英语专业论文-英汉委婉语中文化内涵的对比研究
从英汉委婉语中透析中西文化差异
本科毕业论文第 1 页共 15 页1 IntroductionEuphemism, an appropriate language form created for perfect communicative effect and an important way to coordinate interpersonal relationship, is a common linguistic phenomenon existing in people’ s use of language.Euphemism appears first in ShiJing , so it has a long history. Chinese scholar Chen Wangdao defines “ euphemism ” and studies it from the perspective of rhetoric in The Origin of Rhetoric. In the 1970s and 1980s, affected by the foreign social linguistic theory, scholars who work on the study of social linguistics become interested in the special social function of euphemism. In Sociolinguistics , Chen Yuan discusses the profound historical and psycho-social background of euphemism, revealing its social essence of avoiding mentioning those unpleasant things or phenomena. In The Euphemism in Modern Chinese Language published in Chinese Language Learning, Shu Dingfang attempts to describe and discuss the structure and research scope of euphemism in modern Chinese language from the angle of modern linguistics for the first time.The study of euphemism at abroad also has a long history. In the 1580s, the English writer George Blunt created the word “ euphemism ” and presented the following definition: a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word. Referring to the historical cultural background of American society, American linguist Menken probes into the reason why several hundred euphemisms appear and become popular in The American Language published in 1936. The book A Dictionary of Euphemism and Other Doubletalk written by English linguist Hugh Rawson manifests the research achievements about euphemism of English and American linguists. The book not only reviews the study history of euphemism, but also makes an extensive discussion of the characteristics, definition and classification of it.Euphemism, as one form of language which contains affluent cultural connotations, must be the reflection of a specific culture. Euphemisms created in different cultural backgrounds reflect different cultural connotations and embodies the attitude towards life and life-style of people living in this specific language group. This thesis aims to contribute to a successful cross-cultural communication by helping people understand the appropriate interpretation of euphemisms.2 Euphemism and Culture2.1 Language and CultureCulture owns diverse kinds of carriers, such as art, language, literature and so on. Language, as the most important carrier, is intimately related to culture. The come into being and inheritance of culture are due to the appearance and development of language. There is no culture without language and no language without culture. At the same time, culture affects language all the time, making language become more accurate to adapt to the development and change of culture. The creation of culture cannot exist without the function of language, and the accumulation of culture is also conserved through language. As a result, language and culture are supplementary to each other and dependent on each other for existence.Language itself, as the carrier and a significant composition of culture, bears the special imprint of culture. Although language is the outcome of the development of social culture, language plays an essential role in the formation and development of culture. The language people use reflects their real thoughts towards what they talk about. Language, from a broad sense, symbolically stands for a people and makes up their historical and cultural backgrounds. Like a mirror, language reflects the culture of a people and reveals their ways of living.Culture is the keystone of language. Any kind of language cannot survive and developwithout the social culture environment, which language relies on. To a certain degree, social culture restricts language’ s evolution as well as perfection. Language itself has an influence on people ’ s ways of thinking and consequently impacts the culture. However, affected by culture greatly, language changes with culture undergoing in development and change. Just in the contemporary world, millions of the new words in various fields prove that rich and colorful cultures make all sorts of languages come into being.2.2 Euphemism and CultureThe word “ euphemism ” originated from the Greek. In Greek, the prefix “ eu ” means “ good ” with the root “ pheme ” meaning “ speech ” . As a result, the literal meaning of euphemism is “ to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”(Neaman and Silver 1. Euphemism is a frequently used figure of speech, and there are other definitions of it. Allan and Burridge presents the following: “ a euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either one’ s own face or, through giving of fence, that of the audience, or of some third party”( Allan and Burridge 18.For the reason that the formation of English and Chinese euphemisms has various ways, euphemisms can be divided differently in accordance with different standards. The classification employed in this thesis is from Hugh Rawson, who, in 1981, classified euphemisms into negative euphemisms and positive euphemisms in his book A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk from the aspect of semantics.The negative euphemisms, which are closely related to tabooed words, also can be called traditional euphemisms. What the negative euphemisms and tabooed words express are the same. If languages, like sex, disease, physical and psychological defects, are expressed in a direct way, they are called tabooed words, giving people asense of vulgarity and rudeness. But if the languages presented above are delivered in an indirect way, they are called euphemisms, granting people a feeling of connotation, elegance and politeness. For example, peo ple in western countries substitute “ sex ” with “ sleep with” or “ go to bed with” and use “ plain looking” or “ ordinary looking” to replace “ ugly ” .The positive euphemisms, also named as stylistic euphemisms, have no relationship with tabooed words. In fact, positive euphemisms are analogous to the words with a meaning of compliment. “I t tends to inflate and magnify the word meaning, making the euphemized seem altogether grander and more important than they really are ” (Hugh Rawson 1. In order to show politeness, respect or strive for cooperation, people apply beautiful words to express things which are unpleasant but not tabooed. In the past decades, positive euphemisms have been applied in such areas as education, occupation and unemployment. There are many euphemisms for some occupations with lower social status. A gardener who shaves trees and flowers can be called “ a landscape architect” . A garbage collector is often said to be “ a sanitation engineer” and a file clerk would be very happy to kn ow that she is “ a research consultant” .The concept of culture is so broad that defining the word “ culture ” seems to be a very difficult matter for us. Different people often see the same object in different lights. Many scholars have defined it. Linel l Davis defines culture as “ the total accumulation of beliefs, customs, values, behaviors, institutions and communication patterns that are shared, learned and passed down through the generations in an identifiable group of people”(24. According to Goodenough, culture is “whatever it is one has to know and believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members. Culture, being what people have to learn as distinct from their biological heritage, must consist of “ the end product of learning: know ledge” (167. The culture covers a broad spectrum and contains all the phenomena of the universe. All the things created by people and related toexperience, knowledge, science and technology as well as education and language, can be called culture.Euphemism is a language used pervasively in our daily life. It is not only a language phenomenon in both English and Chinese culture, but also is a kind of social culture. Language and culture are closely related to each other. Euphemism, as one form of language, is also greatly affected and shaped by culture in terms of the origin, growth and usage. Simultaneously, euphemism is a reflection of culture. Euphemism bears the weight of abundant cultural connotation for the reason that it deeply roots in the soil of a people’ s social culture. It is hard for people to make sense of the euphemisms if people do not have a notion of a country’ s culture. Shao Zhihong points out that he [Patrick Hartwell] considers euphemisms as “ a natural part of the social world of words ” and believes they tell us “ a good deal about the values of a culture” (305.3 Different Cultural Implications Reflected in English and Chinese EuphemismsLanguage is the carrier of culture and a mirror reflecting social culture. For this reason, euphemism, as a special form of language, must be the reflection of a specific culture. Language decides a nation ’ s cultural features, which gives rise to the phenomenon that English and Chinese euphemisms without exception will reflect the cultural differences of two nations as well.3.1 Different Concepts of ValueIn term of concept of value, western people live for their self-satisfaction. Once they cannot get the material insurance, they immediately think that their life will fall apart and that they cannot be mentioned in the same breath with their friends because they believe they are inferior to them. While, deeply affected by Confucianism, Chinese contend that the value of life lies in the contribution they do in their lives rather than the materialabu ndance. Euphemisms for “poverty” in English and Chinese reflect their different concepts of value.The word “ poverty ” in English is a terrible word which means “ there is neither powernor social status ” . In the western commercial societies, people hol d the belief that money talks and admit poverty directly incurs disdain. Although the society thinks highly of the view that everyone is equal and has his own civil right, the phenomenon that the gap between the poor and the rich keeps widening still exists. However, there is no person who would like to acknowledge that they do not have enough money to afford them a normal life. Therefore, people in West spare no effort to refrain from mentioning “ poverty ” for the sake of the poor themselves. The followin g example will show us how western people avoid “ poverty ” :“ I used to think I was poor.” She wrote. “ Then they told me I was not poor, I was needy. Then they said it was self-defeating to think of myself as needy, that I was culturally deprived. Then they told me deprived was a bad thing, that I was underprivileged. Then they told me underprivileged was overused, that I was disadvantaged. I still do not have a dime—but I have a great vocabulary.” (William and Mary 229In the short section of speech above, there are four euphemisms –“ needy ” ,“ culturally deprived ”, “ underprivileged ” and “ disadvantaged ” , which have the similar meaning as “ poor ” . All these words are just some indirect ways western people use to avoid saying the word “ poor ” b ecause most people regard the possession of material wealth as the symbol to measure people’ s ability of survival.There are also many other euphemisms for “ poverty ” : “ hard up for money” , “ less well off ” , “ down on one ’ s luck ” , “ in a awkward financial situation ” , “ in reduced circumstances ” , “ badly off ” , “ the have-nots ” , “ man of modest means ” , “ negative saver ” and so on.By contrast, being poor does not seem to be a horrible thing in China. Chinese people embrace the perspective that though one is poor, he has lofty aspirations and believe that poverty can exercise people ’ s perseverance and character. Nevertheless, beingpoor is not a thing to be proud of, so there are only a few euphemisms for the word “ poverty ” in Chinese. The words used most frequently in Chinese are “ 揭不开锅” , “ 手头不便” , “ 拮据” and “ 囊中羞涩” . The small quantity of euphemisms for“ poverty ” may be relevant to the reason that the word in Chinese is not tabooed as that in English. Specific culture creates special language. China today is a country brimming with rich cultural elements, which makes the new euphemisms for “ poverty ” emerge. With the implementation of reform and opening-up and the rapid growth of economy, millionaires and even billionaires appea r in China. The word “ 富翁” sounds good, but the meaning of the word “ 负翁” has an entirely opposite meaning. Some people of the salariat are called “ 月光族” because they never have surplus salaries at the end of the month.3.2 Different Concepts of RankChina is a nation of courtesy with a cultural heritage running several thousand years and a nation which attaches importance to Confucian culture and feudal patriarch system. However, democracy, referring to freedom, equality and human right, is the main idea of western people. Euphemisms for “ address forms ” reflect the different social values of rank in English-speaking countries and China and also show the relationship among people.People in West have every confidence in the belief that all men are equal. This view stresses that citizens are equal both in laws and mentality, which means there is no rule to judge people whether they are noble or poor. Consequently, western people lay more emphasis on individuality, and they are not so conscious of the concept of familyhierarchy as Chinese to show their respect for seniority. No matter what people ’ s social status are, they can get along with each other like friends and call their names on a first-name basis. In western families, children usually call the ir parents’ names instead of“ father ” and “ mother ” when they grow up. However, the parents do not blame them for the change of titles; on the contrary, they feel that the relationshipbetween them and their children is cozy. Furthermore, the concept of address forms in West is relatively general and ambiguous. Men who are of the same generation of children’s parents are called “ uncle ” , women on the generation base are called “ aunt ” and their children are called “ cousin ” no matter what gender they are. The phenomenon that family members address each other directly regardless of the family hierarchy is a common occurrence in western families while it is not accepted in an old-fashioned Chinese family. The reason lies in that the address forms in English do not belong to the scope of language taboos.On the contrary, Chinese people pay much attention to the arrangement of rank, etiquette and the order of seniority and inferiority, which directly reflected in the“ address forms” . In ancient times, or dinary people were forbidden to address directly the names of emperors and government officials. They had to use other words to replace the name; otherwise, they would be punished because of showing no respect. For instance, in Tang Dynasty, the name of em peror is called “ 李世民” . In order to avoid the word “ 世” , people use “ 代” to take the place of “ 世” , substitute “ 世” with “ 人” and shorten the word “ 观世音” to “ 观音” when they write or communicate. Title taboos derive from the concept of the ancient patriarchal clan system. With the changes of times, this phenomenon has been no longer in existence, but some title taboos continue to be used even today. Nowadays, people always address other people in a way of adding the title of a post to show respect between the superior and the subordinate, the young and the old and even peers, such as “ 张局长” , “ 刘书记” and “ 赵老师” . When it comes to the relationship between friends, people usually address friends by adding “ 小” or“ 老” for the sake of intimacy, such as “ 小王” and “ 老李” . In a Chinese family, parents always educate their kids that they are not allowed to address the elders directly. The younger generation is obliged to call the older generation in terms of kinship to express their esteem, such as “爷爷” , “ 奶奶” , “ 爸爸” , “ 妈妈” , “ 叔叔” , “ 阿姨” , “ 舅舅” , “ 舅妈” . If people address other people’ s names directly, they will be considered as uneducated and impolite.本科毕业论文第 9 页共 15 页 3.3 Different Concepts of ReligionChristianity, a very prevailing religion in West, has a long-term and profound effect on the society, deeming that everybody is guilty and laying stress on a person ’ s imperfection and inherent evil tendency. In China, people mainly believe in Buddhism and Taoism, which guide people to establish perfect personality and even be Buddha and immoral by means of enhancing their self-cultivation. Each language has its own religious faith, which leads to the different uses of euphemisms for “ death ” .In West, people, from heads of state to the common people, almost all of them believe in Christianity which is dominant among the diverse religions. Christians deem that the value of human body is inferior to the soul for the reason that the fresh will die eventually, but the soul is immortal. They stick to the faith that their souls will enter into the heaven rather than hell after death if they make great efforts to do spiritual practice. Affected by this faith, they are confronted with death calmly. As a consequence, a large amount of English euphemisms for “ death ” come from the Bible and give expression to the basic Christian doctrine that people’ s lives given by God are destined to go through sin, indulgence and expiation, and people can only get saved in the other world after expi ating the sins. For example, the “ death ” is called “ to return to dust/earth” because God creates people with clay; “to pay the debt of nature” is a statement of “ death ” for the reason that people are born with sins and their death is to atone for sins. God is the master of the earth, so people have to “ be called to God ” or “ to answer the final summons ” after death. Other euphemisms for “ death ” contain “ go the way of allfresh” , “ to go to a better world” , “ be asleep in the Arms of God ” , “ go to one’ s final reward” and so on. All these euphemisms for “ death ” are the real portrayal of perfect lives western people believe in.Chinese people never have a unified faith for China is a country with many religions. Buddhism and Taoism make a large difference to Chinese culture. Buddhism, spreading into China since Tang Dynasty, is to set people free from the eternal cycle本科毕业论文第 10 页共 15 页 of birth and death. Buddhism advocates spiritual practice to live up to the highest realm, which is c alled “ 圆寂” or “ 灭度” in Chinese. That the Buddhists die peacefully with a gesture of sitting in meditation is called “ 坐化” , which indicates that they are not in dread of death. Other euphemisms for Buddhists’ death, which are too numerous to be listed,include “ 升天” , “ 殉道” and “ 登莲界” . Taoism, another religion Chinese people have a deep faith in, aims to live forever to be immortal, so it considers people’ s death as “ 仙逝” , “ 仙游” , “ 仙去” and so on. In addition, the view that people can be supernatural beings riding on white cranes when they pass away, results in the appearance of “ 骑鹤” , “ 化鹤” or “ 鹤化” . Taoism denies that there is no differences existing in the world and believes that a person’ s life is just from birth to death, so we have the expressions of “ 物化” , “ 隐化” and “ 遁化” . All the examples above reflect a fact that the diversity of religious belief is bound to generate the diversity of language.3.4 Different Concepts of TraditionPeople in West generally avoid asking others’ ag e for the reason that age is a sensitive topic in their eyes. On the contrary, people in China, who are familiar with the traditional customs of respecting the elderly, do not have many taboos in age. However, to be old will surely lead to death. As a result, each nation takes full advantage of euphemisms to prevent embarrassments of “ old age” from happening.Western culture pays much attention to youth, energy and creativity. The word “O ld ” is a derogatory term in western culture, which results in the p henomenon that people are aware of shunning the word especially on account of the serious aging of population in western societies, the increasing problems of social security and ability to provide for the aged as well as the advocation of family structure with DINK lifestyle. Western people are afraid of becoming old and their fear for becoming old has reached the degree of putting an end to the use of the word “ old ” . They meditate deeply on borrowing other words to express the word “ old ” in a tactful way. “ Old本科毕业论文第 11 页共 15 页people ” are addressed as “ senior citizens ” , “ seasoned men ” , “ well-preserved men ” , “ the advanced in age” and the like. They all get complimented for their “ longer life” . Even the “ old people ’ s home” can be called as “ nursing home” , “ home for adults” , “ rest home ” and “ adult communities”. Western people cherish the dream of never growing old, so they call the “ old women ” as “ distinguished women ” and the “ old men ” as “ distinguished men” . In ad dition, the euphemisms for “ old people” include “ golden age” , “ sunset years” , “ the mature” and “ the elderly” . In today’ s society where the young age is advocated, people attach more and more importance to the address of old men, which certainly gives rise to the increase of euphemisms for “ old ” .The euphemisms for “ old ” in China are not as abundant as those in West. Once in a while, people can see the statement in written form, such as “ 华发” , “ 黄昏恋” and “ 夕阳红” , but people are not very sensitive to the word “ old ” . Chinese people hold the view that being old is the honor of family and society. In China, people are deeply convinced that it is a traditional virtue to respect the old and take good care of children. As a result, people advocate the power and status of the old. Although the traditional family structure of four generations under one roof has been broken up in the modern society, the old generation is still the core member of a family. In Chinese culture, the word “ old ” has bee n equipped with the meaning of knowledge, maturity and reliance,which are reflected in Chinese by means of such expressions as “ 老当益壮” , “ 老成持重” and “ 老将出马,一个顶俩” . People in China are not in dread of talking about the age, naturally resulting in the p henomenon that the use of the word “ old ” in the society is not considered as a taboo. People call “ the old” “ 您老” and “ 老人家” to show a sense of respect. The word “ old ” in China can also convey the connotation of seniority and experience, which can be seen from “ 老师傅” , “ 老教授” and “ 老总” . Furthermore, Chinese people usually put the word “ old ” after family name to address the old people who have a high virtue and a glorious name to express their respect, such as “ 陈老” , and “ 李老” .ConclusionEuphemism, both a common linguistic phenomenon and a social culture, is created by different cultural backgrounds, moralities and values and reflects different cultural connotations and characteristics. At the same time, it is essential for people to realize the importance of the appropriate interpretation and application of euphemisms in cross-cultural communication.This thesis reveals the different cultural implications in the aspects of the concept of value, rank, religion and tradition reflected in English and Chinese euphemisms by comparing different euphemisms. Euphemisms for “ poor ” in English and Chinese tell us that western people have a stronger desire for money than Chinese people, and euphemisms for “ address forms ” give us some information tha t China is rigidly hierarchical while western countries are democratic and free. In addition, euphemisms for “ death ” show us the different religious cultures people in each country believe in and euphemisms for “ old ” explain the reason why the word “ old ” is tabooed in English but advocated in Chinese. All the comparisons between English and Chinese euphemisms suggest that the usage and goal of them are roughly similar in that both of them use nice words to replace the vulgar things which are likely to give people a sense of embarrassment, to make the language more elegant, polite and acceptable. However, thecomparison also shows that backgrounds for the usage of English and Chinese euphemisms do not go all the way, sometimes even are totally different. Euphemisms are adopted by people to render their speeches and manners to be rational, to promote the interpersonal relationship and to enhance the exchanges and cooperation. Understanding the deep implications reflected in English and Chinese euphemisms is beneficial to handle the language more skillfully and eliminate the negative effect produced by euphemisms in cross-cultural communication.Bibliography1 Allen, K. & K. Burridge. Euphemism and Dysphemism [M]. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.2 Bolinger, D. Aspects of Language [M]. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World Inc., 1981.3 Davis, L. Doing Culture: Cross-Cultural Communication in Action [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2001.4 Fasold, R. The Sociolinguistics of Language [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000.5 Goodenough, W. H. Cultural Anthropology and Linguistic [M]. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 1957.6 Leech, G. N. Principles of Pragmatics[M]. London and New York: Longman Group Ltd, 1983.7 Menken, H. L. The American Language [M]. New York: Blackwell Publishers, 1936.8 Neaman. J. S. & C. G . Sliver. Kind Words-A Thesaurus of Euphemisms [Z]. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1983.9 Rawson, H. A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk [Z]. New York: Crown Publisher, Inc., 1981.10 William & Marry Morris. Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage [Z]. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1975.11 陈北郊 (Chen Beijiao. 汉语语讳学 [M]. 山西 : 山西人民出版社 , 1991.12 陈望道 (Chen Wangdao. 修辞学发凡 [M]. 上海 : 上海教育出版社 , 1979. 13 陈原 (Chen Yuan. 社会语言学 [M]. 上海 : 学林出版社 , 1983.14 刘纯豹 (Liu Chunbao. 英汉委婉语词典 [Z]. 南京 : 江苏教育出版社 , 1993. 15 李国南 (Li Guonan. 英语中的委婉语 [J]. 外国语 , 1989, (3 : 23-27.16 邵志洪 (Shao Zhihong. 英汉语研究与对比 [M]. 上海 : 华东理工大学出版社, 1997.17 束定芳 (Shu Dingfang. 现代汉语中的委婉语 [J]. 汉语学习 : 1989, (2 : 34-38.18 王逢鑫 (Wang Fengxin. 英汉比较语义学 [M]. 北京 : 外文出版社 , 2001. 19 于亚伦(Yu Yalun. 当代英语委婉语初探 [J]. 外语学刊 , 1984, (2 : 45-49.20 张拱贵 (Zhang Gonggui. 汉语委婉语词典 [Z]. 北京 : 北京语言文化大学出版社 , 1996.AcknowledgementsI would like to avail myself of the opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all the people who have helped me in completing the thesis.Firstly, I really feel grateful to my academic supervisor, Miss Wang Yanfang, who has given me so much useful advice on my writing. Her patient and inspiring instruction and careful modification have greatly contributed to the completion of this thesis.Secondly, I should be thankful to all the other teachers at the department of English of the College, classmates and friends for their useful advice and kind help in my graduate studies. Their profound knowledge and enlightening academic achievements greatly benefited me.Finally, I owe a particular debt of gratitude to my parents, who have given me a lot of consideration and great encouragement during these four years. They are my intimate tutors on my life path.。
英汉委婉语不同点对比研究[论文]
![英汉委婉语不同点对比研究[论文]](https://img.taocdn.com/s3/m/05dbb198daef5ef7ba0d3c31.png)
英汉委婉语不同点对比研究摘要：现代社会突飞猛进地发展，越来越多的人能够接受教育，人们的素质也因此有了很大的提高。
在我们的日常交流中，人们越来越讲究得体，说话越来越委婉。
因此，委婉语成了现代社会不可或缺的一部分。
汉英委婉语的功能基本是相同的，但其中也有少许的不同之处。
本文旨在就汉英委婉语的内容进行对比，找出其不同点，并且试着探究这些差别产生的原因。
只有注意到这些差别并尽量避免冲突，跨文化交际才能顺利进行。
关键词：委婉语内容跨文化交际1. 引言委婉语（ euphemism）一词发源于希腊语，意思是说好听的话，古希腊人在祭祀时，都得讲吉利话，即使用委婉语（张曲，2007）。
委婉语不仅仅是一种语言学现象，而是一种文化现象。
现在，在人们社会生活的每一个方面都可以看到委婉语的使用。
委婉语就是用来淡化或美化一些人们通常认为是禁忌，或令人难堪的事物的词语，句子，或一段话（陈彦彦，2007）。
中英文中有很多委婉语，因为他们是一种语言学现象，因此存在很多相似点。
然而，文化能反映在某种语言上，作为一种特殊的文化符号，委婉语能够反映特定的文化现象。
不同的国家有着不同的文化，所以不同国家的委婉语也有着其不同点。
国内外很多人对委婉语进行了研究。
然而，很少人对中英委婉语不同点进行系统地的分析。
为了跨文化交际的顺利进行，不能想当然地认为中英委婉语都一样。
因此本文旨在试图对中英委婉语中的不同点进行对比并分析其原因。
2. 英汉委婉语的不同点一般说来，英汉委婉语中的相同点远远多于其不同点。
英汉语中在禁忌、说话的得体性方面就有着很大的相似。
除了这些相似点外，其的不同点应引起人们的注意。
2.1 年长由于美国是一个工业化国家，其文化是以个人主义为中心，独立与进步这两个品质被给予极高的重视。
英语国家的人追求创新，因为害怕遭到歧视，他们害怕变老。
单词“old”对西方人来说是一个禁忌因为它意味着在思想或行动上缓慢。
因此，一些含单词“old”的英语短语都是贬义的，比如“ old-fashioned， old school， old gentleman”等。
英语论文-英汉“死亡”委婉语文化对比分析
英汉“死亡”委婉语文化对比分析摘要:委婉语是人类社会中存在的一种语言现象。
由于东西方文化的不同，在委婉语的使用上也存在许多差异。
本文对中西委婉语跨文化现象进行了对比研究，揭示了其内在联系。
关键词:委婉语;传统委婉语;文体委婉语;宗教文化委婉语（Euphemism）一词源自希腊语的前缀eu=well 和词根pheme=speaking。
根据《英语委婉语详解词典》的定义，委婉语是一种用无害的或悦耳的词语替代那些较直接的、唐突的言词，用善意的话语把事实掩盖起来的修饰手段。
它不仅是一种社会语言现象，更是一种文化现象。
一、委婉语的分类和功能英语委婉语一般可分为两大类：传统委婉语(traditional euphemisms)和文体委婉语(stylistic euphemisms)。
所谓传统委婉语，是与禁忌语密切相关的。
如生、死、病、性等禁忌事物，如果直接表达，就是禁忌语，给人的感觉是粗鄙、生硬、无礼；反之如果间接表达，就是委婉语，给人的印象是典雅、含蓄、中听、有礼。
所谓文体委婉语，实际上是恭维语，溢美之词与禁忌语无关。
委婉语的功能有:避讳功能、避俗功能或雅化功能、礼貌功能、掩饰功能和褒扬功能（淡化或夸张功能）。
死亡是人类普遍面临的重大问题之一，在日常生活中时有发生。
由于英汉两种文化背景不同，所反映出的对死亡的看法存在很大差异。
二、英汉两种语言死亡委婉语不同的原因1、不同的宗教文化带来的表达差异基督教在英语国家的人们生活中发挥着重要作用，其关于死亡的委婉语多半来自《圣经》，与基督教信仰密切相关。
许多基督徒都相信“来世”和“原罪”之说，在他们看来，死亡就意味着"to go to heaven"(进天堂)、"to be called to Cod"(被召唤到上帝那) or "to cancel ones account"(销账)。
在中国，没有一种宗教能像基督教在英语国家所具有的重要地位和影响。
从委婉语看英汉文化异同
从委婉语看英汉文化异同［摘要］委婉语是汉、英语言中共有的现象，有着相同的心理基础和共同的适用范围；同时也透射出宗教信仰、价值观念、伦理传统等文化的差异。
汉英委婉语无一例外地都会折射出两个民族不同的社会生活和文化价值观念。
［关键词］委婉语；心理基础；文化异同语言是文化的载体，是反映民族文化的一面镜子。
我国语言学家戚雨村先生认为，语言，包括语言的使用方式在内，不能超越文化而独立存在，不能脱离一个民族流传下来的、决定这一民族生活面貌和风俗习惯的信念体系。
一、汉、英委婉语共同的适用范围及心理基础汉、英委婉语折射出汉英两种文化有共同的适用范围。
在汉英文化中，委婉语主要适用范围大致为：生、老、病、死；性；排泄；穷困；犯罪；职业；政治。
就老年人之“死”而言，英语有与汉语意思相似的婉称，常见的有：to close/end one’s days(终其天年); shut one’s lig ht off(逝世)；to cross the bar(去了)。
汉、英委婉语中有一些完全或基本的等价，反映了汉、英民族对外部世界的共识和共同的避讳、美化、掩饰心理基础和思维模式。
1．对某些事物情形的避讳汉、英委婉语的使用体现了共同的社会心理基础。
不论是在我国还是在英美国家，“忌讳”都是产生委婉语的重要心理基础。
远古时代，人类不能正确理解自然现象和自然力，于是就产生了一种对超自然力(the supernatural)的崇拜乃至恐惧，即所谓“灵物崇拜”(Fetishism)。
随之而来的就是“语言灵物崇拜”(Word Fetishism)。
出于对鬼神的敬畏，神明与魔鬼的名字首先必须回避，担心直呼其名会招致危险和灾难，往往另辟蹊径。
英语中有关“Devil”的委婉语有上千个之多，如“the Bleak One”,“Old Boy”, “the Tempter”, “the Big D” ,“Old Harry”, “the Ene my”, “the Wicked One”, “Old Nick”, “Prince of Darkness”等。
英汉委婉语的文化意蕴对比
英汉委婉语的文化意蕴对比一、引言Euphemism一词源自希腊语，eu-是前缀，意思是“good”，词干-phemism的意思是“saying;speech”，合起来就是“good speech”（好听的话）。
Neaman(1990:1)把euphemism定义为“substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words.”（用不冒犯人或令人愉快的词语去代替直率的、触怒人的词语，用好听的词语去掩饰事实）[1](P228)牛津高阶英汉双解词典（Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary）中对euphemism 的定义是：“use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or p hrases in place of more accurate or direct ones”[2]（P491）（用愉快、温和、间接的词或词组替代直露、直接的词）。
以上两者基本上概括了euphemism的性质和特点。
中国人禁忌、忌讳的地方恐怕不比西方国家少。
“汉语中有与euphemism相对应的修辞格，一叫婉转或委婉语，即‘在说话时遇有伤感惹厌的地方，就不直说，只用委曲含蓄的话来烘托暗示’；二叫避讳格，即‘说话时遇有犯忌触讳的事物，便不直说该事物，却用旁及的话来回避掩盖或装饰美化。
’”（陈望道《修辞学发凡》）[3]（P69）在实际使用中，无论是euphemism，还是婉曲、避讳都与各民族的民族心理、礼教规范、价值取向以及传统文化等因素密切相连。
了解委婉语产生的原因及其反映的不同文化,有利于加深我们对英汉语言与文化的认识,益于我们跨文化的顺利进行。
英汉委婉语的对比及文化内涵
色的 社会心 理状 态 和语 言文 化 内涵 。汉 民族和 西方 民族语 言 中的委 婉语 ，丰富 了汉语 及 英语 的词汇 ，增 加 了人们交 际 过程 中的表达 方式 ， 反 映着 不 同民族相 同或 相 异 的社会 心理 及文 化
母 ”说 成 “ 失恃 ” ， “ 父母 双 亡 ”称之 为 “ 弃
委 婉 语 （ｕ ｈ ｍｉ － 词 最 早源 于 希 腊 语 ｅｐｅ ｓ ｍ） ｅ ｐ ｅ ｓ ｓ，是 生 活 中 那 些 刺 耳 的 、粗 俗 ｕ ｈ ｍｉｍｏ 的 、给 人 带 来 不 快 的 或 被 视 为 禁 忌 的 语 言 替
达 “ 因身心缺 陷需 要进 行特殊 教育 的儿 童 ” ，
在 中国 则用 “ 智 ”代 替 “ 能儿 ”。病 人发 弱 低 疯ห้องสมุดไป่ตู้不 用 ｍａ ｄ，常 常 用 “ｎ ｔ ｌ ｈ ｒ ｏ ａｌ ｅ ｅ”或 ｔ
“
到现 代 ，也有 许 多关 于 “ 亡 ”的说法 。 死 比如对 领 袖或 著 名 的人 物 ，我们 会说 “ 逝
涵。
关 键 词 ：委 婉 语 ；对 比 ；文 化 内 涵
一
，
引 言
关 ， “ 亡 ”在人 们 心 中是 个恐 怖 的 、不祥 的 死 字 眼 ，生 怕提 及此 词会 招来 横 祸 ，同时 为 了对 长 眠者 表达 怀 念和 尊敬 之情 ，对 亲属 表达 安慰 之 意 ，汉 英语 言都 创造 了 大量 的委婉 语 。 中国从 古代 开 始就 出现 了许 多与 “ 亡 ” 死 有关 的 委婉 语 ，反 映着 中华 民族 各方 面 的文化 习俗 。 “ 亡 ”的委 婉语 ，不仅反 映 了 中国古 死 时 的社会 制 度 ，等级 观念 ，而 且也 折射 出了人 们 的宗教 信 仰及 中庸 和谐 ，如把 死 人 的事称 为 “ 事 ” ，把 “ 丧 丧父 ”说 成 “ 失估 ”，把 “ 丧
委婉语论文：中西委婉语的对比
委婉语论文：中西委婉语的对比摘要：委婉语是一种中西文化中普遍存在的语言现象，是为了达到理想交际效果而采用的一种策略。
委婉语同时又是一种文化现象。
当说话者感到直率的说法可能会引起听话者某种程度的厌恶时,出于忌讳或礼貌,就通过遣词的调整来克服上述的心里障碍。
本文旨在通过将中英文两种语言中委婉语的使用进行对比，从中发现中西文化委婉语使用的差异，以提高英语学习者的文化意识和跨文化交际能力。
关键词：委婉语；差异；对比一、前言委婉语是各民族生活中普遍存在的一种语言现象,是英语和汉语中常用的修辞手法之一。
委婉语的特征就是用一种不明说的,能使人感到愉快或尊敬意味的表达方式。
它通过语言来调剂人际关系，而且它还是一种社会语言学现象，通过它可以避免语言过于直接、刻薄而给对方造成伤害。
英汉两种语言中都有大量的委婉语。
由于委婉语是语言运用常规的背离，因而它在本质上是一种语言变异现象，它是促成语言变化的潜在机制之一。
随着中国和西方文化的交流和碰撞，现实需要我们对英语和汉语中委婉语的对比进行较为广泛的研究，熟悉其在社会交际中的功能，才能更准确地理解它，并恰如其分的使用它。
二、中西委婉语的对比（一）在礼貌方面的共通性在社会交往中，无论中西方都讲究讲话的礼貌功能，选择委婉的表达法是有修养的人的表现，说话人使用委婉语,不仅显得彬彬有礼,还会因为照顾了对方的情面可获取对方的好感。
例如英语里面的“老”在西方文化中是忌讳的，于是一些关于年龄的委婉语就应运而生,如用“senior citizen”（高级公民）“,the longer living”(年长者)等来代替。
作为教师，也不能说你的学生笨，要表述成“a slow learner”(他学得慢),或“underachiever(他尚未发挥潜力)”；在英语中，各种残疾人一般被称为“the invalid”(病弱的)；“deaf”(耳聋的)被称为“slow of hearing”(听觉迟钝的)；“blind”(失明的)被称为“visually retarded”(视力上有障碍的)；“color blind”(色盲)被称为“color deficient”(色觉有缺陷的)。
英汉“死亡”委婉语文化对比研究
英汉“死亡”委婉语文化对比研究班级英语一班学号124022008024 姓名黄依琳摘要：委婉语是人类社会中存在的一种语言现象，传统委婉语是与禁忌语紧密相连的。
在任何一种文化，任何一个社会中，都存在着语言禁忌。
但是，死亡却是全人类共同的归宿，是人类无法超越的生命终点，对死亡的焦虑与恐惧是人类普遍的心态，这使得死亡成为各民族共同忌讳的话题。
(1) 笔者在此只从英汉“死亡委婉语”的不同来源入手,对它们的文化成因和文化内涵进行对比分析,以增强人们跨文化交际意识。
关键词：死亡委婉语；文化成因；文化内涵一、引言委婉语（Euphemism）一词源自希腊语的前缀eu=well 和词根pheme=speaking。
意为“to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”(以好听的言词或令人愉快的方式来说话)(2)。
根据定义，委婉语是一种用无害的或悦耳的词语替代那些较直接的、唐突的言词，用善意的话语把事实掩盖起来的润饰手段。
(3)。
它不仅是一种社会语言现象，更是一种文化现象。
二、英汉死亡委婉语的来源及文化内涵的异同（一）源自价值观的英汉死亡委婉语所体现的文化重合尽管汉英两民族由于历史传统、地理环境、社会制度、宗教信仰等诸多因素的差异形成了各自的民族特色,并且演变成了不同的民族思维定式,使得两民族的价值取向千差万别,但二者间也有相似之处,其中一个典型的共性就体现在死亡价值观上。
中华民族自古以来十分推崇“舍身取义”这一英雄的传统。
因此,当一个人为公或为国家过早地献出自己宝贵生命时,人们通常会用“献身”、“舍身”、“殉国”、“殉职”、“牺牲”、“阵亡”、“杀身成仁”、“英勇就义”、“为国捐躯”、“舍生取义”、“肝脑涂地”等褒义词语婉称之,以表达对英雄人物的赞美崇敬而又深切哀悼之情。
无独有偶,英语里也有一些表示为国家或事业而捐躯的委婉语词,如to lay down with one’s shovel and hoe (为国家或事业捐躯)；to kiss the dust (阵亡)等,但与汉语相比,这些表示法在搭配意义、内涵意义以及感情意义的传达上稍逊一筹。
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
绵阳师范学院本科生毕业论文(设计)题目 A Comparative Study of CulturalConnotations in English andChinese Euphemisms英汉委婉语中文化内涵的对比研究专业英语（师范英语方向）院系外国语学院学号1004020436姓名Xxx指导教师xxx 副教授答辩时间二○一四年四月论文工作时间：2013年09月至2014年04月英汉委婉语中文化内涵的对比研究姓名：xxxx指导老师：xxxx摘要：委婉语是人们在各种社会交往中为谋求彼此理想的交际效果而创造的一种普遍的语言形式。
它不仅是一种语言现象，而且是一种文化现象。
国内外对于委婉语的研究，许多学者主要集中在社会语言学、修辞学和语义学等方面，然而对不同文化背景下的委婉语的对比研究较少。
本文主要基于前人的研究，对英汉委婉语中的文化内涵进行对比研究，旨在发现英汉委婉语的异同，从而，减少英汉两种语言使用时的误用，加深对中西文化交流中的差异性理解，实现和谐的交际目的。
关键词：委婉语；文化现象；文化内涵；交际目的；对比研究A Comparative Study of Cultural Connotations inEnglish and Chinese EuphemismsUndergraduate: xxxSupervisor: xxxAbstract: Euphemism is a universal linguistic form that is created by human beings in various communicative activities in order to achieve their ideal communicative goals. Euphemism is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a cultural phenomenon. At home and abroad, euphemism is mainly studied by scholars from the aspects of sociolinguistics, rhetorics, semantics, etc. However，there are fewer studies on the comparative analyses of euphemisms of different cultural backgrounds. Based on the previous studies, this paper makes a comparative study of cultural connotations in English and Chinese euphemisms. It aims to find out the similarities and differences between them. Consequently, it aims to reduce the misuse of euphemisms, to deepen the understanding of differences of cross-cultural communication and to accomplish the good communicative goals in English and Chinese.Key words: euphemism; cultural phenomenon; cultural connotation; communicative goal; comparative studyContents1. Introduction (1)2. Origin, Definition, Classification and Formation of Euphemism (2)2.1 Origin of Euphemism (2)2.2 Definition of Euphemism (3)2.3 Classification of Euphemism (4)2.3.1 Traditional Euphemisms and Stylistic Euphemisms (4)2.3.2 Unconscious Euphemisms and Conscious Euphemisms (4)2.4 Formation of Euphemism (5)3. Theory of Euphemism (6)4. Comparative Study of Cultural Connotations (7)4.1 Language, Culture and Euphemism (7)4.2 Euphemisms of Reproduction, Aging, Diseases and Death (8)4.2.1 Euphemisms of Reproduction (8)4.2.2 Euphemisms of Aging (8)4.2.3 Euphemisms of Diseases (9)4.2.4 Euphemisms of Death (9)4.3 Euphemisms of Marriage and Family (10)4.4 Euphemisms of Occupations and Poverty (10)4.5 Euphemisms of Deities and Devils (11)5. Conclusion (12)Bibliography (13)Acknowledgements (14)1. IntroductionEuphemism is a universal linguistic phenomenon, which is widely used in human communicative activities. As we all know, like the ornament and lube of human language, euphemism enables people to avoid some unpleasant, embarrassing, and direct communicative situations. It keeps the communication going on. Hence euphemism plays a crucial role in human daily life, just as Robert William Burchfield wrote in his work Fair of Speech: The Uses of Euphemism (1985), “a language without euphemism would be a defective instrument of communication.”As a common linguistic phenomenon, euphemism has been studied for a long time at home and overseas. In western countries, scholar George Blunt, in the early 1580s, co ined the word “euphemism” and defined it as “a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word”. In 1981, British linguist Hugh Rawson compiled a dictionary named A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk, embodying the research achievements of euphemism. Most importantly, the preface of this dictionary is one of the greatest papers of euphemism study. In the dictionary, Hugh Rawson not only talked about the history of euphemism study but also discussed the definition, features, classification and related aspects. In 1985, American scholars Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver published a dictionary called Kind Words: a Thesaurus of Euphemisms. This dictionary has great referential value of euphemism study. In the dictionary, Judith S. Neaman generally defined euphemism as “replacing an offensive or unpleasant term for an inoffensive and pleasant one”. According to American social and cultural background, American linguist Menken, discussed hundreds of euphemism phenomena in his work The American Language and talked about the reasons of derivation and popularization. It is of great value for euphemism researches. For many western traditional linguists, they only studied euphemism from lexical aspects. Since Bolinger’s study, some linguists start to focus on the grammar means of euphemism formations, such as tense, tone and voice.In ancient China, the study of euphemism is greatly involved in taboo and folklore. The avoidance of taboo and the expression of euphemism were firstly recorded in the work of Lu Rong, a Ming dynasty scholar. For a long time, with the pioneer Mr. Chen Wangdao, most modern scholars studied euphemism from rhetorical aspect. In 20th century, theories of foreign sociolinguistics were introduced into China. According to these theories, many Chinese linguists were interested in the social functions of euphemism. In 1983, Mr. Chen Yuan published a book named Sociolinguistics, in which he made detailed analyses of euphemism. In this book, Mr. Chen Yuan not only talked about the history of euphemism and the background of society and mind but also used many examples to analyze the features of euphemism formation and usage. Later on, many Chinese scholars studied euphemism fromdifferent aspects and have got lots of further achievements.Wha t’s more, euphemism is relevant to human cultures. It is culture-loaned in that certain contextual euphemism reflects certain cultures. In English and Chinese, euphemism is also an indispensable element. Lots of linguists and scholars at home and abroad have interest in euphemism study from different aspects. Among these researches, many scholars mainly focus on the study of euphemism itself, ignoring the communicative and practical functions of language, ignoring the underlying meaning of language phenomenon. In other words, they do researches from one language instead of two or more comparative languages.In this paper, the author uses the comparative way to study the cultural connotations in English and Chinese euphemisms. And the author intends to solve three problems in this paper. First of all, what are the similarities and differences of euphemism phenomena in English and Chinese? Secondly, what are the cultural connotations implied in English and Chinese euphemisms? Last but not least, how to avoid certain mistakes of euphemism in cross-cultural communication. Through these comparative studies, this paper aims to compare the euphemism in English and Chinese from the view of cultural connotations and to make people have a clear view on the theories and cultural connotations of English and Chinese euphemisms.2. Origin, Definition, Classification and Formation ofEuphemism2.1 Origin of EuphemismLanguage can be generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communications. Language is human-specific in accordance with the definition. Its development profoundly relates to human activities. In primitive society, human was unable to understand and explain some natural phenomena or natural power. Therefore, as one of the features of human beings, language is naturally related to certain natural phenomena or blessing and disaster caused by natural power. Thus, human beings endowed language with a power that surpassed language itself. What’s more, they considered that language was the source of good and bad fortune. Who were displeased with this source, they would be penalized by the source. On the contrary, who were pleased with this source, they would be blessed by the source. Naturally, taboo came into being. It does not allow people to do, use or talk about a particular thing as people find it offensive or embarrassing. Nevertheless, people have to use or talk about some offensive or embarrassing things in daily life. What should they do? It is really difficult to handle. On the one hand, people want to express some taboo subjects; on the other hand, they have to avoid the punishment of language. In light of the fact, taboo engenders euphemism. When people are unwilling to talk aboutthe taboo things directly, they can use good, indirect and pleasant words to replace them. This linguistic phenomenon is called euphemism. Taboo is the original motivation of euphemism. Where there is a taboo, there is the euphemism.2.2 Definition of EuphemismIn western countries, the English term “euphemism” stemmed from Greek. The initial part “eu-” means “good, well”; the stem “pheme” means “speak”; and the last part “-ism” means “action or the result”. So the whole word “euphemism” means “speaking well of something” “good speech” and “words of good omen”. However, different scholars and linguists defined the nature of euphemism differently. The following are some typical definitions of euphemism.1) The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt. (Webster’s Dictionary of American English, Random House, Inc. 1997)2) An indirect word or phrase that people often use to refer to something embarrassing or unpleasant, sometimes to make it seem more acceptable than it really is. (Oxford Advanced Learne r’s English-Chinese Dictionary, 7th Edition, 2009)3) Mild, agreeable, or roundabout words used in a place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones. (Hugh Rawson, 1981:3)4) There are grammatical ways of toning something down without actually changing the context of the message. (D. Bolinger, 1981)5) Substitute an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using in words. (Neaman and Silver, 1983) In China, most scholars study euphemism mainly from the rhetoric, and they regard euphemism as a kind of figure of speech. Chen Wangdao was the first person to make a definition of euphemism that“委婉是修辞的一种，即说话不直白本意，只用委曲含蓄的话来烘托暗”(《修辞学发凡》陈望道，1979). Tang Songbo defined euphemism in his work 《汉语修辞格词典》, 汉语“委婉”或称“婉转”;最普遍的名称是“婉曲”，“婉曲”又分为“婉言”和“曲语”两种，都“不直接说出本意”，不过前者“故意换一种含蓄的说法”，而后者则是，“通过描述和本意相关的事物来烘托本意”.From the mentioned definitions of euphemisms both in English and Chinese, we can get the following main points. Firstly, euphemism has two levels of meaning that is original meaning or literal meaning and implied meaning or euphemistic meaning. Secondly, euphemistic words are the substitute of unpleasant, embarrassing, offensive and direct words. It can be called “good word”, “comfortable word”, “mild expression” etc. Thirdly, euphemism has three general functions that are to avoid irritation and make people comfortable, to remove rudeness and make people polite and to abandon staleness and make people novel.2.3 Classification of EuphemismAccording to different criterion, euphemisms can be divided into different types.2.3.1 Traditional Euphemisms and Stylistic EuphemismsAccording to whether the expressions are in relation to taboos or not, euphemisms can be classified into traditional euphemisms and stylistic euphemisms.Traditional euphemisms can also be called negative euphemisms, which are relevant to taboos. In this case, euphemisms and taboos convey the same information, which seem two sides of a coin supplementing each other. In case of expressing something directly, such as birth, death, illness, sex, nakedness and excretion, it is coarse, impolite and ungracious. Nevertheless, if people express indirectly and euphemize these mentioned aspects, it is elegant, polite, and gracious. For example, “death” can be replaced by “breath one’s last” “fall asleep” “go the way of all flesh” “go west” “decease” “join the majority” “lay down one’s life” “pass away”“pay the debt of nature” “reach a better world”.Stylistic euphemisms can also be called positive euphemisms, which have no relation to taboos but relate to compliments. In English-speaking countries, people will magnify and exaggerate some unpleasant thi ngs to “good words” in order to show their politeness, respect and to avoid some unnecessary embarrassment, to strive for some cooperating chances. For example, “housewife”(家庭主妇) is replaced by “homemaker”(创家者) or “domestic engineer”(家庭工程师); “garbage collector”(垃圾清运工) is called “sanitation engineer”(公共卫生工程师) or “garbologist”(垃圾学专家). Most stylistic euphemisms are doublespeak and cosmetic words, which are used widely in government, military and business field. For example, people use the expressions “redeployment”(重新部署), “adjustment of the front”(战线调整) or “strategic movement to the rear”(向后战略转移) to replace “retreat”(撤退).2.3.2 Unconscious Euphemisms and Conscious EuphemismsEuphemisms can be classified into unconscious euphemisms and conscious euphemisms according to whether the euphemistic meanings relate to their original meanings or not. Time goes by. The original meaning of a word was forgotten by people, while the euphemistic meaning was remembered. So the euphemistic meaning is misunderstood as the original meaning. To take the word “indisposition” for example, its original meaning is “unable to do something” and its euphemistic meaning refers to “illness”. In daily activiti es, because of the frequent use of its euphemistic meaning, people nearly forget its original meaning.However, when people use conscious euphemisms, it is clear for them that they make a pun in their use. That is to say, they not only know the original meaning but also know the implied meaning of the word. Generally, the listener can grasp the actual meaning in conversations. For example, when a lady says “I want to powder mynose” in a formal date, both the speaker and listener know that the lady wants t o answer the call of nature. Conscious euphemisms are employed widely, because of their duality. People can express some unpleasant, private and embarrassing things with the help of conscious euphemisms.What’s more, there are a variety of classifications of euphemism besides the foregoing classifications. According to time, euphemisms can be classified into instantaneous euphemisms and continuous euphemisms; according to age, euphemisms can be classified into medieval euphemisms, Victorian euphemisms, twenty century euphemisms, modern euphemisms, etc. According to scope, euphemisms can be classified into British euphemisms, American euphemisms, Australian euphemisms, male euphemisms, female euphemisms, etc. According to topics, euphemisms can be classified into death euphemisms, sex euphemisms, occupation euphemisms, etc. It is useful to grasp the various features of euphemism by different classified ways.2.4 Formation of EuphemismAs is known to all, the main function of euphemism is to help people avoid some things they are unwilling to mention or talk about directly. Based on this, most formations of euphemism follow two principles that are pleasantness principle and relatedness principle. The following are eight common ways of formation.1) Compounding(合词法): Compounding is a formative process that two or more words are blended together. For instance, “gezunda” means “chamber pot”—a term making from this object “goes under the bed”.2) Backformation(逆构词法): Backformation is a formative process that removes the imagined suffix from existing word with some changes. For example, the word “burgle” is formed from the removal and change of the word “burglar” to replace the word “rob”.3) Acronym(首字母组合法): Acronym is a formative process that combines the initial letters of taboos or sensitive terms in order to mask bad things. For example, “BM” means “bowel movement”(大便);“BO” means“body odor”(狐臭);“the Big C” means “cancer”(癌症);“X.Y.Z.” means “Examine your zipper.”(请把你裤子的拉链拉上。