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1、Social Functions and Politeness Principles of English Euphemism【Abstract】 Euphemism, cosmetic words, is not only a lingual phenomenon, but also a cultural and social phenomenon. It is like a mirror, reflecting the values, aesthetic conceptions and moral concepts in some extent. Euphemism plays an im
2、portant part in social communication. It is like lube that avoids hurting the other partys feeling. It oils the human relationship in communication and helps to save face of communicators. If people make full use of euphemism, it can accelerate and facilitate human communication. This paper elaborat
3、es on the features and social functions of euphemism. And it focuses on the relationships between its polite functions and Politeness Principle. This thesis is composed of six parts with Chapter Four and Five as its core: The first chapter focuses on the origin and definitions of euphemism. The seco
4、nd chapter discusses the features of euphemism in many ways. The third chapter talks about the social functions of euphemism from the angle of pragmatics. The fourth chapter forms the basis of the whole research by connecting euphemism with politeness and face-saving theory. The fifth chapter center
5、s on euphemism and Politeness Principle. The last chapter concludes the whole thesis. Appropriate use of English euphemism can contribute a lot to successful message exchange.【Key Words】 euphemism; social functions; Politeness Principle; face want 【摘 要】 委婉语是一种语言现象，一种文化现象，更是一种社会现象，在一定程度上， 它反映了社会的价值观，
6、审美观和美德观。委婉语在社会交际中发挥着重要作用。日常的约定俗成的委婉语能起润滑剂的作用，通过委婉语，可以避免语言过于直露而给对方造成伤害。 它是语言使用中人们用来协调人际关系的有效润滑剂，是保全交际各方面子的重要手段。很多中外学者曾从不同的角度对英语委婉语进行了长期的研究并取得了可喜的成果。本文主要研讨了委婉语的特点，社会功用，并从语用学的角度分析了委婉语的社会功用，礼貌原则及面子问题。本文分为六个部分。第四和第五章是文章的重点。第一章主要探讨了委婉语的定义及起源。第二章从很多方面概括了委婉语的特点。第三章从语用的角度分析了委婉语的社会功用。第四章把委婉语与礼貌，面子保全论联系在一起，是本文
7、的核心。第五章侧重于委婉语貌与礼貌原则的关系。本文的实践意义在于其分析结论有助于保证信息传递的顺利进行并促进人们的日常交流。【关键词】 委婉语；社会功用；礼貌原则；面子 1. Introduction There is a humor: Once a Paris tourist resided in UK. A landlady told him sadly that, “My husband has just passed to the other side.” The guest looked from the fence of the garden but saw no one, fee
8、ling confused. The landlady explained: “I mean hes kicked the bucket.” The guest comforted her that: “I hope his foot will be better soon.” The landlady felt unintelligibly and said: “No, he wasnt here, he snuffed it you know.” The guest wondered and said: “But youve got electricity here.” The reaso
9、ns why the guest didnt answer properly are that he didnt realize that the landlady used euphemism, nor did he understand the “conversational implicative” of euphemism. What the landlady wanted to say is that her husband died. The word euphemism comes from the Greek word “euphemism”, meaning auspicio
10、us/good/fortunate speech which in turn is derived from the Greek root- words eu, good/well + pheme, speech/speaking. The euphemism was originally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that should not be spoken aloud (Such as taboo). The primary examples of taboo words requirin
11、g the use of a euphemism are the unspeakable names for a deity, such as Persephone, Hecate, Nemesis or Yahweh. By speaking only words favorable to the gods or spirits, the speaker attempted to produce good fortune by remaining in good favor with them.” Euphemism is defined in the New Edition of the
12、Oxford Concise Dictionary (1976) as Substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or direct one; expression thus substituted. IN Websters New Collegiate Dictionary (1973) the definition reads, Substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or sugges
13、t something unpleasant.”1 Euphemism is an important rhetorical means in English. It plays an important role in peoples daily communication. It is not only a cultural phenomenon, but also a social phenomenon. It just likes a mirror, which reflects some social and psychological phenomena. 2. Features
14、of euphemism2.1 Indirect and implicitThe most important character of euphemism is indirect and implicit. Euphemism always gives people hints in a roundabout way. We can infer the deeper meaning and intention from the context. For example, when someone is ill, we always say he is under the weather. I
15、f someone is mad, we say he is soft in mind.2.2 UniversalityUniversality is something that is well-known and accepted by all of the people. Though euphemism is indirect and it doesnt come straight to the point, people can easily infer its deeper implication. Some taboos connected with sex, death, or
16、 body functions are replaced by euphemisms. And the public has accepted this kind of use. For example, when we refer to death, we seldom say “die”. We use the expression “pass away”.2.3 The feature of times The changes of language depend on the need and changes of the society. And euphemism undergoe
17、s a process of metabolism. It bears a marked brand of times.For example, “She is pregnant has many different euphemistic expressions in different eras.(1) She has canceled all her social engagements. (1856)(2) She is in an interesting condition. (1880)(3) She is in a delicate condition. (1895)(4) Sh
18、e is knitting little bootees. (1910)(5) She is in a family way. (1920)(6) She is expecting. (1935)(7) She is pregnant. (1956)” 2 But after 1960s, euphemisms of pregnant develop slowly because in modern times, people are not so implicit. They always mention things directly. And now, the phenomenon of
19、 pregnant is a cheerful thing. People will not be shy when mentioning it. “The word gay, at first, it means happy and homosexuality. But as euphemism develops, the word gay only reminds us the meaning of homosexuality. Thus, people dont use the expression We are young and gay.”3 2.4 Regional feature
20、 In euphemism, there are some regional differences. An Australian woman married to an American man. They spent their honeymoon in America. And one day, the couple intended to go to a party together. But the bridegroom couldnt find a suitable full dress. The bride took out a birthday suit that she ga
21、ve him as a present few days ago and said: “Why not wear your birthday suit?” However, the whole family all astonished because in American English, “in ones birthday suit” 4 is the euphemistic expression of “naked”. So this embarrassing situation resulted from the regional differences in euphemism.
22、There are two causes of regional differences.First is a regional cultural difference. In different regions, the culture there will effect the development of euphemism. For example, “go to w.c.”. In the Balliol college of Oxford University, students call “go to toilet as to visit Lady Periam”5 becaus
23、e the toilets of that college were built on the land donated by Lady Periam. Of course, Americans will not agree with this expression.” Second is the difference of geographic environment. For example, in seaside, death would be connected with sea and tide. They may use go with the tide to express di
24、e. On the contrary, in American west mountain areas, the euphemism for die is (gone) over the range or to cross the Great Divide. These are the typical regional euphemisms.”6 2.5 Diversity of lingual region Someone thinks that only upper and middle class use euphemism. But this conclusion is too abs
25、olute. We can analyze this in three aspects.2.5.1 Differences of gender or ageA study shows that female use more euphemisms than male do. There is a saying in English: horse sweat; men perspire; young ladies glow. (Brock, 1973:73) Women use obscure word to express the action of sweat. And the differ
26、ence of gender and age usually influence the choice of the synonyms of euphemism. For instance, there are a variety of expressions about go to toilet. Men use the expression to shoot a lion. Adults may say to go to w.c. And children say to go to the pot.”7 2.5.2 Difference of profession or identity
27、Euphemism changes while the profession and identity change. This is a synchrony variation. The word “die” can be used in many different ways. “In military, people use the expression to lose number of ones mess. This expression orients from the mess system of UK navy. However, in the press, people of
28、ten use the word thirty because they usually mark 30 in the end of a news article, which means ending.”8 2.5.3 Difference of style or context Stylistically, the word “die” has hundreds of euphemisms. But in daily communication, people may use “to be gone” or “to be no more”. In obituary, people use
29、“to pass away” or “to depart”. It also has some witty expressions, for instance, “to pop off” or “to kick the bucket”. Euphemism is restricted by the context. For example, “On the 14th of March, at a quarter to three in the afternoon, the greatest living thinker ceased to think. (F. Engels, Speech a
30、t the Graveside of Karl Marx)” 9 This example involves the passing away of a great man. And the phrase “ceased to think” echoes “thinker”. This euphemism produces a good effect. 3. Pragmatic functions of euphemism3.1 Taboo functionTaboo is the main psychological basis of the emergence of euphemism.
31、Euphemism is the avoidance of the unpleasant, inelegant things. A famous sociolinguist Mr. Chen Yuan once said: Generally speaking, the coming into being of euphemism all begins from taboo. From the origin of euphemism, we can see that taboo is the first function of euphemism. Euphemism has been usi
32、ng for a long time, and it is closely related to taboo. In fact, euphemism dates back to the language taboo in the early period of human civilization. When people try to avoid and give up taboo words, they have to find another word to replace this vacancy at the same time. Hence, people created euph
33、emism.” 10There are some taboo things, such as birth, death, funeral, sex, nakedness, defecation, and urinate. If they are expressed directly, they are called taboo words and the feelings they give us are vulgar, crude and harsh, whereas if they are expressed indirectly, they are called euphemism, a
34、nd the impressions they made on us are elegant, implicit and polite. The evading function of euphemism also works today. Some taboo notions cannot be easily removed from peoples mind. Though science and technology are highly developed today, the word “death” is the taboo words to all nations. Thus t
35、here are a lot of euphemisms related with it. “Such as pass away, answer the final call, be asleep in Jesus, be safe in the arms of Jesus, be at rest, be called to God, be home and free, be in Abrahams bosom, cross the River Jordan, final sleep, go home, go to meet ones maker, go to ones own place,
36、join ones ancestors, join the great majority, return to dust, with God, be no longer with us, pay the debt of nature, tick the bucket, etc.” 11 “Among those, one-way-ticket is the synonym of die. It reflects the speakers experience of life. Life is just like travel. People set out to travel, but whe
37、n they arrive to the termination, they cannot go back. In the past, people often used graveyard to express the place where the dead sleep peacefully. But the associations it gives us are horrified and gloomy. So now, people use funeral home and memorial park to replace them. In such a way, it comfor
38、ts people.” 123.2 Polite function Polite function of euphemism is to avoid inelegant things and make people feel pleasant. As Joanna Channel put in her book Vague Language “Vagueness is used as one way of adhering to the politeness rules for a particular culture, and of not threatening face.” 13 It
39、means that in real life, when people meet with some unpleasant things or behaviors, they usually choose some vague expressions to avoid making bold or hurting others feeling-to use euphemism. It is harsh to say someone is deaf, so people use “auditory-impaired” to replace it. They sound more gracefu
40、lly. “When English-speakers refer to the appearance, they dont use the word ugly or awful, which has strong derogatory sense. Instead, they use the word plain-looking or not pretty.” 14 Westerners are sensitive to age. In their opinion, “old” equals to “useless” in some extent. In order not to hurt
41、the feeling and self-esteem of the old, “old men” are replaced by “senior citizens” or “seasoned men”. For the word “senior” has many meanings. Except “older”, it also means higher in rank or authority. And the word “seasoned” means experienced. “Following are some euphemisms about profession.” 15 H
42、arsh expression euphemism butcher Meat technologist Chimney worker Chimney consultant fireman Fire fighter Garbage man Sanitation engineer hairdresser Hair stylist housekeeper Household executive Press-agent Public relation counselor Prison guard Correctional officer3.3 Covering up function In Vague
43、ness Language, Channell stated covering up function as deliberately withholding information. What is so called “cover up” means “not giving information which the speaker possesses and which could be appropriate in the situation.” 16 Western political life gives birth to euphemism. Some politicians a
44、nd news Medias have made good use of the vagueness of euphemism to cover up the facts of some events for the purpose of making the politics, economy, and military more steady. Concealing the dark side of society is to alleviate the social contradictions caused by sex, violence, poverty, unemployment
45、, and crime. There are some euphemisms about social phenomena. “Venereal disease” has been beautified as “social disease”. “Rape”, a kind of crime, is mentioned casually as “interfere with”; “prostitution became a high-sounding profession-the oldest profession in the world.” 17 In politicians view,
46、violence is a kind of action and dismissal is also “lay off”. People dont need to be surprised at these phenomena.In western countries, politicians create some political euphemisms to serve their political goals. They try to conceal the facts as to ease the tense relations between other countries an
47、d reassure and pacify publics anti-war emotions. For example, In Vietnam War, Gulf war, or Iraqi war, a number of euphemisms emerged to gloss over the horror and cruelty of war and contemptible diplomatic means. “Following is a chart about military euphemisms.” 18 Horrific expression Euphemism air s
48、trike air option bombing and blasting softening up the resistance civilian casualties collateral damage defense crushed defense neutralized ground war ground operation invasion pre-emptive action missile Vehicle nuclear bomb nuclear device retreat strategic withdrawal suicidal attack one-way mission
49、 warhead payload There are also some euphemisms about economy. “People use depression instead of economic crises. The word Striking has been beautified as industrial action.” 19 and when people mentioned slum, they often use “substandard housing” to replace it. “The euphemisms here are in the true sense of the word “false.” They are used to cover up the true nature of events, deceiving
