浅谈英语委婉语的构成方式分类及社会功能Word文档下载推荐.docx

浅谈英语委婉语的构成方式分类及社会功能Word文档下载推荐.docx

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classification;

socialfunction

浅谈英语委婉语的构成方式、分类及社会功能

【摘要】委婉语是人类语言中的一种普遍现象，其存在的历史相当悠久。

任何事物的出现总有其原因，委婉语当然也不例外。

委婉语的出现是与语言禁忌息息相关的。

英语委婉语在交际中起着十分重要的作用，因此值得深入的学习和研究。

本文主要从英语委婉语的构成方式、分类和社会功能来进行阐述。

英语委婉语的构成方式多种多样包括语音手段、语法手段、修辞手段等。

论文还试图根据英语委婉语的内容对其应用范围进行归类。

英语委婉语涉及生活的方方面面，既有日常生活中的委婉语又有教育和法律委婉语以及政治委婉语与商业和工业领域委婉语。

从其诞生之日起，英语委婉语就肩负着社会润滑剂这项重任。

可以预见如果没有委婉语人际交往中将会增加许多摩擦和矛盾。

英语委婉语具有多样化的功能。

除了避讳，它还具有礼貌、求雅、掩饰等功能。

【关键字】英语委婉语;

构成方式;

分类;

社会功能

1. 

Introduction

Euphemismshaveexistedforalongtime.Theword“euphemism”comesfromtheGreekword“Euphemia”.Theprefix“eu-”means“good”,thestem“pheme”means“speech”or“saying”.Manypeoplehavedefinedeuphemism.Herearesomeofthedefinitions.

（1）“（exampleofthe）useofpleasant,mildorindirectwordsorphasesinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectones.”[1]

（2）“apolitewordorexpressionthatyouuseinsteadofamoredirectonetoavoidshockingorupsettingsomeone.”[2]

（3）“alessdirectwordusedinsteadofonethatisharshorbluntwhenreferringtosomethingunpleasantorembarrassing.”[3]

（4）“Substitutionofmildorvagueorroundaboutexpressionforharshordirectone;

Expressionthussubstituted.”[4]

（5）“apolitewordorexpressionthatpeopleusetotalkaboutsomethingunpleasantorembarrassing,suchasdeathandsex.”[5]

（6）“Aeuphemismisusedasanalternativetoadispreferredexpression,inordertoavoidpossiblelossofface:

Eitherone’sownfaceor,throughgivingoffence,thatoftheaudience,orofsomethirdparty.”[6]

Justastheabovedefinitionsstate,someharsh,blunt,unpleasantoroffensivethingsinlifeshouldnotbestateddirectlyandtruthfullyincertainoccasions.Underthesecircumstances,somebetter-soundingnamesshouldbeused.Euphemismisapartofhumanlanguageaswellasapsychologicalandculturalphenomenonofdifferentnations.TheusageofEnglisheuphemismreflectsethicsandbehavioralcodeofpeopleinEnglish-speakingcountries.Fromthedayitcameintobeing,euphemismfunctionsasthelubricatorofcommunication.Thusitenablespeopletoliveinharmonyandmakesconversationssmoothandsuccessful.

Thefollowingpartsholdadiscussionontheorigin,formation,classificationandsocialfunctionofEnglisheuphemisms.

2. 

TheoriginofEnglisheuphemisms

“Euphemismisthelinguisticreflectionofsocialpsychologyandaproductofsocialandculturalenvironment.”[7]“Inwesternnations,theusageofeuphemismsinearlytimesoriginatedfromreligionoradmiresanddreadofgods.”[8]Itsearlieremergencehadacloserelationtolanguagetaboosandreligion.

Inancientsociety,asthelevelofproductivityandsciencewasverylow,peoplefailedtoexplaintheessenceofsomenaturalphenomenasuchaslighteningandthunder.Theycametobelievethatthereweresomesupernaturalpowers,ortheexistenceofdevilsandgodsthatcontrolledtheirlivesandeventhewholeworld.Theydarednottomentionthenamesofthedevilsandgodsdirectly,justastheidiomgoes“Speakofthedevilandheappears.”Thus,languagetabooscameintobeing.Tofindasolutiontothisproblem,peopleusedothernamesthatis,euphemismstosubstitutethenamesofthosethingstheyfearedincircumstancesthattheyhadtospeakofthem.Becauseoftheusageofeuphemisms,peoplefeltthattheyweresomewhatdistantfromwhattheywereafraidofandtheirsafety,happiness,healthandgoodluckwereguaranteed.Thoughitisaratheroldreligiouscustom,itstillexertsastronginfluenceonmodernwesternnations.

Asweallknow,themajorityofthepopulationofEnglish-speakingcountriesbelievesinGodconsciouslyorunconsciously,andtheythinkthatGodexistseverywhereandhasunlimitedpower.WordsrelatedtoGodandreligioncanonlybeusedinreligiousceremonies.SincethenameofGodisregardedastheavatarofGoditself,peopleusuallyuse“theLord”toreplaceit.Besides,Jesusiseuphemizedas“Gee”,“jeepers”,“jiminy”,“Cricket”or“Criminet”;

and“thedeuce”,“thedickens”or“OldNick”substitutes“theDevil”.

3. 

TheformationofEnglisheuphemisms

VariousdevicesareemployedtoformEnglisheuphemisms.

3.1Phoneticdevices

PhoneticdistortionisacommonmeanstoformEnglisheuphemism.Forexample,Peopleuse“Gad”,“Goodness”,“Gosh”,and“Golly”toreplace“God”anduse“cripes”toreplace“Christ”inordertoshowrespect.Assonanceisanotherimportantmeanstoformeuphemisms.Forexample,“‘acoffinshop’iseuphemizedas‘acoffeeshop’,for‘coffin’and‘coffee’havesimilarityinsound.”[9]RhymingslangisalsoemployedtoformEnglisheuphemisms.Slangisveryinformalandhaslocalcolor.Itwasoriginallyusedbyworkingpeople.Now,someslangwordshavebeenacceptedinStandardEnglishandusedaseuphemisms.Forexample,“Bristolcities”isfor“breasts”;

“graspandgrunt”isrhymingslangfor“cunt”and“tealeaf”isfor“thief”.

3.2Spellingdevices

3.2.1Abbreviations

Someeuphemismsareabbreviations.Forexample,“VD”isfor“venerealdisease”;

“BO”isfor“bodyodor”;

“BM”substitutes“bowelmovement”;

“WC”substitutes“watercloset”;

“OD”replaces“totakeanoverdose”,etc.

3.2.2Reinterpretationofinitials

ReinterpretationofinitialsisalsousedtoformEnglisheuphemisms.Forexample,“hotandcold”isaroundaboutexpressionfor“heroinandcocaine”.“hot”and“heroin”havethesameinitial“h”and“cold”and“cocaine”havethesameinitial“c”,but“hotandcold”soundslessaccurateandindirect.

3.3vocabularydevices

3.3.1Loanwords

Borrowingistheuseofloanwordsinordertoavoidtaboos.“Itisthoughtthatloanwordshavefewnegativemeaningandsensitiveassociations,sothattheysoundmoreneutralandpleasant.”[10]

Hereisalistofdirectexpressionsandtheirrespectiveeuphemisms.

“English 

French 

Latin 

smell 

scent

stink 

odor

fat 

rotund

sick/ill 

indisposed 

lie 

prevaricate

spit 

expectorate

sweat 

perspire”[11]

Asweallknow,in43A.D.RomanEmpireconqueredEnglandandbroughtLatintoEnglandandLatinbecameofficiallanguageinEngland.AftertheNormanConquestin1066,FrenchbecamethegovernmentallanguageinEngland.ButFrenchandLatinwereonlyspokenbytheupperclasses,andamongthelowclassesEnglishwasspoken.Theupperclassesheldtheviewthatwordsusedbythemselvesweresuperiortothoseusedbythelowclasses.SotheyusedFrenchorLatinwordstoreplaceunpleasantEnglishwords.LaterpeopleacceptedtheviewthatFrenchandLatinwordsaremoreeuphemisticthanEnglishwords.

3.3.2Usingupliftingwords

UpliftingwordscanmakeonefeelhappierormorehopefulsotheyareusedquitefrequentlyinmodernEnglishasanimportantmeanstoeuphemizethingsrelatedtothehumblesocialclass.Themainpurposeofusingtheseeuphemismsistomakemenialjobssounddecent.Forexample,peoplereplace“waiters”or“waitresses”by“thediningroomattendants”,“landscapeworker”by“landscapearchitect”,“garbageman”by“sanitaryengineer”,andsubstitute“butcher”with“meattechnologist”.Generallyspeaking,informingeuphemismtheruleofusingwordsthatareeasyontheearsisobservedforthepurposeofconsolation.Throughusingupliftingwords,theembarrassingfactsareembellishedandnolongerunpleasant.

33.3Usingvaguewordsorexpressions

Inmodernwesterncountries,vaguewordsorexpressionsareusedinalmostallthefields.“Ifaneighboringgirlhasachildbeforemarriage,peoplewillcommentlikethis:

‘Shehasanaccident.’Theword‘accident’isveryvague.Ifapersoncameacrossadisasteranddied,peoplewillalsouse‘accident’todescribehissituation.Theymaysay:

‘Hehasmetwithanaccident.’”[12]Inschoolastudentmaysaytoateacher:

“Sorry!

Ihavetodomybusiness”whenhewantstogotothewashingroom.Besides,“amanofbadtaste”iscalled 

“amanofdoubtfultaste”;

and“homosexual”isreplacedby“queer”.“Itisnowonderthateuphemismisnamedweaselwords.”[13]

3.3.4Usingcountrynames

Namesofsomecountriesareusedtosubstituteuncomfortablethings.Forexample,“Dutchcourage”replaces“weakcourage”,thatis,couragethatcomesfromdrinkingalcohol;

and“Dutchuncle”isfor