英文版】a contrastive study of taboos between china and english

1、1. Introduction Taboo is a sensitive topic, so people usually try to avoid talking about it. In fact, it is an important thing that we cannot ignore. It can be a very important part of the culture. Many experts and scholars have studied the phenomenon from different perspectives. And they also have

2、made effort to research the taboos in different nations and a lot of achievements have been made. In Dictionary of Obscenity & Taboo(McDonald, 2001), it is illustrated that the elegance and vulgarity and defined the so-called “words discrimination in detail. In China, Jin Ze in his book Religion

3、 taboos(金澤，2002) analyses the taboos from the perspective of religion. It has studied many races of China in the history and also has a great influence on other foreign nations, which is of great value. Therefore, on the basis of their given achievements, the author will have an exploration of taboo

4、s from general cultural perspective. Its aim is to overcome some difficulties between different cultures, to cut down some misunderstandings in communication and to improve communicative competence by studying the formation, classification and application of English taboos in communication from plur

5、al angles.Intercultural communication is the exchange between different languages in form. But in essence, it is the intercourse of different cultural systems and cultural forms, aiming at delivering cultural content and message. In the course of giving and receiving information, people should choos

6、e proper speech to achieve different communicative outcomes. So knowing the local customs especially the taboos is very important. But owing to the different cultures, people often suffer from some communicative obstacles, and can not catch the real meaning when people talk to them in a euphemistic

7、way in line with their custom instead of direct words.The significance of the current study lies in two aspects. In theory, it makes breakthrough in combining verbal communication with human being's social behaviours to analyze the influence of social-cultural factors and psychological factors o

8、n the different taboos. It suggests that verbal communication is conditioned by these factors. In practice, this thesis helps guide the verbal communication, especially the communication between Chinese and English native speakers and avoid face-to-face and direct conflict and it helps the communica

9、tors grasp and exchange message quickly and correctly.The thesis is based on the cultural comparison; especially compares the differences between China and the English speaking countries. The combination of theory and examples is the developing device of the thesis. This thesis dwells on the influen

10、ce of social factors, religious factors and psychological factors on the taboos.The framework of the thesis is as follows:The first chapter generally gives the definition of taboos by showing the phenomenon and giving some examples both in China and English speaking countries. Taboo is a cultural ph

11、enomenon as well as a linguistic one. Because of the cultural distinction, different people have something in common, but the ways they show their thought are usually different, so which causes the different taboos in different cultures.Chapter Two mainly discusses taboos in English speaking countri

12、es and their cultural background. From several aspects this chapter shows the taboos in English speaking countries and illustrates the causes of cultural background. It is the main body of the thesis. Chapter Three shows taboos in China and their cultural background. From several aspects this part p

13、resents the taboos in China and illustrates the causes of cultural background. Chapter Four compares taboos and analyses of the different cultures. On the basis of the two above chapters, this chapter compares the different cultures between China and the English speaking countries. The author analys

14、es the deep reasons from two aspects of the dissimilarity and the comparability. The last part discusses what we should do to properly eliminate the barriers caused by taboos. The author will point out that different taboos in different places are caused by many complicated factors and people should

15、 understand it and try to make the communication in different places more harmonious. There is also limitations in this thesis. Due to the author's lack of experience, it is hard to cover all the possible taboos both in china and in English speaking countries and explore all the reasons causing

16、different taboos. 2. Understanding TaboosLanguage is not only the carrier of the culture, but also a part of the culture. In different social and historical background, there are different taboos. And the taboos appear in different cultures and reflect in different languages. This chapter generally

17、gives the definition of taboos by showing the phenomenon and giving some examples.2.1 Definition of TaboosIn verbal communication, because of some reasons, people can not, dare not or will not speak out some words, which may be considered to describe danger, sanctity mystery or something making them

18、 embarrassed. These words are usually used in some special cases or for some particular people. These words can be called taboos.The word taboo stems from the native language of Polynesia islands in the South Pacific Ocean(McDonald, 2001:13). It means something we cannot touch or get close to. When

19、used in English, it has the meaning of “forbid or “restrain, to describe something people should avoid to say.2.2 Different Taboos in Different CulturesAs we know, taboos exist in almost all cultures. Like in France, the biggest taboo is English language. With some marvelous triumphs in history, Fre

20、nch man is always proud of everything from France , especially of its language. As Alphonse Daudet in his book(Daudet, 1873) said"French is the most beautiful language in the world" French people believe in it very much, making it very difficult to borrow a new word from other language. Li

21、ke "walkman", English received it while French used "baladeur" instead. And there are many kinds of taboos, including private taboos, dieting taboos, appellative taboos, religious taboos and so on.To Chinese, the biggest taboo is “death in Chinese “死. When people are talking abou

22、t it, they rarely speak it out directly, but find some other words to take the place of it. People often say someone is just sleeping or gone in Chinese, “某人去了，走了，永遠的睡著了。 The English-speaking people have the same custom and they also avoid saying that. Instead they just say “pass away, “be no more t

23、o express ones death.And when someone wants to go to W.C, there is also a taboo, and English people always say NO.1 or NO.2 while Chinese people say “去洗手間“出恭. It is not polite to speak it out directly especially when you are having dinner. People can really avoid some unpleasant things by using euph

24、emisms. Whats more, language taboos in Chinese culture are always seen everywhere. In Chinese culture the meaning of“give some one a clock is close to “send someone to die, so it is a terrible thing to give someone a clock as a present. There is also a taboo in number. In China people dont like No.

25、4 because it sounds like the meaning of death. People wont like telephone number or cars license to be with No. 4. Similarly, English people dont like No. 13, as they think its a bad omen of 13. This taboo exists in almost all the Christianity countries. And in China, people even have color taboos,

26、when someone passed away or died, people have to wear white clothes to attend the funeral, at least cant wear gaily-colored dress. And in the old times, the common people were forbidden to wear the gold clothes as it belonged to emperors.Besides what the author has talked about above, the private ta

27、boos also play an important role in our daily life. In western countries, one should not ask others age, marriage status, income and so on. Taboos are of great importance in different countries, though they are different to each other. As there are so many different kinds of taboos, we couldnt talk

28、about all of them. But we must confess they are very important in communication. If people want to have a better talk or contact with others, they must know more about taboos.All the examples generally show the phenomenon of taboos in our daily life. In the following chapters, the author will illust

29、rate the taboos in China and English speaking countries from different perspectives in detail and analyze the culture backgrounds.3. Taboos in English Speaking Countries and Cultural BackgroundEnglish is the most widely used language in the world, so it has an important effect on the communication o

30、f the world. To study the taboos in English speaking countries is very important to the people from non-English speaking countries. It can cut down some misunderstandings in communication and improve communicative competence. 3.1 Taboos in English Speaking CountriesTaboos appear on condition that pe

31、ople could not understand or not completely understand the natural phenomenon and natural force. As a special social phenomenon, it has its historical and cultural background. Some of them are negative, anti-scientific and fatuous; and others are positive, rational and scientific. The author will pr

32、esent some typical taboos in English speaking countries from some aspects. These all play very important roles in the western countries especially the English speaking countries. Taboos in AppellationGenerally speaking in the USA, children are supposed to call their parents mom and dad and other app

33、ellations like these. As can be seen in some movies, more and more parents let their children call their first names, as a way to be close to them. Even sometimes the grandparents would let their grandchildren do that, because it makes them feel still young. But this is still thought to be irrespect

34、ful in many families. 3.1.2 Taboos in Privacy We may also know that in most western countries, people think much of their privacy. There is a proverb saying that “A mans home is his castle (Halliday, 2001:267). It means that home is a holy place for a person, without permission, others should not co

35、me in. From this, we can see how much they think of the privacy. Ones age, money, family, politics, religion and so on all can be private affairs. We should not ask somebody questions about these. Age for people is very important, especially for ladies. If a person ask a ladys age, it is very impoli

36、te. Westerners often have the feeling to be young and motivate. Money is also a taboo in English speaking countries. Others should not ask ones salary or income, even their relatives should not. And the meaning of the word “privacy is very wide. It can refers to the “secret, “intimacy, “seclusion, “

37、solitude, “do not bother to interfere or talk of and so on. So we can see somewhat the belief of the primary importance of the individual and the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence here.3.1.3 Taboos in Physiology Much physiological behaviour, such as “excretion, “pregnancy is also re

38、lated to taboos. People usually use other words to replace them. This is also an important aspect of taboos.In daily life, when hearing of the words such as “fuck “fucking people will feel uneasy because these words refer to sex, a very sensitive and private topic. So this is taboos. For example, “s

39、exual intercourse is replaced by words such as “occupy “conversation “connection and so on. In modern times, the word “prostitute is replaced by “allay cat, “street girl, or “l(fā)ady of pleasure. Homosexual remains a controversial topic in the western world. The word “homosexual itself has the meaning

40、of disdain or discrimination. So the male homosexual is also called “gay, while female called “l(fā)esbian.Another aspect we will mention is about the washing room. Here we use “washing room as a euphemism. There are also many words to say the same place, such as “rest room, “mans room or “womens room,

41、“powder room and so on. And people go to washing room can be called “wash ones hands, “have a rest, “spend a penny, “powder ones nose (usually for ladies). Mans dejecta is called “body refuse, “human waste products. Pregnancy can be said in other way as “be in the family way, “be a mother-to-be or “

42、be an expectant mother.3.1.4 Taboos in Number and ColorIn the daily life, people are usually liable to like some numbers or days or dislike some numbers or days. Though somewhat it is unscientific, this phenomenon is very popular all over the world.In the western countries, the number thirteen is a

43、very unlucky number and people try to avoid it. For example, “there is no dinner with thirteen persons at a table. There is also no thirteen floors building. People refuse to live in No. 13 room and refuse to use the code 13 (鄧炎昌、劉潤清, 1989:190-192). Not only thirteen, people also dislike Friday. It

44、is considered as an unlucky day. It was said that Jesus was spindled to death at the date of thirteen and a Friday. And also Jesus was betrayed by his thirteenth disciple. Our world is formed by a lot of colourful matters. Different colours are endowed with particular meanings, positive or negative.

45、 The negative ones may turn to the taboos. And different culture background may have different meanings for the same colour. In the western world, white is symbolized to be pure, simple and elegant, bright and candour. So in London there is the white hall, in Washington there is the white house. And

46、 the dress of the new bride is also in white colour. On the contrary, black is considered to be solemnity. So people wear black clothes in the funeral, to show respect and mourn to the dead. Cultural BackgroundFirst, we can see that the religious factor plays a very important role in the cultures of

47、 the English speaking countries. We can see this in the history of these countries. So many taboos about colours, numbers, presents, and festivals have the vestige of religion.Second, the author thinks another factor is that the renaissance has a profound effect on the thought of the people. It blaz

48、oned forth the view of freedom, democracy and independence. So it is not surprising that the westerners think much of the privacy.4. Taboos in China and Cultural BackgroundThe author has presented taboos in English speaking countries. In this chapter and we will discuss taboos in China. We all know

49、that China has the largest population in the world. And it also has a long and great history. So language and culture play an important part in the world. To study this chapter, we can compare the Chinese taboos with English taboos.4.1 Taboos in China China is a country, which consists of many diffe

50、rent nations, and each nation also has its own particular custom and culture. The Han nation, which has the largest population of all, almost affects the culture of the whole China. So in the next part the author generally analyzes the taboos in the culture of the Han nation. Like Chapter Two, the a

51、uthor also illustrates from several main aspects. Taboos in AppellationAppellation is the beginning of communication. “In China, people think much of the position in the family hierarchy, which in Chinese means輩分,and it cannot be wrong (Wan Jianzhong, 2001:156-157). So in the following I will talk a

52、bout it.In China, a person cannot have the same name as this father, grandfather or other relatives who has the higher position than him or her; even a part of the name should not be the same. So one cannot directly call the name of his or her eldership. In the relationship by blood or by a common a

53、ncestor, which is usually called consanguinity, Chinese has a lot of titles, “哥哥 for the elder brother, “弟弟 for the younger brother, “姐姐 “妹妹for elder and younger sister. The brother of father is called “叔叔 or “伯伯 and the brother of mother is called “舅舅. There are too many titles for different people

54、 in the consanguinity. Here are only some examples. And in the communication, people usually do not call others names directly to show respect. People also call the elder people who have no consanguinity with us a respectful title.4.1.2 Taboos in Privacy As more and more people move to high building

55、s, in modern China, people consider more on their privacy. Unless to very good friends, it is never polite to ask people's age, salary, or marriage state and so on. In terms of this part, it is just the same with English speaking countries. 4.1.3 Taboos in Physiology Like in English, words relat

56、ed to sex and sexual in Chinese are always desecrating, as a result, often making them too embarrassing to be applied by "educated people" or "lofty people". When there is nowhere to go, words like"那個"，"下部"，"襠部" are usually in lieu of using sexual or

57、gan directly. Talking about sexual behaviour, "辦事"，"夫妻生活"，"偷雞摸狗"，"尋花問柳" often appear. Also something else related to sex organ is prohibited, like "撒尿"，"月經(jīng)" and instead, they are respectively called "WC","例假". Even if a

58、woman is sluttery, we often use "水性楊花" as an euphemism to depict her. People essentially believe it can bring bad luck and can really hurt people psychologically, so "X蛋" is possibly used as a curse. 4.1.4 Taboos in Number and ColorIn the world, because of their customs and cultu

59、re, people will like or dislike some colors or numbers. So not only in English speaking countries, in China there are also many number and color taboos.In China, people like the red color. So in the happy and important days, people usually wear red clothes, hang up big red lanterns and put out red couplets. We award people having making contributions with big red flowers. In addition, red symbolizes revolution in China. The national flag and the Party flag are all red color. In the past, yellow symbolized the sovereign of the emperor