English Euphemism and Its Social Finctions浅谈英语委婉语及其社会功能Word文档下载推荐.docx

English Euphemism and Its Social Finctions浅谈英语委婉语及其社会功能Word文档下载推荐.docx

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Asalinguisticconcept,Englisheuphemismhascloserelationshipswithwesterncultures,andittrulyreflectslivingvaluesofEnglishpeopleandtheirhistory.Euphemismisaparticularlygoodmediumforaccesstolanguageforce,whichhasprovidedaneffectiveapproachtounderstandingthehumanmind.ThestudyofEnglisheuphemismcanhelpusunderstandthewesterncultureandpromotetheinternationaldevelopmentbecauseeuphemismsarewidelyusedininternationalnegotiations.SothereisagreatneedforustostudyEnglisheuphemism,including:

itsorigin,itsformationanditssocialfunctions,etc.

II.TheDefinitionandClassificationofEnglishEuphemism

A.Definition

Euphemismisauniversallinguisticphenomenon.Nearlyineverylanguage,therearesomedisgustingwordswhichmakepeoplefeelembarrassed.Intheprocessofcommunication,theunsuitableortoodirectwordswillmakepeoplefeeluncomfortable,evenangry.Thenthereisagreatneedforustouseatactfulwaytoexpressemotion,exchangeideas.Thatistosay,touseapleasant,mildorindirectwordsorphrasestaketheplaceoftabooedwords.

Itisknownthateuphemismisaformoflanguageintentionallycreatedinsocialrelationtoachieveidealcommunication.Withoutthem,anylanguagewouldseemtobebluntandflavorless,voidofpolitenessandvividnesstosomeextent.Asatoolintheprocessofpeopleusinglanguage,euphemismisanimportantwayforpeopletodealwiththesocialrelationships.Likeakindoflubrication,euphemismenablespeopletoexpresswhatcannotbeuttereddirectlyandensurescommunicationtobecarriedsmoothly.Itisalinguisticstrategyincivilizedsocietyforavoidingtaboo.Itisunimaginableifthereisnoeuphemismindailycommunication.

Theword 

“euphemism”isderivedfromtheGreekword 

“euphemismos”,whichmeans 

“fairspeech”.Theprefix 

“eu”means 

“good,soundwell”and 

“pheme”means 

“saying”or 

“speech”.Andthustheliteralmeaningof 

“euphemism”is 

“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”.Thatistosay,euphemismisusedasanalternativetounpleasantexpression,inordertoavoidpossiblelosingface,eitherthespeaker’sface,orthefactoftheaudience,orofthethirdparty.Thisunpleasantexpressionmaybetabooed,fearsome,orforsomeotherreasonsthatspeakerscan’torintendnottousesomecertainexpressiondirectlyonsomeoccasions.InWebster’sEncyclopedicUnabridgedDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguageeuphemismisthesubstitutionofamild,indirect,orvagueexpressionforonethoughtsubstituted.RawsonBlunt,aBritishwriter,definedeuphemismasagoodfavorableinterpretationofabadword.EncyclopediaBritannica（1994）alsodefineseuphemismasafigureofspeechinwhichsomethingofanunpleasant,distressingorindelicatenatureisdescribedinlessoffensiveterms.

Fromtheabovementioned,wecouldclearlyseethateuphemismischaracterizedasavoidancelanguageandevasiveexpression.Thespeakersusewordsorexpressionsasaprotectiveshieldagainsttheangerordisapprovalofnaturalorsupernaturalthings.Itisoneformoflanguageandalinguisticphenomenon.

B.Classification

Generallyspeaking,therearetwokindsofEuphemisms:

oneisthetraditionaleuphemism,whichisrelatedwiththetaboowords,suchasfour-letterwords,death,illness,poor,old,etc.Theotheristhestylisticeuphemism,whichisnotconnectedwiththetaboowords.Itisthe 

“diplomatic”wayofusingalessoffensiveorlessdirectwordorphraseorsayingtoreplacesomethingunpleasantorharsh.Itiskindoftactfulexpression.Itisprimarilyusedinoccupation.Wecanfindsuchwordsinsomeairlinecompanies:

deluxeclassorpremiumclassmeansthefirstclass,whilethefirstclassmeansthesecondclass,andbusiness/economic/touristclassreferstothethirdclass.Moreover,weshouldpaymoreattentiontothecharacteristicsofeuphemism.Beinglookedhorizontally,differentcountrieshavedifferenteuphemisms.Forexample 

thelunarcalendarin1933issymbolizedbytherooster.Whyisitaroosterinsteadofacock?

BecauseintheU.S.A.,cock,thesameasass,bull,isataboo.Beinglookedvertically,differenteuphemismshavedifferenttimesmark.BeingaspecialcharacteristicofVictorianliterature,euphemismreflectedamentalormoralwayofinwhichitwasindecoroustospeakopenlyofthelegsofatable,andofwhichtheverywordunmentionablesisarevealingsymbol.Beforethat,especiallyinthenovelandtheplay,literaturewassufficientlyoutspoken,andwritersduringthepresentcenturyarecertainlynotbackward,incallingaspade.

III.TheOriginsofEnglishEuphemism

A.TheReligiousOriginofEnglishEuphemism 

TheearliestEnglisheuphemismscomefrom 

“taboo”.Theword 

“taboo”comesfromTogan,akindofPolynesian.Itindicatesevasivelanguageoraction.1TheemergenceofEnglisheuphemismistomeettheneedofavoidingtaboos.Inprimitivesociety,peoplecouldn’texplainsuchthingsasailmentandsomesupernaturalphenomena. 

“Peoplehaveconfusionbetweenthenameofthethingsandthingsthemselves.Thenameisviewedasanextensionofthings.Justastheidiomsays, 

‘Speakofdevilandheappears’.Naturallythewordsorphrasesrelatedtosuchthingsbecometaboos.”Intheancienttimes,peoplehadblindfaithinghostsandGodstheyrespected.Theywhisperedandevenfearedthemsotheydidnotdaretoaddresstheirnamesdirectly.TheythoughtitprofanetonameGod.Thereforethenamesofgodsbecometheearliesttaboos.Tospeaknamesofgodswastoevokethedivinitywhosepowerthenhadtobeconfronted.Suchdangerouspracticeswerereservedforpriestsskillsinnegotiatingwiththesupernatural.Sotheusualwaytoavoidistoemployeuphemisms.Therefore,forthereligiousneed,alotofeuphemismsaboutreligionemerged.Forexample,inordernottodesecrateGod,peopleinEnglish-speakingcountryalwaysusesomeothernameforGodinsteadofcallingdirectly,suchas 

“Adonai,theAlmighty,Caesar’sCruth,theCreater,Dod,Gad,Land,Lawks,Lawd.”2Theoppositesideofgodisdevil,whichismoreterribleforpeople.Whenpeoplerefertothem,theytendtousesucheuphemismstoreplace:

D,theBigD,theEvilone,theBlackone,theGoodman,Jesse,Oldboy,Ourfather,Lordoflords,Kingofkings,theLightoftheworld,etc.3 

Fromtheabovementioned,wecanfindthatreligionbringsmanyeuphemistictermsinthereligiousmatter,especiallythenamingandaddressingofGodtothelanguage.

B.TheRacialandNationalOriginsofEnglishEuphemism

Itisknowntoall,thephenomenonofracialdiscriminationisdeeplyrootedinAmericainwhich 

“equalopportunity”isflatteredbyAmericanwhitepeopleasanequalrightenjoyedbyeveryone.Duetothepressureofsocialpublicopinion,althoughsomewhitesdiscriminatetheblackfromtheirheart,theywillnotexposethiskindofprejudiceinpublic.Meanwhile,fewpeopledaretohumiliateandpersecuteblackspubliclyfornoreasonatall.Inotherwords,thewayofdiscriminationbecomestactful.Therearemanyeuphemismsemergingforthisreason.Inthe1930s, 

“nigger”isstillaneutralnouninEngland,andhasnomeaningofhumiliatingblacks.Butsincethiswordhastheobviousmeaningofdiscriminatingtheblacks,mostofpeopleinEnglandandAmericansusesomeothereuphemisticwords,suchas 

“coloredblack”instead.Whentalkingaboutsomeotherraces,itdoesnotoftenusethedirectwordsthatarerelatedtocolor.Peopleoftenusesomeeuphemisticexpressions,suchasthegeographicnames.E.g.Asianreplacestheyellow.

IV.TheFormationofEnglishEuphemism

ThewaysofformingEnglisheuphemismarevarious,whichcanbeanalyzedfromdifferentangles.Inthisthesis,Imakeanalysesinthefollowingfivesways.

A.PhoneticMeans

Englishisphonographiclanguage;

sophoneticmeanscanwidelyusedtocoineuphemism.Someunpleasantsoundsorword-formsarebeomittedorhidden.Phoneticmeansmainlyreferstophoneticomissionandphoneticdistortion.

1.PhoneticOmission

Itreferstoomittingsomepartsofthesoundtomakepronunciationshorterandlessunpleasant.

E.g.lavatory—lav 

ex-convict—ex-con

Hypodermic—hypo 

brassiere—bra

2.PhoneticDistortion

Inordertoavoidviolatingtaboo,thespeakersmakesomealterationinspellingandpronouncingofthetaboowords.Forexample,veryreligiouspeopleconsideritasinofusingthenameofGodinadisrespectfulway,so 

“God!

”wasdistortedto 

“Gosh/Golly!

”Itgenerallyincludes:

（1）abbreviation,e.g.tuberculosis—TBJesusChrist—JC 

（2）Reduplication,whichreduplicatesomesyllablesorlettersofthewordstoformeuphemism.E.g. 

“sis-sis”, 

“pee-pee”or 

“wee-wee”replace 

“piss” 

（3）Distortionofthepronunciation,forexample, 

“bloody”ispronouncedas 

“blurry”.

B.LexicalMeans

1.VagueMeaning

Vaguemeaningreferstothegeneralizationofthespecificmeaningstoalleviatethebadeffectoffear,shameoranxiety. 

E.g. 

“You’velostlicense”insteadof 

“yourflyis