A Comparison of Taboo Words between Chinese and English---畢業(yè)論文

1、【標題】a comparison of taboo words between chinese and english 【作者】杜 歡 【關(guān)鍵詞】禁忌語；不同；原因；漢語；英語； 【指導(dǎo)老師】游 偉 【專業(yè)】英語 【正文】i. introductionnowadays, with the development of science and technology, the world becomes smaller and smaller; the increasing communication between different countries and nations make the

2、 mutual understanding more and more important. thus, different social values and life customs blend as well as collide with one another. people in one culture may not use euphemism when referring to a social phenomenon while in another culture euphemism is the preferred way people address it. in pre

3、sent society, taboo plays a considerably important part in the development of cross-cultural communication in english and chinese. there are some similarities in english and chinese taboo, but different cultures may not all agree on what is or is not a taboo in a specific context. so the differences

4、 also exist between english and chinese taboo. a lack of knowledge in this field or improper use of taboos may lead to misunderstandings, conflicts and other unknown serious consequences in the cross?-cultural communication which is increasingly frequent and wider now. this paper intends to study th

5、e definition and characteristics of taboo, to analyze the similarities between chinese and english taboo and present the differences from the aspects of privacy, name, number, colors and animals in both cultures, and the causes of the differences between english and chinese taboo, last but not least

6、, two effective ways are proposed to avoid taboo words.ii. the definition and characteristics of tabooabout the origin of taboo, there are two viewpoints. one viewpoint is that the term taboo is originated from polynesian(in south pacific) tonga language. in 1777, captain james cook arrived in south

7、 pacific polynesian tonga. in tonga, he found a strange behavior in their daily life. there were many things forbidden to do, many foods forbidden to eat, and some words not allowed to say. the local language of tonga called this phenomenon taboo or tabu. then cook borrowed the word into english. th

8、e word in english refers to acts that are forbidden or to be avoided. when an act is a taboo, the reference to this act may also become taboo too. that is, first, you are forbidden to do something, and then you are forbidden to talk about it. the other viewpoint is that the term taboo is originated

9、from native language in the middle pacific islands. after referring to information of different sources, most scholars think the source of the word“taboo” is tongan word, which is introduced by captain james cook from polynesia to europe in 1777. and in the book the cambridge encyclopedia of languag

10、e, when it defines“taboo”, it points out clearly that taboo has been borrowed from tongan. oxford advanced learners english-chinese dictionary defines the word“taboo” as follows:“(a) a cultural or religious custom that does not allow people to do, use or talks about a particular thing as people find

11、 it offensive or embarrassing.(b) a general agreement not to do sth or talk about sth.”1 we can also find the definition in the cambridge encyclopedia of language:taboo has been borrowed from tongan, where it meansholy oruntouchable. taboos exist in all known cultures, referring to certain acts, obj

12、ects, or relationships which society wishes to avoid-and thus the language used to talk about them. verbal taboos are generally related to sex, the supernatural, excretion, and death, but quite often they extend to other aspects of domestic and social life. 2in short, from these definitions of taboo

13、, we can know all the taboos are likely to be considered sacred, dangerous, inviolable or obscene by certain people. it is usually not spoken directly.a taboo is something forbidden by religions, laws, morals or society and it is a common social phenomenon of every nation. generally speaking, taboo

14、has tree main characteristics:1. universality, taboo exists almost in every nation in the world. no matter in primitive tribe or highly civilized society; no mater in china or the western countries.2. nationality, as we know the culture of a nation can be reflected by the language of that nation. th

15、ere is no exception for taboo. it presents some culture. moreover, the differences of historical evolution, social system, value system and the ways of life in chinese and english countries make the different content and form of taboos between these two cultures.3. variability, language is active an

16、d it is in the continuous change and development. an american humorist listed a variety of expressions of“pregnant” in different times in english:“she has cancelled all her social engagements.(1856) she is in an interesting condition.(1880) she is in a delicate condition.(1895)she is knitting little

17、 boots.(1910) she is in a family way.(1920)she is expecting.(1935)she is pregnant.(1956)”3, at the very beginning, the word“pregnant” is hard to speak out. however, as time goes by, the expression of“pregnant” is changing clearer and clearer and at last the word“pregnant” is used by people.iii. a co

18、mparison of taboo words between chinese and englishas it mentioned above, from the characteristics of english and chinese taboo words, there are many differences between them, the following is the brief contrast both in english and chinese taboo words.a. similarities of taboo words between english a

19、nd chinese english and chinese have certain areas of agreement on taboo words. excreta and acts of human excretion(these are euphemistic terms themselves) are to be avoided in polite conversation. in english, if they must be mentioned, then the terms should be euphemistic ones. in chinese, they are

20、also taboo, but the chinese attitude is less strict, and sometimes they say“吃喝拉撒睡”(eat, drink, shit and piss) in serious public talk or conversation. according to international english usage, there are mainly several taboo aspects as follows, religion and god, sex, secretions and excretions, etc. co

21、mparing english taboos with chinese taboo words, chinese taboos are similar to english taboos. for example, in religion and god, most people in english-speaking countries believe christianity, they have a strong sense of religion, and people are strictly prohibited from mentioning gods name. jesus c

22、hrist was a jew who lived in palestine 2000 years ago and is accepted by christians as the son of god. so in these countries, the religious terms like god, devil, christ, damn, jesus christ, etc. are only allowed to be mentioned in serious talk. if someone mentions jesus christ in casual talk or in

23、a joke, he will be considered impolite. however, when english people scold someone, they will use these words:“for christs sake!”,“god damned!”,“hell!”,“oh, damn it!” in chinese, it is similar for people to avoid calling gods name. most chinese people believe buddhism, they also do not mention gods

24、name. they dont call god such as“玉皇大帝”(the jade emperor)，“大圣”(the great sage)，“佛主”(lord buddha) etc. when they swears, they will use sky, such as“上蒼作證”(god give evidence),“對天發(fā)誓”(swear by heaven). sometimes they use“爺”(grandpa)， like“老天爺”(god; heavens),“閻王爺”(king of the hell),“土地爺”(god of the land) a

25、nd so on. comparing english taboos with chinese ones, we can find that though these two countries they have some similar taboo words.b. differences of taboo words between english and chinesealthough there are many similarities in english and chinese, different views about what is or isnt taboo words

26、 can be found in two cultures. differences between chinese and english taboo words embody the following aspects:1. in numbersin china, the number“4” and the word“死”(death) almost sound the same. people do not like the number“4”, because it reminds them of“death”. among old people, they think“73” and

27、“84” are two key ages. if you are 73 or 84 years old, you will die before the king of hell invites you. so many old people avoid talking their exact ages. while in english country, one of the most influential taboo numbers is 13. according to the story of“the last supper”: judas, the person who betr

28、ayed jesus, sat in the no.13 chair, therefore, number thirteen is universally considered to be unlucky. no doors number is thirteen; no hotel has the no.13 room; they dont allow 13 people to have dinner together. all in a word, they avoid number thirteen in every aspect. therefore, thirteen become a

29、 taboo word in western countries. another number concerning taboo in western is friday. it also has long been considered as an unlucky day.“this taboo term affects people probably not only because they believe that jesus christ was put to death on the cross on friday, but also because friday is for

30、many years the day of execution of criminals, commonly called“hangmans day”4. another striking contrast is that chinese people like even numbers. for example, they say“好事成雙”(good things come in pairs). chinese people especially like the even number“6” and“8”. the saying“六六大順”(everything will go smoo

31、thly) can prove it. but in western countries, they like odd numbers.“the roman poet virgil says,the god delights in an odd number. in shakespeares play merry wives of windsor, falstaff says,good luck lies in odd numbers they say,there is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance or death.”

32、2. in privacyprivacy means the individual situation or personal affairs that people do not want to be known by other people. as to the cultural differences in english and chinese, it makes the differences of taboo in personal privacy.“the english-speaking people place a high value on privacy. the en

33、glish have a sayinga mans home is his castle.”5 which means a mans home is sacred to him; no one should come in without permission. so it is also with his life affairs. to ask questions such as those mentioned above would be considered prying into an individuals personal life, which is another form

34、of invading a persons“castle”. in fact, there is no equivalent chinese term for privacy. this may be due, in part, to the close living arrangements of the chinese villages with scores or a hundred or more families densely packed in a small area have been typical of the chinese countryside for centur

35、ies. even in towns and cities in the north of china,“四合院”(a quadrangle with several households around a single courtyard), which means continually contact among members within the compound. with such arrangements, privacy would be hardly possible. this is quite different from the individual houses o

36、ften with a sizeable surrounding yard or garden for each that has been characteristics of english countries until comparatively recent times. these have vividly demonstrated that english-speaking countries pay much attention to the personal privacy. in british and the united states, the aspects of a

37、ge, money, family, political affairs and religion, etc., are considered to be private affairs, which should not be asked in the interpersonal communication. but in china, it is very common to ask these questions when people communicate with each other and it will be considered to be an expression of

38、 cordiality and concern. in english-speaking countries, if you ask other people about age, it will be an impolite behavior. but in china, people often refer to the topic of age. when you meet an old people, you may ask,“may i ask how old you are, grandpa?” when you meet a child, you may ask,“how old

39、 are you?” talking about money is also a taboo in english-speaking countries. people should not ask something about other peoples salary or income. but in china, its very common to talk about money with each other and people are also willing to answer questions relating to income or other commodity

40、prices. if you buy a new cloth, other people would ask the price of this cloth, and you are willing to tell them the price. but in english-speaking countries, if you ask the price of the goods that other people have purchased, this will be considered a disrespectful behavior. political affairs and r

41、eligious issues can not be asked in the daily life of english-speaking people, because they think that its the individuals freedom to choose religious belief and political parities and it is none of other peoples business. so an american will not ask a chinese such question“are you a party member?”

42、but in china, its very common to ask this question, because chinese people think party members are always linked to a personal ethics. another reason may be the communal spirit or spirit of brotherhood that has long prevailed among the chinese. close contact and a certain amount of mutual dependence

43、 and mutual concern mean that one persons affairs related to the affairs of ones family, ones neighbors, and even the large community that one belong to. how different this is from the privacy so treasure in the english countries.in connection with english-speaking peoples feelings about privacy, th

44、ere are certain english expressions meant to be deliberately vague. if a person says“im going out”, one should not ask where. if he/she says“i have an appointment”, it would be improper to ask with whom or what kind of appointment it is. likewise, if a woman claims she has a headache, it would not d

45、o to be over-solicitous and ask what the trouble is, or whether or not she needs some medicine. if she really is in distress, she will probably say so.3. in namesin addition to the taboos of peoples privacy, name is an important element of taboo. in appellation, english people are different from chi

46、nese people. english people are much random than chinese people. chinese people are very strict about appellation. many words are taboos and people cannot use them freely. english people can use any name if he/she likes(except gods name). english people can have the same name with their mother, fath

47、er, grandfather, grandmother and so on. whats more, english people can have the same name with queen or king. in english, it does not matter, and it is very common for many english people to name their children as they like. but naming in chinese is more serious and people cannot use them at random.

48、 there are many taboos in it. for example, because the second name of sima qians father was“tan”. when writing the historical records，(sima qian changed“zhao tan” into“zhao tong” and“l(fā)itan” into“l(fā)i tong”) as a result, we cannot find such a chinese character“tan” in the historical records. but in the

49、 english culture, there are no such name taboos. the younger generation can refer to the elder generations name directly. it shows that they are equal, friendly and intimate. in the united states, many black people bear the name“l(fā)incoln”, apparently after abraham lincoln, the 16th president of the c

50、ountry. english babies may be named after their grandparents or other relatives to show respect or to honor them. for example,“the british prime minister churchills father was named randolph. churchill and one of the prime ministers sons were also named randolph. churchill. the grandfather and grand

51、son had the same name. the american president franklin d. roosevelts son also had the same name with his father.” this practice was quite different from chinese culture which was characterized by a clearly delineated stratified society in which the names, for example, of ones relatives, one or two g

52、enerations above, or officials, or other influential figures were taboos to the ordinary chinese, no one dared to name his babies after them.4. in colorsthe world is composed of materials of various colors. people live in this colorful world and give the color all kinds of meanings: some are positiv

53、e while others are negative. those colors with negative meanings become the taboo. people with different cultural backgrounds have different emotion or symbol to the same color.for example, in english-speaking countries, people think white is a pure, clean, plain, light and candid symbol. so, the wh

54、ite buildings show cleanliness, happiness, purity, and there is the white hall in london and the white house in washington. when the people get married, the brides wedding dress is white for it is a symbol of pureness. but in china, white is the symbol of solemnity and grief, while red is the symbol

55、 of verve and joyousness, symbol death, bad omen. people like to use white in the funeral, also symbolizing failure, stupid and having no benefit can get.red, this color is usually associated with celebrations and joyful occasions. this is true in english-speaking countries as well as in china. so i

56、n english one find, for example, redletter days like christmas and other special days. such days are printed in red on calendars rather than in black for ordinary days. but in america, most people dont like the red color. they think red makes people annoyed, and red means stop. they also believe tha

57、t“to become redfaced” or“his/ her face turned red” shows embarrassed and unsightliness. in china, people like the red color, because they think red can bring them rich, luck and happiness.blue, in english, blue is usually associated with unhappy feelings.“in a blue mode” or“having the blues” means a

58、 sad, gloomy or depressed mood. blue devils mean sadness, gloom and depression. similar in meaning is“a blue monday”(the first day of work or school after a pleasant, happy weekend). but in china it almost has no special meaning.yellow has positive meanings. it symbolizes the lofty, brilliance, joy,

59、 anticipation, wisdom and brightness. in america, yellow means anticipating, missing and hoping family members or good friends to come back soon. yellow also has passive meanings, such as betrayal, envy, distrust, pornography and puerile, etc.“yellow” is a kind of development variation of red in the chinese culture. it symbolizes ce