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1、浅谈英语委婉语及其社会影响Abstract Language communication is an important method to maintain social relationship, so people often use the indirect or pleasant expressions in the place of those considered unpleasant, rude or offensive in communication. It is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a kind of so
2、cial phenomenon and cultural phenomenon. It reflects some kinds of corresponding cultural traditions. This paper mainly focuses on the ways of expression, the major function and the social influence of euphemism in English. And the first part elaborates upon the different expressions of euphemism in
3、 English, divided into four parts: figure of speech, semantic method, the variety of pronunciation and spelling form and grammar. And then it makes study the appliance of euphemism on three functions: avoidance, courtesy, disguise in social life, and discusses the positive and negative influences of
4、 euphemism. To know these could help us to understand the mode of thinking, social values, moral concepts, and cultural traditions in English-speaking country, and could improve our language communicative ability. Key words: Euphemism, application, social influence, positive, negative 【摘 要】 语言交际是人类以
5、维系社会关系的重要手段，因而人们在交际中通常避免使用引起双方不快从而损害双方关系的语言，而是采取迂回曲折的方法来表达思想，交流信息，它不仅是种语言现象，而且是社会现象和文化现象。委婉语言体现了相应的社会文化传统。本文主要阐述了英语委婉语的构成方法以及它的社会影响，并着重从修辞手段，语义手段，构词手段及语法手段对委婉语言作了较全面的分析，并对委婉语在交际中的语用功能和表达方式做了一些探讨，从委婉语的“避讳”功能，“礼貌”功能和“掩饰”功能三个方面探讨了委婉语在社会生活中的运用，了解委婉语在运用中的积极作用和消极作用, 有助于我们更深入的了解英语国家人们的思维方式、社会价值观、道德观以及文化风俗，
6、对于提高自身言语交际功能是十分必要的。【关键词】 委婉语； 运用； 社会影响; 积极；消极1. Introduction Euphemism is originally from Greek, meaning, “speak with gook words”. “eu” means “well or sounding well”; “pheme” means “speech”. Its definition in Oxford English Dictionary is “(example of the) use of pleasant, mild, or indirect words or
7、phrases in place of more accurate or direct ones.”1The appearance of euphemism is based on two reasons: one aims to take the place of “taboo”. When giving up a taboo word, people will find another new one to take the place of it, which creates a euphemism. The other aims to avoid offensiveness durin
8、g the communication. It is a figure of rhetoric by which an unpleasant or offensive thing is described or referred to by a milder term. In English language, euphemism is widely used in the daily communications. In order to achieve the aim of “taboo”, it is used to avoid the unpleasant thing; in orde
9、r to achieve the aim of “politeness”, it is used to avoid the inelegant things2, which are the two social psychological basis of the emergence of euphemism. Euphemism is one of the important parts of figure of speech. It is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a kind of social phenomenon and c
10、ultural phenomenon. Euphemism in use differs from person to person, from profession to profession, even from class to class3 , Thats why sometimes the meaning of some euphemisms will puzzle you if you do not know the background of English culture. To grasp the English euphemism can not only help us
11、open our eyes, but strengthen our ability of reading comprehension. This paper aims to discuss the application of euphemism in English and to make acknowledge of its social influence, which could help us use euphemism in a correct way.2. Ways to express euphemism2.1. Figure of speech2.1.1. Metonymy.
12、That is to use the general words to take the place of the concrete words. “Passed away” which refers to “dead” belongs to metonymy. It can be divided into the following forms: 1) to use the container to take the place of the things in the container. For example: “to be fond of the bottle” is a euphe
13、mism for “liking to drink”. 2) To use the entirety instead of the part. For example: “abdomen” is used to refer to “belly”; “limb” refers to “leg”. For some special occasions, the part can be used instead of the entirety. In Australian English “an old hand” is a euphemism for “an old prisoner”. 3) T
14、o use the tools to take the place of the objects. For example, “pick” is a tool of prying the lock. It can refer to “thief”. 4) To use raw materials to take the place of finished products. For instance, “poppy” is a kind of flower, but it also refers to “opium”. 5) To use characteristics to take the
15、 place of objects. For example, “hellow” is a greeting word, and it is also a euphemism for “prostitute” because prostitutes often use this word to solicit the whoremasters; “blood and iron” is a euphemism for “violence”. 6) To use proper words to replace the objects. For example, “napoleon” is a Fr
16、ench golden coin on which there is Napoleons head portrait. “Borstal” is a name of countryside in Kent in Britain. It can also refer to “juvenile delinquency”. -Sometimes, some euphemisms are frequently used instead of the original words; people gradually forget their euphemistic identities. They ar
17、e not used in terms of euphemisms but have their own independent meanings. For instance, take above-mentioned “poppy”, now if you look up this word in the dictionary, you can find the meaning of “opium”, it has lost its euphemistic function. And, if you do not know the background, you can not know t
18、he meaning of “Napoleon” and “Borstal”. Therefore, we can see the importance of knowing the background of English culture. It can help you a lot to recognize and understand the real meaning of euphemism and make good use of it.2.1.2. MetaphorTo use metaphor can easily avoid the offensive things. For
19、 example, wherefore it is better to be a guest of the law, which, though conducted by rules, does not meddle unduly with a gentlemans private affairs. (O. Henry, The Cop and the Anthem) “to be a guest of the law” is a euphemism for “to be in prison”4, Many euphemisms for “death” were created by way
20、of metaphor, such as going to his long home, to be home and free, to go to sleep, to sleep the long (or eternal, never-ending) sleep, to rest in peace, to be at rest, to go to Heaven (or Paradise), to join ones ancestors, to be gathered to ones fathers, to join the immortals. More examples are: aged
21、sunset years, to be poorto be pinched, to have improper sexual intercourse with girls(especially maiden) to deflower; to degenerateto go astray; breastmilk bottles; catameniathe red flag; to be pregnantto be on the nest; the money of briberygrease; to bribeto grease somebodys palm; handcuffsbracelet
22、s.2.1.3 PersonificationPeoples names are often used to replace taboo words. For example, “Big Harry” refers to “heroin” because “Harry” and “heroin” have the same initials. “Lavatory” also has many euphemistical expressions. In 19th century, it was called “ my aunt Jones”, “Mrs. Jones”, “Sir John”,
23、“Sir Harry”, “the Henry”, while in 20th century, it was called “jakes”, “john” etc. But the latter color of personification becomes weak. The first letter can be written in small letter. People just use it as a common noun. In fact, they have lost the euphemistic function. There are many humorous wa
24、ys to express catamenia in terms of personification: 1) My friend has come. 2) I have a visitor. 3) My cousins/country cousins have come. 4) My auntie/grandmother has come to stay. 5) Little sister is here. 6) Ive got painters in. 7) the cardinal has come.2.1.4. AnalogyIn the euphemisms for occupati
25、on people often use analogy, which makes the humble name more elegant5 , For example, “chef” is a euphemism for “cook”. It is borrowed from French word “chef de cuisine”. “Beautician” refers to “hairdresser”; “garbologist” refers to “garbage collector”; “mortician” refers to “undertaker”. There also
26、 appeared some beautiful names for barbershop: hair salon, beauty parlour, and stylist parlour. 2.1.5. EllipsisThat is to omit the offensive words while speaking, such as to be expecting (a baby), to have (sexual) relations with somebody, to take precautions (against pregnancy), to depart (from this
27、 world). Of course, such phrases should be put into a certain context, which can express the meaning of euphemisms.2.1.6. PeriphrasisIt is an expression of beating around the bush. Though it is a muddled acting, its aim is to avoid offending others, and to be more polite6. If someone asked a woman w
28、hether she was knitting a tiny garment, he meant that he wondered whether she was pregnant. Such way of speaking is humorous, sweet and agreeable, such as to dieto close ones eyes, to expire, to breathe ones last; to defecate and to urinateto wash ones hands, to ease or relieve oneself, to do ones b
29、usiness; to courtto go walking; to be pregnantto eat for two; lavatorywashroom, cloakroom; fartwind from behind; womens underclothesunmentionables; trousersnether garments; ask you to go awaycall your carriage for you; to dismissto give somebody the sack; to be in prisonto live at the governments ex
30、pense. Teachers often use this expression to avoid the students and their parents awkwardness. For example, laziness is called “needing ample supervision in order to work well”; “cheat” is described as “needing help in learning to adhere to rules and standards of fair play”; “lies” is called “showin
31、g difficulty in distinguishing between imaginary and factual material”; “steal” is called “needing help in learning to respect the property rights of others”; “be a bully” refers to “having qualities of leadership but needs help in learning to use them democratically”; “dirty” is called “ be lack of
32、 proper health habits”.7 2.2. Semantic method2.2.1. SynonymFor example, “tight” is used instead of “stingy”; “thrift” is used instead of “economical”,“defecate” replaces “shift” and “urine” replaces “piss” . And “mad” is replaced by “crazy”, “insane”, and “lunatic”. Such euphemism aims to use the ap
33、preciative term to take the place of the derogatory term.-2.2.2. NegationSuch euphemism uses the contrary term to express the same meaning, and it could be more useful than synonym in replacing the taboo and make people more understandable and comfortable. We could call stupid people unwise people.
34、“A fat chance” means “a slim chance”and “find words” stands for “bad words”2.2.3. Vague words and expressionsThat is to make the harsher or offensive words more general. For example, if somebody has some mental problems, we can express it like this: His roof leaks a little; he has a screw loose/miss
35、ing; he is not at home. There are other examples which use vague expressions, such as diseasetrouble, problem; to come across an unfortunate thingto have an accident; V. D. (venereal disease) secret disease; to live together illegallyto cohabit; intrauterine devicering; to rape somebodyto do violenc
36、e to somebody; prostitutea woman of the streets, a woman of a certain class, a painted woman, a lady of the night girl; to entertain whorehouse visitorsto see company; whorehousehouse; a squintan obliquity of vision; a man of bad tastea man of doubtful taste; strikeindustrial action; the poorthe und
37、erprivileged, the disadvantaged; in debtin difficulties; buttocksbehind, bottom, backsides; homosexualqueer; sexual intercourseintimacy; to be killedto be put to sleep.2.2.4. Loan wordsBecause from the period of Renaissance, Latin, Greek, and French are considered as cultured words8. People consider
38、 that those languages are more elegant, tactful and ambiguous. In the early 19th century, no matter in Britain or America, people used French word “enceinte” instead of English word “pregnant”. It is popular till now because the former is more elegant, tactful and ambiguous. English borrows words no
39、t only from French but also from other languages in many kinds of ways to create its own euphemism. For example, “lavatory” was borrowed from Latin word “lavatorium”, but it lost its meaning of euphemism because of long- time using. Therefore, people borrowed another euphemism from French “toilette”
40、 which was respelled into “toilet”, and it became the most popular euphemism referring to lavatory. French words “chemise” and “lingerie” are euphemisms for “underwear” and “blouse” respectively. “sushi” was borrowed from Japanese “”. Its original meaning is a kind of Japanese food. People put it in
41、to a phrase “a little tongue sushi”, which means “tongue kissing”. The above words mostly belong to the common vocabulary. In addition, euphemisms also borrow some science and technological words and academic words that are cold, clinic and antiseptic. Such words are mainly from Latin and Greek. For
42、 example, Latin word “coitus” is a euphemism for “fuck”; Native words “shit” and “piss” are all dirty words, while Latin word “defecation” and Greek word “urination” are all accepted easily. 2.2.5. UnderstatementThat is to state some serious things in a temperate way in order to avoid being awkward
43、and strident9 . For example, “She was neither quite pretty nor quiet plain.” “Plain” is used instead of “ugly”; “My cousin Jimmy was a bit soft in the head.” “Soft in the head” means “mad”; “The boy used to take things without permission and has just been out of the rehabilitation home in the countr
44、y.” (steal, detention home); the period of economic depressiona period of economic adjustment; money for briberykickback, commission; poor familieslow income families; falling behindless advanced; retarded childrenless able children; an ugly girla plain or homely girl; disabledphysically handicapped
45、; to be illto look off color, to feel unwell or uncomfortable; treatmenthealth care; old ageadvanced in age.2.3. The variety of pronunciation and spelling formEnglish is an alphabetic writing. The variation of phonetic form can avoid the original conception in a certain degree and achieve the purpos
46、e of euphemism. 1) Compounding: gezunda (goes under). 2) Acronym: DA (drug addict), KG (know gambler), B.O.T (balance of time), J.D (juvenile delinquent), P and Q (peace and quiet). 3) Back-formation: burgle (burgler) 4) chipping: vamp (vampire), homo (homosexual), gents (Gentlemens Room), and ladie
47、s (Ladies Room)10.There is an interesting example: “laboratory”, the original stress was on the first syllable. But it sounded similarly to “lavatory”. In order to avoid the unpleasant connection, the stress was moved to the second syllable. Such phenomenon is called Assonance. That is to make use o
48、f or to create words, which have the same or similar pronunciations with euphemistic words in order to achieve the purpose of euphemism. Therefore, in English there is a way of personification to express “catamenia”: The captain is at home. It is because “captain” is assonant with the medical scienc
49、e term “catamenia”. In oral English, “pee” is used to refer to “piss”, which has the same reason. 2.4. GrammarThat is to use past tense, negative sentence to express euphemism. For example, I can see by your face that you dont think that was wise. The negative form means “thinking that was foolish”; “How do we feel today?” Using “we” instead of “you” shows the moderation and geniality. “I wanted to” “I wondered” often take the place of “I w
