A Comparative Study of Taboos in English and Chinese.docx

A Comparative Study of Taboos in English and Chinese.docx

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AComparativeStudyofTaboosinEnglishandChinese

AComparativeStudyofTaboosinEnglishandChinese

1Introduction

Whatislanguage?

“Languageistheprincipalmeanswherebyweconductoursociallives.Whenitisusedincontextofcommunication,itisboundupwithcultureinmultipleandcomplexways.”（Kramsch,2000）Whatisculture?

Halliday（1964）statedthat“Cultureisthetotalaccumulationofbeliefs,customs,values,behaviors,institutionsandcommunicationpatternsthatshared,learnedandpasseddownthroughthegenerations’interpersonalcommunicationthatisdifferentacrosscultures.”Itiswellknownthatlanguageisanimportantpartofcultureandalsothecarrierofculture.

Taboo,asanintegralpartoflanguage,existsinbothEnglishandChinese.Anycarelessnessofusingtaboomayleadtounhappiness,misunderstanding,evenconflictsincross-culturalcommunication.Asthedevelopmentofsocietyandtechnology,theworldisgettingsmallerandsmaller.Theword“globalvillage”isappeared.Inordertohaveasuccessfulcommunicationwiththepeoplefromdifferentcultures,boththefactorsoflanguageandcultureshouldbecarefullymanipulated,especiallyincross-culturalcommunication.Inordernottooffendothersandhaveaneffectiveandsuccessfulinterculturalcommunication,thisthesisattemptstostudytaboosunderculturalcontext.

1.1Definitionoftaboos

Taboosexistinallcultures,butwhatistabooonearth?

SigmundFreud（1986）,thefounderofpsychoanalyticschool,pointedoutthattabooincludestwooppositemeanings.Ononehand,itwaslofty,sacred;ontheotherhand,itwasmysterious,dangerous,prohibitiveandunclear.OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish–ChineseDictionarydefinestabooasfollows:

a）banorprohibitiononsomethingthatisregardedforreligiousorotherreasonsasnottobedone,touched,used,spokenofetc.b）generalagreementnottodiscussortodosomething.AccordingtoWardhaugh,tabooisonewayinwhichasocietyexpressesitsdisapprovalofcertainkindsofbehaviorbelievedtobeharmfultoitsmembers,eitherforsupernaturalreasonsorbecausesuchbehaviorisheldtoviolateamoralcode.”（Wardhaugh,2006）TheCambridgeEncyclopediaofLanguagedefinesthewordtaboomorespeciously:

“TaboohasbeenborrowedfromTongan,whereitmeans‘holy’or‘untouchable’.”InChinesetabooisexplainedastheprohibitedwordsoractionsbythemodernChinesedictionary.Asweallknow,ChinesesociolinguistChenYuan（2000）statestabooas“fetishismoflanguageandprohibition/substitutionoflanguage”.Almostallculturesseemtohavecertainidealsorunderstandingthatpeoplesometimestrytoavoidtosayordosomethingdirectlybecauseofoffensiveness.Infact,tabooreflectsthatpeoplerestricttheirbehaviorsandtheirspeech.

Onthewhole,taboocanbedividedintotwoaspects.Oneisnamedverbaltaboo.Theotherisbehavioraltaboo.Verbaltabooisanimportantpartoftaboo.Itreferstowordsorexpressionsthatareavoidedbeingmentioneddirectlyundercertainculturalcontext.Iftherearebeingused,itmayleadtomisunderstandings,unhappiness,evenconflicts.Thebehavioraltaboomeanspeople’sdailybehavioralwhichmaycausedisapprovalorquiteoffensiveness.Socialvaluesortraditionalcustomsstronglyfrownonsuchuse.

1.2Originoftaboos

ThewordtaboowasoriginatedfromTonga,anislandgroupinPolynesia.In18th,aBritishnavigatorcaptainJamesCookcametotheSouthPacificOceantodohisexploration.WhenhereachedTonga,heheardthatsomewordscanbeusedbytheleaderorbytheGodbutsomeonlycanbeusedbycommonpeople.Somethingoractivities（includingspeech）wereregardedas“scared”and“consecrated”.Theseobjectswereregardedforreligiousorotherreasonsasnottobedone,touched,andused.In1777,afteralongseavoyage,JamesCookbroughtitbackandintroduceditintoEnglishlanguage.SigmundFreud,arenownedpsychologist,putforwarddetaileddiscussionsontaboosinhisworkTotemandTaboo.Wardhaugh,R.theCanadiansociologist,pointedouthisstudyontaboosinhisbookAnIntroductiontoSociolinguistics.InChina,taboobegantoappearasaculturalphenomenonatleastasearlyasHanDynasty.InancientChina,taboowasinfluencedcloselywithghosts,sacrificeandreligion.XuShenexplainedtheword“禁忌”inhisfamousbookShuoWenJieZiinHanDynasty.LuRonginMingDynastymainlystudiedtabooandeuphemisminforkcustom.InQingDynasty,QianDaxinmadearelativelysystematicstudyoftheChinesetaboo.Nowadays,taboohasbecomeaninternationalword.

2TheComparativeStudyofTaboosbetweenEnglishandChinese

Asthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,theworldisbecominga“globalvillage”.Communicationindifferentculturesisbecomingmorefrequent.Tabooistheavoidanceindifferentcultures,whichisbelievedtobeimpoliteincross-culturalcommunication,asdifferentcultureshavedifferentsocialvalues,moralstandards,nationalcharacters,traditionalcustomandreligioussense.Inordertocommunicatewellwithpeoplefromothercultures,makingacomparativestudyoftaboosbetweenEnglishandChineseisnecessary.

2.1SimilaritiesbetweenEnglishandChinesetaboos

Humanbeingshavealotincommon.TaboosarenoexceptioninEnglishandChinese.Severaltaboosastodeathanddisease,religionandgod,physicaldisabilityandexcretionofthebody,socialstatus,discriminationandracismbetweenEnglishandChinesewillbeexpoundedrespectivelyinthefollowingsections.

2.1.1Indeathanddisease

Inthemindofmostpeople,healthisthemostimportantpartofhappiness.Therefore,deathisapermanenttabootopicinpeople’slife.Nomatterwhomyouareorhowmuchmoneyyouhave,deathisirresistible.Peopleregarditastheworstthinginlife.Thus,itisnotstrangethatsomanyeuphemismsofdeathexistbothinEnglishandChinese.

InEnglish,therearemanyphasestosubstitutetheword“death”,forexample,“goaway”;“departfromthisworld”;“gotothebetterworld”;“gotosleep”;“gotothewaysofallfresh”;“passaway”;“ceasetothink”;“crosstheriverstyx”;“paypeteravisit”;“tobewithgod”;“tobecalledhome”;“tobetakentoparadise”;“tolaunchintoeternity”;etc.

AgoodexampleisthespeechdeliveredbyEngelsinfrontofMarx’sgravestone:

onthe14thofMarch,ataquartertothreeintheafternoon,thegreatestlivingthinkerceasedtothink.Hehadbeenleftaloneforscarcelytwominutes,andwhenwecamebackwefoundhiminhisarmchair,peacefullygonetosleep-butforever.Thegapthathasbeenleftbythedepartureofhismightyspiritwillsoonenoughmakeitselffelt.

InChinese,therearealsosimilarroundabouts.Forinstance,“走了”means“goaway”;“去见马克思了”means“gotoMarx”;“安息了”means“restinpeace”;“长眠了”means“sleepthelong/eternal”;“上西天了”means“gowest”;“去见老祖宗了”means“gotoone’home”;“作古了”means“begathertoone’father”;“瞑目了”means“tojointheimmortals”;“安睡了”means“gotosleep”;“辞世了”means“gotothebetterworld”.

AnotheravoidedtopicinEnglishandChineseisaboutdisease.InEnglish,peopleusebigC,orterminalillnessinplaceofcancer.Abbreviationsarecommonlyusedtoallocatetheseriousillness,suchasAIDS（AcquiredImmuneDeficiencySyndrome）,BigC（cancer）,DT’S（DeliriumTremens）,VD（VenerealDisease）,etc.Ifonehasmentalillness,peopleoftensayhe/sheisnotallthereorshe/heisalittleconfused.Whengotoseedoctor,theEnglishoftensay“I’msorrytobotheryou,doctor”.InEnglish,peoplehavethefeelingofshameforillness.They’dliketosay“Idonotfeelwell”or“Thereissomethingwrongwithmyleg”toexpresstheirfeeling.InChinese,whenpeoplefeelsick,theymaysay“身体不舒服”,“感觉不太好”insteadof“病了”.Ifonesoldieriswoundedinawar,peoplemaysay“挂彩了”insteadof“伤了”.

Allinall,taboosaboutdeathanddiseaseexistineveryculture,althoughpeoplehavedifferentvalues,customsandbackgrounds.

2.1.2Inreligionandgod

Inmanywesterncountries,alargenumberofpeoplebelieveinChristianityorCatholicism.Thus,taboosonthenameofgodandreligionarebecomingafertilefieldofEnglish.InEnglish-speakingcountries，religiousbeliefandethicalcodehaveanimportantinfluenceonpeople’slife.FrancisKatamba（1994）statedthatgodcouldnotbereferredtobyname,whichresultedinexpressions,suchastheLord,theKingandtheAllmighty.NamesofGodandDevilareconsideredhollyandonlycanbeproperlyusedinseriousreligioussituation.Indailycommunicationtheyaretaboowords.

InEnglishcultures,taboosonthenamesofGod,ofJesus,ofSaintMary,ofSatanareavoided.PeoplecallJesusas“Gee”,“Jeepers”,“Jimingcricket”,etc.Indailyconservation,peopleusefollowingwordsinsteadof“God”,“Gosh”,“theLightoftheWorld”,“HolyOne”,“theMakers”,“Golly”,“Gad”,“theCreator”,“theAlmighty”,“Lordoflords”,“theEternal”,“theSaviors”,“Providence”,“theSupreme”,“Kingofkings”,“All-wise”,etc.Satan,whoistheembodimentofdevils,isavoidedbeingmentionedinwesterncountries.Peopleusuallycallhimthenameasfollows:

“EvilOne”,“theTempter”,“theCommonEnemy”,“Adversary”,“oldHarry”,“PrinceofDarkness”,“theOldGentlemeninBlack”,“OldBoy”,“theBlackone”,etc.

InChinese,wecanfindsimilarreligiousverbaltaboos.Peopleadmiretheirgodbyusingcomplimentaryaddressessuchas“大帝”,“大圣”,“佛陀”,etc.Peoplealsoadds“爷”afterGod’snamesuchas“灶王爷”,“大地爷”,as“爷”isanadmirableformofaddressingtheeldergenerationinChina.

2.1.3Inphysicaldisabilityandexcretionofthebody

BothinEnglishandChinese,physicaldisabilityisremainednottobementioneddirectly,becauseitmak