大家谁知道英语委婉语的语用功能有哪些

Question

如题所述

Answer 1

(一) 忌讳
“忌讳”是产生委婉语的主要心理基础。在各民族语言的
称代语中“, 死”的婉辞是最多的。英语里据说有102 种,汉语
里的“死”,易熙吾先生就搜集了203 个。可见,人们普遍忌讳
用的词之一就是death(死) 。汉语中表示“死亡”的委婉语有:
“去世”、“故去”、“逝世”、“寿终”、“亡故”、“牺牲”、“与世长
辞”、“心脏停止了跳动”及“去见马克思”等。英语中表达“死
亡”的委婉语有: depart from the world for ever、decease、breathe
one’s last 、pay one’s debt to nature、be with God、go the way of all
flesh ,etc。近来,英语中表示死亡的委婉语越来越夸张,“死
者”(the dead)成了the deceased或the dear departed“, 死了”就是
passed away、fallen asleep 和gone to jesus。这反映出人们对死亡
的忌讳日益强烈

(二) 礼貌
礼貌也是产生委婉语的重要心理基础。“忌讳”是对不
“快”之事物的回避“, 礼貌”则是对不“雅”之事物的回避。大
量有关卫生间以及大小便等方面的委婉语便属此类。比如,
“上厕所”,在礼貌社交中,汉语常用“上洗手间”或“方便一下”
等委婉语表示,英语中则常用go to the men’s (ladies’) room/ rest
room/ washroom/ the john ,或wash one’s hands、relieve oneself 等。
女人“怀孕”在汉语里的委婉说法有“有喜了”、“要做妈妈了”
和“要升级了”等;英语里委婉的说法有big、big with child、in the
family way、expecting 等。

参考资料：汉英语言中的委婉语 段雪桃 怀化师范高等专科学校外语系

Answer 2

你的问题投错地了……呵呵……

Answer 3

Functions of Euphemism

As euphemism works within the frame of language, it serves all linguistic functions of language. Communicative function is one of the most important functions in language, so is it in English euphemism. According to different motives for different euphemistic expressions, the euphemisms share three main communicative functions: to avoid taboo, to show politeness and to conceal truth. As language adoption is such a complicated process that each of the three is not completely isolated. In most cases, these three may interact with one another or works as a unity, producing pleasant and inoffensive expressions. The following are the three main communicative functions that euphemisms employ.

A. To Avoid Taboo

Taboo is the prohibition or avoidance in any society of behavior believed to be harmful to its members in that it would cause them anxiety, embarrassment , or shame.5 Consequently, so far as language is concerned, certain things are not to be said or certain objects can be referred to only in certain circumstances. The appearance of some euphemisms is related to taboo in a language. Words referring to the semantic extremes of the holy and the profane are often taboo. The expressions that can arouse fear and panic should not be referred to directly in a language; instead, to circumvent the impediment of this raise, people replace the prohibited words and expressions with more acceptable ones – euphemisms. Therefore, to avoid taboo and erase fear become the first communicative function of euphemism. The taboo in ancient times no doubt links with gods and devils, whose names, presenting some kind of super-natural power, are always holy and inoffensive. For example, in the Old Testament of the Hebrew Bible, the names of gods are usually represented by consonant letters, and the pronunciation is indefinite. Another example is that the number thirteen stands for danger and disaster even in the so civilized modern America. However, this kind of function should not merely be regarded as negative or superstitious, because it’s also a psychological belief out of man’s nature. Of course, there are always those who are prepared to break the taboo in an attempt to show their own freedom as in certain movements for “free speech”. However, the idea to avoid taboo is a language phenomenon that can’t be removed easily but to last for a certain period in human communication.

B. To Show Politeness

Euphemism can also be applied to expressing a polite and friendly attitude. American scholar Brown and Levinson as well as British linguist Leach had respectively put forward their politeness theories basing on cooperative principle, which greatly helps solving the problems in communication and enhancing the development of pragmatics. According to Brown and Levinson, politeness strategies are developed to save the hearer’s “face”. “Face” refers to the respect that an individual has for himself or herself and maintaining “self-esteem” in public or in private situations. Usually one tries to avoid embarrassing the others, or make them feel comfortable. Face Threatening Acts (FTA’s) are acts that infringe on the hearer’s need to maintain his or her self-esteem. Politeness strategies are developed for the main purpose of dealing with the FTA’s. Brown and Levinson presents five politeness strategies .1) Bald on record strategy. The speaker directly expresses his ideas when talking with his family members or close friend. It’s not proper to be too polite in this situation. 2) Positive politeness strategy. By this way the speaker and listener could reach an agreement on each other’s behavior and words. 3) Negative politeness strategy. By weasel words, apology and leaving space for making up one’s faults is the main way of this strategy.4) Off record strategy. The speaker adopts an indirect way to show his friendship and wipe out his threatening words. 5) Refraining from the act. The speaker tries his best to give up the following behavior when FTA’s greatly hurts the hearer. Of all the theories on politeness, British famous linguist Leach’s theory is the most widely accepted and popular one. Leach’s Politeness Principle can be classified into six kinds: Appropriate Norm, Generous Norm, Praise Norm, Reputation Norm, Modest Norm, Consistent Norm and Sympathetic Norm. 6 All that above should be abided by in communication. However, each of the six is not equally important, and the Appropriate Norm is much more important than the other five. It is agreed that what courtesy emphasize is the social opposite side (other), and one is obedient with the second party instead of the person who is speaking (self).The speech of the addresser should often give others some convenience as far as possible, leaving self a loss, so as to make both sides feel receiving respect at the same time; conversely, giving the opposite side a good impression. English euphemism follows the politeness principles and strategies via pleasing the listener and leaving the other side an impression of politeness.

C. To Conceal Truth

Although much effort has been put into avoiding taboo and showing politeness, human communication can’t always be carried on smoothly. As a purely honest man, one would like to tell the truth as it is rather than tell a lie. However, it is not proper to always tell the truth. The word one speaks greatly reflects the thoughts of one’s own. In another word, one always speaks with certain intentions. Therefore, people show their ideas in some other way under certain circumstances in order to make the speech much more acceptable. Basing on Politeness Principle, people sometimes conceal what they will mention for the sake of promoting communication and cooperation. English euphemisms in great bulks make use of this means so as to fulfill the speaker’s intention. Due to the vague color euphemism has, it is becoming more and more popular when having something to do with low-ranked professions, political events and business practice. By deceit euphemism is employed as a tool for some cunning politicians and businessmen. In military actions, “surprise attack” is replaced by “pre-emptive strike” or a much more dramatic “surgical strike”. “Surgical” basically refers to curing injuries or take the malignant parts away, so “surgical strike” leaves an impression that it is a necessary and reasonable military action that gets rid of evil and guilt, which casts a humanitarianism color upon the attack. In business practice, the ads from profit-loving businessmen also adopt this function.

Language communication is a main way of keeping interpersonal relationships, and euphemistic expressions greatly smooth the communication. With the development of the modern world, the language itself is evolving as well, so is euphemism.