Euphemistic Expression in Business English and Their Translation商务英语中的委婉语及其翻译Word格式文档下载.docx

Euphemistic Expression in Business English and Their Translation商务英语中的委婉语及其翻译Word格式文档下载.docx

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Euphemismplaysanindispensablepartinoursociallife,whichaidstoachievesuccessfulsocialinterchangeandco-ordinatehumanrapport.Beingakindoflubricantinbusiness,euphemismhascaughtmoreandmoreattentionsofenterprisesandlinguistics.Bystudycloselytothelanguagepattern,wewillbemorequalifiedtothrowourselvesintothebusinessworld.

Despitethelargenumberofstudiesdoneoneuphemism,wefindthateuphemisticexpressioninbusinessEnglishasasub-stream,stillhasfurtherroomtoexplore.ConsideringtheimportanceofeuphemisminbusinessEnglishandthetranslationoftheeuphemisticexpressionsineverydayuse,webelieveitisofsignificancetostudyit.Asaresultofthis,myessayendeavourstoapproachtheissuefromtheclassificationandthetranslationgrounds.Webelievetheprinciples,thestudyoflanguageusecanrenderusthenature,motivationrealmeaningandfunctioningmechanismoftheeuphemisticexpressionusedinbusinessEnglish.

Thisthesiscontainsthreeparts,whichcanbefurtherdividedintothreechapters.

Partoneintroducesthedefinitionandoriginsofeuphemism,whichwehopetopavewayforourfurtheranalysis.

Parttwoisthemajorpartoftheessaywhichincludestwoclues----thefirstpartpresentstheprincipleandstandardswhenweusetheeuphemismsinbusinessEnglish;

inthesecondpartpresentsaliteraturereviewtotheclassificationoftheeuphemisminglossaryandgrammar.

PartthreeisalsoanimportantpartinthepaperinwhichvariousstrategiesarelistedsothatwecanunderstandandusetheeuphemismmorefluentlyinbusinessEnglish.

BecausetheeuphemismissoimportantinbusinessEnglish,wehavetofigureouthowtheyareusedinbusinesscommunications.Whenweresearchthenegotiationsandotherpatternsofinternationalbusiness,euphemismscanbefoundthroughthewholeprocess:

inquiry,offer,count-offerandacceptanceetc.ThereisagreatamountofEnglisheuphemism;

undoubtedly,thetranslationofeuphemismbecomesextraordinarilyvitalinbusinesscommunication.

Therefore,thispaperwillgiveascientificclassificationoftheeuphemisticexpressioninbusinessEnglishtogetherwithsomeprinciplesofitsapplication,inordertopresentasystematicknowledgeaboutEnglisheuphemisminbusiness.Asforthetranslation,thepaperwilltrytostatetheappropriatestrategiesandalsosomeprinciples.Inthisway,wewillbemorequalifiedintheinternationalbusiness.

ChapterOneDefinitionandDevelopmentofEuphemism

1.1TheDefinitionofEuphemism

ThewordeuphemismisderivedfromaGreekwordmeaningfairspeech.Theprefixeumeansgood,soundwellandphememeanssayingandspeaking.Hencetheliteralmeaningofeuphemismistospeakwithgoodwordsorinagoodmanner.Itisdefinedanindirectwordorphrasethatpeopleoftenusetorefertosomethingembarrassingorunpleasant,sometimestomakeitseemmoreacceptablethanitreallyisintheAdvancedLearner'

sEnglish-Chinesedictionary.Theeuphemismisusedtoavoidtaboostoachieveidealcommunication.Itissuchanimportantsocial-culturalphenomenonthatweshouldplaceagreatattentiononit.Agoodknowledgecanhelptoimprovesocialcommunication.

IncurrentEnglishdictionaries，euphemismsaredefinedasfollows:

l）Substitutionofaninoffensivetermforoneconsideredbluntoroffensive.（AmericanHeritageDictionary，the3rdedition，1992）

2）Word,etc.usedinplaceofoneavoidedase.g.offensive，indecent，oralarming.（OxfordConciseDictionaryofLinguistics，ShanghaiForeignLanguagesPublishingHouse，2000，12）

1.2TheDevelopmentofEuphemism

Asweallknow,languageisusuallyregardedasamirrorreflectingsociety.Then,euphemism,whichisacrucialpartoflanguageinviewofcommunication,reflectsthephenomenonofpeople'

spsychologicalworld.Euphemismoriginatedfromprimitivesociety.Atthattime,peoplebelievedthatlanguagewasnotonlyasymbolbutalsowithmagicpower.Itcouldbringthemmisfortunesaswellasfortunes,mentioningacertainthingsrantheriskofbeingpunished,sotheyusuallyavoidedthesetaboos.Forexample,oneoftheTenCommandmentsinBiblewasThoushaltnotspeakmynameinvain.ThusGodwasgenerallycalledasGad,J.C.,thealmighty,theCreator,andSatanastheGoodman,BlackOne,theOldGentleman,etc.Nowadaystherearestillalotofeuphemismsusedinthesimilarway.E.g.peoplewouldtrytoavoidsuchtaboosasold,diseaseordeathastheymeansomethingunhappy.Foroldpeople,thereareeuphemismssuchasseniorcitizens,goldenage,seasonedman,theelderly,etc;

fordiseases,therearealsomanyeuphemisms,suchasAids,TB,BigC,socialdisease,mentaltrouble,etc;

andfordeath,depart,sleep,gohome,jointhemajority,arefrequentlyused.Astimegoeson,peoplebegintouseeuphemismnotonlytoavoidtaboos,butalsotospeakinapoliteandelegantway,andtoavoidunhappinessinconversations.

Englisheuphemismactslikeakindoflubricantwhichmakescommunicationsgoingonsmoothly.Asanimportantsocial-culturalphenomenon,euphemismhasarousedgreatinterestsoftheexpertsandscholarsathomeandabroad.Theyhadgivendetaileddescriptiontoeuphemism,inwesterncountries;

euphemismiscloselyconnectedwithtraditionaltaboossuchasdisease,sex,death,excretion,etc.Theyaredefensiveinnature,offsettingthepoweroftabooedtermsandotherwiseeradicatingfromthelanguageeverythingthatpeopleprefernottodealwithdirectly.Gradually,theeuphemismhasbecomeanindependentresearcharea,whosemainbranchistheeuphemisticexpressionsinbusinessEnglish.

Sincethepeopleinvolvedinbusinessarefromdifferentculturalbackgrounds,theyhavetoavoidthetaboosfromdifferentculturalcommunitiesincommunication.Astheinternationalbusinessdevelops,theeuphemisticexpressionhasdevelopedintoamainbranchinthestudyofeuphemism.

ChapterTwoEuphemisticExpressioninBusinessEnglish

InbusinessEnglish,peoplecannotsurvivewitheuphemisticexpression.Theeuphemismexistsineverystageoftheinternationalbusiness:

inquiry,offer,count-offer,shipmentandetc.Regardingtothedifferentculturalbackgroundsandlongdistanceoftheshipment,thereareoftensomedisputesandmisunderstandingsintheinternationalbusiness.Iftherearenoteuphemisms,thebusinesscouldnotgoforwardbecauseofsomedirectandunpleasantwords.Onthecontrary,theeuphemismaidstodealwithsometaboosandconflicts,whichmakestheinternationalbusinessbecomemoreandmoresmoothly.

Whenpeopleusetheeuphemisticexpression,theyarealwaysobeyingtothreeprinciples:

cooperativeprinciple,politenessprincipleandfacialprinciple.Thethreeprinciplesareconcludedbytheirfunctions:

avoidance,politenessandgloss-overfunction.However,thepaperendeavorstothedifferentwaystousetheeuphemisticexpressioninbusinessEnglishaccordingtothefunctionsandprinciples.

2.1StandardsandPrinciplesoftheEuphemisticExpressionsinBusinessEnglish

2.1.1CooperativePrincipleandtheEuphemisticExpressioninBusinessEnglish

PaulGrice,aphilosopherandlogician,madeanattempttoexplainthecourseofnaturalconversation,inwhichimpliedmessagesarefrequentlyinvolved.Hisideaisthatinmakingconversation,theparticipantsmustfirstofallbewillingtocooperate;

otherwise,itwouldnotbepossibleforthemtocarryonthetalk.ThegeneralprincipleiscalledCooperativePrinciple,abbreviatedasCP.Itgoesasfollows:

Makeyourconversationalcontributionsuchasrequiredatthestageatwhichitoccursbytheacceptedpurposeordirectionofthetalkexchangeinwhichyouareengage.

TheCPhasfourbranches,whicharefloutedbyeuphemism.

Themaximofquantityrequireswhatonesaysshouldbeinformativebutdonotmakeifmoreinformativethanneeds.Themaximofqualityrequiresonenottosaywhatyoubelievetobefalseandnottosaythatforwhichyoulackadequateevidence.Themaximofrelationrequiresonehastosaywhattoberelevant.Inordinaryconversations,peopleoftensaythingsthatarenotrelevantwiththetopicoftheconversation.InChinese,thereisasayinggoes顾左右而言他.Themaximofmannerrequiresonetoavoido