The Comparison of Taboos between English and Chinese

劉敏

Abstract： Taboo is a prevailing social and cultural phenomenon. In different cultures， taboo is varied. Comparative analysis of taboos between English and Chinese helps people understand the cultural connotation and different concepts of values and ethics. It is helpful for international communication and cultural exchange freely and comfortably.

Key words： taboo；comparison；culture differences；similarities

Taboo is a commonly existing cultural phenomenon among nations in the world which regulates peoples language and social communication. The great difference between Chinese and western culture directly results in the great difference between Chinese and English taboo. So， taboo exiting both in Chinese and English .With the consideration of the different cultures and customs， we should avoid using offensive expression： taboo， in international communication. In the process of the development of language and society， taboo is the product of their constant interaction. Sociolinguistics is a branch of linguistics disciplines to the study of human language from the perspective of social perspective. Thus， it opened up a new field of language“Taboo”， the discussion of the relation between the taboo and language is conducive to English teaching and communication. Whats more， it can also help us to have a better understanding of attitudes and thinking models between China and Britain.

1. The origin and background of taboo

“Taboo”， literally translated as “塔布” in Chinese， means “need extreme attention to do”. It belongs to Tonga in Polynesia. “Taboo” also means holy， untouchable and was forbidden used at that time. It has two aspects about this phenomenon. One is that the respected sacred items cannot be literally used and the other one is people can't touch the hindering things casually. The production of taboo word has its own age reasons. When it was ancient ages， people had blind faith in ghosts and gods and worship God. Those things linked with ghosts and gods would not be talked casually as it might bring unfortunate to them. So it is the original reason about the taboo word. At the same time， except the region element， with the development of our society and the globalization of the whole world on custom， culture tradition， self-cultivation and communication also have a great impact on the appearance of taboo word. In different cultures， the contents and forms of taboo are different. What we should do is to know about them then have a good communication with others.

2. The similarities between English and Chinese taboo

2.1 In Pronunciation

Both Chinese people and westerners believe that saying words that imply misfortunes or disasters may bring trouble. People consider that replacing taboo words with homophones would prevent misfortunes.

In China， a lot of taboos are caused by superstitions. There is a custom in Shanxi province that mulberries cannot be planted in front of the house and willows cannot be planted behind the house. The reason is that the Chinese word “sang/桑”sounds the same like another Chinese word “sang/喪”， “li/梨”sounds the same as “li /離”. These words may impact that there will be a funeral or departure. In China， clocks cannot be presented as gifts in ceremonies， because “clock” pronounces “zhong/鐘” which has the same pronunciation as “zhong/終” which means death in Chinese. Many similar examples also can be found in western countries. When a word sounds the same as a taboo word， it needs to be changed. For instance， in earlier 18th century， the female in English and American countries always tried to avoid using the word ass （the bottom part of the body one sits on）， which was considered inelegant， so people called the animal ass as donkey. Another typical example is that “fuck （a sail）”， “feck” or “fack （fact）”are seldom used or even go out of use， because they pronounce the same as “fuck”.

2.2 In Vocabulary

2.2.1 Taboos on disease and death

Disease and death is the regular pattern and it is the common topic and cannot be avoided to people. There are many reasons why they are unwilling to mention it， maybe they are afraid of it and think it will bring unlucky to them. But the most important one would be the burden of their psychology. Death is the most feared thing in the world. When people die， people do not use “dead” or “death” to directly talk about the death people. In China， people replace “death” with words as “安息”， “長眠”， “謝世”， “仙逝”， “夭折”， “永別”， “作古”， “逝世”， “辭世”， “壽終”， “犧牲”， “百年了”， “走了”. In English， people use many other euphemisms to express disease or death. Such as “be safe in the arms of Jesus”， “be asleep in the valley”， “be in Abrahams bosom”， “be promoted to glory”，“be taken to paradise”， “breathe ones last”etc. At the same time， when we talked about someone was ill or got serious diseases， we also have tactful address. For instance， we will say “Are you feeling OK？”to replace “Are you ill？”. And we will use “C.C” to take the place of canner. Venereal disease substitute for “V.D”.

2.2 Taboos on religion and God

The Ten Commandments of Bible has prescribed， “Thou shat not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain； for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that take his name in vain.” In oral English， using the English words of religion， such as God， devil， heaven， hell， Christ， Jesus， damn would be considered blasphemous and would be punished， so people often use golly， gosh instead of God. In the Chinese view of thinking， God enjoys such an absolutely high power that no one or other things have a capability to exceed. If a person wants to cite god as his witness while making his vows， such phrases as “天”（sky）“上天作證”， “對天發誓”，or “上蒼見證”will be chosen to express his feeling. Besides， people have such expression in Chinese as “妖魔鬼怪”，“鐘馗捉鬼”and “鬼來了”.

2.3 Taboos on sexual discrimination

In both English and Chinese， there are lots of languages whose centre is depended on man. They are partial to and side with man while belittle woman. The most obvious example is that people will not use “she” to instead of “he” in communication as well as to Chinese when the sexual distinction is not clear. The host will call woman “chairman” even “madam chairman”. In ancient China， women are thought as ignorance， lower status， “womans view（婦人之見）”， “long hair with short experience（頭發長見識短）”and so on. While the husband may call his wife as "in home（家里的）”， “the behind（后頭的）” or “humble wife（賤內）”. As for Chinese characters， there are lot of words with evil meaning formed by “女”，such as “奸”， “嫖”， and “婊”. So it is unfair for people to look down on woman.

In conclusion， the taboo in English and Chinese have some similar characters and tendency. Though there may be lots of differences on geography， languages， customs and other aspects， the thought of one thing can't be totally contrary， it is the general character of human.

3. The differences between English and Chinese taboo

3.1 Taboos in Privacy Regarding Age， Weight， Income and so on.

As is known to all， the westerners place a high value on privacy. They are self-centered and hold the views that their individual interests can't be invaded at any time. The questions related to one's age， weight， income， marriage will never be asked； otherwise they will entice more prejudice and offence. Yet， it is not the case in China. In fact， there is no equivalent term for “privacy” in Chinese. The spirit of collectivism is treasured by Chinese people from one generation to another. On the other hand， Chinese people enjoy living together with their family members because it is a way to show harmony in the Chinese view of thinking. It is not strange for us to find that even people from different families share a big courtyard in China. Further， people in China don't favor changing their homes frequently from one place to another. Consequently， the Chinese family members always live in one place through the whole life and they are ought to be very family with people who share the courtyard with them. We have a saying to the effect that“遠親不如近鄰”，which means when in trouble， the one who can help you is not the relatives who live far away from you， but your neighbors.

3.2 Taboos in Number

In China， the number “4” sounds the same as the another Chinese word “si/死 （death）”. When people say the number “4”， it reminds them of “death”， so people avoid saying the number or even using it in phone numbers， license plate and so on. Among the elderly， they think “73” and “84” are two key ages. If they are 73 or 84 years old， they might die before the king of hell invites them. Therefore，many elders avoid talking about their exact ages. While in western countries， one of the most influential taboo numbers is 13. According to the story of “The last supper”， Judas sat in the 13th chair. Therefore， number thirteen is considered to be unlucky. Just as Chinese people dislike number “4”， the westerners avoid number thirteen in every aspect. “13” will not be doors number or rooms number. People even dont allow 13 people have dinner together. Ordinary people feel upset on 13th in every month.

3.3 Taboos in Naming and Addressing

In western countries， people address others by using the first name such as Mike， Jane， and Eric etc. rather than by using complex address relating to rigid hierarchy in China. So the western people call others Mr. Brown， Mr. Jones， or Mrs. Wolf， even if they meet for the first time. And western children often call their parents or grandparents name directly while Chinese children should call their parents or grandparents respectfully. What's more， in the English culture， there are no such name taboos. For example， “the British Prime Minister Churchills father was named Randolph Churchill， and one of the Prime Ministers sons was also named Randolph Churchill. The grandfather and grandson had the same name. The American president Franklin D. Roosevelts son also had the same name with his father”. In China， we have “三諱——“國諱，家諱，名人諱” that means the name of the dynasties and emperors， the name of our fathers， the name of important persons should be avoided. In the feudal dynasties of China， emperors always emphasized and forced all their subjects to believe that they were endorsed their power by the heaven to govern everything beneath it. So even if someone else shared the same name with an emperor or a single character in the emperors names， it must be changed. Otherwise， he or she was to be severely punished. For example， in the Qing dynasty the poet Xu Jun was killed because his poem had “Qing 清” in his poem “清風不識字，何事亂翻書”. He was considered to humiliate the Qing Dynasty and killed by the emperor， but he wouldnt be killed in other dynasties.

4. Ways of avoiding linguistic taboos

4.1 Having a good knowledge of the taboo culture

Languages and cultures rely on each other and influence each other. Languages are formed and developed under certain cultural background. So linguistic taboo is a kind of social phenomenon. Its existence and development are restricted and influenced by specific cultural background. If one wants to avoid violating taboos，he or she should have a good knowledge of what is or is not a taboo in this culture. For example， English people always connect the “old” with “uselessness”and “death”. Therefore， when contacting with English people， the saying of “somebody is old” should be avoided in order not to arouse unpleasantness. A smooth cross-cultural communication greatly benefits from the good command of a foreign languages cultural background knowledge.

4.2 Using euphemism

From the above discussion， we know that some harsh， blunt， unpleasant offensive and taboo things or acts should not be expressed directly in our daily life. Therefore， it is very important for us to know how to avoid these linguistic taboos. Most linguistic taboos can be avoided by employing euphemisms， which refer to the use of pleasant， vague or indirect words or phrases to take the place of more accurate ones. At the same time， we must realize that language is alive and changing all the time influenced by the social psychology and its culture. For example， there is a series of expressions about the word “poor” in the sentence “At first I was poor， then， I became needy， later I was underprivileged. Now I'm disadvantaged.”

5. Conclusion

In a word， every country or nationality has its own taboos as we are living in different environment， which determine we could not have the same things on common. What we should do is to know about the differences and similarities of taboo words between English and Chinese then we can have a full use of them to create a more harmonious atmosphere for international communication and cooperation. At the same time， the mix together of different cultures also remind us to keep the characters of native culture and improve it by learning others， which will be an appropriate method to enhance the international communication.

[參考文獻]

[1]胡文仲.《“禁忌語”英美文化辭典》[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，1995.

[2]郭靜.淺析英語中的禁忌語與委婉語[J].新西部（下半月），2009：12.

[3]胡文仲.《中西文化習俗比較》[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，2001.

[4]向榮.中英言語禁忌的文化透視[J].武漢理工大學學報，2005：12.

[5]王超.英漢禁忌語對比分析[D].中國優秀博碩士學位論文數據庫，2011.

[6]肖素芳.論中英禁忌語的比較[J].Sino-US English Teaching，2008：5.

[7]孫曉華.中英禁忌語對比研究[J].商品與質量，2011：11.

（作者單位：陜西理工大學外國語學院，陜西 漢中 723001）