浅谈英语委婉语及其社会影响.docx

浅谈英语委婉语及其社会影响.docx

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浅谈英语委婉语及其社会影响

浅谈英语委婉语及其社会影响

　　[Abstract]Languagecommunicationisanimportantmethodtomaintainsocialrelationship,sopeopleoftenusetheindirectorpleasantexpressionsintheplaceofthoseconsideredunpleasant,rudeoroffensiveincommunication.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Itreflectssomekindsofcorrespondingculturaltraditions.Thispapermainlyfocusesonthewaysofexpression,themajorfunctionandthesocialinfluenceofeuphemisminEnglish.AndthefirstpartelaboratesuponthedifferentexpressionsofeuphemisminEnglish,dividedintofourparts:

figureofspeech,semanticmethod,thevarietyofpronunciationandspellingformandgrammar.Andthenitmakesstudytheapplianceofeuphemismonthreefunctions:

avoidance,courtesy,disguiseinsociallife,anddiscussesthepositiveandnegativeinfluencesofeuphemism.Toknowthesecouldhelpustounderstandthemodeofthinking,socialvalues,moralconcepts,andculturaltraditionsinEnglish-speakingcountry,andcouldimproveourlanguagecommunicativeability.

[Keywords]:

Euphemism,application,socialinfluence,positive,negative

【摘要】语言交际是人类以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，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

EuphemismisoriginallyfromGreek,meaning,“speakwithgookwords”.“eu”means“wellorsoundingwell”;“pheme”means“speech”.ItsdefinitioninOxfordEnglishDictionaryis“（exampleofthe）useofpleasant,mild,orindirectwordsorphrasesinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectones.”[1]

Theappearanceofeuphemismisbasedontworeasons:

oneaimstotaketheplaceof“taboo”.Whengivingupatabooword,peoplewillfindanothernewonetotaketheplaceofit,whichcreatesaeuphemism.Theotheraimstoavoidoffensivenessduringthecommunication.Itisafigureofrhetoricbywhichanunpleasantoroffensivethingisdescribedorreferredtobyamilderterm.

InEnglishlanguage,euphemismiswidelyusedinthedailycommunications.Inordertoachievetheaimof“taboo”,itisusedtoavoidtheunpleasantthing;inordertoachievetheaimof“politeness”,itisusedtoavoidtheinelegantthings,whicharethetwosocialpsychologicalbasisoftheemergenceofeuphemism.Euphemismisoneoftheimportantpartsoffigureofspeech.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Euphemisminusediffersfrompersontoperson,fromprofessiontoprofession,evenfromclasstoclass,That’swhysometimesthemeaningofsomeeuphemismswillpuzzleyouifyoudonotknowthebackgroundofEnglishculture.TograsptheEnglisheuphemismcannotonlyhelpusopenoureyes,butstrengthenourabilityofreadingcomprehension.ThispaperaimstodiscusstheapplicationofeuphemisminEnglishandtomakeacknowledgeofitssocialinfluence,whichcouldhelpususeeuphemisminacorrectway.

2.Waystoexpresseuphemism

Figureofspeech

Metonymy.

Thatistousethegeneralwordstotaketheplaceoftheconcretewords.“Passedaway”whichrefersto“dead”belongstometonymy.Itcanbedividedintothefollowingforms:

1）tousethecontainertotaketheplaceofthethingsinthecontainer.Forexample:

“tobefondofthebottle”isaeuphemismfor“likingtodrink”.2）Tousetheentiretyinsteadofthepart.Forexample:

“abdomen”isusedtoreferto“belly”;“limb”refersto“leg”.Forsomespecialoccasions,thepartcanbeusedinsteadoftheentirety.InAustralianEnglish“anoldhand”isaeuphemismfor“anoldprisoner”.3）Tousethetoolstotaketheplaceoftheobjects.Forexample,“pick”isatoolofpryingthelock.Itcanreferto“thief”.4）Touserawmaterialstotaketheplaceoffinishedproducts.Forinstance,“poppy”isakindofflower,butitalsorefersto“opium”.5）Tousecharacteristicstotaketheplaceofobjects.Forexample,“hellow”isagreetingword,anditisalsoaeuphemismfor“prostitute”becauseprostitutesoftenusethiswordtosolicitthewhoremasters;“bloodandiron”isaeuphemismfor“violence”.6）Touseproperwordstoreplacetheobjects.Forexample,“napoleon”isaFrenchgoldencoinonwhichthereisNapoleon’sheadportrait.“Borstal”isanameofcountrysideinKentinBritain.Itcanalsoreferto“juveniledelinquency”.

Sometimes,someeuphemismsarefrequentlyusedinsteadoftheoriginalwords;peoplegraduallyforgettheireuphemisticidentities.Theyarenotusedintermsofeuphemismsbuthavetheirownindependentmeanings.Forinstance,takeabove-mentioned“poppy”,nowifyoulookupthiswordinthedictionary,youcanfindthemeaningof“opium”,ithaslostitseuphemisticfunction.And,ifyoudonotknowthebackground,youcannotknowthemeaningof“Napoleon”and“Borstal”.Therefore,wecanseetheimportanceofknowingthebackgroundofEnglishculture.Itcanhelpyoualottorecognizeandunderstandtherealmeaningofeuphemismandmakegooduseofit.

Metaphor

Tousemetaphorcaneasilyavoidtheoffensivethings.Forexample,whereforeitisbettertobeaguestofthelaw,which,thoughconductedbyrules,doesnotmeddleundulywithagentleman’sprivateaffairs.（O.Henry,TheCopandtheAnthem）“tobeaguestofthelaw”isaeuphemismfor“tobeinprison”,Manyeuphemismsfor“death”werecreatedbywayofmetaphor,suchasgoingtohislonghome,tobehomeandfree,togotosleep,tosleepthelong（oreternal,never-ending）sleep,torestinpeace,tobeatrest,togotoHeaven（orParadise）,tojoinone’sancestors,tobegatheredtoone’sfathers,tojointheimmortals.Moreexamplesare:

aged→sunsetyears,tobepoor→tobepinched,tohaveimpropersexualintercoursewithgirls（especiallymaiden）→todeflower;todegenerate→togoastray;breast→milkbottles;catamenia→theredflag;tobepregnant→tobeonthenest;themoneyofbribery→grease;tobribe→togreasesomebody’spalm;handcuffs→bracelets.

Personification

People’snamesareoftenusedtoreplacetaboowords.Forexample,“BigHarry”refersto“heroin”because“Harry”and“heroin”havethesameinitials.“Lavatory”alsohasmanyeuphemisticalexpressions.In19thcentury,itwascalled“myauntJones”,“Mrs.Jones”,“SirJohn”,“SirHarry”,“theHenry”,whilein20thcentury,itwascalled“jakes”,“john”etc.Butthelattercolorofpersonificationbecomesweak.Thefirstlettercanbewritteninsmallletter.Peoplejustuseitasacommonnoun.Infact,theyhavelosttheeuphemisticfunction.Therearemanyhumorouswaystoexpresscatameniaintermsofpersonification:

1）Myfriendhascome.2）Ihaveavisitor.3）Mycousins/countrycousinshavecome.4）Myauntie/grandmotherhascometostay.5）Littlesisterishere.6）I’vegotpaintersin.7）thecardinalhascome.

Analogy

Intheeuphemismsforoccupationpeopleoftenuseanalogy,whichmakesthehumblenamemoreelegant,Forexample,“chef”isaeuphemismfor“cook”.ItisborrowedfromFrenchword“chefdecuisine”.“Beautician”refersto“hairdresser”;“garbologist”refersto“garbagecollector”;“mortician”refersto“undertaker”.Therealsoappearedsomebeautifulnamesforbarbershop:

hairsalon,beautyparlour,andstylistparlour.

Ellipsis

Thatistoomittheoffensivewordswhilespeaking,suchastobeexpecting（ababy）,tohave（sexual）relationswithsomebody,totakeprecautions（againstpregnancy）,todepart（fromthisworld）.Ofcourse,suchphrasesshouldbeputintoacertaincontext,whichcanexpressthemeaningofeuphemisms.

Periphrasis

Itisanexpressionofbeatingaroundthebush.Thoughitisamuddledacting,itsaimistoavoidoffendingothers,andtobemorepolite.Ifsomeoneaskedawomanwhethershewasknittingatinygarment,hemeantthathewonderedwhethershewaspregnant.Suchwayofspeakingishumorous,sweetandagreeable,suchastodie→tocloseone’seyes,toexpire,tobreatheone’slast;todefecateandtourinate→towashone’shands,toeaseorrelieveoneself,todoone’sbusiness;tocourt→togowalking;tobepregnant→toeatfortwo;lavatory→washroom,cloakroom;fart→windfrombehind;women’sunderclothes→unmentionables;trousers→nethergarments;askyoutogoaway→callyourcarriageforyou;todismiss→togivesomebodythesack;tobeinprison→toliveatthegovernment‘sexpense.Teachersoftenusethisexpressiontoavoidthestudents’andtheirparents’awkwardness.Forexample,lazinessiscalled“needingamplesupervisioninordertoworkwell”;“cheat”isdescribedas“needinghelpinlearningtoadheretorulesandstandardsoffairplay”;“lies”iscalled“showingdifficultyindistinguishingbetweenimaginaryandfactualmaterial”;“steal”iscalled“needinghelpinlearningtorespectthepropertyrightsofothers”;“beabully”refersto“havingqualitiesofleadershipbutneedshelpinlearningtousethemdemocratically”;“dirty”iscalled“belackofproperhealthhabits”.

Semanticmethod

Synonym

Forexample,“tight”isusedinsteadof“stingy”;“thrift”isusedinsteadof“economical”,“defecate”replaces“shift”and“urine”replaces“piss”.And“mad”isreplacedby“crazy”,“insane”,and“lunatic”.Sucheuphemismaimstousetheappreciativetermtotaketheplaceofthederogatoryterm.

Negation

Sucheuphemismusesthecontrarytermtoexpressthesamemeaning,anditcouldbemoreusefulthansynonyminreplacingthetabooandmakepeoplemoreunderstandableandcomfortable.Wecouldcallstupidpeopleunwisepeople.“Afatchance”means“a