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3.1Avoidingtaboo...…………………………………………………..…….…...……3
3.2Beingpoliteandconsiderate………..…………………………….…...……..……4
3.3Fordisguising…...………………..……………………………………….….……4
3.4Forencouragingothers………..………………………………………………...…5
4.PragmaticAnalysisofEnglishEuphemismunderCooperativePrincipleand
PolitenessPrinciple…………………..………………………………………………5
4.1CooperativePrincipleandEnglisheuphemism……………..….….……….……..6
4.2.EuphemismviolatingCooperativePrinciple…………..….….……………….…..6
4.3.PolitenessPrincipleandEnglisheuphemism…………...…….……………….….9
4.4EuphemismobservingPolitenessPrinciple……………..….….………..…….….10
5.Conclusion.…………………..…………………………………………...…….…12
References.…………………..……………………………………….…..…….……13
礼貌原则和合作原则下英语委婉语的运用研究
【摘要】委婉语是语言使用中协调人际关系的一个重要手段,是一种用曲折的方式表达说话者思想的特殊的表达方式。
它掩饰了一些不愉快的、冒犯的、尴尬的事实来保护交际中双方的面子。
因此,英语委婉语常常被认为是语言交流中的润滑剂。
近年来,语言学者们从不同角度对这一语言现象进行分析研究,并取得了一定成就。
但由于委婉语的使用在很大程度上受语境的影响,而且随着时间的推移而变化。
因此本文在前人研究的基础上重新定义了英语委婉语,分析英语委婉语的分类及使用动机,然后以语用学研究的一些基本理论为指导来解读委婉语,阐释英语委婉语和合作原则的关系、英语委婉语和礼貌原则的关系,从而得出结论:
为了保证双方交际的顺利进行,英语委婉语常常以违反合作原则的各准则为代价来遵守礼貌原则。
【关键词】英语委婉语;
禁忌语;
掩饰;
合作原则;
礼貌原则
AStudyonApplicationofEnglishEuphemismunderCooperativePrincipleandPolitenessPrinciple
福建师范大学2007级英语
118592007XXXXXX指导老师:
XXX
[Abstract]Euphemismisanimportantmeansoflanguageuseincoordinatinginterpersonalrelationships.Itisaspecialexpressiontoextendpeople’sideasinatortuousway.Englisheuphemismcoversupsomeunpleasant,offensiveandembarrassedfactstosavefacesofbothsidesincommunication.Therefore,itisoftenregardedasthe"
lubricant"
oflanguage.Inrecentyears,linguisticscholarshavemadeanalysisofthislanguagephenomenonfromdifferentanglesandhaveattainedcertainachievementsinthisfield.However,astheuseofeuphemismlargelydependsonthecontextandchangesasthetimegoingon,sobasedonthestudyofformerscholars,thearticlefirstlyredefinesEnglisheuphemism,discussingitsclassificationandmotivationontheuseofEnglisheuphemism.AndthensomebasicpragmatictheoriesarequotedtoillustratetherelationshipbetweenEnglisheuphemismandCooperativePrinciple,andtherelationshipbetweenEnglisheuphemismandPolitenessPrinciple.Thentheconclusionisdrawnintheendthatinordertomakethecommunicationcarriedoutsmoothly,EnglisheuphemismalwaysobservesthePPatthecostofintentionallyviolatingtheCP.
[KeyWords]EnglishEuphemism;
taboos;
disguise;
CooperativePrinciple;
PolitenessPrinciple
1.Introduction
Euphemismissowidelyusedinourlifethathardlycanweignoreitsexistence.Wecancomeacrossitanywhere,infilmsandtelevisions,intheparkandonthestreetcorner.Asanimportantpartoflanguageandalinguisticphenomenon,euphemismisdeeplyrootedinoursociallifeandreflectsoursocialvaluesandculturalvalues.“They(euphemisms)areembeddedsodeeplyinourlanguagethatfewofus,eventhosewhopridethemselvesonbeingplain-spoken,evergetthroughadaywithoutusingthem”(HughRawson,1981:
1).
2.StudiesonEnglisheuphemism
2.1.ThedefinitionofEnglisheuphemism
Euphemismisanimportantmeansintheinterpersonalrelations.Theword“euphemism”derivedfromtheGreekword“euphemisos”,with“eu”means“goodorsoundingwell”and“pheme”means“speech”or“saying”,andthusmeansliterally“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”(NeamanandSilver,1983:
1).
Asaspecialtoolofexpression,euphemismhasbeendefinedvariouslyinbooksanddictionariesbydifferentscholars.Herearesomeavailabledefinitionsasfollows:
1).Thesubstitutionofamild,indirect,orvagueexpressionforonethoughttobeoffensive,harshorblunt(TheRandomHouseCollegeDictionary,1979).
2).Awordorexpressionthatpeopleusewhentheywanttotalkaboutsomethingunpleasantorembarrassingwithmentioningthethingitself(MacmillanEnglishdictionary,2002).
3).Anindirectwordorphrasethatpeopleoftenusetorefertosomethingembarrassingorunpleasant,sometimestomakeitseemmoreacceptablethanitreallyis(OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary(6thedition),2004).
4).Theuseofmildorvaguewordstodisguisesomethingharshandunpleasant(HeinemannBilingualEnglish-ChineseDictionary,2005).
Fromthedefinitionssuggestedabove,it’snotdifficulttofindoutthecommonpointthateuphemismisdefinedfromthesemanticperspectiveandthepurposeistomakeunpleasantthingssoundbetter,makelistenerandspeakerfeelbetterandcomfortablewithoutlosingtheirfaces.
2.2.TheclassificationofEnglisheuphemism
2.2.1Positiveeuphemismsandnegativeeuphemisms
AlthoughEnglisheuphemismiswidelyusedandhasvariousexpressions,thereareseveraluniversallyrecognizedtypesofclassificationsaccordingtodifferentstandards.HughRawson(1981)dividedeuphemismintopositiveandnegativeintermsofsemantics.
Positiveeuphemismscanalsobecalledstylisticones,which“inflateandmagnifythewordmeaning,makingtheeuphemizedseemaltogethergranderandmoreimportantthantheyreallyare”(Rawson,1981:
1).Insomecultures,thereisatendencytoelevatealowhumblestatustoahighdecentposition.Forinstance,“madhouse”isupgradedtobe“mentalhouse”or“mentalhealthcenter”,“garbagemen”tobe“sanitationengineers”,“secretary”tobe“administrativeassistant”.Thiskindofeuphemismsisusuallyusedinsomeformaloccasions.
Incontrast,negativeeuphemisms“deflateanddiminishthewordmeaning,offsettingthepoweroftabooedtermsandotherwiseeradicatingfromthelanguageeverythingthatpeopleprefernottodealwithdirectly.”(Rawson,1981:
1).Negativeeuphemismsareoldandancient,whichhavecloserelationwithtaboos,andarealsocalled“traditionaleuphemisms”.Deathandfuneral,diseasesanddisabilities,sexandreproduction,partsofthebody,etc,arealltabooedtopicsthatshouldbeeuphemized.
2.2.2Unconsciouseuphemismsandconsciouseuphemisms
Accordingtowhetherpeopleremembertheiroriginalmotivationsornot,alleuphemisms,whetherpositiveornegative,canbedividedintotwoclassifications---unconsciousandconsciousbyHughRawson(1981:
3).Unconsciouseuphemismsrefertothoseofwhichoriginaldenotationshavebeenforgottenbypeopleforquitealongtime.Suchastheword“ass”isreplacedby“donkey”,and“rooster”ismoreoftenusedthan"
cock"
.However,whenpeopleuseconsciouseuphemisms,theyknowtheiroriginalmeaningsaswellastheirimpliedmeanings.Forexample,peopleprefer“beautician”to“barber”,“sanitationengineer”to“garbagecollector”,and“nightlady”or“streetwalker”to“prostitute”.
2.2.3OtherclassificationsofEnglisheuphemisms
Apartfromtheclassificationsmentionedabove,Englisheuphemismscanbedividedintoeuphemismsofdeath,euphemismsofsex,euphemismsofoccupation,euphemismsofpoliticsandeuphemismsofeducationintermsoftheircontents.
Fromthelengthoftimetheyareused,Englisheuphemismsalsocanfallintoinstantaneouseuphemismsandcontinuouseuphemisms.Instantaneouseuphemismsrefertothoseonlyusedforashortperiodoftime,theeuphemismabouttheVietnamWarorWatergateScandalprovetobeagoodcase.Whilecontinuouseuphemismslivemuchlonger.EvensomecanbeusedforgenerationsandhavebecomeapartofEnglishidioms.
3.MotivationontheuseofEnglisheuphemism
AstudyoneuphemismgivesusagoodwaytobeawareofEnglishcultures.Euphemismisgeneratedandusedforalotofreasons.Itisusedforavoidingtaboo,fordisguising,forbeingpoliteandconsiderate,andforencouragingothers.
3.1Avoidingtaboo
Euphemismcanbeusedtoavoidtaboosassociatedwithsanctity,suchasthenamesofGodintheChristiancommunity.Duetoscientificrestrictionsintheancient,thenature’sgreatforcemakespeoplebelievethatitcandominatethingsinuniverseandinfluencethebehaviorsofmeniftheydosomethingtodesecrateit.SostandinginaweofGod,peopledarenotaddresshimbynamedirectly.Theyuseeuphemismtoreplacetheunluckyword,whichisregardedassacredorscared.Thusassociatedeuphemismsappear,suchas“theCreator”,“theEternal”,“theSavior”and“theRedeemer”(LiuChunbao,2001:
594).
Theinteractionbetweensuperstitionandlanguagehasalsoturnedmanywordsassociatedwithunluckyordangerousmatterintaboos,whichinturn,leadtothecreationofeuphemisms.Themostsignificantexampleofthiskindis“death”.Peoplealwaysuseanumberofwordswhicharenotsoharshtoreplace“die”.InEnglishweoftenfinddifferentexpressions,suchas“he’sgone,depart,departfromtheworldforever,decease,passaway,breatheone’slast,gothewayofallflesh,payone’sdebttonature,gotoabetterworld,beinheaven,bewithGod,etc”(FanLiqun,2008:
103).Thiskindofeuphemisticwordsobviouslyrevealpeople’sunwillingnesstodealwiththeinevitablefactoflife.
3.2Beingpoliteandconsiderate
Directwordsrelatedtocertainbehaviorssuchasoldage,pregnancy,disability,etc,arealwaysavoidedindailylife.Speakingbluntlyaboutthemwillleadtoembarrassment,unpleasantnessorimpoliteness.Sowhenpeopleinevitablyneedtoaddresswordsofthesetopics,theyoftenpreferindirect,vagueandeuphemisticwordstoexpressthem.Forexample,whenreferringtopeopleinoldage,peopleutterthattheyare“seasonedmen”or“wellpreserve