A Comparative Study of Taboos in English and Chinese.docx

1、A Comparative Study of Taboos in English and ChineseA Comparative Study of Taboos in English and Chinese1 IntroductionWhat is language? “Language is the principal means whereby we conduct our social lives. When it is used in context of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and compl

2、ex ways.” (Kramsch, 2000) What is culture? Halliday (1964) stated that “Culture is the total accumulation of beliefs, customs, values, behaviors, institutions and communication patterns that shared, learned and passed down through the generations interpersonal communication that is different across

3、cultures.” It is well known that language is an important part of culture and also the carrier of culture. Taboo, as an integral part of language, exists in both English and Chinese. Any carelessness of using taboo may lead to unhappiness, misunderstanding, even conflicts in cross-cultural communica

4、tion. As the development of society and technology, the world is getting smaller and smaller. The word “global village” is appeared. In order to have a successful communication with the people from different cultures, both the factors of language and culture should be carefully manipulated, especial

5、ly in cross-cultural communication. In order not to offend others and have an effective and successful intercultural communication, this thesis attempts to study taboos under cultural context.1.1 Definition of taboosTaboos exist in all cultures, but what is taboo on earth? Sigmund Freud (1986), the

6、founder of psychoanalytic school, pointed out that taboo includes two opposite meanings. On one hand, it was lofty, sacred; on the other hand, it was mysterious, dangerous, prohibitive and unclear. Oxford Advanced Learner s English Chinese Dictionary defines taboo as follows: a) ban or prohibition o

7、n something that is regarded for religious or other reasons as not to be done, touched, used, spoken of etc. b) general agreement not to discuss or to do something. According to Wardhaugh, taboo is one way in which a society expresses its disapproval of certain kinds of behavior believed to be harmf

8、ul to its members, either for supernatural reasons or because such behavior is held to violate a moral code.” (Wardhaugh, 2006) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language defines the word taboo more speciously: “Taboo has been borrowed from Tongan, where it means holy or untouchable.” In Chinese taboo i

9、s explained as the prohibited words or actions by the modern Chinese dictionary. As we all know, Chinese sociolinguist ChenYuan (2000) states taboo as “fetishism of language and prohibition/substitution of language”. Almost all cultures seem to have certain ideals or understanding that people someti

10、mes try to avoid to say or do something directly because of offensiveness. In fact, taboo reflects that people restrict their behaviors and their speech. On the whole, taboo can be divided into two aspects. One is named verbal taboo. The other is behavioral taboo. Verbal taboo is an important part o

11、f taboo. It refers to words or expressions that are avoided being mentioned directly under certain cultural context. If there are being used, it may lead to misunderstandings, unhappiness, even conflicts. The behavioral taboo means peoples daily behavioral which may cause disapproval or quite offens

12、iveness. Social values or traditional customs strongly frown on such use.1.2 Origin of taboosThe word taboo was originated from Tonga, an island group in Polynesia. In 18th, a British navigator captain James Cook came to the South Pacific Ocean to do his exploration. When he reached Tonga, he heard

13、that some words can be used by the leader or by the God but some only can be used by common people. Something or activities (including speech) were regarded as “scared” and “consecrated”. These objects were regarded for religious or other reasons as not to be done, touched, and used. In 1777, after

14、a long sea voyage, James Cook brought it back and introduced it into English language. Sigmund Freud, a renowned psychologist, put forward detailed discussions on taboos in his work Totem and Taboo. Wardhaugh, R. the Canadian sociologist, pointed out his study on taboos in his book An Introduction t

15、o Sociolinguistics. In China, taboo began to appear as a cultural phenomenon at least as early as Han Dynasty. In ancient China, taboo was influenced closely with ghosts, sacrifice and religion. Xu Shen explained the word “禁忌” in his famous book Shuo Wen Jie Zi in Han Dynasty. Lu Rong in Ming Dynast

16、y mainly studied taboo and euphemism in fork custom. In Qing Dynasty, Qian Daxin made a relatively systematic study of the Chinese taboo. Nowadays, taboo has become an international word.2 The Comparative Study of Taboos between English and ChineseAs the development of science and technology, the wo

17、rld is becoming a “global village”. Communication in different cultures is becoming more frequent. Taboo is the avoidance in different cultures, which is believed to be impolite in cross-cultural communication, as different cultures have different social values, moral standards, national characters,

18、 traditional custom and religious sense. In order to communicate well with people from other cultures, making a comparative study of taboos between English and Chinese is necessary.2.1 Similarities between English and Chinese taboosHuman beings have a lot in common. Taboos are no exception in Englis

19、h and Chinese. Several taboos as to death and disease, religion and god, physical disability and excretion of the body, social status, discrimination and racism between English and Chinese will be expounded respectively in the following sections.2.1.1 In death and diseaseIn the mind of most people,

20、health is the most important part of happiness. Therefore, death is a permanent taboo topic in peoples life. No matter whom you are or how much money you have, death is irresistible. People regard it as the worst thing in life. Thus, it is not strange that so many euphemisms of death exist both in E

21、nglish and Chinese. In English, there are many phases to substitute the word “death”, for example, “go away”; “depart from this world”; “go to the better world”; “go to sleep”; “go to the ways of all fresh”; “pass away”; “ cease to think”; “ cross the river styx”; “ pay peter a visit”; “to be with g

22、od”; “ to be called home”; “to be taken to paradise”; “to launch into eternity”; etc. A good example is the speech delivered by Engels in front of Marxs grave stone: on the 14th of March, at a quarter to three in the afternoon, the greatest living thinker ceased to think. He had been left alone for

23、scarcely two minutes, and when we came back we found him in his armchair, peacefully gone to sleep-but forever. The gap that has been left by the departure of his mighty spirit will soon enough make itself felt. In Chinese, there are also similar roundabouts. For instance, “走了” means “go away ”; “去见

24、马克思了” means “go to Marx”; “安息了” means “ rest in peace ”; “长眠了” means “sleep the long/ eternal”; “上西天了” means “go west”; “去见老祖宗了”means “go to one home”; “作古了” means “be gather to one father”; “瞑目了” means “to join the immortals”; “安睡了” means “ go to sleep”; “辞世了” means “go to the better world”.Another

25、 avoided topic in English and Chinese is about disease. In English, people use big C, or terminal illness in place of cancer. Abbreviations are commonly used to allocate the serious illness, such as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), Big C (cancer), DTS (Delirium Tremens), VD (Venereal Dise

26、ase), etc. If one has mental illness, people often say he / she is not all there or she / he is a little confused. When go to see doctor, the English often say “Im sorry to bother you, doctor”. In English, people have the feeling of shame for illness. Theyd like to say “I do not feel well” or “There

27、 is something wrong with my leg” to express their feeling. In Chinese, when people feel sick, they may say “身体不舒服”, “ 感觉不太好” instead of “病了”. If one soldier is wounded in a war, people may say “挂彩了” instead of “伤了”.All in all, taboos about death and disease exist in every culture, although people ha

28、ve different values, customs and backgrounds.2.1.2 In religion and god In many western countries, a large number of people believe in Christianity or Catholicism. Thus, taboos on the name of god and religion are becoming a fertile field of English. In English-speaking countries，religious belief and

29、ethical code have an important influence on peoples life. Francis Katamba (1994) stated that god could not be referred to by name, which resulted in expressions, such as the Lord, the King and the All mighty. Names of God and Devil are considered holly and only can be properly used in serious religi

30、ous situation. In daily communication they are taboo words.In English cultures, taboos on the names of God, of Jesus, of Saint Mary, of Satan are avoided. People call Jesus as “Gee”, “Jeepers”, “Jiming cricket”, etc. In daily conservation, people use following words instead of “God”, “Gosh”, “the Li

31、ght of the World”, “Holy One”, “the Makers”, “Golly”, “Gad”, “the Creator”, “the Almighty”, “Lord of lords”, “the Eternal”, “the Saviors”, “Providence”, “the Supreme”, “King of kings”, “All-wise”, etc. Satan, who is the embodiment of devils, is avoided being mentioned in western countries. People us

32、ually call him the name as follows: “Evil One”, “the Tempter”, “the Common Enemy”, “Adversary”, “old Harry”, “Prince of Darkness”, “the Old Gentlemen in Black”, “Old Boy”, “the Black one”, etc. In Chinese, we can find similar religious verbal taboos. People admire their god by using complimentary ad

33、dresses such as “大帝”, “大圣”, “佛陀”, etc. People also adds “爷” after God s name such as “灶王爷”, “大地爷”, as “爷” is an admirable form of addressing the elder generation in China.2.1.3 In physical disability and excretion of the bodyBoth in English and Chinese, physical disability is remained not to be mentioned directly, because it mak