淺析中西文化中委婉語的異同

Abstract: As an inseparable part of language， euphemism is universal in all the countries in the world， but in different countries euphemism has different embodiments. In this paper， it firstly discuses the functions of euphemism， and then explores the different embodiments of euphemism in Chinese and western cultures.

摘 要：作為語言不可分割的部分，委婉語在世界各地都比較普遍。但是，不同的文化，委婉語的運(yùn)用也不盡相同。這篇小論文首先淺析了委婉語的功能，然后討論了東西方文化中的委婉語的不同。

Key words: Euphemism; Chinese culture; western culture

關(guān)鍵詞：委婉語；中國文化；西方文化

作者簡介：肖莉，女，（1976-），漢，四川瀘州人，瀘州醫(yī)學(xué)院外國語學(xué)院助教，碩士，主要研究方向：英語語言學(xué)。

李雪葉，女，（1984-），漢，瀘州醫(yī)學(xué)院外國語學(xué)院，助教，碩士研究生，研究方向：認(rèn)知語言學(xué)，英語教學(xué)法。

[中圖分類號]：G04 [文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-14-0250-02

1、Introduction

Language is a set of symbols and rules of combining those symbols that are used and understood by a large community of people， and it serves as a guide to how a culture perceives reality (Larry et al. 2000:122-123). To some extent， language embodies the thoughts and cultural features of a community of people (馬秋麗 2004:69). As part of language， so does euphemism. In this paper， it will discuss the definition and functions of euphemism， and then give a comparison and analysis of the differences of euphemism between Chinese and western cultures.

2、Euphemism

2.1、Definition of Euphemism

There are certain things that are not said， and if those things are talked about， they have to be talked about in very roundabout ways， that is， people have to choose euphemism to avoid mentioning those certain matters directly (Wardhaugh 2000:234). Crystal (2001) defines euphemism as the use of a vague or indirect expression in place of one that is unpleasant or offensive.

2.2、Functions of Euphemism

Euphemism is an indispensable part of interpersonal communication， and it has functions of concealing， tabooing， and politeness.

2.2.1、Concealing

Because of the vagueness of euphemism， euphemism can conceal the reality of the things that it refers to from others. For this reason， euphemism is widely used in all aspects of society.

In western culture， people use economic recession or economic depression to refer to economic crisis， and use involuntarily leisured to stand for unemployed. Likewise， in China， people do not say “失業(yè)”， but use euphemisms， like “待業(yè)” or “下崗”。By using these euphemisms， people can conceal the facts or problems to some extent， and relieve psychological pressure of ordinary people to avoid social conflicts

2.2.2、Tabooing

The birth of euphemism is closed related to taboo (束定芳 1989:30). Influenced by fetish， religions， and some other mystical things， there are some things that people seldom talk about directly because of frightenedness， reverence， or politeness. When people have to talk about these things， they must find some words to replace the taboos， and substitutes are euphemisms. These phenomena can be found both in Chinese and western cultures， for instance， when some one is dead， westerners would say pass away instead of die， and Chinese would say “逝世”， “辭世”， “去世”， “老了”， “作古”， “永別”， “與世長辭”， etc..

2.2.3、Politeness

In everyday life， inappropriate words or rude ones would result in misunderstanding and conflicts， which would cause the interpersonal relationship worse. This situation can be avoided if people could use correct euphemism in correct places. Euphemism has a function of politeness， and it can convey the politeness of the speaker. By using euphemism instead of those unpleasing words， communicators can have a smooth and enjoyable talk. There are many examples both in Chinese and western cultures. People in China use euphemism “汽車美容師” to refer to “洗車工”. And westerners call disabled man special man. With euphemisms， people can get rid of rudeness or impoliteness， and show their respect and politeness to their communicators.

3、Differences of Euphemism between Chinese and Western Cultures

Euphemism is widely used in everyday life， and it is a common phenomenon of language. However， euphemism has different embodiments in different communities or cultures， and people from these different communities or cultures， speak euphemism differently.

3.1、Differences of Traditional Values

While talking about old people， Chinese usually do not call the names of those old people， instead， they would like to choose euphemisms， such as “老同志”， “老師傅”， “老張”， “老總”， etc.. All of these euphemisms emphasize old age with the character of “老”. However， in western culture， people do not like to be said old， and they would think it is impolite to ask them their age. So when they are talking about some one is old， they would use euphemisms， such as senior citizen， third age， seasoned man， adult， etc..

These differences result from the traditional values of these two cultures. In China， it is a significant component of traditional value to show respect to the old. In Chinese’s mind， “老” means experience， wisdom， maturity， and reliability. So they would like to address people with “老” to show respect. But in western culture， people value the spirit of creation， and old equals to ossification， bluntness， stubbornness， and etc.. If someone is said to be old in western countries， it means this person is at a low ebb， and is going to die.

3.2、Differences of Social Hierarchy

In ancient China， people could not call the name of the emperor directly， and could not use the characters， which already existed in the name of the emperor， in their names. While calling the emperor， they had to call him “皇上”， “陛下”， “萬歲”， etc.. In the modern society of China， people usually do not call the names of their superiors or leaders directly while greeting with them， they would address them by using the formula title plus last name or some other euphemisms， like “頭兒”， “老板”， etc.. All of these euphemisms used are due to the conception of strict social hierarchy in Chinese culture. In this culture with strict hierarchy， people should behave politely and show respect to those who are the elder and more superior persons.

Things are different in western countries， and there are not so strict social hierarchies as it in China. They need not to use euphemisms to name themselves or others. In America， most people like to call others’ names directly， no matter who they are. It does not mean impoliteness that a child directly calls his grandfather’s name. In addition， many people in western culture name their children by using their parents or grandparents’ names.

3.3、Difference of Thoughts

People in Chinese culture strive for interpersonal harmony， and they try to keep harmonious between individuals， among the family members， among the groups and divisions of society (Larry et al. 2000:84). With this mind， Chinese often do not use ordinary words and give a direct answer， but choose euphemisms implicitly in some situations. For example， when someone invites a Chinese to do something or to go somewhere， the Chinese often do not give a yes or no answer， but say some vague replies， like “I will have a try” or “I will try my best”. Another typical example is that Chinese would say “希望你以后更加努力些” when he wants to express that the person needs hard working.

By contrast， western culture， especially American culture， is known for its assertive and aggressive communication style (Larry et al. 2000:83). This contributes to that Americans usually speak explicitly and give answers clearly. Therefore， in contrast to the Chinese mentioned above， they would say “Yes， I will.” or “No， thanks.” and directly say “Your speech is good， but it would be better if you pay attention to details.” In these two situations， westerns use no euphemisms.

4、Conclusion

Euphemism is a kind of langue used to substitute for those languages considered to be impolite or offensive， and it exists in all kinds of languages in the world， including Chinese and western cultures. All of the euphemisms have significant functions of concealing， tabooing and politeness. However， these euphemisms have different embodiments as the culture varies. From the above exploring， it can see that euphemism， influenced by the culture of the speakers， can embody different traditional values， social hierarchy， and thoughts in different cultures.

References:

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[2]、馬秋麗. 2004. 語言與中西文化差異. 山東大學(xué)學(xué)報(bào)， 第4期.

[3]、Wardhaugh， Ronald. 2000. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[4]、Crystal， D. 2001. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

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