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1、英语中的委婉语Euphemism in EnglishContentsAbstract.1Key words.1I. Introduction.2II. Literature Review.32.1General Review of the Study of Euphemisms.32.1.1Definitions of Euphemisms.32.1.2Euphemisms.32.2The Social Background of the Emergence of Euphemism .42.3 The Change and Development of Euphemism .4III. C
2、lassification of Euphemism.53.1Classification of Intercultural Communication says that .53.1.1The Positive Euphemism and Negative Euphemism . 53.1.2The Unconscious Euphemism and Conscious Euphemism . 63.1.3Other Classification of Euphemism 63.2 Classification of Doing Culture Cross-culture Communica
3、tion in action says that.63.2.1Traditional Euphemism.63.2.2Stylistic Euphemism.6IV. Purpose and Significance.6 4.1The Significance of Theory.64.2 The Significance in Practice.74.2.1Relationship between Euphemism and Culture.74.2.2The Relationship between Euphemism and Language.9V. Psychological Foun
4、dation of Euphemism.95.1Fear.105.2Wants of Respect of Dignity.105.3TheTaste for the Grandiloquent. .10VI. Some Negative Aspect of Euphemism10VII. Euphemism and Cross-cultural Communication11VIII. Conclusion.12References .13Euphemism in English摘 要: 本篇论文论述了英语中的一种表达方式-委婉语。在任何一个社会中，总有一些不能直截了当说出来的话。在人们交流
5、的场合中，有相当一部分词语显示的是轻浮的、粗俗的、或至少是使人难堪的意思。为了避免提到这些禁忌语或减轻这些词语对人感情的伤害，人们创造并使用了委婉语，这也能从中表现出一种文化的特征。委婉语作为人类语言的一种共同现象将越来越受到人们的关注。但是在许多年的研究中主要局限在词汇的表达上。较前人的研究而言，这篇论文分析了委婉语产生的社会背景，它所具有的社会，心理功能及各种使用范围。同时，在此基础之上按照其不同的作用常被区分为不同组。而此论文的目标是提升人们在现实生活中使用委婉语的表达能力，引导中国学生能更好的，无障碍的与以英语为母语的人的交流沟通，并且准确生动。关键词： 委婉语；交际；表达；禁忌；心理
6、功能；文化；语言；委婉语的分类Abstract： This paper refers to apart of English expressioneuphemism. In every society there are certain things that are supposed to be unspeakable. A fair number of words are therefore labeled as frivolous, vulgar, obscene, or at least inconsiderate when used in communication. In orde
7、r to skirt those taboo words or ease the sting of harsh words, man has created euphemisms, which can presumably serve as hallmarks of civilization. Euphemism as a common phenomenon of human language was given more and more attentions by people. But for many years research into it was only limited on
8、 the lexicon express. Compare with former researches, this paper analyses euphemism from the social background, social and psychological functions and scope of euphemism. And based on this, it also divides those often used euphemism into different groups according to their usage. This paper aims at
9、improving the ability of euphemism expression and leading Chinese student to communicate with native speaker correctly and vividly. Key words：euphemism; expression; communication; taboo; psychological function; culture; language; classification of euphemismI. IntroductionIn every society there are c
10、ertain things that are not allowed to be spoken, because of belief, custom, sex, and so on. A fair number of words are labeled as frivolous, vulgar, obscene, or at least inconsiderate when used in communication. In order to escape from those taboo words or ease the sting of harsh words, human has cr
11、eated euphemisms, which can express the taboo means and not hurt the peoples feeling. Euphemism as a common phenomenon of human language was given more and more attentions by people. When we consider how to start our conversations, we should bears in mind that a very large number of the themes and t
12、opics found in the world today are not uttered freely among our human beings. We may think what we should speak, what we should not speak, how to speak in a proper way when we want to express our likes or dislikes. Each community has its own principles when they speak of some topics.Euphemism is a p
13、art of English expression. It means: the use of a pleasanter, less direct word for something thought to be unpleasant. The word euphemism is derived from a Greek word meaning “to speak favorably” or “good speech” Euphemisms are mild, pleasant, or inoffensive expressions, substituted for harsh, blunt
14、, coarse, or unpleasant ones. They are often used of politeness or consideration for other people spellings, for instance, we would probably say to our friend, “Im sorry to hear you often quarrel with your mother.” Because we feel that the first statements is more agreeable than the second one. When
15、 referring to Marxs death, English wrote: “On the 14th of March, at a quarter to three in the after noon, the greatest living thinker ceased to think. He had been left alone for scarcely two minutes, and when we came back. We found him in his armchair, peacefully gone to sleep but forever.” We feel
16、that here “gone to sleep but forever” is certainly more expression and appropriate then the blunt and harsh “dead”. There are many examples: “go to the other world(到另一个世界去); pass away(离去); be no more(不在了); breath ones last(作最后的呼吸); come to end(一生结束了); join the majority(加入大多数的队伍); go to ones rest(安息了
17、); sleep the final sleep(最后睡着了); be gathered to ones father(被先父招去了); join ones ancestor(加入祖先的队伍); be asleep in the arms of god(安睡在上帝的怀抱中); return to dust(归于尘土); run ones race(跑完自己的赛程); be no longer with us(与我们永别了); go to way of all flesh(走众生之路); go to heaven; be at peace; be called home; go to meet
18、ones maker; depart this life; go west; go the way of all flesh; join the angels; be promoted to glory; leave this world.”In the case of excretion, some writers use these sentences. “he had opened his eyes with the sun at dawn, scratched, done his business like a dog at the roadside, washed at the pu
19、blic fountain, begged a piece of breakfast bread and a few olives, eaten them squatting on the ground, and washed them with a few handfuls of water scooped from the spring.” and “ There was the yard without any grass and at one side , by a high board fence, a long wooden shed into which we went to p
20、erform certain necessary functions of the body.”In the western countries, people often used euphemisms instead of excretion words, like “to wash ones hand（去洗手）; to power ones nose（去向鼻子扑粉的地方，女士用语）; to go somewhere（到什么地方去一下）; to answer the call of nature（响应大自然的号召）”II. Literature ReviewBoth home and ab
21、road, there are many scholars who are study euphemism. As a result there are many works on it. 2.1General Review of the Study of EuphemismsFirst lets discuss the definitions and features of euphemisms.2.1.1Definitions of EuphemismsWhat is euphemism? Some scholars define euphemisms as “comfortable wo
22、rds (安慰词), gilded words (镀金的字眼), cosmetic words (化妆词), mild expression (温和的表达), prudish phrase (拘谨的用语), delicate term(微妙的措辞),language of deceit(虚假的语言), the defense of the indefensible(不被辩护的辩护语) and so on.2.1.2Euphemisms1) (example of the) use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place o
23、f more accurate or direct ones. For example “pass away” is euphemism of “die” / “pass water” is a euphemism for “urinate” by Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English. (Li 2002) 2) As a rhetoric device, Encyclopedia Britannica Said“A figure of speech in which something of an unpleasant,
24、 distressing, or indelicate nature is described in less offensive terms, as in the expression under the weather for ill or passed away for died.” (Li 2003) 3) “Substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words” (Neaman 19
25、90)4) “they (euphemism) are embedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even those who pride themselves on being plain-spoken, even get through a day without using them.” (Hugh 1974)5) The word euphemism is derived from a Greek word meaning “to speak favorably” or “good speech”. Euphemism is
26、mild, pleasant, or in offensive expressions, substituted for harsh, blunt, or unpleasant ones.2.2The Social Background of the Emergence of Euphemism First, The social background of the emergence of euphemism related to the time background. “The emergence of euphemism is closely related to the time b
27、ackground. During the period of Economic Depression, especially the war period when language tended to be rough, there was little euphemism. While during peacetime when the whole society is in a state of prosperity and stability, people pursued civilized language and thus the number of euphemism inc
28、reased. During the past decades, in the scope of the world, the whole society is developing fast with its economic state changing a lot, a large quantity of taboo emerged and this is the premise of the emergence of euphemism. In 1700s and 1800s, which were the prosperous period of Britain and United
29、 States, there were two climaxes of euphemism in English.” (Li 2003) Second, the social backgrounds of the emergence of euphemism are caused mainly by the people of middle class. “The emergence and development of euphemism was caused mainly by the people of middle class. People of upper class didnt
30、choose their words with great care any longer because their social status has been stabilized. People of lower class didnt have the ability to weigh their word because of their knowledge limitation. People of middle class want to improve their present condition and social status, so they try to pret
31、tify themselves in language. During the past decades, in some English speaking countries, a lot of euphemism emerged and was developing quickly because of the increase in the number of the people of middle class.” (Li 2003) At last the social background of the emergence of euphemism, linked closely
32、with the social status of women. “The emergence and development of euphemism also links closely with the social status of women. Since the foundation of United States, the job opportunity for women has increased a lot and during the middle 1800s, in many cases women were greatly respected. The addre
33、ssing words Gentlemen and Ladies were replaced by ladies and gentlemen just at this time. In many countries, children were taught from childhood that they must weigh their words when talking to women and many words couldnt be used in the presence of women. Since hale of the population of women euphe
34、mism is necessary in many occasions.” (Li 2003) 2.3 The Change and Development of EuphemismEuphemism is closely related with language taboo. In the primitive society, human beings are not able to get known well about nature, they are frightened about natural phenomena: likes thunder, fire, light and
35、 some other things. When they faced these natural phenomena, they believed there existed saints and devils in the world. So we can found that they never call their names, if not, the primitives believe“speak of the devils, it is sure to appear.” That was superstitions in language and caused taboo ev
36、en euphemism in daily life. “Euphemism is not static. As we all know, a word depends for its effect not only on its central meaning, but also upon the meaning that are associated with it. When a euphemism has absorbed disagreeable associated elements or when a disagreeable element of the meaning bec
37、omes too badly prominent, it will degenerate in meaning. The recourse of cultivated use in such cases is to find another euphemistic substitute. For instance, the OE stink with the general meaning smell comes to be to vividly associate with ill smell. In consequence, in ME smell takes its place, onl
38、y in its turn degenerating, has to be succeeded by such words as fragrance, perfume, or bouquet. In all, euphemisms undergo constant change and development .No one can say when the process will stop. As a matter of fact, there is little hope if any, for it to stop.” (Wei 2002) III. Classification of
39、 EuphemismEuphemism can be classified into many types from different angles. Here, some representative classifications of English euphemism will be introduced. 3.1 Classification of Intercultural Communication says that 3.1.1The Positive Euphemism and Negative Euphemism According to Hugh Rawson (198
40、1), euphemism can be divided into two types: the positive and the negative from the perspective of semantics. The positive euphemisms also can be called stylistic ones, which “inflate and magnify the word meaning, making the euphemism seem altogether grander and more important than they really are.”
41、 (Rawson 1981)The positive euphemisms include the many fancy occupational titles, which save the egos of workers by elevating their job status. For example, “sanitation engineer” for “garbage collector”, “custodian” for “janitor”. They also include many institutional euphemism is usually used widely
42、 in the official language and some other formal styles. The negative euphemisms are extremely ancient, and closely connected with the taboos. They are also called “traditional euphemism”. They deflate and diminish. They are defensive in nature, offsetting the power of tabooed terms and otherwise era
43、dicating from the language everything that people prefer not to deal with directly. In many culture, it is forbidden to pronounce the name of God, so there are euphemism such as “Jeeze”, “Gee” or “Jeepers creepers” for “Jesus”, “Jesus Christ” or “Christ” , “goodness” for “God” or “My Gum” for “My Go
44、d”. Many tabooed subjects such as “sex”, “Disease”, “excretion”, “bodily function”, etc. should be euphemized in this way. (Duan 2002)3.1.2The Unconscious Euphemism and Conscious EuphemismAll euphemisms, whether positive or negative, may be used either unconsciously or consciously. So euphemism also
45、 can be divided into “Unconscious Euphemism” and “Conscious Euphemism” (Hugh Rawson 1981) 3.1.3Other Classification of Euphemism “Besides the divisions mentioned above, euphemisms, according to their contents, can be classified as euphemisms of disease, euphemism of death, euphemism of sex, euphemis
46、m of occupation, euphemism of politics” (Duan 2002) 3.2 Classification of Doing Culture Cross-cultural Communication in Action says that“Euphemism can be divided into two parts that traditional euphemism and stylistic euphemism. Traditional euphemism relates to taboo. When the level of science and c
47、ulture was very low, people had superstitious belief. So many words about ghost and god became “taboo”. So the taboo is euphemisms origination.” (Li 2003)3.2.1Traditional Euphemism“Traditional euphemism includes several parts of things: (1) death; (2) disease; (3) sex; (4) excretion.” (Li 2003) 3.2.2Stylistic Euphemism“Stylistic euphemism includes several parts of things. (1) occupation; (2) pover
