Similarities and Differences Of EnglishChinese Euphemisms in Culture30Word格式.docx
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II.LiteratureReview…………………………………………………4
III.EuphemismandCulture………………...........................................7
IV.ThesimilaritiesofEnglish-ChineseEuphemismsinCulture………7
1.Thehumanbody………………………………………………………8
2.Diseaseanddeath………………………………………………………8
3.Sex……………………………………………………………………8
4.Socialstatusorgrade……………………………………………………8
5.Age……………………………………………………………………8
6.Religion…………………………………………………………………8
V.TheDifferencesofEnglish-ChineseEuphemismsinCulture……......9
1.Culturebackground……………………………………………………9
2.Valueorientations…………………………………………………….10
3.Culturalcustom……………………………………………………….11
4.Ethicsandmoralconcepts………………………………………………12
VI.Conclusion………………………………………………………….13
References……………………………………………………………14
SimilaritiesandDifferencesofEnglish-Chinese
EuphemisminCulture
Abstract:
Euphemismsaremild,agreeable,orroundaboutwordsusedinplaceofcoarse,painful,oroffensiveones.Theterm“Euphemism”comesfromtheGreek,ofwhicheumeaning“well”or“soundinggood”,phememeans“speech”,andthewholetermliterallymeansgoodorpleasantspeech.Asanindispensableandnaturalpartoflanguage,euphemismhasbeenarousingwideinterest.Manylinguistsandscholarshavestudiedthislinguisticphenomenonfromtheperspectivesofrhetoric,semantics,pragmaticsandsociolinguistics.WhenwecarryonthecontrastofthesimilaritiesanddifferencesofChineseandEnglisheuphemisms,wecanfindthattheeuphemismsinthesetwolanguagesareactuallyimplantedinitsownculture,whichisthechiefaimorpurposeofthisthesis,thatis,totellusthedifferencesofeuphemismsofboththeEnglishandChineselanguagesinculture.
Keyword:
EnglishandChineseeuphemisms,orientationsofculture,thesimilaritiesanddifferences
摘要:
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,在英文单词euphemism中,eu是希腊前缀,意为“好”;
phemism意为“说法”,整个单词euphemism的字面意义为“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广泛研究。
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、汉委婉语的语言及文化特征,对英、汉委婉语进行充分地对比分析。
在进行委婉语映现的英、汉文化对比时,我们发现英、汉委婉语相似的“外观”实际上根植于相异的“文化内涵”,从各自文化中的可以看出英、汉委婉语差异。
关键词:
英汉委婉语,文化价值,异同之比较
I.Introduction
Fromthetimethewordcameintobeing,therefollowed,atanundeterminedbutoneassumesdecentinterval,private,harsh,anddirtywords.Inventionhereisthemotherofnecessity,theneedforeuphemismarose.Epstein(1985:
56)
Ineverysocietytherearecertainthingsthatarenotsupposedtobespeakableormentioneddirectly.AfairnumberofwordsinEnglisharelabeledasfrivolous,vulgar,oratleastinconsiderate.Butinthecommunication,inordertomaintainsocialrelationshipsandexchangeideas,peoplehavetoresorttoakindoflanguageform,whichcanmakedistastefulideasseemacceptableorevendesirable.Thistypeoflanguageisdefinedas“euphemism"
inlinguistics,whichisrepresentedinavarietyofformsandusedforavarietyofreasons.
Muchresearchhasbeendoneoneuphemismbecauseofitsprominenceinlanguagesincethewordwascoined.Alotofgreatworkscameintobeingduringthestudyofeuphemism,whichlayasolidfoundationforfurtherresearch.In1936,inhisbookTheAmericanLanguage,Americanlinguist,Mencken,fullydiscussedwhyhundredsofeuphemismshadbeenbornandbecamepopularonthebasisofAmericanhistoryandsocialculturalbackground.Hisbookhasbecomeavaluablelegacyforeuphemismstudy.In1981,BritishlinguistHughRawsoncompiledADictionaryofEuphemismsandOtherDoubletalks,whichembodiestheachievementsofresearchoneuphemismsoverthedecadesbymanyBritishandAmericanlinguists.Initsten–page–longpreface,HughRawsonnotonlytracedthehistoryofeuphemism,butalsowidelyaccountedforcharacteristicsofeuphemismaswellasitsdefinition,classification,andscopeofuse.Theyear1983sawthepublicationofKindWords—AThesaurusofEuphemisms,compiledbyNeamanandSilver,whichisofgreatvaluetoeuphemismstudy.In1985,EnrightD.J.publishedacollectionofessaysoneuphemism,TheUsesofEuphemism,inwhichsomespecifictopicslikeeuphemismsandthemedia,euphemismsandchildren,andeuphemismandsex,etc.wereputforwardinrelationtothedifferenteuphemisticusesinthesocialfield.Lastbutnotleast,AllanandBurridgepublishedthebookEuphemismandDysphemism:
Languageusedasshieldandweapon,inwhichaninterestingperspectiveonthehumanpsycheistobegainedfromthestudyofeuphemismusedasaprotectiveshieldagainsttheangerordisapprovalofnaturalorsupernaturalbeings.ThisbookisofgreatsignificancetothestudyofEnglishEuphemismsfromthepragmaticperspective.
Comparedwiththoseflourishingstudiesoneuphemisminwesterncountries,Chinesescholars’theoriesoneuphemismseemrare.AlthoughtheresearchofeuphemismsinChinahasquitealonghistoryandwecanfindtheearliestrecordationinTheBookofSongs(《诗经》,scientificandsystematicresearchhadnotbeendoneinthisfielduntilseveraldecadesago.In1976,ChinesescholarChenWangdao(陈望道,1976)publishedthebookIntroductiontoRhetoric(《修辞学发凡》)whichdescribesadefinitionofeuphemismandstudiedeuphemismfromtheangleofrhetoric,sotheChineseeuphemismstudyintermsofrhetoricisnotrestrictedtothelexiconlevel,butisextendedtothelevelofsentenceanddiscourse.
Duringthe70sandthe80softhe20thcentury,westerntheoriesoflinguisticswereintroducedintoChinainsuccession.Inspiredbythenewlyintroducedtheories,someChinesescholarsexpandedthescopeofeuphemismstudyintotheperspectiveofsocialfunctions,andoneofthemostfamousisChenYuan(陈原,1983),whopublishedthebookSociolinguistics,whichcontributesalottothestudyandanalysisofeuphemism.Inthefollowingyears,anumberofChinesescholarspublishedmanyaarticletoairtheirviewsoneuphemismfromdifferentangles,suchasYuYalun(于亚伦,1984),LiGuonan(李国南,1989),ShuDingfang(束定芳,1989),etc..Allofthesepapershavewidenedourvisionandenrichedthestudyofeuphemism.
II.LiteratureReview
Euphemismasawidelyandfrequentlyusedfigureofspeechandahotresearchissueinthefieldoflinguisticsneedsaconciseanddefinitecriteriontojudgethescopeofeuphemism.Westernlinguiststhinktheword“euphemism”comesfromtheGreek“eu”(meaning“good”)and“pheme”(meaning“speech”or“saying”),andthusitliterallymeans“tospeakwithgoodwords”.Lateron,euphemismisdefineddifferentlyandmoreprecisely.Someofthedefinitionsarelistedbelow:
1)Euphemismsiskindoffigureofspeechwhichconsistsinthesubstitutionofawordorexpressionofcomparativelyfavorableimplicationorlessunpleasantassociations,insteadoftheharsherormoreoffensiveonethatwouldmorepreciselydesignatewhatisintended.(OxfordEnglishDictionary,1989)
2)Euphemismisthesubstitutionofamild,indirect,orvagueexpressionforonethoughtsubstituted.(Webster’sEncyclopedicUnabridgedDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,1996)
3)Euphemizingisgenerallydefinedassubstitutinganinoffensiveorpleasanttermforamoreexplicit,offensiveone,therebyveneeringthetruthbyusingkindwords.(EnrightD.J.,1985)
4)Word,etc.usedinplaceofoneavoidedase.g.offensive,indecent,oralarming.(OxfordConciseDictionaryofLinguistics,ShanghaiForeignLanguagesPublishingHouse,2000)
5)Usedasanalternativetoadispreferredexpression,inordertoavoidpossiblelossofface:
eitherone’sownfaceorthroughgivingoffences,thatoftheaudience,orofsomethirdparty.(Allen,K.andBurridge,K.,1991:
18)
Astraditionalwesternlinguisticsrestrictseuphemismstudytothelexicon,euphemismsare,therefore,wordsorphrasesinplaceofthingsconsideredtoberudeorunpleasant.
Givenfromtheperspectiveofrhetoric,alltheabovedefinitionsaredeterminedinanarrowsense.Manylinguiststhinkthatthedefinitionofeuphemismneedstobeframedinabroadsense,oneofwhomisAmericanlinguist,BolingerDwight.Heoncepointedout:
“Euphemismisnotrestrictedtothelexicon;
therearegrammaticalwaysoftoningsomethingdownwithoutactuallychangingthecontentofthemessage.”(1981:
148)
Theapplicationofeuphemism(委婉语)hasexistedintheChineselanguageforthousandsofyears,WhichcanbefoundinTheBookofSongs(《诗经》).ThisisabookcontainingChinesepoemscomposedbetweenthe11th.andthe6thcenturyB.C.TheChineseeuphemism“习习谷风,以阴以雨”takenfromTheMountainGales(《谷风》)indicatesthattheunfortunateeventisgoingtotakeplacethroughdescribingcloudyweatherandrain.
WhenEmperorWuoftheHanDynasty(汉武帝,156–87B.C.)proscribedallnon–ConfucianandespousedConfucianismasthestateideologyandabolishedotherschoolsofthought(罢黜百家,独尊儒术),peopleenjoyedrareideologicalfreedomandhadtobecarefulwiththeirwordsanddeedsortheywouldbepunishedorevenexecuted.Becauseofthiseuphemism(委婉语)developedandflourishedinChina’sfeudalsociety.
TheChineseequivalentfor“euphemism”is“委婉”,“婉转”,orthemostpopularone“婉曲”containing“婉言”and“曲语”.“婉言”means“substitutinganimplicitexpressionforanexplicitone”,while“曲语”impliestheoriginalmeaningthroughdescribingthingsrelevanttoit.Let’scompare:
1)我尝想:
公文书里罢黜一个人的时候常用“人地不宜”四字,总算是一个比较体面的下台的借口。
(梁实秋《骆驼祥子》)
2)阿刘哑告诉,姓孙的那几个人打牌,声音太闹,给法国管事查到了,大吵其架,自己的饭碗也砸破了,等会就得卷铺盖下船。
(钱钟书《围城》)
Example1fallsinto“婉言”,usinganimplicitparlancetoreducetheprovocation.Example2belongsto“曲语”inChinese
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