英汉委婉语

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英汉委婉语对比分析

英汉委婉语对比分析

英汉委婉语对比分析作者:张莉来源:《科学导报·学术》2020年第44期摘 ;要:委婉语是人类语言使用过程中的一种普遍现象。

英汉两种语言中都存在着大量的委婉语,本文旨在对英汉语言交际中经常运用的几类委婉语进行对比分析,比较两者的相同点和差异,以加深对英汉两种语言文化的了解。

关键词:委婉语;英语;汉语1.委婉语的内涵委婉语在英语中称为euphemism,它源自希腊语euphēmizein,其中eu-的含义是well,-phēmē的意思是speaking,加起来的意思即“说好话”。

委婉语是使用较含蓄的语言表达各种强烈的、难以启齿的话语,是人们创造出来的一种文雅的语言表达形式。

恰当地使用委婉语,可以减少因为直截了当的措辞而产生的种种不愉快的联想,使沟通更加顺利。

语言是文化的反映,英汉两种语言中都存在着大量的委婉语,两种语言中的委婉语在表达形式及所蕴含的文化内涵上既有相同之处,也存在一些差异。

2. 常用英汉委婉语的对比2.1 有关“死亡”的委婉语几乎在所有文化中人们都忌讳直接谈及“死亡”,在语言交际中总是回避它,因此大量与死亡相关的委婉语就应运而生。

西方人一般信奉基督教,认为人死之后升入天堂与上帝同在,从而使灵魂得到拯救,因此多数用比喻的手段陈述这一事实,表达了人们一种要去天堂,要去极乐世界的良好愿望。

在英语中常用pass away,to breathe your last(咽下了最后一口气),to go to heaven(去天堂),rest in peace(安息),to go to another world(到另一个世界去了)等说法来婉称“死亡”。

而在中国文化中,神仙一样的生活是人们向往追求的状态,所以中国人往往用仙逝、去世、驾鹤西去、了结尘缘、谢世、归天、长眠、故去等词语,把死比作像神仙一样飘然而去,不再在人世上遭受苦难了。

2.2 有关“年龄”的委婉语西方人崇尚个人主义,个体隐私及私人权利都是他们极力保护的,不想被人知道,更不想受到外界的干预。

英汉委婉语对比研究

英汉委婉语对比研究
意中人---恋人; 老相好----老情人
5、宽泛模糊法:是将禁忌语旳所指从程度和范围上扩大,或是把详细事物说得 抽象些,有意模糊其意象。
个人问题----婚姻; 大脑病---神经病
1, 而说“去洗手间”(go to the bathroom) 2, 有事(do business) 3,以便(answer nature’s call)
礼貌功能
人体缺陷,人们也常用委婉词语来谈论,以示礼貌。 1,肥胖旳(fat)人 常用plump,stout,out-size 或over-weight 来形容 2,对于一位身体清瘦旳妇女称之为slender或slim, 3,相貌丑陋旳(ugly)人说成homely或plain 4,耳朵聋旳(deaf)人说成hard of listening, 5,盲人(the blind )叫做the visually challenge
3、比喻法(Metaphorical Transfer)指把禁忌事物比作性质完全不同但又有某 些相同特点旳事物。
4、语意扬升法(inflating and magnifying)涉及用某些比较温和、刺激性较 少旳词语替代粗鄙难听旳禁忌语以求避讳和文雅,也涉及用美妙动听旳词语 替代中性词以迎合读者旳自尊和虚荣心理(尤指人们旳职称头衔时)
掩饰功能
一,英语里看不到穷国poor nations,有旳只是 backward nations (滞后国家)
二,underdeveloped nations(欠发达国家) developing nations (发展中国家)
三,emerging nations (新兴国家)
四,在西方,工人罢工go on strike 被说成industrial action(工业行动),没有了一点“罢工”旳痕迹。

英汉委婉语差异开题报告

英汉委婉语差异开题报告

英汉委婉语差异开题报告英汉委婉语差异开题报告摘要:本文旨在探讨英汉委婉语的差异。

委婉语是一种通过措辞方式来表达某些话题或观点的方式,它在不直接表达的同时,通过婉转、含蓄的方式传达信息。

英汉两种语言在委婉语的使用上存在一定的差异,主要体现在表达方式、文化背景和社交习惯等方面。

通过对比分析英汉委婉语的差异,可以更好地理解和运用委婉语,增进跨文化交流的效果。

1. 引言委婉语是语言交际中的重要组成部分,它在日常生活和社交场合中发挥着重要的作用。

英汉两种语言在委婉语的使用上存在差异,这主要源于不同的文化背景和社交习惯。

本文将通过对比分析英汉委婉语的差异,探讨其背后的文化因素和语言特点。

2. 英汉委婉语的表达方式差异英汉两种语言在委婉语的表达方式上存在差异。

英语中的委婉语通常通过修饰词、词组或句子结构来实现,例如使用柔和的形容词、副词或使用否定句来表达委婉之意。

而汉语中的委婉语则更多地依赖于语气、语调和上下文的暗示。

英语中的委婉语更直接、明确,而汉语则更注重含蓄和暗示。

3. 文化背景对委婉语的影响英汉委婉语的差异也受到不同的文化背景的影响。

英语文化注重个人主义和直接表达,因此英语委婉语更加直接和明确。

而汉语文化则注重团体和面子观念,因此汉语委婉语更注重含蓄和暗示。

例如,在英语中直接表达对他人的批评可能被视为坦率,而在汉语中,这种直接表达可能会被视为失礼和冒犯。

4. 社交习惯对委婉语的影响社交习惯也是英汉委婉语差异的重要因素。

英语社交习惯中,人们更倾向于直接交流和表达自己的意见,因此英语委婉语相对较少。

而在汉语社交习惯中,人们更注重面子和社会关系,因此更倾向于使用委婉语来避免冲突和尴尬。

这种社交习惯的差异也导致了英汉委婉语的差异。

5. 对英汉委婉语差异的启示对英汉委婉语差异的深入理解可以帮助我们更好地进行跨文化交流。

在与英语母语者交流时,我们可以更直接、明确地表达自己的意见。

而在与汉语母语者交流时,我们应该更加注重语气、语调和上下文的暗示,尽量避免直接表达对他人的批评或负面评价。

中英委婉语的对比分析

中英委婉语的对比分析

中英委婉语的对比分析
中英委婉语是指在交际中为了表达某种信息或态度,而采用含蓄、间接的方式的语言
表达形式。

委婉语的使用可以减轻冲突,保护对方的面子,维护良好的人际关系。

中英委
婉语在表达方式和语言习惯上存在一些差异,下面分别从不同方面进行对比分析。

一、礼貌用语
中文中的委婉语通常通过使用一些礼貌用语来表达,例如「不好意思」、「请问一下」、「可能有点麻烦」等。

而英文中的委婉语则更注重使用一些委婉的措辞,例如「excuse me」、「if you don't mind」、「would you be so kind as to」等。

四、表述态度
在表达态度时,中文中常使用一些虚拟的语气来委婉地表达观点。

例如「我觉得可能」、「我认为也许」等。

而英文中则更倾向于直接地表达观点,例如「I think maybe」、「I believe perhaps」等。

五、措辞转换
在进行语言表达时,中文中还常常使用一些措辞转换的方法来委婉地表达。

例如将「我」转化为「小弟」、「某个人」、「有人」,将「你」转化为「大哥」、「阁下」、「您」等。

而英文中的措辞转换则相对较少,更倾向于使用正式的称呼,例如将「我」转
化为「I」,将「你」转化为「you」等。

中英委婉语在表达方式和语言习惯上存在一些差异。

中文中委婉语常通过使用礼貌用语、委婉词语、虚拟语气和措辞转换等方式来表达,而英文中则更注重使用委婉的措辞、
直接否定、直接建议与请求和正式称呼等方式来表达。

英汉委婉语和禁忌语语用比较研究-V1

英汉委婉语和禁忌语语用比较研究-V1

英汉委婉语和禁忌语语用比较研究-V1正文:
随着全球交往的增加,汉英之间的语言交流变得越来越常见。

然而,由于语言之间的文化差异,英汉委婉语和禁忌语语用存在着很大的差别,这对汉英翻译和交际存在着一定的困难。

因此,对英汉委婉语和禁忌语语用的比较研究显得尤为重要。

一、英汉委婉语比较
1. 委婉语的概念
英汉语言中,委婉语通常用于避免直接表达否定、争端等引起不愉快的话题,却又要传递相应信息。

委婉语可以起到缓和关系、保护自尊心等积极的作用,但也可能会产生不必要的歧义和不明确的信息。

2. 英汉委婉语比较
在英语中,常用的委婉语有“比较级”的表达形式,例如:“a bit difficult”、“not very good”等。

在汉语中,常用的委婉语有“间接引述”的形式,例如:“听说他不太舒服”。

二、英汉禁忌语比较
1. 禁忌语的概念
在英汉语言中,禁忌语通常指的是一些在特定社会语境下禁止使用的语言,例如“骂人的话”、“脏话”等。

禁忌语在不同文化背景下,
其表达方式和表现力也有很大的差别。

2. 英汉禁忌语比较
在英语中,禁忌语属于一种口语化的表达方式,而在汉语中,禁忌语的使用属于一种文化上的禁忌,常常与道德与文化价值观有关。

结论:
经过英汉委婉语和禁忌语语用比较研究,我们发现,英汉语言之间存在很大的差异。

对于翻译和交际,我们需要注意语言和文化之间的差异,学习和掌握不同文化背景下的语言使用方式,才能够更好地促进英汉之间的交流和理解。

英汉委婉语对比与翻译

英汉委婉语对比与翻译

英汉委婉语对比与翻译在日常生活中,为了避免直接表达某些事情而产生不必要的尴尬或者伤害,人们常常使用委婉语。

英语和汉语都有许多常见的委婉语,虽然表达方式不同,但背后的意思却大致相同。

一、拒绝邀请/请求英语中常用的委婉语有:1. Thank you for the invitation, but I won’t be able to make it.(谢谢你的邀请,但是我无法前往。

)2. I appreciate the offer, but I have to decline.(我感谢您的提议,但我必须婉言谢绝。

)3. I’m afraid I have other plans.(恐怕我有其他的安排。

)而汉语中则有:1. 不太方便。

(I am not convenient)2. 有点忙。

(I am a little busy)3. 后会有期。

(Catch up later)二、拒绝求助英语中的常用委婉语有:1. I’d love to help, but unfortunately I’m tied up at the moment.(我很想帮忙,但目前很忙。

)2. I’m sorry, I don’t think I can be of much help in this case.(抱歉,我觉得我对这个事情没有什么帮助。

)3. I appreciate your asking me, but I don’t think I’m the right person to help you.(感谢你向我求助,但我认为我不是合适的人选。

)而汉语中则有:1. 实在抱歉。

(I am really sorry)2. 我没有时间。

(I don't have the time)3. 非常抱歉,我不能帮您。

(I'm terribly sorry, I cannot help you.)三、让对方不要打扰英语中常用的委婉语有:1. I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well, so I need to rest.(抱歉,我不太舒服,需要休息。

浅析英汉委婉语的差异性与相似性

浅析英汉委婉语的差异性与相似性

浅析英汉委婉语的差异性与相似性随着全球化的迅速发展,英汉两种语言的交流越来越频繁。

在日常交流中,人们往往会使用委婉语,不仅可以表达自己的情感,还能保护他人的面子、维护关系。

然而,英汉委婉语的表达方式有着不同的差异性和相似性。

本文将从语言习惯、语境背景和文化认知等方面对英汉委婉语进行比较分析。

一、语言习惯的差异性委婉语在英汉两种语言中的表达方式各有不同。

中英两种语言在词汇、语法和语调等方面的表达均有明显的差异。

例如,中文中通常使用“请问”、“不好意思”等词语作为委婉语,而英文中则使用“Excuse me”、“Pardon me”等表达方式;中文中使用“可能”、“似乎”等副词或者使用反问句来表达委婉语,而英文中则使用“Perhaps”、“I wonder”等表达方式。

此外,英汉两种语言在表达委婉语时也有不同的语法结构。

在英文中,委婉语通常使用虚拟语气、被动语态、倒装句和其他语法手段来表达。

例如,在询问他人时,英文中通常使用倒装句:“Would you mind if I ask you a question?”;而在中文中则用反问句或者使用一些比较间接的表达方式。

二、语境背景的差异性委婉语的使用还需要考虑到不同场合下的语境背景。

在英语中,委婉语的使用更加随意,可以用于朋友之间的谈话或者工作场合中。

而在中文中,委婉语的使用更多的是在正式场合或者家庭环境中,尤其是在年长者或上级对下属进行指导时。

三、文化认知的差异性委婉语在不同的文化背景下也有着不同的表达方式。

英国人自称是温文尔雅的民族,他们非常注重礼节和面子,因此委婉语在英国文化中的重要性非常突出。

而在中国文化中,委婉语的使用更多的是为了维护关系和平衡社会关系。

在中国的文化中,“面子”更是一种无形的价值,是社会生活中不可或缺的要素。

因此,在面对冲突或者不愉快的事情时,中国人通常会使用委婉语来保护对方的面子,避免矛盾升级。

总之,英汉委婉语的差异性和相似性有着不同的表现形式。

英汉委婉语对比与翻译

英汉委婉语对比与翻译

英汉委婉语对比与翻译1.英文委婉语: He is not exactly the right person for the job.翻译成中文:他不是恰当的人选。

中文委婉语:他可能并不是我们寻找的最佳人选。

2.英文委婉语: I'm afraid I must decline your invitation.翻译成中文:我恐怕必须拒绝您的邀请。

中文委婉语:恕我直言,这次我可能不能赴约。

3.英文委婉语: Can we delay the meeting for a few days?翻译成中文:我们能把会议延后几天吗?中文委婉语:能否麻烦您把这个会议的时间往后推迟一下?4.英文委婉语: The dress isn't quite my style.翻译成中文:这件衣服不太适合我。

中文委婉语:我觉得这条裙子款式可能有点不太适合我。

5.英文委婉语: I don't think it's a good idea.翻译成中文:我认为这不是个好主意。

中文委婉语:可能我们需要好好的考虑一下,这么做是否合适。

6.英文委婉语: It's not exactly what I was hoping for.翻译成中文:这不完全是我所希望的东西。

中文委婉语:可能这个方案还需要再进行一些改进。

7.英文委婉语: I'm sorry, but that's not quite what I had in mind.翻译成中文:对不起,但这不完全是我所想象的。

中文委婉语:我们需要更加详尽地考虑一下,这个方案是否能够得到最佳的效果。

8.英文委婉语: I'm afraid that won't be possible.翻译成中文:恐怕这是不可能的。

中文委婉语:可能我们需要再考虑一下其他的做法。

9.英文委婉语: It's not exactly what I had in mind, butit's close.翻译成中文:不完全是我所想象的,但很接近。

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English and Chinese Euphemisms and Cross CulturalCommunication1.0 IntroductionAs a linguistic phenomenon, Euphemism exists in all kinds of languages. It is widely used by all walks of life. Every one of us will adopt it in our daily communication more or less. Beside the familiar linguistic role, it is also a cultural and social phenomenon. That is to say, euphemism is a reflection of the social culture in the language. Long-term since its production, it has penetrated in all aspects of people’s life including the most general ones and the complicated and serious ones. It plays an important role in the interpersonal communication. Euphemism can make the communication more polite and more efficient, as a result, to achieve some positive effects, self-esteem maintenance, mentality balance, as well as conflicts and misunderstanding elimination included. In the progress of interpersonal communication, euphemism has already become a kind of essential lubricant to make the unpleasant and embarrassed things accepted, and change people’s life more wit, relaxed and humorous. To some extent, euphemism is like a mirror of social psychology reflecting a profile of social cultural phenomenon.Linguists like Hugh Rawson(1981), Leech(1985), Neaman &Sliver(1983), Ayto(1993), Liu Chunbao(1990) and Zhong Gonggui(1996) started their study of English and Chinese euphemisms in their respective field very early. They carried out collection and classification of euphemisms and compiled dictionaries of euphemisms. Their research mainly focused on the fields of dictionary compilation, rhetoric, and semantics. However, euphemism not only falls into the category of rhetoric, but also some other disciplines such as sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and philosophy. The study of English and Chinese euphemisms means a lot to both theory and practice. On the basis of the knowledge of similarities and differences between English and Chinese euphemisms, a contrastive study is made in this paper.This thesis is divided into six chapters:In chapter one, an introduction to the importance of euphemism in communication andprevious study of euphemism is given. Chapter two mainly focuses on some general understandings of euphemism. Chapter three and four, a contrastive study is made between English and Chinese euphemism revealing their similarities and differences. In chapter five the functions of English and Chinese euphemisms in cross cultural communication is discussed. In the last part, chapter six concludes the paper.2.0 General Understanding of Euphemisms2.1 The Origin of EuphemismThe English word “euphemism” originates from Greek. The prefix “eu -” means good. The meaning of the “stem”is speech. Then, the plus of the meaning of these two parts makes the literally meaning of the word which is “words of good omen” or “good speech”. Some people call the euphemisms as the fig leaf of languages. The fact is that, in ancient Greek, people generally spoke words of omen which are actually euphemisms, during a sacrifice. For instance, the Eriniyes who wear black robes with a whip, sword and torch in their hands respectively are usually titled with a good name, the Kindly ones or the Eumenides. The reason lies in that people believed that given a good name could calm those three ferocious demons more or less, or at least could avoid their attention. Actually, all divine no matter good or evil could not be addressed disrespectfully by name at that time, because the name of the divine is the embodiment of the divine. Once being called, they could show out immediately. And facing the divine is very important. Even names of places like the Black Sea were generally not referred to directly, instead to use the good name the Euxine or the Friendly Sea in order to avoid the great calamity while voyage. Ancient people’s puzzle towards the great power of nature led to their reverence and worship which is actually the origin of religious and euphemism. The Greek culture was widely spread to all European and America countries latterly. As the time went and the society developed, factors apart from the religious reasons, such as the ethnical norms, the federal privilege, feelings of likes and dislikes, communicative needs, and preference to the elegant instead of the vulgar have changed the content of English euphemism greatly.Most of the euphemisms in English originate from the Bible. And in both GeofferyChaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare’s dramas and poems a large number of euphemisms are used. In Britain, the use of euphemism can at least be traced back to 11th century. At that time, the distinction between Genteel V ocabulary and Obscene V ocabulary is made. And the Genteel V ocabulary is actually the precursor of the euphemism. The Chinese people have always attached great importance to the speech morality. As early as in the Spring and Autumn period, Confucius asserted a proposal which in Chinese is “非礼勿视,非礼勿听,非礼勿言,非礼勿动”. And as is recorded in Rite.QUli, “入境而问禁,入国而问俗,入门而问讳”. The so-called “问禁”and “避讳” are the words people used to substitute, the metaphor people used to imply and the indirect expressions people used to hint when they had to say the taboo things. These nice, substitutive, suggestive words are euphemisms. From what have been said above, we can see that the expressive meanings of euphemisms gradually developed before the occurrence the literature. Euphemism is a kind of very common social phenomenon which develops synchronously with the human society civilization.2.2Definition of EuphemismEuphemism can also be called periphrasis which exists in all kinds of languages in the world. The literal meaning of euphemism is using of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place of more accurate or direct ones. Its basic feature is to use abstract ambiguous concepts or figurative or commendatory skills to make both sides of the conversation adopt a kind of indirect way to talk about the things which should not be spoke straightly and people don’t need to feel embarrassed when they discuss these things. The American famous writer H.L Mencken regards euphemisms as “gilded words”, while Stefan Kanfer takes them as “cosmetic words”. Both of them make an exactly description of the implication and function of euphemisms undoubtedly.Though researchers have carried out researches on euphemism for a long time, the definition of euphemism varies from book to book and no agreement has been reached. Here are some influential definitions:⑴The use of a word or phrase that is less expressive or direct but considered less distasteful, less offensive, etc. than another; a word or phrase so substituted (Ex.: remainsfor corpse)(Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 2010)⑵The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive(The American Heritage- Dictionary of the English Lanaguage,2010)⑶ A polite, tactful, or less explicit term used to avoid the direct naming of an unpleasant, painful, or frightening reality.(Webster’s Third New International Dictionary,1961)⑷The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt(The Random House College Dictionary, 1979)⑸Mild or vague periphrastic expression as a substitute for blunt precision of disagreeable truth(Fair of Speech: the Uses of Euphemism, 1985)⑹A polite word or expression that you use instead of a more direct one to avoid shocking or upsetting someone(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995 edition))⑺ Use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place of more accurate or direct ones(Oxford Advanced Leaner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 1993)Though lots of definitions are made, they share some points: euphemism is a kind of deliberately roundabout implicit rather than declarative expression. In short, euphemisms are good words which make the listeners happy. It is a kind of polite and decent expression people use when they talk about those unpleasant or embarrassed things in human language using process.3.0Similarities between English and Chinese Euphemisms3.1 Cultural Similarities3.1.1 in terms of FormationThere are many ways to constitute English and Chinese euphemisms. The mainly way in which these two languages express their euphemistic meaning are rhetoric devices; grammatical devices; vocabulary devices; pragmatic devices and so on.⑴rhetoric devices: Ways in which euphemisms are realized by figures of speech such as metaphor, analogy, understatement, periphrasis and metonymy. For example, there are many euphemisms of death which are achieved by metaphors, Such as “to go to heaven” “to be called to God”“go to meet one’s maker” in English and “回家了”“去见马克思了”“永远的睡了” in Chinese. Euphemisms that achieved by understatement are usually used to refer to the thief and to make a judgment of one’s appearance, such as “to take one’s things as own without permitting” and “plain” in stead of “thief” and “ugly” in English and “三只手” and “长相很委婉” in Chinese.⑵grammatical devices: The grammatical device which is used mostly often is negation. For example, to use the sentence “I don’t think she is kind” to substitute the sentence “I think that she is cruel” is more tactful. In Chinese, “愚蠢的” can be replaced by “不聪明”.⑶vocabulary devices: to use vague words are one of the most common methods. Instances of using vague words are showed following. The phrase “sub-standard housing”is used to substitute “slum”. The word “affair” is used to replace “sex scandal”. In Chinese, “处境困难”“囊中羞涩” are used to replace lack of money.3.1.2 in terms of Scope of UseThe scope of use of English and Chinese euphemism is very wide. The use of euphemism is mainly related to taboo. Taboo consists of cultural taboo and universal taboo. Taboo varies from its social and cultural background. Euphemisms that substitute taboos are mainly used in fields like birth, death, illness and old age; sex; excretion; poverty; occupation; politics etc.Here birth mainly refers to person’s appearance, figure, and some physical defects. For example, transfer “ugly” to “homely” or “plain”; “fat” to “weight watcher”“plumy”and “stout”; “skinny”to “slender”“willowy”“lean”. In western countries, people generally prefer living alone instead of living with their kids. If they are called old , it means that the death is on the way. So they avoid to talk about their ages and lots ofeuphemisms concerning about old are produced. For example, “senior citizen”or “seasoned men”; “advance d in age” etc. Owing to people’s longing for health and taboo against illness, all kind of disease especially those serious incurable ones are given euphemistic names. For example, Syphilis and Venereal moist warts are often called Social disease in English or “那种病” in Chinese. Cancer is hard to cure when someone is caught by Cancer, people would use the big C or long disease to refer it instead of speaking it out loudly. Things seem to be the same to heart attack disease. People use bad heart condition to substitute it. In Chinese “sister Lin ” is used to refer to young women who are fragile and easy to catch a cold. “Being ill ” may be replaced by “身体不适”“身体迁安”“有恙”“小恙”“头疼脑热”. “Disable”could be replaced by “手脚不便”. “Insane”could be substituted by “精神不正常”. Death is the most taboo topic in the world. Euphemisms about death are affluent in almost every language in the world. It is said that 102 kinds of euphemism about death exists in English. And Chinese is rich in its euphemisms of death too. For example, “be among the missing”“be no more”“sleep in the Arms of God”“in heaven”“with God”“to fire his last shot”“the last voyage”“out of the picture”“the final kick off” in English; “仙逝”“瑶池添座”“圆寂”“升天”“坐化”“亡”“故”“谢世”“赴黄泉”“翘辫子”“驾崩”“玉陨香消”“殉职”“牺牲” in Chinese.Sex is tabooed against by people in all part of the world even though it is human’s instinct. So all things related to sex including knowledge, organ, and disease are usually replaced by euphemisms, such as “business”, “street girl”, “the fact of life” “social disease”“My friend has come”.Now that excretion is related to dirt, when people talk about things related to that, they always try to avoid say it directly. Instead they will use some indirect words. And there comes the euphemisms. For example, “answer call of nature”“pass water”“do number one”“get some fresh air”“powder one’s nose” “wash one’s hands” etc.People’s desire for wealth is the birthplace of euphemisms about poverty. For example, transfer “poor”to “needy”or “under privileged”; transfer “slum”to “substandard housing”.In order to release the pressure and emotional hurt of occupational discrimination and reduce the communicative distance between the two sides, names with reputation areproduced. For example, “custodian”or “maintenance engineer”for “janitor”; “landscape-architect” for “gardener”; “tree- surgeon”; “shoe-rebuild”; “house executive”; “street orderly” or “sanitary engineer” for “dust man” and “garbage collector”.In politics, the press often uses euphemisms to weaken, conceal, and color the facts and truth to in order to achieve some certain political purposes. For example, transfer “aggression”to “involvement”; “death penalty”to “capital punishment”. During the administration of Reagan the government use “revenue enhancement”to substitute its policy of tax increases. In the war of Vietnam, in order to cover their outrage, the American regarded the bombardment in the air as “logistical strikes”or “close air support”. They called the massacre of the civilian as “wasting the enemy”. They even called the “civilian causality” as “collateral damage”.3.2 Pragmatic SimilaritiesEuphemism is a kind of valid expressive way in which people adopt to achieve prospective communicative effect in the process of social communication. Euphemism has many powerful pragmatic functions. We will discuss the similarities of English and Chinese euphemism from the following three aspects: to taboo, to avoid the vulgar, to polite.3.2.1 Taboo FunctionNo matter in Chinese or Western countries, taboo is the most important reason for people to use euphemisms. In ancient time, people can not explain the natural phenomenon and power correctly and has a kind of worship or even fair towards the divine. They faired and avoided to call the names of the divines. And this is what we called language worship for the reason of spirit worship. In English people use “Old Boy”“the Tempter”“the Big D”“Old Harry”“the Enemy”“Old Nick” to replace the word “devil”. In Chinese people chose “河伯”“祝融”“菩萨”“老爷” to refer to the divine.The aim of taboos is to avoid referring those things which may irritate people. Death is one of the most taboo things. Chinese has many euphemisms about death. In ancient time, the death of kings is referred as “崩”. The death of the federal princes is called “薨”. The death of the children is called “殇”. The description of a person who dies young is “他被夺去了生命”. The death of revolutionary who is killed or dies in the battle field could be described as “牺牲” or “英勇就义”. The death of the bad could be called “上西天了” or “下地狱了”. While in English people often use phrases like “go to sleep forever”“fall asleep”“pass away”“pass on ”“close one’s day”“depart to good”“expire”to refer to death. Things which are associated with death are also colored. For example, they use “box”to refer to “coffin”. Use “grave-yard”to refer to “sleeping place”or “memory garden”; use “memorial service” to refer to “funeral”.It’s out of luck for somebody to be ill. We should not say that somebody is ill or speak out the name of the illness directly in daily communication. This is the general psychology of all people around the world. For example, in English people use “the Big C”“Capital Letter C”“long illness” or “terminally ill” to refer to “Cancer”. Use “accident” to refer to “apoplexy”. Euphemisms can also be expressed by abbreviations such as “AIDS”for “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”; “VD”for “venereal disease”; “SARS”for “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes”. In Chinese people use “暗疾” to refer to venereal disease; “身体不好”, “身体不舒服”, “抱恙” to refer to being ill.Owing to the Chinese thought of “No posterity is the greatest of the three unfilial acts”, there are euphemisms like “膝下凄凉” or “断了香火” in Chinese. And Americans taboo against the number of 13. The taboo function of euphemism has existed for a long time. The concept of taboo is really hard to be removed from the thought of people.3.2.2 Function of Avoiding vulgarOn formal occasions or in daily communication, people always try to use euphemistic words when the topic is related to sex and physiology. English uses “make love” or “sleep together”to refer to “have sexual intercourse”. There are other euphemisms such as to replace “blue film” by “adult film”; “illicit cohabitation” by “trial marriage”. In English a woman who is pregnant is called “a lady in -waiting”“eating for two”“an expectant mother”, while in Chinese people may say that “她有喜了”or “她快要做妈妈了”. Menstruation which is the Physiological phenomenon of women is often said euphemistically as “My friend has come”, “She is riding the cotton bicycle”, “She has her period” in English or “来事了”“见习” or “来大姨妈了” in Chinese.Excretion is not convenient to speak directly. Chinese has expressions like “解手”“方便”“去洗手间”. More things related to toilet exist in English such as “water closet (W.C)”“restroom”“washroom”“women’s / ladies’room”“the powder room”“Mrs. Jones”“men’s / Gent’s room”“the John” etc.3.3.3 Polite functionPoliteness is the mark of human civilization. In the process of communication, people always treat each other with respect in order not to hurt another people’s feeling or dignity to make the conversation go smoothly under a gentle pleasant condition. For example: it’s embarrassed for both sides of the conversation if one forgets to take on his zipper of his trousers. Americans would use “You have lost your license”to substitute “Your fly is open”. Chinese would use “大门没关好”to give him a hint which avoids the embarrassment of direct reference and is full of humor. Besides, people use euphemisms when they talk about defects. Such as use “hard of listening”to refer to “deaf”; “the visually challenged” to refer to “the blind” in English, and use “丰盈”“丰腴”“丰满” in Chinese.4.0 Differences between English and Chinese Euphemisms4.1 Differences in Language Features4.1.1 Differences in Semantic FeaturesIn the terms of the semantic features, first, the connotations of the English and Chinese counterparts are not totally same. Therefore, when referring to the same thing, words in one language may have derogatory senses and need to be substituted by euphemisms, while words in the other language do not. For instance, in English, the word “bitch” has a sense of “lechery”. And there came the euphemistic expressions like “lady dog” and “girl dog”. The word “dumb”has implication of “stupid”and “dull”. So the word is often replaced by “speech impaired”. However, in Chinese, these two words do not have implications the same with the English ones.Secondly, in English and Chinese, the degree of stability of the meaning is different. The meanings of the Chinese words are more stable and less changeable, while the meanings of English are on the contrary. This kind of semantic feature of English willreflect in the use of euphemisms inevitably. In English, many words are euphemisms themselves which are used to substitute some sensitive words. Gradually, they get some derogatory senses and are taken place by other euphemisms. For example, “toilet”is an euphemism originally which originates from French with the meaning of cloth which is used when shaving and women’s hair cutting.4.1.2 Differences in Characteristics of Word-FormationFirst, sometimes English can adopt abbreviation to produce euphemisms that could definitely not be achieved in Chinese. Such as, W.C. is the acronyms of “water closet”; “lav” is formed by cutting the initial part of “lavatory”; “Loo” generates from cutting the final part of “Waterloo”.Secondly, English has many words which are absorbed from other languages, especially French by the reason that since 16th century, France has a high reputation in the field of cloths and diet culture. A thing can be described by varieties of words among which there are many loan words. The British people think that the borrowed words are more elegant than those native ones. This trend in Britain is particular prevalent in Victorian times. For example, using the French word “linerie” substitutes the English word “underwear”. The French word “derriere”is also used to replace the English word “buttocks”.4.2 Cultural DifferencesLanguage is the carrier of culture. It is a mirror which reflects national culture and could not exist alone without culture. As a part of language, euphemism could not exist without culture, either. Differences in history and culture, social background, customs and habits play a large part in the differences between English and Chinese euphemisms in terms of usage. And we will discuss this in the following parts:4.2.1 Differences in Chinese and Western Rank ideasChinese attach much importance to peckingorder as a result of the education of the Confucian culture and the feudal patriarchal system. In China, the names of the monarch and the elder are taboos. As the inferior and the younger, it’s forbidden to call their names directly. People must use the relation names or the titles. When give a name to a new birth,people must keep away from those names to show respect. In the modern society, the names of the superior leadership could not be call directly. Instead, people chose the title to address. However, people of western countries advocate freedom and believe that all men are created equal. There is no taboo about the name. In America, especially, in spite of position, age, and gender, most people like to address directly, and it’s ok for the younger to name after the name of their parents or grandparents.4.2.2 Differences in Chinese and Western thinking modeIn China, modesty is a traditional virtue. Ancient people used “鄙人”and “犬子” to call themselves their son, while use “足下” and “令郎” to call others and the son of the others. People use words like “哪里哪里” or “过奖了” to show their modesty, when they are complemented. However, in western countries, people will not belittle themselves to elevate others for their advocate of confidence and truth. Therefore, they will accept the compliment with “Thank you!” or “That’s very kind of you to say so”.4.2.3 Differences in Chinese and Western ValuesWestern culture highlights the individuality and subjectivity and promotes egoism which is regarded as the core value. They stress protect and respect of personal private life. So they treat their age, income, marriage as privacy. Chinese has been influenced by the Confucianism and collectivism values for a long time. They attach importance to the harmoniousness of the interpersonal relationship and highlight social nature of man. So they do not taboo against talking about personal problems like the western.In western countries, age is a sensitive topic. The old don not like to be called “old people”because they always relate old to weak and ugly. As a result, there are a large number of euphemisms about old such as “the longer lived”“second childhood”“seasoned men”for “old people”; “young town”“nursing homes”“home for adults”“an adult community” for “old people’s home. However, Chinese like to use the old to show their respect and worship. Such as “您老人家”“王老”“老先生”etc. Old can also be use euphemistically to imply high prestige and seniority, for example, “老板”“老总”“老师傅” etc.5.0 The Functions of English and Chinese Euphemisms in Cross CulturalCommunicationEnright,D.j. said that “Without euphemisms, the world comes to a halt because of the frication and resentments would arise among people.”Since it has been created, it bears the communicative function as lubrication to machine. Making a good use of euphemism plays an important role in cross communication which could reduce fiction and conflicts enhancing Chinese and English cultural exchange.5.1 Cross Cultural CommunicationCross-cultural communication, also known as intercultural communication, is communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbols systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event. It is frequently used to refer to communication between people from different cultures, which implies a comparison between cultures. (A New Concise Course in Linguistics for Students of English, 2002: 138)5.2 The incorrect use of English and Chinese Euphemisms in Cross Cultural CommunicationAs we have discussed above, things associated with death, some parts of the body, excretion, sex are tabooed against. People will not talk about these in public. Even everyone knows these taboos; most people do not know how to express with euphemistic words. Besides, difference languages have different expressions to convey these. The same word may have different meaning in different cultural background. If people are not familiar with these, there must be pragmatic failure or even joke in the cross cultural communication.For new leaner of English, they will use some euphemisms subconsciously which might cause misunderstanding. For example, the Chinese story “半夜鸡叫”was once translated into “The Cock Crows at Mid-night. ”The translation could lead toembarrassment in English speaking countries, because the word “cock”is a taboo in English which actually means man’s organ of generation. The right translation should be “The Rooster Crows at Mid-night.” Another example is the misuse of the word “gay”. We have a gay party. Owing to “gay” has already been a synonym of homosexual, its original meaning of happy or joy does not exist any more. And a gay party is not a happy and exiting party, but a party of homosexual.The last example of misuse or misunderstanding of euphemism is a Chinese one. A foreigner who knew very little Chinese came to China. His Chinese friends invited him to have dinner. As soon as they arrived at the restaurant, one of his friend, A, told him that “对不起,我去方便一下”. The foreigner could not understand the meaning of the sentence. Others told him that “方便”means “go to the toilet”. And he got it. While they were having the meal, A said that “希望下次到美国的时候,你能帮助提供些方便.”The foreigner was puzzled. Why should I give you some toilets when you come to America? When they parted from each other, one of his friend, B, said that “我想在你方便的时候请你吃饭”. The foreigner did not know how to answer. B continued to say that “如果你最近不方便的话,咱们改日找个你我都方便的时候一起吃饭”. The foreigner was totally astonished. In this joke, friends of the foreigner did not point out that “方便” in the first sentence is a use of euphemism. As a result, the foreigner used the meaning of “going to toilet” in every sentence he heard that caused a big joke.All these examples above result in being unaware of the differences in cultural background, values, and traditional customs between the two languages. In cross cultural communication, it’ easy for people to use their thinking mode and values to comprehend words of the other which forms a phenomenon of interference of mother language leading to pragmatic failure finally.6.0 ConclusionThis paper focuses on two parts: English and Chinese euphemisms and cross cultural communication. A contrastive study in terms of linguistic, cultural and pragmatic aspects has been researched which could help to deepen the understanding of English and Chinese。

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