Chinese and English Linguistic Taboo.docx

Chinese and English Linguistic Taboo.docx

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ChineseandEnglishLinguisticTaboo

中英文禁忌语言的对比研究

AComparativeStudyonChineseandEnglishLinguisticTaboo

内容摘要

语言是人们在活动过程中产生和发展起来的一种社交工具，其功能就是沟通信息，但在特定的语言行为中，却被赋予了它自身所没有的超人的感觉和超人的力量。

社会成员竟认为语言本身能给人类带来某种吉祥或不幸，人为地设置了种种语言禁区。

他们相信谁要是违背这些语言禁忌，谁就会受到应有的惩罚。

反之，谁要是忠实遵循了语言禁忌的约束，谁就会得到相应的庇护和保佑。

语言禁忌存在的历史悠久，它不仅存在于原始社会的迷信时期，还存在于男性主宰的封建时期，也存在于现代人们生活的各个方面，是一种普遍存在的社会现象。

在汉英两种语言中，有些忌讳是一致的。

中英语言禁忌在语音层面、词汇方面具有相似性。

但是由于汉英民族文化背景、意识形态、价值观念等的不同，中英语言禁忌的内容和形式也有一些差异，因此中英语言禁忌在私人话题、数字及命名称谓的方面具有差异性。

这些异同往往会给跨文化交际带来一些障碍，为此，有效避免使用禁忌语的方法主要是使用委婉语代替禁忌语，并充分了解异国的文化背景。

研究禁忌语言能帮助英语学习者加深英汉两种语言和文化的理解，提高跨文化交际能力，避免交际失败，达到理想的交际效果。

关键词：

语言禁忌；对比研究；委婉语

Abstract

Language,asthecarrierofculture,iscreatedduringtheprocessofhumanbeings’productivelaborandservesasthetoolofcommunicationtoconveythemessagebetweenpeople.However,ithasbeenendowedwithmagicandpowerinparticularlanguageacts.Astheoldsayinggoes,troublescomeoutofthetongue.Superstitiouspeoplethinkthatthelanguageitselfcanbringaboutfortuneormisfortune,thereforetherestrictionoftheuseoftaboolanguagearecreated.Anyonewhoviolatesthemwillgetpunishment,whereasthosewhofaithfullyobeytherestrictionsoftaboolanguagewillgetprotection.

Taboolanguagehasalonghistory.Itexistedinprimitivesuperstitioustimes,feudalpatriarchaltimes,butalsoexistsalmosteveryaspectofpeople'slifeinmoderntimes.AnditisauniversalsocialphenomenoninChinaandBritain.BothChineseandEnglishculturesareinagreementaboutlinguistictaboossuchaspronunciationtaboo,andvocabularytaboo.However,influencedbydifferentculturalbackgrounds,ideologiesandtheconceptsofvalue,ChineseandEnglishlinguistictaboosalsohavedifferencesintheaspectsoftaboosubjects,taboonumbers,namesandliterature.Thesesimilaritieswilloftenbringsomeobstaclestocross-culturalcommunication.Therearetwoeffectivewaysofavoidingtaboo,thatis,usingeuphemismandhavingagoodknowledgeofthetabooculture.ItcanhelpEnglishlearnersimprovetheirabilityofcross-culturalcommunicationandachievebettercommunicationaleffects.

KeyWords：

linguistictaboo; comparativestudy; euphemism

Contents

Introduction

Taboolanguagehasalonghistory.Becausemanyunconvientshavebroughtbyitandmanypeoplecan’tstandupforitindailylife.Sopeoplestudyitgenerationbygenerationnomatterinabroadordomestic.Longbeforepeoplehadstudiedwhichsituationthatlanguagetabooexisted,butitisfarawaytoenough.Itismanifestedinlanguage:

persons,thingsandactivitiesthataretabooshouldnotbetalkedaboutorshouldbementionedinaroundaboutwayinlanguage.Wordsandexpressionsrelatedtothesesocialtaboosarelinguistictaboos.”Theabovedefinitionshowsthatlinguistictaboo,asanintegralpartoflanguage,isnotonlyalinguisticphenomenonbutalsoasocialphenomenon.

Likeotherpartsoflanguage,theoriginoflinguistictabooisdeeplyrootedintheprimitivesocialandculturalbackgroundanditschangeisgreatlyinfluencedbythedevelopmentofhumansocietyinordertosatisfyhumanbeings'needsforsmoothcommunications.Withtheadvancementofscienceandtechnology,manypuzzlesabouttheuniversearesolved,andwiththeincreaseofmaterialwealth,humandemandsforspiritualcivilizationarealsobecominghigher.Evidently,linguistictaboosareareflectionofthesesocialdevelopmentandthevalueconceptsandbeliefsofthecultureinwhichtheyareborn.Itexistsineveryaspectofpeople'slife.

TherearesomesimilaritiesinEnglishandChineselinguistictaboo,butdifferentculturesmaynotallagreeonwhatisorisnotatabooinaspecificcontext.SothedifferencesalsoexistbetweenEnglishandChineselinguistictaboo.ALackofknowledgeinthisfieldorimproperuseoflinguistictaboosmayleadtomisunderstandings,conflictsandotherunknownseriousconsequencesinthecross–culturecommunicationswhichisincreasinglyfrequentandwidernow.

Thispaperintendstostudytheevolutionoflinguistictaboo,toanalyzethesimilaritiesbetweenChineseandEnglishlinguistictabooinpronunciationandvocabulary,andpresentthedifferencesfromtheaspectsofnames,numbersaswellastaboosubjectsinbothcultures.Lastbutnotleast,twoeffectivewaysareproposedtoavoidlinguistictaboos.

1.TheExistenceofLinguisticTaboo

Thewordtaboo（alsospelledas“tabu”,“tapu”and“kapu”）wasborrowedfromTonga,anislandgroupinPolynesia,anditsfirstrecordeduseinEnglishwasbyCaptainJamesCook（1729-1779）,aBritishnavigator.HecametotheArchipelagoofTongaduringhisexplorationsinthesouthernpartofthePacificOcean.Thereheheardthewordfromthelocalpeople,whichoriginallyreferredtopersons,activities（includingspeech）,orthingsunderprohibitionbecausetheywereconsidered,ontheonehand,”sacred”and“consecrated”,andontheother,“uncanny”,“dangerous”and“unclean”.HeintroduceditintoEnglishinhisdescriptionofhisthirdvoyagearoundtheworldin1777.ButtaboophenomenaarenotuniqueinTonga.Instead,ithaslongexistedinallculturesandlanguagethroughouttheworld.

Aswehavementionedabove,linguistictabooisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenonbutalsoakindofsocialphenomenon.Thedevelopmentofsocietyhasinfluencedthedevelopmentoflinguistictaboo.Soifwewanttorevealthewholepictureoflinguistictaboo,wemusthaveareviewofthehistoryoflinguistictaboo.Theexistenceoflinguistictaboohasgenerallyexperiencedtwotimesaccordingtothehistoryofhumansociety:

theoldtimesandthemoderntimes

1.1TheOldTimes

Asweallknow,Intheancienttimes,peopledidn'tgettoknowwellaboutnature,mostnaturalphenomenasuchaslightning,thunder,storm,earthquake,werebeyondtheunderstandingofhumanbeings.Whenthesephenomenahappened,theythoughtthatcertainsupernaturalcreaturespossessedgreatpower.Theythoughtthatiftheywereloyaltothesesupernaturalcreatures,theywouldbesafeorrewarded.Iftheyactedagainstthem,theywouldbepunishedseverely.Asaresult,theprimitivepeoplecreateddifferentkindsofgods.Theyheldastrongreligiousconvictionthatthesegodscontrolledtheworldthattheywerelivingin.Sothefirstthingtheydidwastorespectthesegodsthroughlanguage.Inaword,theearliestlinguistictabooemergedasaresultoftheignoranceandsuperstitionoftheprimitivepeopleinancienttimes.

Feudalsocietyisrigidlystratified.Acountryoffeudalismisusuallycontrolledbytheroyalsandsometimestogetherwiththoseconsideredwithgreatpowergivenbygod.Duringthefeudaltimes,peoplewerenotequaltotherulersandweresuppressedbytheirsuperiors.Thedistinctionbetweentheupperandthelowerclasseswasalsoreflectedintheevaluationofthelanguageusedbythemrespectively.Thewordsofupperclassusedwereconsideredgoodandelegantwhilethoseusedbythelowerclasswereregardedasvulgarandindecentandshouldbeavoidedinthespeechofladiesandgentlemen.Forexample,whenreferringto“出汗”,duchessesusedtheword“perspire”,butthefemaleservantsused“sweat”duringthefeudaltimes,menusuallyplayadominantroleinfamily.WecanseeitfromtheChineseexpressions“三从四德”,“三纲五常”etc.Inordertostrengthentheirpositionandtopreventtheirsubjectsfromviolatingthem,theroyalsandkingsputforwarddifferentkindsofprohibitionsandbans.Forinstance,toshowtheirauthorityandmajesty,thenameoftheemperorandhisancestorsshouldnotbementioned.Mostlinguistictaboosduringthisperiodwereputintoeffectbyrulersinordertomaintaintheirsuperiorsocialpositionandkeepthesocietyundertheircontrol.However,someofthem,becauseoftheirdeep-rootedinfluenceonpeople'smind,stillremaininlanguageevenafterthecollapseofthesocialsystem.

1.2TheModernTimes

Inmodernsociety,asaresultofthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,manynaturalphenomenaarenolongermysterious.Humanbeingsnotonlyconstantlyimprovetheirabilitiestoexploittheworldwheretheyarelivingthroughtheirgreatwisdomandknowledge,butalsomakeeffortstoexploretheextraterrestrialworld.Sciencehasmuchmoresayintoday'ssociety.Thereby,thesuperstitiouselementsinlinguistictaboosdecreasewhilethosereflectingspiritualcivilizationincrease.

Duringsuchanopen-mindedperiod,peoplevaluefreedom,equalityanddemocracyverymuch.Manyminoritiesstruggleforequalrightswiththemajorities.Asaresult,linguistictaboosconcerningracialdiscriminationarise.Forexample,intheUnitedStates,“nigger”waswidelyusedtocallblackpeopleinthe1960sbutnowitisforbiddeninnormalinteractionbecausesuchformofaddressingshowscontemptfortheblackandgoesagainstthespiritofhumanrights.

Inaddition,moreandmorewomenstepoutsidetheirhousestoworktogetherwithmen.Theydon'twanttodependonmenanylonger.However,thetraditionalideasaboutwomenstiflethefulfillmentoftheirabilitiesandtheyareoftentreatedunfairlyinwork.Thisforceswomentoriseandfightforequalitieswithmenandmoreandmoremenbegintolearntorespectwomen,whichwillhaveaninfluentialeffectonthelanguage.Asaresult,taboosonsexistlanguageincrease.Besides,inaneraofpeace,therelativestabilityofsocietyandthefastpaceoflife,peopledon'tbothermuchtoavoidthingsintheobjectiveworld.Instead,theypreferlivingapleasantandharmoniouslife.Theyenjoyspiritualentertainmentverymuch,sotheytrytoavoidthosewordsandbehaviorsthatmaymakeothersfeelunpleasanttokeeptheharmoniousrelationship.Thoseprofessionsthatwerelookeddownuponinth