻€(gè)要你謝……”（《儒林外史》第32回）Thecharacter謝isseparatedinto言身寸toachieveeuphemism.LexicalDeviceThoughEnglishandChineseeuphemismsaresimilarinquiteafewwaysinlexicon,theChineselanguagehasitsuniquewayofeuphemizing---usingantonyms.Sometimesantonymscanincreasethedistancebetweeneuphemismandtaboosothateuphemismnotonlysoundswell,butalsoiseasytounderstand.Forexample,theword“壽”originallymean“年紀(jì)長久”(oldage)or“長久”(foralongtime).Lateron,itrefersto“生日”(birthday)andthenthingsconcerningbirthdayarecalled“壽”.Forinstance,“祝壽”(celebrateone’sbirthday),“壽禮”(birthdaypresent),“壽面”(noodleseatenonone’sbirthday),“壽糕”(birthdaycake),etc.Butamusingly,manythingsrelatedtodeatharealsocalled“壽”,like“壽材”(acoffinpreparedbeforeone’sdeath),“壽衣”(graveclothes)and“壽穴”(grave),etc.Herearefurtherexamplestoillustratethepoint:“監(jiān)獄”(prison),atabooedwordinChineseiscalled“福舍”(blessedhouse)or“福堂”(felicitoushall).Infact,beingsenttoprisonis“禍”(misfortune),butnot“?！?goodfortune).“粉刺”,askindisease,whichcausespimplesandblackheadsonthefaceandneck,becomes“青春美麗痘”(beautifulacneinyouth),like“beautyspot”inEnglish,thoughitwillmakeyoulooklessbeautiful.InEnglish,however,thedeviceisnotcommon.GrammaticalDevice

論大學(xué)生寫作能力寫作能力是對(duì)自己所積累的信息進(jìn)行選擇、提取、加工、改造并將之形成為書面文字的能力。積累是寫作的基礎(chǔ)，積累越厚實(shí)，寫作就越有基礎(chǔ)，文章就能根深葉茂開奇葩。沒有積累，胸?zé)o點(diǎn)墨，怎么也不會(huì)寫出作文來的。寫作能力是每個(gè)大學(xué)生必須具備的能力。從目前高校整體情況上看，大學(xué)生的寫作能力較為欠缺。一、大學(xué)生應(yīng)用文寫作能力的定義那么，大學(xué)生的寫作能力究竟是指什么呢？葉圣陶先生曾經(jīng)說過，“大學(xué)畢業(yè)生不一定能寫小說詩歌，但是一定要寫工作和生活中實(shí)用的文章，而且非寫得既通順又扎實(shí)不可?！睂?duì)于大學(xué)生的寫作能力應(yīng)包含什么，可能有多種理解，但從葉圣陶先生的談話中，我認(rèn)為：大學(xué)生寫作能力應(yīng)包括應(yīng)用寫作能力和文學(xué)寫作能力，而前者是必須的，后者是“不一定”要具備，能具備則更好。眾所周知，對(duì)于大學(xué)生來說，是要寫畢業(yè)論文的，我認(rèn)為寫作論文的能力可以包含在應(yīng)用寫作能力之中。大學(xué)生寫作能力的體現(xiàn)，也往往是在撰寫畢業(yè)論文中集中體現(xiàn)出來的。本科畢業(yè)論文無論是對(duì)于學(xué)生個(gè)人還是對(duì)于院系和學(xué)校來說，都是十分重要的。如何提高本科畢業(yè)論文的質(zhì)量和水平，就成為教育行政部門和高校都很重視的一個(gè)重要課題。如何提高大學(xué)生的寫作能力的問題必須得到社會(huì)的廣泛關(guān)注，并且提出對(duì)策去實(shí)施解決。二、造成大學(xué)生應(yīng)用文寫作困境的原因：（一）大學(xué)寫作課開設(shè)結(jié)構(gòu)不合理。就目前中國多數(shù)高校的學(xué)科設(shè)置來看，除了中文專業(yè)會(huì)系統(tǒng)開設(shè)寫作的系列課程外，其他專業(yè)的學(xué)生都只開設(shè)了普及性的《大學(xué)語文》課。學(xué)生寫作能力的提高是一項(xiàng)艱巨復(fù)雜的任務(wù)，而我們的課程設(shè)置僅把這一任務(wù)交給了大學(xué)語文教師，可大學(xué)語文教師既要在有限課時(shí)時(shí)間內(nèi)普及相關(guān)經(jīng)典名著知識(shí)，又要適度提高學(xué)生的鑒賞能力，且要教會(huì)學(xué)生寫作規(guī)律并提高寫作能力，任務(wù)之重實(shí)難完成。（二）對(duì)實(shí)用寫作的普遍性不重視?！按髮W(xué)語文”教育已經(jīng)被嚴(yán)重地“邊緣化”。目前對(duì)中國語文