1、淮北師范大學信息學院2013屆學士學位論文a study on cultural connotation of english euphemism 系 別 外語系 專 業 英語 學 生 姓 名 學 號 200918043110 指 導 教 師： 指導教師職稱: 2013年5月25日 a study on cultural connotation of english euphemismabstract：euphemism is a common phenomenon in language, which is a kind of special language form created by

2、 people in social activities to seek the ideal communication effect. in many communicative situations, it can disguise unsatisfying, disgusting, embarrassing and even terrifying facts and phenomena. at the same time, it can maintain the speakers image and the listeners self-esteem, so that it could

3、save the two parties faces and make sure that communication go on very well. therefore, euphemism has become an essential language tool to coordinate interpersonal relationship, which is called “the driving force in the communication”.as a language figures of speech, euphemism is a language phenomen

4、on as well as a social phenomenon and cultural phenomenon. hence, due to the different cultural background of every nation, the usage of euphemism is different. there are all kinds of euphemism in english, as a language phenomenon it has its own unique origin, feature, constructive method, social fu

5、nction and so on, it also follow a certain law of development. euphemism is an indispensable part in english culture as well as important topic in cross-cultural communication. in this view, being familiar with and mastering english euphemism not only help us know well the social psychology and cult

6、ural connotation in britain and americans, but also smooth interpersonal relationship and provoke communicative activities to achieve the ideal effect. this thesis is made up of four parts. the first chapter gives a brief introduction about the definition, origin of english euphemism and different s

7、cholars reviews about english euphemism from oversea and domestic. in the second chapter, an elaborate analysis of the formation, development and classification of english euphemism. chapter three introduces the relationships between english euphemism and cultural connotation, and has a detail analy

8、sis to functions of english euphemism. finally, a conclusion is given to summarize the cultural connotation of english euphemism.key words: english euphemism; social functions; cultural connotation英語委婉語文化內涵的研究摘要：委婉語是語言中的一種普遍現象, 是人們在社會交往中為謀求理想的交際效果而創造的一種特殊語言表達形式，在很多交際場合中，它能掩飾令人不快，厭惡，尷尬甚至恐懼的事實和現象，同時還能

9、維護說話人的形象和聽話人的自尊心，從而保全了交際雙方的面子，使交際得以順利進展下去。因此，委婉語成為交際中必不可少的協調人際關系的一種重要語言工具，被稱為“交際中的驅動力”。 委婉語作為語言的一種修辭格，即是一種語言現象，也是一種社會現象和文化現象。因此，由于每個民族不同的文化背景，委婉語的使用也有所不同，英語中存在不同種類的委婉語。作為一種語言現象，它有其獨特的來源，特點，構成方法，社會功能等，并遵循一定的發展規律。英語委婉語是英語文化中不可分割的一部分，也是跨文化交際里一個重要的課題，因此，熟悉和掌握英語委婉語不僅能夠幫助我們了解英美等國的社會心理和風俗文化，還對改善人際關系，促進交活動達

10、到理想的交際效果有著舉足輕重的作用。本文分為四個部分，第一章主要簡述了英語委婉語的定義，起源以及古今中外學者對于英語委婉語的研究與理解，第二章詳細分述了英語委婉語的形成，發展與分類，第三章作者在前文的基礎上分析了英語委婉語與其文化內涵的關系，同時對英語委婉語的社會功能進行了較為詳細的探析，最后一章總結了英語委婉語的文化內涵。關鍵詞：英語委婉語；社會功能；文化內涵 contentsabstracti1. introduction11.1 definition of english euphemism11.2 literature reviews on english euphemism12. f

11、ormation and development of english euphemism32.1 development of english euphemism32.1.1 origin of english euphemism32.1.2 development of english euphemism42.2 classification of english euphemism52.2.1 traditional euphemism52.2.2 stylistic euphemism63. cultural connotation63.1 relationship between e

12、nglish euphemism and cultural connotation.63.1.1 religious beliefs63.1.2 social psychology73.1.3 political life73.1.4 business activity73.2 functions of english euphemism83.2.1 substitution for taboo83.2.2 showing politeness83.2.3 dissimulation94. conclusion10references .11 acknowledgments .12 a stu

13、dy on cultural connotation of english euphemism1. introduction1.1 definition of english euphemismeuphemism is originated from a greek word in which its prefix “eu” means “good, well” and the root “pheme” means “speech or saying”. that is to say, the literal meaning of euphemism is to speak with some

14、 good words.in fact, english euphemism has experienced a long history, and we can trace back its origin to the ancient times, the early period of human civilization. in 1066, the norman conquest, anglo-saxons replaced the religious taboos with euphemistic expressions. when it came to eighteenth and

15、nineteenth centuries, english euphemism became more and more popular and widely used around the world. in twentieth century, with the rapid development of science and technology, the euphemism had involved every fields in the world, a lot of new euphemisms sprung up. nowadays, euphemism tends to be

16、mature, it is not only used as one rhetorical means, but also one strategy which can not be ignored in our daily life.1.2 literature reviews on english euphemism the word “euphemism” is first recorded in thomas blounts glossographia (1656) where it was defined as “a good or favorable interpretion of

17、 a bad word”. the american linguist menchen (1936) writes a book the american language, which analyzes hundreds of euphemisms came into being and became popular which provides a foundation for further studies of euphemism. in the 7th edition of the concise oxford dictionary (1982), english euphemism

18、 is described as “substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh of direct one”. according to allan and burridge, in their book entitled euphemism and dysphemism, “a euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either on

19、es own face, or through giving offense, that of the audience, or of some third party”. british linguist rawson hugh (1981) finds out that the extensive discussion of definition, classification, features and domains of euphemism show the invaluable academic importance of euphemism in the dictionary o

20、n euphemism called a dictionary of euphemisms and other double-talk. in dictionary of language and linguistics, euphemism is defined as “a kind of expressing method which aims at not making people feel embarrassed by using some words with vague and ambiguous meaning instead of those which may make p

21、eople unpleasant and not respected”. euphemism is closely related to taboo has drawn great attention from the early time. lewis, j (1985). in his faire of speech: the use of euphemism, a collection of many pieces of essays each concerning a specific domain, tells us how to use euphemism to speak mor

22、e politely and properly. in 2000, fasold. r wrote a book the sociolinguistics of language, an entire chapter of which covers the study and analysis of euphemism by focusing on not only the historical and social background of euphemism, but also the nature of this social phenomenon.in china, the stud

23、y of euphemism began later than the western. chinese scholar chen wangdao (1962) wrote a book the development of euphemism, which is one of the earliest books on his subject in which euphemism is clearly defined and studied from a rhetoric perspective. whats more, he pointed that euphemism is found

24、not only in lexical words but also in sentences or even discourse. fan jiancai (1996) gives a detailed description of euphemism in his book appreciation and analysis of english rhetoric. by the vivid examples, fan jiancai discusses the constructing causes, characteristics and constructing methods of

25、 euphemism. he argues that “big harry” is used to indicate the drug “heroin”, “sunset” or “golden age” is used as a metaphor of “old age”, and “miss emma” is used to refer to “morphine”. according to guo xiumei(1985) “euphemism is the substitution of presumably inoffensive word for one that might gi

26、ve offence, euphemism is a soften, bland, neutral expressions used instead of one that might suggest something unpleasant”. in fact, it is the linguist zhang zhigong (1982) that brought the research of euphemism into the scope of lexicology. in 1970s, western theories of socio-linguistics were intro

27、duced into china and many scholars began to conduct research on the social functions of english euphemism. chen yuan (1983) one of the most outstanding scholars, devotes a special chapter to the study and analysis of euphemism in sociolinguistics, providing not only with the historical and social ba

28、ckground of euphemism, but also with the nature of this social phenomenon. liu chunbao (1993) compiled a dictionary of english euphemism which is an overall collection of english euphemisms in many domains. it distinguishes the original meanings from the euphemistic meanings of the words, it is a us

29、eful tool for chinese learners to master english euphemism. its publication indicates the explicitness of the study of english euphemism by chinese scholars. from the above mentioned, we can say until now, euphemism has been still studied by foreign and chinese scholars, and we believe that this top

30、ic will go on with the development of our human language.2. formation and development of english euphemism2.1 development of english euphemism2.1.1 origin of english euphemismthe earliest english euphemisms came from “taboo”. it indicates evasive language or action. the emergence of english euphemis

31、m is to meet the need of avoiding taboos. in human primitive society, people cant explain some things such as ailment or some supernatural phenomena. “people have confusion between the name of the things and things themselves. the name is viewed as an extension of things. just as the idiom says spea

32、k of devil and he appears. naturally the words or phrases related to the taboos. in the ancient times, people had a blind faith in ghosts and gods which they scared and respected. they whispered and even feared them,so they did not dare to call out their names directly. they think it profanes to nam

33、e god. therefore the names of gods become the earliest taboos. to speak name of gods evoked the divinity whose power then had to be confronted. so the usual way to avoid is to employ euphemisms. therefore, for need of the religious, a lot of euphemisms about religion sprung up. for example, in order

34、 not to desecrate god, people in english-speaking countries always use some other names for god instead of calling directly, such as “adonai, the almighty, caesars cruth, the creator, god, gad, land, lawks, lawd.” the opposite side of god is devil, which people is afraid. when people refer to them,

35、they tend to use some euphemisms to replace: the big d, the evil one, the black one, the goodman, jesse, old boy, our father, lord of lords, king of kings, the light of the world, etc.from the above mentioned, we can find that religion brings many euphemistic terms in the religious matter, especiall

36、y the naming and addressing of god to the language.2.1.2 development of english euphemismin the early ancient times, euphemism related to the religious. in the ancient greek and roman, the names of god were considered the embodiment of god, once someone mentioned the names, his behavior would profan

37、e god, so people tend to call god by the means of euphemism. on the other hand, there was a belief among the citizens, that was the more names of god they knew, the bigger possibility which they defeat god, under that kind of background, a lot of euphemisms came out. with the development of our soci

38、ety, euphemistic scope extended from religious to other fields. in 1066, the normans conquered england ,many euphemisms emerged in english , during that period, the main reason to bring up euphemism is that the language used by the conquered is often disparaged, and is thought as gross language. the

39、 upper class surely dont want to lower their status to use such words. in order to avoid using such gross words, they tend to use some “magnificent words”, which originated from latin, and these upper words were mixed into english gradually.the 18th century is also a important period for the develop

40、ment of english euphemism, for the english euphemism had got its flourit. britain was experiencing the great britain, the scope of euphemism came to politics, economy, culture and even military. the upper class deliberately used their clear words to show their ideas, and got the benefits what they w

41、anted. at the same time ,the lower class lived in the lowest level of english society, they dont care anything except that what they ate every day, how much money they could get one day, their words are simple and literal. so on that condition, the middle class became the main stream to evoke the fo

42、rmation and development of euphemism. in order to improve their social status, and distinguish the lower class, they chose the euphemistic words to beautify their thoughts and behaviors.at the economic depression, everything began to sprung up after the war, the society was in the state of stability

43、 and prosperity, people tried to adopt some beautiful language to get rid of the haze of the economic depression, and modify their new life, then euphemism became more and more popular.until nowadays, many words not just have their literal meanings, in the special situation, they can express the sur

44、prising meaning. so when you dont get the euphemisms true meaning, you had better listen, or just say “im so sorry, i dont know”, otherwise you will make a big mistake. you know, no one is willing to be laughed. lets have a sample, the word “gay” primarily used as a synonym for “happy” or “cheerful”

45、, but now it has become a property of homosexual community. then “a gay party” is no longer to describe a happy and exciting party, in fact it means a place for homosexual, so when you say “we are young and gay” in the street ,you may get some confusion and strange notice.2.2 classification of engli

46、sh euphemismthe emergence of euphemism is not only one kind of language rhetorical format, but one which people use it to achieve an ideal communication. from another angle of view, euphemism does push our human civilization to a higher level. according to the need to express things is a taboo or pr

47、aise, euphemism can be divided into traditional euphemism and stylistic euphemism.2.2.1 traditional euphemism the traditional euphemism is also called negative euphemism, which closely related to the taboo. it directly expresses the same thing, but opposite each other. such as “birth, aging, illness

48、 and death” which cant be spoken in the public, if they are not modified enough in the process of a conversation, people may be disgusted with this straight behavior. on the contrary, the indirect euphemism can make the same thing exquisite. there is no doubt that most of people would show their fav

49、our to the latter.taking the “die” for an example, we have many different expressions: “expire, pass away, pay the debt of nature, close ones day, breathe ones last, go west, give up the ghost, kick the bucket”, etc. then “bathrooms” we also chose different parlances in different occasions, here are

50、 “be caught short to, call of nature, do ones duty, go somewhere to, go to the bathroom, to see john”, etc.2.2.2 stylistic euphemismthe stylistic euphemism usually called positive euphemism, that is praise language, compliments. during the period of interpersonal communication, sometimes the magnifi

51、ed compliments are needed to show polite or avoid some unhappy things .as we know, everyone wants to be beautiful, so the “slick and fair skin” is a good choice to describe a ladys beauty. while “a black shin” will discount the beauty. the original meaning of “raven beauty” is a black beauty, but “a

52、 raving beauty” means a peerless beauty. so “a raven beauty” literally means the black beautiful lady, the black pearl. collar is a very common part of our clothes. on the base of different divisions of job in the color of the dress, modern society appears “blue collar” which means manual worker, “w

53、hite collar” means mental worker, “grey collar” refers to the workers of the repair and maintenance industry. the class who is professional elite upper than white collar is called “gold collar”, and “pink collar”.3. cultural connotation3.1 relationship between english euphemism and cultural connotat

54、ion3.1.1 religious beliefseuphemism has a long history, in the early human civilization, the local religious began to disable some special words. for god, people kept a respectful distance, and they never showed their blasphemy. in christian countries, casually mention the gods name is not allowed,

55、whats more, they cant swear on the behalf of god, otherwise they are guilty. one of the ten comandements in judaism and christian, is not to misuse the name of god. while when people are swearing, they tend to invite god to be their witness in order to express the swear is serious and sincere. so in

56、 such a contradictory situation, euphemism formed, we can see many euphemisms have a strong religious color. 3.1.2 social psychologyif the language is a reflection of social life, then the euphemism is a mirror of social psychology. different euphemisms reflect different social psychology. “taboo” i

57、s the main mental foundation. recent years, the western often take the “social disease” for “aids”. today obesity also has become a suffering to modern western civilization, people care “fat” so that they literally call the fat “weight-watcher”. disease and death usually make people frightened, we k

58、now cancer is still incurable, people are very scared when they get one cancer, they even use the capital letter “c” to take the place of cancer. so it is with death, people try to adopt all kinds of euphemism, for example: be asleep in the arms of god, be at rest, be home and free, go to heaven, go to meet ones