New Findings About Euphemism

丁燕

文摘：委婉語是語言使用中人們協調人際關系的一個重要手段，也是人類語言中的一種普遍現象。本文根據委婉語的概念、產生基礎，在社會生活和社會事務、教育、政治、軍事和國際關系以及人體生理現象等方面所涉及的對象和范圍作了一些探討，對委婉語的構成原則、手段及其變化發展對語言變化的影響進行分析，肯定委婉語在顯示中存在的必然性和實用性，證實了委婉語確實是不斷地變化并將持續發展。

Abstract： Euphemisms are powerful linguistic devices which “are embedded so deeply in our language the few of us， even those who pride themselves on being plainspoken， even get through a day without using them” （Rawson，1981：1）. This paper bases on the concept and the creation basis of euphemism， explores English euphemism， dealing with objectives and categories in social life and affair， education， politics ， military， international relations. This article， therefore， aims to analyze the constructing principles and the means of constructing euphemism， pointing out that there is still one more important principle at work in interpersonal communication， namely， the self-protective principle. And then puts forward the view of euphemism has been changing and developing constantly all the time.

關鍵詞：委婉語 ，語言變遷，心理基礎

Key Words： euphemism， language change， psychology basis

Acknowledgement：

【中圖分類號】H313

1.1 General review of the study on euphemism

1.1.1 Definitions and features of euphemism

The word “ euphemism” comes from the Greek eu， “good”， and pheme， “speech” or “saying”， and thus means literally “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner.”（Judith S. Neaman & Carole G. Silver， 1989：） Euphemizing is generally defined as substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit， offensive one. It is perhaps significant that， by the early 1580s， the author George Blount used the term “ euphemism “ in English ， defining it as “a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word.”

The most important feature of euphemism is indirection and vagueness. And euphemism is also related with time， linguistic field， race and idiom. The same thing and the same meaning would have different expression by using euphemism in different time.

1.1.2 General review of the study of euphemism

Studies in euphemisms have been lasted for a long time. There are many concepts on euphemism. In foreign countries， such as Asher（1994） “ Euphemism” Enright （1985） “Fair of Speech—The use of Euphemism.”

1.2 Two groups of the “ principle” of euphemism proposed by other researches.

In ShenTongs opinion， the principle of euphemism is distance principle， politeness principle and indirection principle.（1998.3） Su Ding Fang proposed that euphemism should adhere to the following principle， that is distance principle， related principle and sweet-sounding principle.endprint

2. Analyses of the “principle” of euphemism

2.1 Analysis of the “constructing principles” of euphemism.

The basis features of euphemism is to strike for an ideal social intercourse effect， and then create a suitable linguistic expression style. We use the euphemism monthly abide by distance principle and indirection principle. Which subjects and what portions of them were acceptable or forbidden have varied both from culture to culture and from on historical period to another within a single culture.

2.2 Analysis of the “pragmatic principles” of euphemism

2.2.1 Analysis of the motive for euphemism

The motive for generating euphemisms are as diverse and universal as the range of human emotions. As we said fear and a desire to placate the mysterious forces that the universe were probably the original reasons for euphemizing.

Another motive for contemporary is our strong desire to avoid offending others. “ This fear of causing psychic pain， this desire to be well thought of leads us to use “kind words.” （Judiths. Neaman & Carole G. Silver， 1989）

2.2.2 Analysis of “related principle”， “sweet-sounding principle” and “self-protective principle”.

People cant choose a expression casually to show euphemism. Newly-created euphemism should connect with the original linguistic symbol in a way and provide the clue for people to understand it. That is “related principle. Another important principle is sweet-sounding， it is not emphasize on the sound itself， but on a good connotation， to give people a good imagination. For example， we replace undertaker with funeral director， and change toilet to bathroom in English so as to bring a relatively better imagination.

Grice proposed that， during the process of communication， we must abide by cooperative principle， that is to say we have to follow some specification in terms of quality， quantity and style. After that， Leech brought up the famous principle—Politeness. Leech thought that， all the peoples linguistic intercourse followed the cooperative principle and politeness principle. However， we may found that， during the communication， there is a more basic intercourse principle， that is “self-protective principle”. Without doubt， people will neglect self-protective principle for some special purpose. But， it should be affirmed that it is human nature to protect himself and praise himself.

3.Euphemism in social life and affairs

3.1 The history of the euphemismendprint

Euphemism is a long-standing linguistic and cultural phenomenon in western society. The subject of the earliest euphemism was undoubtedly religions. Gods， whether benign of malevolent， were treated with respect amounting to terror. Foremost of these realms is that of death， once a god in most societies. “When death was lord， he was feared and euphemized for all the same reasons other deities were “（Judith S. Neaman & Carole G. Silver， 1989）

3.2 Euphemism change in social life and affairs

3.2.1 Euphemism in Career

We use administrative assistant instead of secretary， beautician instead of hair-dresser. Cook is called chef， and housewife is beautified by domestic engineer. Author is more sweet-sounding than writer. In western society， people avoid talking about social problem intentionally of unconsciously， and euphemism play a special role in it. For instance， some ladies become prostitute because of some reasons， however， most people prefer to call them bar girl， walking girl or street walker and so on in public.

3.2.2 Euphemism in Education

In America school， the use of euphemism is considered as a educational specification， teacher should use positive words than negative words. For example， teacher will not use poor， bad or lazy to talk of a student any more， he will say：” He is below average students.” When he want to talk about a stupid student， he will say：” He can do better work with help.”

3.2.3 Euphemism in politics ， military and international relations

In politics， officials would like to use state man or legislator than politician. Economic crisis is called depression of recession， strike is called industrial dispute， suppression is replaced by police action. In military ， many people call euphemism as cosmetic words.At present， we often hear “disarm Iraq” and “take military action against Iraq”. In essential English Dictionary， the meaning of disarm is that ” If you disarm people， you take away their weapons”， but the meaning of action is that “fighting which takes place in a war.” They use “disarm” and “take military action” to avoid some sensitive words， such as “ at war” or “attack”. We also can hear “pre-emptive action”， “pre-emptive defense” and “restore international peace and security” through watching TV.” All of the words are euphemisms referring to attacking Iraq.

In international affairs and relations， all the words are also used carefully. For example， Asian， Africa and Latin America considered as backward or poor ago. But now， they are called by the name of “ developing country “.endprint

3.2.4 Euphemism in human physiological phenomena

In Britain， people use “ senior citizens， elderly or advanced in age “ when mention old people. Some diseases are also talked by using euphemism among well-educated people. For example， cancer is replaced tactfully by “the Big C” or “ long illness”.

3.3 The psychological basis of euphemism

3.3.1 Psychological of taboo

As said earlier， at the beginning of civilizations， science was not advanced .Gods， whether benign or malevolent， were treated with respect amounting to terror， and taboo came into being. People are afraid of death， so there are many euphemisms about it. Such as： pass away， join the majority， to breathe the last， go to heaven， be with God， be in heaven， go to a better world and so on.

3.3.2 Psychological of elegance

In western culture， some parts of the human body or physiological phenomena should not be mentioned directly， because it may be seen as rude action， thereby， people use euphemism. Such as secret part， bottom， a tale of two cities， fix ones face， powder ones noses.

With the development of society， euphemism is also changing. In English， “ be in jail” is substitute by “be sent to the big house”， ”to be the guest of the law， “live at the governments expense”， “unemployment” also has many euphemism expressions， for instance， “unwaged”， “between jobs”.

3.3.3 Psychological of Compensation and Apology

In English， profession is used to talk about the person have special skills and qualities or higher-educated， such as professor， lawyer， architect and so on. But now nearly any kind if career can be called profession， expert or engineer. For instance， garbage collector is called sanitation engineer or waste-reduction manager. The use of vocational euphemism indicate that people who engaged in these kinds of career have the compensation psychology， they hope get the same respect as other social members.

3.3.4 Psychology of Politeness

Apart from above psychologies， people use euphemism out of politeness. “If there is no euphemism， the world will stop for the reason of friction， and full of enmity.” （Enright， 1985） Euphemism just like lubricating oil， it is conducive to peoples harmony and friendship. In English， euphemism about backward has been changing for many times. Such as backward， undeveloped， developing and emerging. So it can be sure that in the course of social communication， we are fond of replacing discrimination and embarrassment with gentleness and politeness by using euphemism to create a more harmonious atmosphere.endprint

4.The means of constructing euphemism

There are phonetic and grammatical means besides lexical means.

4.1 Phonetic means

Phonetic means consist of voiceless sound and phonetic distortion. And phonetic distortion includes abbreviation， apocopation， backforming， reduplication， blend words and diminutive.

4.2 Grammatical means

Tense and negation is often used in grammar means. For example： ① I can see by your face that you dont think that was wise. （Abigail Me Carthy， One Woman Lost. P.287） We usually add “ Im afraid of ‘ “ if I may say” to negative sentences in accord with occasion during our communication.②Your examination marks are really not encouraging. In this sentence， “not encouraging” is close to “ disappointing”， but it sounds more acceptable when negative used.

4.3 Lexical Means

4.3.1 From Foreign Language

For a long period of time in history， French has been a language used by British and aristocrats. Latin had been considered as academic from the time of Renaissance. Thereby， many people and especially the educated people like to used French and Latin as tactful words when refer to embarrassing things.

Example： piss--- micturition （ Latin）

Deer meat--- venison （ French）

4.3.2 Abstract words

One feature of modern English is to use abstract words. It can weaken the taboo and make the expression ambiguous. “It”， “the thing” and “the problem” are common in English.” Cancer” is substitute by “a growth”， ”syphilis” is replaced by using “social disease”.

4.3.3 Synecdoche of rhetoric

When a part is substitute for the whole or the whole is substitute for a part， synecdoche is applied. Synecdoche makes a kind of semantic shift. For example， rear end stands for buttocks.

4.4 Discussion

Euphemism has the feature of metabolism， it is always changing. Hugh Rawson points out that euphemism is dominated by two laws to a certain degree. One is “ Greshams Law”， the other is “ Law of succession”. Greshams law is a concept in economics， which means during the circulation currency， bad money drives out good. If a word has commendatory sense， neutral sense and derogatory sense， the derogatory sense will undoubtly squeezed out by better sense.

Law of succession means a word will lose euphemistic function when used for a long period of time. So people will create some new euphemism expression. For example， the original meaning of gay is happy， but it gradually related with homosexual， and the phenomena is not accepted by the public， people began to avoid using it.endprint

5. Conclusion

Euphemism is a long-standing linguistic and cultural phenomenon in western society. Just as A.James said：” Lets remember that language is not in a state of motionless， but always changes. What we watch is not a slide but a film.”（Foster 1981） The utilization and variation of euphemism affects language system in terms of phonetic， lexis and semantics to varied degree . With the development of society and improvement of language art， the characteristics of euphemism is changing and continuously renewing， some of them will be eliminated， some will be retained， and the new will be created on successive occasion.

Bibliography

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