1、淺談?dòng)⒄Z(yǔ)委婉語(yǔ)及其社會(huì)影響abstract language communication is an important method to maintain social relati on ship, so people ofte n use the in direct or pleasant expressi ons in the place of those considered unpleasant, rude or offensive in communication. it is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a kind

2、of social phenomenon and cultural phenomenon. it reflects some kinds of corresponding cultural traditions. this paper mainly focuses on the ways of expression, the major function and the social in flue nee of euphemism in en glish. and the first part elaborates upon the d iff ere nt expressions of e

3、uphemism in en glish, divided into four parts: figure of speech, semantic method, the variety of pronunciation and spelling form and grammar. and then it makes study the applianee of euphemism on three functions: avoidanee, courtesy, disguise in social life, and discusses the positive and n egative

4、in flue nces of euphemism. to know these could help us to understand the mode of thinking, social values, moral concepts, and cultural traditions in english-speaking country, and could improve our ianguage communicative ability.key words: euphemism, application, social in flue nee, positive, n egati

5、ve【摘要】語(yǔ)言交際是人類(lèi)以維系社會(huì)關(guān)系的重要手段，因而人們?cè)诮浑H 中通常避免使用引起雙方不快從而損害雙方關(guān)系的語(yǔ)言，而是采取迂回曲折的 方法 來(lái)表達(dá)思想，交流信息，它不僅是種語(yǔ)言現(xiàn)象，而且是社會(huì)現(xiàn)象和文化現(xiàn) 象。委婉語(yǔ)言體現(xiàn)了相應(yīng)的社會(huì)文化傳統(tǒng)。本文主要闡述了英語(yǔ) 委婉語(yǔ)的構(gòu)成 方法以及它的社會(huì) 影響，并著重從修辭手段，語(yǔ)義手段，構(gòu)詞手段及語(yǔ)法手段 對(duì)委婉語(yǔ)言作了較全面的分析，并對(duì)委婉語(yǔ)在交際中的語(yǔ)用功能和表達(dá)方式做 了一些探討，從委婉語(yǔ)的“避諱”功能，“禮貌”功能和“掩飾”功能三個(gè)方面探討了委 婉語(yǔ)在社會(huì)生活中的運(yùn)用，了解委婉語(yǔ)在運(yùn)用中的積極作用和消極作用，有助于 我們更深入的了解英語(yǔ)國(guó)家

6、人們的思維方式、社會(huì)價(jià)值觀、道德觀以及文化風(fēng)俗， 對(duì)于提高自身言語(yǔ)交際功能是十分必要的。【關(guān)鍵詞】委婉語(yǔ)；運(yùn)用；社會(huì)影響；積極；消極1. introductioneuphemism is originally from greek, meaning, uspeak with gook words”, “eu” means “well or sounding well”； “pheme” means “speech”. itsdefinition in oxford english dictionary is “(example of the) use of pleasant, mild, or

7、 in direct words or phrases in place of more accurate or direct on es.n1the appearanee of euphemism is based on two reasons: one aims to take the place of “taboo”. when giving up a taboo word, people will find another new one to take the place of it, which creates a euphemism. the other aims to avoi

8、d offensiveness during the communication. it is a figure of rhetoric by which an unpleasant or offensive thing is described or referred to by a milder term.in english ianguage, euphemism is widely used in the daily communications. in order to achieve the aim of “taboo”，it is used to avoid the unplea

9、sant thing; in order to achieve the aim of “politeness”，it is used to avoid the inelegant things2, which are the two social psychological basis of the emerge nee of euphemism. euphemism is one of the important parts of figure of speech. it is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a kind of soci

10、al phe nomenon and cultural phenomen on. euphemism in use differs from pers on to person, from profession to profession, even from class to class3 , thats why sometimes the meaning of some euphemisms will puzzle you if you do not know the background of english culture. to grasp the english euphemism

11、 can not only help us open our eyes, but strengthen our ability of reading comprehension. this paper aims to discuss the application of euphemism in en glish and to make ack no wledge of its social influence, which could help us use euphemism in a correct way.2. ways to express euphemism2.1. figure

12、of speech2.1.1. metonymy.that is to use the general words to take the place of the concrete words. "passed away” which refers to “dead” belongs to metonymy. it can be divided into the following forms: 1) to use the container to take the place of the things in the container. for example: “to be

13、fond of the bottlen is a euphemism for “l(fā)iki ng to drink”. 2) to use the en tirety in stead of the part. for example: “abdomen” is used to refer to “belly”； “l(fā)imb” refers to “l(fā)eg”. for some special occasi ons, the part can be used in stead of the en tirety .in australia n en glish “an old hand"

14、 is a euphemism for “an old prisoner". 3) to use the tools to take the place of the objects. for example, “pick” is a tool of prying the lock .it can refer to “thief'. 4) to use raw materials to take the place of finished products. for in stance, upoppyn is a kind of flower, but it also ref

15、ers to “opium”. 5) to use characteristics to take the place of objects. for example, uhellown is a greeting word, and it is also a euphemism for “prostitute” because prostitutes often use this word to solicit the whoremasters; 4< blood and ironn is a euphemism for “violenee”. 6) to use proper wor

16、ds to replace the objects. for example, “napoleon" is a french golden coin on which there is napoleon's head portrait. “borstal” is a name of countryside in kent in britain. it can also refer to ujuvenile delinquency”.sometimes, some euphemisms are freque ntly used in stead of the original

17、words; people gradually forget their euphemistic identities. they are not used in terms of euphemisms but have their own independent meanings. for instanee, take above-mentioned “poppy”，now if you look up this word in the dicti on ary, you can find the meaning of “opium”，it has lost its euphemistic

18、function. and, if you do not know the background, you can not know the meaning of “napoleon” and “borstal”. therefore, we can see the importanee of knowing the background of english culture. it can help you a lot to recognize and understand the real meaning of euphemism and make good use of it.2.1.2

19、. metaphorto use metaphor can easily avoid the offensive things. for example, wherefore it is be社er to be a guest of the law, which, though conducted by rules, does not meddle unduly with a gentleman's private affairs. (o. henry, the cop and the anthem) uto be a guest of the lawn is a euphemism

20、for uto be in prison”4, many euphemisms for “death” were created by way of metaphor, such as going to his long home, to be home and free, to go to sleep, to sleep the long (or eternal, never-ending) sleep, to rest in peace, to be at rest, to go to heaven (or paradise), to join one's ancestors, t

21、o be gathered to one's fathers, to join the immortals. more examples are: aged->sunset years, to be poor->to be pinched, to have improper sexual intercourse with girls(especially maiden) to deflower; to degenerate->to go astray; breast- milk bottles;catamenia->the red flag; to be pre

22、gnant->to be on the nest; the money of bribery->grease; to bribe->to grease somebody's palm; handcuffs->bracelets.2.1.3personificationpeople's names are often used to replace taboo words. for example, “big harry” refers to “heroin” because “harry” and “heroin” have the same initi

23、als. “l(fā)avatory” also has many euphemistical expressions. in 19th century, it was called “ my aunt jones”，“mrs. jones”，“sir john”，"sir harry”，“the henry”, while in 20th century, it was called “jakes”，“john” etc. but the latter color of personification becomes weak. the first letter can be writte

24、n in small letter. people just use it as a comm on noun. in fact, they have lost the euphemistic function. there are many humorous ways to express catamenia in terms of personification: 1) my friend has come. 2) i have a visitor. 3) my cousins/country cousins have come. 4) my auntie/grandmother has

25、come to stay. 5) little sister is here. 6) i've got painters in. 7) the cardinal has come.2.1.4. analogyin the euphemisms for occupation people often use analogy, which makes the humble name more elegant5 , for example, “chef” is a euphemism for “cook”. it is borrowed from french word “chef de c

26、uisine". u beauticiann refers to n hairdressern“ garbologist ” refers to u garbage collectorj,; "mortician” refers to “undertaker”. there also appeared some beautiful names for barbershop: hair salon, beauty parlour, and stylist parlour.2.1.5. ellipsisthat is to omit the offensive words wh

27、ile speaking, such as to be expecting (a baby), to have (sexual) relations with somebody, to take precautions (against pregnancy), to depart (from this world). of course, such phrases should be put into a certain context, which can express the meaning of euphemisms.2.1.6. periphrasisit is an express

28、ion of beating around the bush. though it is a muddled acti ng, its aim is to avoid offending others, and to be more polite6. if some one asked a woman whether she was knitting a tiny garment, he meant that he wondered whether she was pregnant. such way of speaking is humorous, sweet and agreeable,

29、such as to die->to close one's eyes, to expire, to breathe one's last; to defecate and to urinate-to wash one's hands, to ease or relieve on eself, to do one's busi ness; to court->to go walking; to be preg nant->to eat for two; lavatory washroom, cloakroom; fartwind from be

30、hi nd; women's underclothesunmentionables; trousers-nether garments; ask you to go away -call your carriage for you; to dismiss->to give somebody the sack; to be in prison-to live at the govemment's expense. teachers often use this expression to avoid the students5 and their parents'

31、awkwardness. for example, laziness is called “needing ample supervision in order to work well”; “cheat” is described as “needing help in learning to adhere to rules and standards of fair play”； “l(fā)ies” is called “showing difficulty in distinguish!ng between imaginary and factual material”； “steal” is

32、 called “needing help in learning to respect the property rights of others" “be a bully” refers to “having qualities of leadership but needs help in learning to use them democratically; “dirty” is called “ be lack of proper health habits”.72.2.semantic methodsynonymfor example, “tight” is used

33、in stead of “sti ngy”； “thrift” is used instead of ueconomical”,“defecate” replaces “shift” and uurine” replaces “piss” and “mad” is replaced by “crazy”，“insane”，and “l(fā)unatic”. such euphemism aims to use the appreciative term to take the place of the derogatory term.negationsuch euphemism uses the c

34、ontrary term to express the same meaning, and it could be more useful than synonym in replacing the taboo and make people more understandable and comfortable. we could call stupid people unwise people. “a fat chanee” means na slim chanceand “find wordsm stands for “bad words”vague words and expressi

35、onsthat is to make the harsher or offensive words more general. for example, if somebody has some mental problems, we can express it like this: his roof leaks a little; he has a screw loose/missing; he is not at home. there are other examples which use vague expressions, such as disease->trouble,

36、 problem; to come across an unfortunate thing-*to have an accident; v. d. (venereal disease) -secret disease; to live together illegally-to cohabit;intrauterine device->ring; to rape somebody->to do violence to somebody; prostitutea woman of the streets, a woman of a certain class, a painted w

37、oman, a lady of the night girl; to entertain whorehouse visitors->to see company; whorehousehouse; a squint->an obliquity of vision; a man of bad taste -> a man of doubtful taste; strike industrial actio n; the poor-the underprivileged, the disadvantaged; in debt-*in difficulties; buttocks-

38、>behind, bottom, backsides; homosexual-*queer; sexual intercourse!ntimacy; to be killed->to be put to sleep.2.24 loan wordsbecause from the period of renaissanee, latin, greek, and french are considered as cultured words8. people consider that those languages are more elega nt, tactful and amb

39、iguous .in the early 19th century, no matter in britai n or america, people used french word “encei nten in stead of en glish word “pregnant”. it is popular till now because the former is more elegant, tactful and ambiguous. english borrows words not only from french but also from other ianguages in

40、 many kinds of ways to create its own euphemism. for example, ulavatory,> was borrowed from latin word “l(fā)avatorium”，but it lost its meaning of euphemism because of long- time using. therefore, people borrowed another euphemism from french “toilette” which was respelled into “toilet”, and it becam

41、e the most popular euphemism referring to lavatory. french words “chemise” and “l(fā)ingerie” are euphemisms for “underwear” and “blouse” respective!y. “sushi” was borrowed from japaneseits original meaning is a kind of japanese food. people put it into a phrase “a little tongue sushi”，which means “tong

42、ue kissing”. the above words mostly belong to the comm on vocabulary. in additi on, euphemisms also borrow some scie nee and tech no logical words and academic words that are cold, clinic and antiseptic. such words are mainly from latin and greek. for example, latin word “coitus” is a euphemism for

43、“fuck”； native words “shit” and “piss” are all dirty words, while latin word "defecation” and greek word “urination” are all accepted easily.2.2.5. understatementthat is to state some serious things in a temperate way in order to avoid being awkward and strident9 . for example, “she was neither

44、 quite pretty nor quiet plain.m “plain” is used in stead of “ugly”； “my cousi n jimmy was a bit soft in the head." “soft in the head" means “mad”； “the boy used to take things without permission and has just been out of the rehabilitation home in the country.” (steal, detention home); the

45、period of economic depression->a period of economic adjustment; money for bribery->kickback, commission; poor families->low income families; falling behindless advaneed; retarded children->less able children; an ugly girl->a plain or homely girl; disabled-* physically handicapped; to

46、be ill -> to look off color, to feel unwell or uncomfortable; treatment->health care; old age->advaneed in age.2.3. the variety of pronunciation and spelling formenglish is an alphabetic writing. the variation of phonetic form canavoid the original conception in a certain degree and achieve

47、 the purpose of euphemism 1) compounding: gezunda (goes under). 2) acronym: da (drug addict), kg (know gambler), b.o.t (balance of time), j.d (juvenile delinquent), p and q (peace and quiet). 3) back-formation: burgle (burgler) 4) chipping: vamp (vampire), homo (homosexual), gents (gentlemen's r

48、oom), and ladies (ladies room)10.there is an interesting example: “l(fā)aboratory”，the original stress was on the first syllable. but it sounded similarly to “l(fā)avatory”. in order to avoid the unpleasant connection, the stress was moved to the second syllable such phenomenon is called assonance. that is

49、to make use of or to create words, which have the same or similar pronunciations with euphemistic words in order to achieve the purpose of euphemism therefore, in english there is a way of personification to express “catamenia”: the captain is at home. it is because “captain” is assonant with the me

50、dical scienee term “catamenia”. in oral english, “pee” is used to refer to “piss”，which has the same reason.2.4. grammarthat is to use past tense, negative sentence to express euphemism. for example, i can see by your face that you don't think that was wise. the negative form means “thinking tha

51、t was foolish; “how do we feel today?” using “we” in stead of “you” shows the moderati on and geniality. “i wanted to.” “i wondered./* often take the place of “i want to.” “i wonder.” such expression is often used in oral english.113 the social in fluences of euphemismeuphemism is widely used in ame

52、rica and britain. it has a long history. new euphemisms emerge in an endless stream. according to its applied functions, i'd like to divide it into three parts: avoidanee, courtesy and disguise through studying the three functions, we can understand the western society's view on value and mo

53、rality.3.1. avoidancethe earliest subject of euphemism is religious12. the conception of taboo is deep-rooted in people's mind, and it is not easy to remove. the appeara nee of taboo could date back to ancient greek and an cient roma n. in human's eyes god owns a super power that could contr

54、ol everything. because fearing of the secret power, people use euphemism to avoid mentioning the guilty, unpleasant, rude or offensive words, which plays a role of purifying ianguages. for example, european americans avoid speaking “friday” and “13”. when the two things appear in the same day, it is

55、 an ill omen. and there is an example: there appeared an episode in 1972 when preside nt nicoson visited china chinese premier zhou went to shanghai to receive american visitors. he found that mr. and mrs. nicos on were arra nged to live in room15, kissinger in room14, but some state councilors in r

56、oom 13? the western people often take number 13 as a taboo. after entering their apartments,premier zhou was aware that these western visitors seemed unhappy. so he explained:” it is a pity that we have made a serious mistake. we ignored the special western culture.” he continued,” there was an old

57、chinese fable that when a man was afraid of ghost, the more he thought, the more he felt terrified. at the time he felt no fear, he began to look for the ghost, but the ghost disappeared.number 13 in western culture looked like the chinese ghost.” hearing his story, the american visitors laughed hea

58、rtily. at last they cooled down. from this example, we can realize the necessity of the cultural in filtration in language communicatio n. so we must pay attention to the social in flue nee of euphemism. this avoidance function is the first comm un icati on function of euphemisms13. such function is

59、 often used in the following situatio ns:3.1 1. the euphemisms for god a nd devilthe ten commandments of bible has prescribed, “thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain; for the lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” thafs why there are so many euphemisms. in

60、 oral en glish, using “god” causally would be considered blasphmous .if some one say ugod damni it” he is treason and heresy, and would be punished 14. some of them adopt the semantic method, such as the creator, the maker, the supreme (being), holy one, the almighty, the eternal, our father, the saviour,king of kings, lord of lords, the light of the world, soverelgn of the u