Euphemisms in Cross—Cultural Communication

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Euphemisms in Cross—Cultural Communication

Abstract： As all important language phenomenon，euphemism surely has an influence on cI0ss
． cultural
communication．Using euphemism can make the language communication go smoothly an d successfully
．
The paper first gives the source of euphemism and the significance of the study of euphemi sm
． It then
discusses the features of euphemism：its definition and classification and the principles
． By using a large
number of examples，it finally focuses on comparison and analysis of cultural diferences and similarity
between English and Chinese euphemisms． Through this paper， we can cultivate the conscioasness of
cross—cultural communication and avoid pragmatic errors of euphemi sms．
Key Words：euphemism；culture；cross．cultural communication

1．1ntrOductiOn
The word euphemism comes from Greek， ‘‘eu’’
means “good’’or “well”．the rot“phem’’mean s
“speech'’， an d “ism” is a noun suffix． It means
literally‘‘to speak with good words or in a pleasant
m anner”
． (Neaman， 1983： 1) The record use of
euphemi sm is found until the eleventh century B．C．．
By the early 1580s George Blountto first point out
the term “euphemism’’refers to“a good or favorable
interpretation of a bad word”．
(George Blountto，
1580：243)
As one form of lan guage， euphemism is a
common phenomenon．It is widely used in human
society． Euphemism can reduce sensitivity an d
irritation of expression．People use it to substitute
indirect word or phrase．Euphemism also reflects
some cultural differences． People in different
language groups use different ways to express
euphemism．
1．1 The source of euphemism
Euphemism originates from verbal taboo，which
originates from religion superstition，reflecting the
importance of social psychology．Taboo is the basis
of euphemism and the use of euphemi sm began from
avoidance of taboo． Taboo exists everywhere．
Almost every culture has its own taboo．The word
“taboo” is from Polynesian ．meaning “sacred’’or
“accursed”．The emergence of taboo is related to
social psychology．People dare not call something by
name directly because of the psychology of fear．So
people work out indirect terms to replace them．The
euphemi sms come into being．People feel they are
far away from fear when they use euphemism．In a
word，euphemi sm is mi ld，roundabout words used in
place of coarse，offensive， or painful ones．
1．2 The significance of the study of
euphemism
Euphemi sm is a comlnon phenomenon of all
languages．It is a milTor of social psychology．
Recently，English euphemism has arousing wide
interest．It is so widely used in our dally life．If
people try not to mention directly，avoiding bad luck
or poor states，they have to use euphemism．People
speak out their mi nds in implicit and roundabout
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way because they fear something，because they want
to save face or because they strongly incfine to avoid
talking about something．
Euphemism is also common in different
cultures． Since different culture has different
communication，people from different culture will
necessarily encounter man y difi culties or problems
when they com unicate with each other．They often
feel confused if they lack some background
information．Different cultura1 backgrounds make
salTle thing bring about different emotions．It is
necessary to mak e a crosS—cultural study of
euphemisms．W e must increase the awareness of
cultural differences in euphemism in order to be able
to use euphemism appropriately an d effectively．
Nowadays，people of different cultures have even
more touches．So how to use English euphemism is
of great importance in communication．W hat is
euphemi sm? Why should we speak euphemi sm?
W hen ale euphemi sms used in cross—cultural
communication?What are social an d cultural factors?
Such questions are rather complex．Only we grasp
the point of euphemism in cross—cultural
com unication can we do the good lan guage
learning．
2．Definition and Classification
2．1 Definition of Euphemism
Euphemism has ben defined differently in
different books．There are some definitions cited as
follows：
1) Euphemi sm is substitution of mi ld or vague
or roundabout expression for harsh or blunt or direct
one．(Concise Oxford Dictionary，1982，7th edition)
2)Euphemism is 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， 1961：657)
3)Euphemi sm is a polite word or expression
that people use when they are talking about
something which they or other people find
unpleasant or embarrassing， such as death or sex．
(Collins，1989：769)
4)Euphemi sm is used as an alternative to all
expression，in order to avoid possible loss of face：
either one’s own face or，through giving offense，that
of the audience，or of some third party．(Allan ＆
Burridge， 1991： 18)
All this definitions above share the same point：
euphemi sm is a polite，roundabout， and indirect
mode of expression which is used to talk about
something unpleasan t．It call mak e the unpleasan t
things sound better，an d make people feel good；it
can makeboth speak eran dheareravoidlosingface．
2．2 Classification of euphemism
There are so man y euphemi sms in Chinese an d
English．The Classification of Euphemi sm can be
classified into man y types from different an gles．
Hugh Rawson divides euphemi sms into two
types：the positive and the negative from the angle of
seman tics．The positive euphemi sms can be named
stylistic ones， which“inflate an d magnify the word 本文出自www.lunwendashi.com，在代写英语毕业论文与留学生论文方面具有丰富的经验！如果需要原创英语论文，英文论文请联系QQ 898498550