語言文化論文-淺談英語委婉語及其社會影響.doc

語言文化論文-淺談英語委婉語及其社會影響AbstractLanguagecommunicationisanimportantmethodtomaintainsocialrelationship,sopeopleoftenusetheindirectorpleasantexpressionsintheplaceofthoseconsideredunpleasant,rudeoroffensiveincommunication.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Itreflectssomekindsofcorrespondingculturaltraditions.Thispapermainlyfocusesonthewaysofexpression,themajorfunctionandthesocialinfluenceofeuphemisminEnglish.AndthefirstpartelaboratesuponthedifferentexpressionsofeuphemisminEnglish,dividedintofourparts:figureofspeech,semanticmethod,thevarietyofpronunciationandspellingformandgrammar.Andthenitmakesstudytheapplianceofeuphemismonthreefunctions:avoidance,courtesy,disguiseinsociallife,anddiscussesthepositiveandnegativeinfluencesofeuphemism.Toknowthesecouldhelpustounderstandthemodeofthinking,socialvalues,moralconcepts,andculturaltraditionsinEnglish-speakingcountry,andcouldimproveourlanguagecommunicativeability.Keywords:Euphemism,application,socialinfluence,positive,negative【摘要】語言交際是人類以維系社會關(guān)系的重要手段，因而人們在交際中通常避免使用引起雙方不快從而損害雙方關(guān)系的語言，而是采取迂回曲折的方法來表達思想，交流信息，它不僅是種語言現(xiàn)象，而且是社會現(xiàn)象和文化現(xiàn)象。委婉語言體現(xiàn)了相應(yīng)的社會文化傳統(tǒng)。本文主要闡述了英語委婉語的構(gòu)成方法以及它的社會影響，并著重從修辭手段，語義手段，構(gòu)詞手段及語法手段對委婉語言作了較全面的分析，并對委婉語在交際中的語用功能和表達方式做了一些探討，從委婉語的“避諱”功能，“禮貌”功能和“掩飾”功能三個方面探討了委婉語在社會生活中的運用，了解委婉語在運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國家人們的思維方式、社會價值觀、道德觀以及文化風俗，對于提高自身言語交際功能是十分必要的。【關(guān)鍵詞】委婉語；運用；社會影響；積極；消極1.IntroductionEuphemismisoriginallyfromGreek,meaning,“speakwithgookwords”.“eu”means“wellorsoundingwell”；“pheme”means“speech”.ItsdefinitioninOxfordEnglishDictionaryis“(exampleofthe)useofpleasant,mild,orindirectwordsorphrasesinplaceofmoreaccurateordirectones.”1Theappearanceofeuphemismisbasedontworeasons:oneaimstotaketheplaceof“taboo”.Whengivingupatabooword,peoplewillfindanothernewonetotaketheplaceofit,whichcreatesaeuphemism.Theotheraimstoavoidoffensivenessduringthecommunication.Itisafigureofrhetoricbywhichanunpleasantoroffensivethingisdescribedorreferredtobyamilderterm.InEnglishlanguage,euphemismiswidelyusedinthedailycommunications.Inordertoachievetheaimof“taboo”,itisusedtoavoidtheunpleasantthing；inordertoachievetheaimof“politeness”,itisusedtoavoidtheinelegantthings2,whicharethetwosocialpsychologicalbasisoftheemergenceofeuphemism.Euphemismisoneoftheimportantpartsoffigureofspeech.Itisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofsocialphenomenonandculturalphenomenon.Euphemisminusediffersfrompersontoperson,fromprofessiontoprofession,evenfromclasstoclass3,ThatswhysometimesthemeaningofsomeeuphemismswillpuzzleyouifyoudonotknowthebackgroundofEnglishculture.TograsptheEnglisheuphemismcannotonlyhelpusopenoureyes,butstrengthenourabilityofreadingcomprehension.ThispaperaimstodiscusstheapplicationofeuphemisminEnglishandtomakeacknowledgeofitssocialinfluence,whichcouldhelpususeeuphemisminacorrectway.2.Waystoexpresseuphemism2.1.Figureofspeech2.1.1.Metonymy.Thatistousethegeneralwordstotaketheplaceoftheconcretewords.“Passedaway”whichrefersto“dead”belongstometonymy.Itcanbedividedintothefollowingforms:1)tousethecontainertotaketheplaceofthethingsinthecontainer.Forexample:“tobefondofthebottle”isaeuphemismfor“l(fā)ikingtodrink”.2)Tousetheentiretyinsteadofthepart.Forexample:“abdomen”isusedtoreferto“belly”；“l(fā)imb”refersto“l(fā)eg”.Forsomespecialoccasions,thepartcanbeusedinsteadoftheentirety.InAustralianEnglish“anoldhand”isaeuphemismfor“anoldprisoner”.3)Tousethetoolstotaketheplaceoftheobjects.Forexample,“pick”isatoolofpryingthelock.Itcanreferto“thief”.4)Touserawmaterialstotaketheplaceoffinishedproducts.Forinstance,“poppy”isakindofflower,butitalsorefersto“opium”.5)Tousecharacteristicstotaketheplaceofobjects.Forexample,“hellow”isagreetingword,anditisalsoaeuphemismfor“prostitute”becauseprostitutesoftenusethiswordtosolicitthewhoremasters；“bloodandiron”isaeuphemismfor“violence”.6)Touseproperwordstoreplacetheobjects.Forexample,“napoleon”isaFrenchgoldencoinonwhichthereisNapoleonsheadportrait.“Borstal”isanameofcountrysideinKentinBritain.Itcanalsoreferto“juveniledelinquency”.Sometimes,someeuphemismsarefrequentlyusedinsteadoftheoriginalwords；peoplegraduallyforgettheireuphemisticidentities.Theyarenotusedintermsofeuphemismsbuthavetheirownindependentmeanings.Forinstance,takeabove-mentioned“poppy”,nowifyoulookupthiswordinthedictionary,youcanfindthemeaningof“opium”,ithaslostitseuphemisticfunction.And,ifyoudonotknowthebackground,youcannotknowthemeaningof“Napoleon”and“Borstal”.Therefore,wecanseetheimportanceofknowingthebackgroundofEnglishculture.Itcanhelpyoualottorecognizeandunderstandtherealmeaningofeuphemismandmakegooduseofit.2.1.2.MetaphorTousemetaphorcaneasilyavoidtheoffensivethings.Forexample,whereforeitisbettertobeaguestofthelaw,which,thoughconductedbyrules,doesnotmeddleundulywithagentlemansprivateaffairs.(O.Henry,TheCopandtheAnthem)“tobeaguestofthelaw”isaeuphemismfor“tobeinprison”4,Manyeuphemismsfor“death”werecreatedbywayofmetaphor,suchasgoingtohislonghome,tobehomeandfree,togotosleep,tosleepthelong(oreternal,never-ending)sleep,torestinpeace,tobeatrest,togotoHeaven(orParadise),tojoinonesancestors,tobegatheredtoonesfathers,tojointheimmortals.Moreexamplesare:agedsunsetyears,tobepoortobepinched,tohaveimpropersexualintercoursewithgirls(especiallymaiden)todeflower；todegeneratetogoastray；breastmilkbottles；catameniatheredflag；tobepregnanttobeonthenest；themoneyofbriberygrease；tobribetogreasesomebodyspalm；handcuffsbracelets.2.1.3PersonificationPeoplesnamesareoftenusedtoreplacetaboowords.Forexample,“BigHarry”refersto“heroin”because“Harry”and“heroin”havethesameinitials.“Lavatory”alsohasmanyeuphemisticalexpressions.In19thcentury,itwascalled“myauntJones”,“Mrs.Jones”,“SirJohn”,“SirHarry”,“theHenry”,whilein20thcentury,itwascalled“jakes”,“john”etc.Butthelattercolorofpersonificationbecomesweak.Thefirstlettercanbewritteninsmallletter.Peoplejustuseitasacommonnoun.Infact,theyhavelosttheeuphemisticfunction.Therearemanyhumorouswaystoexpresscatameniaintermsofpersonification:1)Myfriendhascome.2)Ihaveavisitor.3)Mycousins/countrycousinshavecome.4)Myauntie/grandmotherhascometostay.5)Littlesisterishere.6)Ivegotpaintersin.7)thecardinalhascome.2.1.4.AnalogyIntheeuphemismsforoccupationpeopleoftenuseanalogy,whichmakesthehumblenamemoreelegant5,Forexample,“chef”isaeuphemismfor“cook”.ItisborrowedfromFrenchword“chefdecuisine”.“Beautician”refersto“hairdresser”；“garbologist”refersto“garbagecollector”；“mortician”refersto“undertaker”.Therealsoappearedsomebeautifulnamesforbarbershop:hairsalon,beautyparlour,andstylistparlour.2.1.5.EllipsisThatistoomittheoffensivewordswhilespeaking,suchastobeexpecting(ababy),tohave(sexual)relationswithsomebody,totakeprecautions(againstpregnancy),todepart(fromthisworld).Ofcourse,suchphrasesshouldbeputintoacertaincontext,whichcanexpressthemeaningofeuphemisms.2.1.6.PeriphrasisItisanexpressionofbeatingaroundthebush.Thoughitisamuddledacting,itsaimistoavoidoffendingothers,andtobemorepolite6.Ifsomeoneaskedawomanwhethershewasknittingatinygarment,hemeantthathewonderedwhethershewaspregnant.Suchwayofspeakingishumorous,sweetandagreeable,suchastodietocloseoneseyes,toexpire,tobreatheoneslast；todefecateandtourinatetowashoneshands,toeaseorrelieveoneself,todoonesbusiness；tocourttogowalking；tobepregnanttoeatfortwo；lavatorywashroom,cloakroom；fartwindfrombehind；womensunderclothesunmentionables；trousersnethergarments；askyoutogoawaycallyourcarriageforyou；todismisstogivesomebodythesack；tobeinprisontoliveatthegovernmentsexpense.Teachersoftenusethisexpressiontoavoidthestudentsandtheirparentsawkwardness.Forexample,lazinessiscalled“needingamplesupervisioninordertoworkwell”；“cheat”isdescribedas“needinghelpinlearningtoadheretorulesandstandardsoffairplay”；“l(fā)ies”iscalled“showingdifficultyindistinguishingbetweenimaginaryandfactualmaterial”；“steal”iscalled“needinghelpinlearningtorespectthepropertyrightsofothers”；“beabully”refersto“havingqualitiesofleadershipbutneedshelpinlearningtousethemdemocratically”；“dirty”iscalled“belackofproperhealthhabits”.72.2.Semanticmethod2.2.1.SynonymForexample,“tight”isusedinsteadof“stingy”；“thrift”isusedinsteadof“economical”,“defecate”replaces“shift”and“urine”replaces“piss”.And“mad”isreplacedby“crazy”,“insane”,and“l(fā)unatic”.Sucheuphemismaimstousetheappreciativetermtotaketheplaceofthederogatoryterm.2.2.2.NegationSucheuphemismusesthecontrarytermtoexpressthesamemeaning,anditcouldbemoreusefulthansynonyminreplacingthetabooandmakepeoplemoreunderstandableandcomfortable.Wecouldcallstupidpeopleunwisepeople.“Afatchance”means“aslimchance”and“findwords”standsfor“badwords”2.2.3.VaguewordsandexpressionsThatistomaketheharsheroroffensivewordsmoregeneral.Forexample,ifsomebodyhassomementalproblems,wecanexpressitlikethis:Hisroofleaksalittle；hehasascrewloose/missing；heisnotathome.Thereareotherexampleswhichusevagueexpressions,suchasdiseasetrouble,problem；tocomeacrossanunfortunatethingtohaveanaccident；V.D.(venerealdisease)secretdisease；tolivetogetherillegallytocohabit；intrauterinedevicering；torapesomebodytodoviolencetosomebody；prostituteawom