从合作原则看英语委婉语研究.docx

从合作原则看英语委婉语研究.docx

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从合作原则看英语委婉语研究

从合作原则看英语委婉语研究

　　[Abstract]Theword“euphemism”comesfromtheGreek,eu--means“good”,and–pheme-,“speech”or“saying”,andtogetheritmeansliterally“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”.Euphemism,asaculturalphenomenonaswellasalinguisticconcept,hasattractedpeople’sattentionforalongtime.Ithaslongbeenatopicofmuchinterest.Generallyspeaking,peoplewouldusemoreeuphemismsincommunicatingwiththeoppositesex;womenwouldusemorethanmenwould;olderpeoplewouldusemorethanyoungergenerations.Peoplewouldmoreuseeuphemismsin"power"relationsthanincloserelations.Peoplewithhighereducationwouldusemoreeuphemisms.Theabovefactors:

age,sex,socialstatus,education,etc.donotworkseparately.Incommunicating,theyareinterlacedwitheachotherandguideourchoiceofeuphemisms.whethertouseeuphemismsortaboowordsalsodepends,toalargeextent,ontheattitudesofparticipantsandthepurposeofconversations.Thearticle

　　consistsofsixparts.Partoneexplainswhatthemeaningofeuphemismis.ParttwoissayingthecooperativePrincipleinbriefly.cooperativePrinciple,thecornerstonetheoryofpragmatics,isoneofthemainprinciplesthatguidepeople’scommunication.ThecooperativePrincipleanditsmaximscanexplainwhattheliteralmeaningisanditsrealintentionincommunicationandensurethatinanexchangeofconversation.Partthreepresents,theformationeuphemism,namely,formalinnovation,semanticinnovation,rhetoricaldevices,andgrammaticalways.Partfourdiscussesthecommunicativefunctionofeuphemismissubstitution,politeness,disguise,defense,etc.Partfiveservesasthemainbodyofthisarticle.Generallyspeaking,euphemismsviolatetheQuality,QuantityandmannermaximofthecPduetodifferentreasonslikesubstitution,disguiseetc.AndbasicallyeuphemismsobservetheRelationmaxim.Fromtheanalysis,itcanbealsofoundthatsometimesaneuphemismcanberegardedasviolationoftwomaximsofthecPatthesametime.Partsixconcludesthewholearticle.

　　[keywords]cooperativePrinciple;Euphemism;communicativefunction

　　【摘要】委婉语一词起源于希腊语。

Eu意思是“好的”，pheme意思是“话语”，因此字面上的意思是说好听的话或用礼貌的方式说话。

委婉语是一个语言学概念，同时也是一种文化现象，长久以来一直受到人们的关注。

总体上讲人们在与异性进行言语交际时，要比在同性面前更多地使用委婉语，女性要比男性更多地使用委婉语，年长的人要比年青的人更多地使用委婉语。

人们在“权势关系”的语境中往往要比在“亲密关系”的语境中更多地使用委婉语。

受教育程度越高的人，越注意自己的言谈，因而更多地使用委婉语。

上述因素年龄、性别、社会地位、教育等并不孤立存在，在交际中，他们交织在一起决定着委婉语的使用。

是否使用委婉语还要考虑说话者的态度和交谈的目的。

由六个部分组成。

第一部分解释了什么是委婉语。

第二部分简单列出合作原则的各项原则。

它作为语用学的理论基石之一，是指导人们语言交际的原则之一。

它可以很好地解释话语的字面意义和实际意义的关系，这对于交际委婉语显得尤为重要。

第三部分说明委婉语的构成可以有很多种方式：

形式变化，语义变化，修辞手段和语法手段。

第四部分阐述了交际委婉语出于替代、掩饰、和礼貌等功能。

第五部分是的主体，并说明委婉语出于替代、掩饰、和礼貌等原因主要违反了合作原则中的质、量和方式三个次则，基本上是遵循了合作原则中的相关原则。

第六部分总结全文。

　　【关键字】合作原则;委婉语;交际功能

　　1.Introduction

　　IntheoxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish–chineseDictionarytheexplanationofEuphemismis"useofpleasant,mildorindirectwordsorphrasesinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectones"[1].AndintheLongmanDictionaryofcontemporaryEnglishtheexplanationofEuphemismis"theuseof

　　apleasanter,lessdirectnameforsomethingthoughttobeunpleasant"[2].Forexample,themanwhowantstoustocallhima“sanitationengineer”insteadofa“garbageman”ishopingwewilltreathimwithmorerespectthanwepresentlydo.

　　"Theword'euphemism'comesfromtheGreekeumeaning'good'andphememeaning'speech'or'saying',andthusmeansliterally'tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner'"[3].Euphemismshavevariousreasonsforexistence.Theyconcealthethingspeoplefearthemost—death,thedead,thesupernatural.Theycoverupthefactsoflife—ofsexandreproductionandexcretion—whichinevitablyremindeventhemostrefinedpeoplethattheyaremadeofclay,orworse.Theyarebelovedbyindividualsandinstitutionsthatareanxioustopresentonlythehandsomestpossibleimagesofthemselvestotheworld.Andtheyareimbeddedsodeeplyinourlanguagethatfewofus,eventhosewhopridethemselvesonbeingplainspoken,evergetthroughadaywithoutusingthem.Butsomepeoplestillmistaketheeuphemismsintheconversationbythecooperativeprinciple.ViolatingthecP,peoplealsocancontinuetheconversationwitheuphemisms,whichmaketheauthorinterestinattitudesofparticipantsandthepurposeofconversation.Thatisourbodytoday.

　　2.Formationofeuphemisms

　　2.1Formalinnovation

　　Toavoidtheemergenceofcertainletterorsoundmayachievetheeffectofeuphemizing.Theformalinnovationcanhideaudio-visuallythosewordswedon’twanttosayorweshouldn’tsaysoastoachievebetteroutcomeincommunication.

　　2.1.1Abbreviation

　　AbbreviationistheshorteningofawordandmaybeseenintheuseoftheBritishexpressionLADIESforladies’room.TherealsoisGENTSforgentlemen’sroom.

　　2.1.2Apocopation

　　Apocopationisanotherformofabbreviationapparentintheuseofvampforvampireheremeaningaseductivewoman.Andlavisforlavatory;homoisforhomosexual;cocaisforcocaine;braisforbrassiere.

　　2.1.3Initialing

　　Initialingistheuseofacronymsinsteadoftheircomponentpartsasin"jcfor“jesuschrist”,Bmforbowelmovement"[4],"w.cforwatercloset,B.oforbodyodor,V.Dforvenerealdisease,AIDSforacquiredimmunedeficiencysyndrome,SARSforsevereacuterespiratorysyndrome"[5].

　　2.1.4Backforming

　　Backformingisthesubstitutionforonepartofspeechforanother,asin"burglewhichisderivedfrom'burglar'"[6].

　　2.1.5Reduplication

　　Reduplicationistherepetitionofasyllableorletterofaword.Particularlycommoninchildren’sbathroomvocabulary,itsubstitutes"pee-peefor'piss',poo-poofor'bowelmovement'"[7].

　　2.1.6Blendword

　　Ablendwordisaformofphoneticdistortioninwhichtwoormorewordsaresqueezedtogetherbothorthographicallyandphonetically.Anexampleofthisis"gezundaforachamberpot,atermderivedfromthefactthatthisobject'goesunderthebed'"[8].

　　2.1.7Diminutive

　　Adiminutiveistheformationofanewtermbynickingorshorteninganameandaddingasuffixindicatingaffectionorsmallness."Heinie,forexample,isthediminutiveof'hindend'andreferstothebuttocks"[9].

　　2.2Semanticinnovation

　　2.2.1Borrowing

　　mostobviously,euphemismsmaybeformedbyborrowingwordsfromotherlanguages—termsthatarelessfreightedwithnegativeassociations.Thus,weuseGreekandLatinexpressionsformanybodilypartsandfunctions.wehavecoinedhalitosisfromtheLatinfor“breath”andwehavesubstitutedmicturitionforthemorevulgarIndo-European“Piss”.Inaddition,Englisheuphemismsalsoborrowedalotofscientificoracademicterms,whicharebelievedtobemoreeuphemisticandobjectivethantheusualterms,suchasmagneticfor“sexy”andperspirefor“sweat”andsoon.

　　2.2.2widening

　　Euphemismsmaybemadebyasemanticprocesscalledwidening.whenaspecifictermbecomestoopainfulorvivid,wemoveupintheladderofabstraction.Inthisway,cancerbecomesgrowthandagirdlebecomesafoundation.Sometimes,inadditiontowideningwedividethenegativeconnotationsofasingledirecttermbetweentwoormorewords.Insteadofsaying“syphilis”openly,wespeakofasocialdisease.

　　2.2.3Semanticshift

　　Alliedtothephenomenonofwideningisthatofsemanticshift.Thisisthesubstitutionofthewhole,orasimilargenerality,forthespecificpartwedonotchoosetodiscuss.wemaycreatesuchmetonymiesasrearendfor“buttocks”.Sometimes,asintheexpressions"tosleepwith/gotobedwithsomeone"[10],weusewordsnamingthelargereventinplaceofmoreprecisereferencestothesexualrelationsthatarepartoftheprocess.

　　2.3Rhetoricaldevices

　　2.3.1metaphor

　　Euphemismsmaybemadebyaprocesscalledmetaphoricaltransfer,thecomparisonofthingsofonekindtothingsofanother.Theeuphemismschosenareoftenromanticizing,poeticizingandsofteningoftheoriginalwordslike"gotosleep;

　　gotohislonghome;behomeandfree;restinpeace;beatrest;gotoHeaven/Paradise;joinone'sancestors;begatheredtoone'sfathers;jointheimmoralsfordie"[11],shockforrandombombing,constructivedestructionforseveredamage,havearoadtotravelforhavealongtimetoreachanagreementandetc..

　　2.3.2Aposiopesis

　　InEnglish,thereisakindofrhetoriccalledaposiopesisthatcanalsoactasthewayofeuphemizing.whenwethinkweshouldnotsaysomethingundercertainconditions,wesuddenlystopaswhenwesaysomeoneisout;sheisexpecting;"totakeprecautions;todepart"[12]

　　2.3.3Analogy

　　Analogycanoftenbeseeninthevocabulariesofwork.Atendencytoelevatemenialorunskilledjobs—sometimessubstitutingagrandtitleforalargesalary—canmakeoffalsmelllikearosebypromotinggarbagementosanitationengineersoreventowaste--reductionmanagers.Byimplication,theybecomehighlytrainedtechniciansandexecutives.Health-clubstaffsbecomefitnesscoordinators,andsenatorsnowhavetheirshoesshinedbythefootwearmaintenanceengineer,formerlytheSenatebootblack.Evenifyouarenotagovernmentofficial,yourjanitorisnowyourbuidingmaintenanceengineer.

　　2.3.4Understatement

　　Understatementdisplayspeople’sdesiretomaketheirlanguagelesspainfulanddirect.Sothereisneveranuglywomaninthisworld,sheisatleastplain.Teachersonlytellparentsthattheirchildisabitslowforhisage,notretarded.Andcallseniorcitizenforoldperson."Takeother'sthingswithoutpermission"canbeinsteadof"steal".

　　2.3.5Periphrasis

　　Periphrasisisjustbeatingaroundthebush.Peopleoftensayeuphemismsareweaselwords,becausepeoplenevercallaspadeaspadewhenusingeuphemisms.

　　Fartisnotpleasanttoear,sopeoplecallitwindfromthebehind.Someonewantsyoutogoaway,butheonlysayshewillcallyourcarriageforyou.Someonelivingatthegovernmentexpensemaymakeyouenvyhim,butactuallyheisinprison."manysayingsaboutgoingtowcmakeagooduseofperiphrasislikewashone’shands,powderone’snose,spendapenny.Sodothe'drop'for'adjustmentdownward'[13]"

　　2.4.Grammaticalways

　　AccordingtoBolinger,"Euphemismisnotrestrictedtothelexicon.Therearegrammaticalwaysoftoningsomethingdown”.Therefore,euphemizingshouldnotbelimitedtolexicalways;itcanalsobeachievedbygrammaticalways.

　　2.4.1Tense

　　InEnglish,tensecanlendalittleeuphemisticcolortotheexpressionsforsomethingundesired.Especiallywhenpeopleusewant,hope,thinkandwonderorwordslikethattheymayalsomakeuseofthetensetosoundmoreeuphemistically.Forexample,Iwonderedifyouwouldmindhelpingme?

or"Iwonderedifyoucouldhelpme?

"[14].Askinghelpthisway,peoplewon’tfeelsoembarrassediftheywererefused.

　　2.4.2Syntacticalnegation

　　Thismethodcanlessonthepainfulimpactofthelanguagethatisnotwelcomed.wesaysheisnotpretty,butthatisacceptable,becausenotprettydoesnotequalto“ugly”,itcouldbe“plain”too.Notprettyhasawiderrangeofmeaningthanugly.Similarusagesareasthefollowing:

Idon’tthink,Iamafraid,Iamnotsure,Idon'tlike,etc.

　　2.4.3Firstpersonalpronouns

　　Theuseoffirstpersonalpronounslikewe,ours,us,etc,canalsomakeourspeechessoundmoreeuphemistic.youwouldfeelmorewelcomedifyouusedweorourquiteoften.Ifadoctorsaidtoyouhowdowefeeltoday,youwouldfeelverywarmandcomfortable,becauseit