巩跨文化交际背景下的中英文禁忌语对比研究---毕业论文 精品

2021年1月24日发(作者：天哪)



【标题】
跨文化交际背景下的中英文禁忌语对比研究

【作者】
谢玲铃

【关键词】
比较；英国禁忌语；中国禁忌语；跨文化交际

【指导老师】
王

露

【专业】
英语

【正文】

I. Introduction
In China,
“入境而问禁；入国而问俗；入门而问讳” 1 have been a norm of
behavior
for
thousands
of
years
．
Similarly,
in
west
，“when
in
Rome，
do
as
the
Romans
do
．”is
also
the
norm
of
western．
For
the
purpose
of
successful
intercultural
communication,
both
east
and
west
people
all
emphasize
on
the
studying the knowledge of taboos. And linguistic taboo exists universally
in almost all of the languages and cultures
．
The violation of linguistic
taboo
is
regarded
impolite
and
offensive
，
but
people
from
different
cultures
do not all agree on what are linguistic taboos and what should be
tabooed
．
Even taboo in the same thing may have different implications
，
since people from different cultures have established different social
customs
and
cultural
orientations
．
In
intercultural
communication
，
they
may
interpret
each
other’s

speech
and
behavior
in
accordance
with
their
own
beliefs and values and adopt different politeness strategies to achieve
their goals
．

At the same time
，
with the development of transportation, information
technology
and the globalization of economy, communication between
people
from
different
cultures
are
increasingly
frequent
and
extensive
．
In
this
process
，
people
are
increasingly
conscious
of
the
existence
of
cultural
diversity, and they gradually notice that differences produce great
barriers to social or intercultural communication.
Human tolerance and desire for communication do help to reduce these
differences and enhance mutual understanding but there are still some
aspects
such
as
some
taboos
that
are
beyond
people’s
acceptability
because
of its sensitiveness
，
misunderstanding
,unhappiness
，
conflict or even
disastrous consequences may occur due to the violation of certain
taboos
．
Considering what have been mentioned above, when intercultural
communication occurs more frequently and more extensively, a systematic
study of linguistic taboos in intercultural communication becomes an
imperative
．
Mastering taboos knowledge in Chinese and English helps to
cultivate intercultural competence
．
It is particular conducive to the
management
of
interpersonal
and
intercultural
conflicts
，
and
enables
people
to
produce
harmonious
relationships
．
As
James
Thurber
has
said
in
The
East
and The West,
“Precision of communication is important, more than ever,
in an era of hair- trigger balances when a false or misunderstood word may
create as much a disaster as a sudden thoughtless act
．”2

II. Literature Review
A. The Definitions and Features of Taboo
Oxford English Dictionary defines taboo as
：
words likely to be considered
offensive, shocking or indecent by certain people(though not necessarily
by everyone)
．
In Chinese taboo is regarded as the indelicate or dirty
word
．
Taboo
is
explained
by
the
Modern
Chinese
Dictionary
as
the
prohibited
words or actions. According to modern linguists Robinett
，
taboo is a
principle or criterion erected by society, which can prevent people from
bad action
．
As Wardhaugh states
：“taboo is one way in which a society
expresses its disapproval of certain kinds of behavior believed to be
harmful to its members
，
either for supernatural reasons or because such
behavior is held to violate a moral code”
. Generally speaking, taboo has
about
it
a
sense
of
something
unapproachable
，
and
it
is
principally
expressed
in prohibitions and restrictions
．

Linguistic taboo
，
as a common social cultural phenomenon in both east and
west, exists objectively
．
It has three features as below
．

1. Temporality

With
the
development
of
the
society,
some
linguistic
taboos
changed
and
some
disappeared or lost their original meaning
．
In the Qing dynasty the poet
Xu Jun(
徐骏)was killed because his poem had“Qing
清”in his poem“清风
不识字，何事乱翻书”．
B
ut he wouldn’t be killed in other dynasties．
The
poem“清明时节雨纷纷”is
widely
loved
before
Qing
dynasty．
In
English,
the
word“women” was once a taboo in Victorian Age，
It meant mistress and
adultery wife
．
But now, it lost its original meaning and became a common
word
．

2. Ethnocentricity
Every ethnic group has its own cultural pattern
．
Linguistic taboo
，
as an
ethnic
phenomenon,
is
influenced
by
the
economy,
social
structure
and
belief
of
the
whole
group
．
Take
age
as
an
example
．Chinese
people
don’t
care
about
old
age
．
Sometimes,
we
especially
call
someone
“Zhang
Lao
张老”,

“Wang
Lao
王老”，
for
respect
．
But
this
is
totally
unacceptable
in
English-speaking
countries
．
In
their
opinion,
“old
老”means
useless，
and
people
will
feel
offended if they are described to be old
．
So women keep their age secret
in the English-speaking countries and seldom talk about age
．

3. Context- reliability


The
usage
of
taboos
is
limited
by
the
social
conditions
and
the
psychological
factors
．
The
context
confines
the
usage
of
the
taboos
．
In
formal
situations
like social gatherings and banquets
，
people will pay more attention to
taboos
，
which can be used in private situations
．
A lot of Chinese taboos
are
confined
by
the
special
contexts
.For
example,
“帆
(Fan,
has
the
same
pronunciation with overturn)
”. In English,

“nigger”is a
discriminative
word
．
The
African-American
can
use
it
and
it
will
not
cause
serious
consequences
．
But
if
other
ethnic
groups
use
it,
serious
conflicts
will be caused
．

B. The Definition and Features of Intercultural Communication
According
to
Asante
，
in
its
most
general
sense,
intercultural
communication
occurs when a member of one culture produces a message for consumption by
a member of another culture
．
More precisely, intercultural communication
is a communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol
systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event. 3
Frequently the term intercultural communication is used when referring to
communication between people of different cultural backgrounds
．
For
instance, if one talks with his or her American teacher, intercultural
communication
takes
place
．
If
he
or
she
interacts
with
a
Japanese
student,
there is intercultural communication
．
It includes international
communication, interracial communication, inter-ethnic communication,
inter-regional communication and so on.
1. Universality
No nation, group
，
or culture can remain aloof or autonomous
．
If you touch
one
part
of
the
world
，
you
touch
other
parts
．
People
communicate
with
others
from
other
cultures
in
one
way
or
another,
especially
in
nowadays
when
the
world has become a global village
．
Intercultural communication exists
everywhere and all the time in our daily lives
．
No one can shut it off and
live totally alone
．

2. Changeability

Intercultural communication is not new
．
Wandering nomads
，
religious
missionaries
，
and conquering warriors encountered people different from
themselves since the beginning of times
．
With the development of the new
technology
and
information
systems
，changes
in
the
world’s
population
and
a
shift
in
the
world’s
economic
area,
the

intercultural
communication
has
become more and more axiomatic and pervasive
．
The concrete way of
intercultural communication today is greatly different that in the
past
．
It’s
dynamic．
So
we
should
face
it
in
a
flexible
and
dynamic
way
rather
that in a static way
．

3. Relativity
Intercultural communication is an integrated process rather than a single
activity
．
All
the
components
are
interrelated
．
The
change
of
one
aspect
will
certainly bring about changes in other aspects as well
．
The study of
intercultural communication and people should also take a relational
approach,
that
is
，
we
should
study
one
aspect
of
intercultural
communication
in relation to other aspects
．
We should take all the components into
consideration when study intercultural communication
．

C. Taboo in Intercultural Communication
As we can see
，
it is impossible to separate our use of language from our
culture
．
In the most basic sense
，
when we study another language
，
we will
soon
discover
that
not
only
the
symbols(words)and
the
sounds
for
these
words
are
different
，
but
also
the
rules
for
using
them
and
the
factors
influencing
them are different
．
Language is the records of culture
，
so it is the
reflection of culture
．
According to Wilhelm Von Humboldt who is the
recognized
founder
of
general
linguistics
，
we
can
explain
the
relationship
between language and culture as below
：

Every nation puts her special national intellect into language, making
language become the carrier and reflection of this national culture.
Meanwhile
，
her language confines the mind and non-verbal activity of men.
That’s why some scholars hold that language is part of culture and plays
a very important ro1e in it
．
Similarly, some social scientists consider
language the keystone of culture
．
According to them, culture would not be
possible without language
．
On the other hand, language is influenced and
shaped by culture
．
It is the reflection of culture
．
That means
，
language
is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their
historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and
their ways of riving and thinking
．

Linguistic
taboo
is
a
very
important
part
of
language
．
It
has
something
to
do with everyone from noblemen to common people
．
In every language
，
there
are linguistic taboos more or less
．
In everyday life and work, violation
of taboos is regarded as very rude and improper even cause very serious
consequences
．
So
people
who
are
encountering
people
from
other
cultures
have
to pay attention to the different usage of others
’taboos．

In nowadays
，
intercultural communication between different cultures is
becoming more and more frequent and universal
．
Lack of knowledge in this
part
of
language
especially
improper
use
of
taboos
will
undoubtedly
result
in
misunderstandings
，
conflicts
and
other
unknown
serious
consequences
in
intercultural communications
．

In
order
not
to
cause
such
serious
consequences,
people
should
get
a
deeper
understanding of foreign culture and the usage of taboos
．

To sum it up, intercultural communication involves different cultures and
causes the cultural collision
．
Language has taken a significant
responsibility
during
this
process
．It’s
the
bridge
connecting
different
cultures
．
Without language
，
it
is
hard for
people from different cultures
to
carry
on
intercultural
communications
．
Taboo
is
part
of
language
and
plays
an
important
role
in
intercultural
communications
．
Since
different
cultures
have different taboos
，
people should pay special attention to them.
Ⅲ. Comparison of Chinese and English Taboos

A. Chinese Taboos and English Taboos
1. Taboos on Sex
In the western world
，
there are taboos on sex
，
certain body parts
．
People
find it difficult to talk about going to the toilet
，
and have invented
numerous
ways
of
avoiding
direct
reference
to
the
topic
．
Among
good
friends
and
acquaintances
it
may
be
acceptable
to
directly
ask
the
location
of
the
toilet or mention the bodily functions for which one needs to use it
，
but
in
other
situations
people
might
ask
：‘‘Where
could
I
wash
my
hands?’’
In movies and in television, for example
，
women often say in a restaurant
that they need to go and powder their noses or that they need to freshen
up
when
they
need
to
use
the
toilet
．
There
are
，
also
a
number
of
different
ways
to
refer
to
having
sex
，
including
to
sleeping
with
，
go
to
bed
with
and
make love, as mentioned by Hughes in the discussion of metaphorical means
of avoiding direct reference
．

In
China
，
people
use
a
great
deal
of
euphemisms
for
sexual
organs
and
act
，
and even for marriage and pregnancy because they have relationship with
sex
．
People use many euphemisms for toilet and body exertion as well
，
for
example
，
夫妻之礼，
鱼水之欢
for
sex
action
，
出恭，
大解，
小解，
更衣
for
exertion
，
有喜，怀珠，身子重
for pregnancy
．
The intellectuals
and the upper
classes
in
ancient
China
created
these
euphemisms
，
because
they
thought
it
a
shame
to
mention
them
directly
．
In
nowadays
，
most
of
such
euphemisms
are
not
used
any
longer
by
most
people
．
Some
are
kept
to
avoid
rudeness
and
embarrassment
in
conversation
，
but
in
most
situations
，
people
just
avoid
mentioning
them
for politeness
，
especially in public and on formal.
2. Taboo on Gender
Recently due to the development of social equality, gender discrimination
has
become
a
linguistic
taboo
．“Gender
discrimination”
is
often
based
on
gender
stereotypes
of
a
particular
society,
i.e.
considering
men
physically
strong and women as emotionally sensitive
．
With wome
n’s Movement in the
1960s
and
the
criticism
on
the
prejudice
in
language
，
a
lot
of
traditional
words
that
may
show
prejudice
against
women
are
now
replaced
by
new
created
words
for
the
females
．
The
words
showing
prejudice
against
the
females
are
considered to be taboos like chairmen
，
postman and so on.
In
Chinese
，
although
women
were
liberated
in
the
civil
revolution
，
the
status
of
women
are
enhanced
nowadays
，
there
are
still
some
gender
discriminations
in
society
．
Keeping
females
away
from
general
education
，
holding
that
they
are
not
supposed
to
participate
in
any
economic
activity
so
there’s
no
need
to
educate
them
，
is
one
of
the
major
examples
from
Asian
social
setups
．
Women
are
discouraged
in
other
social
concerns
as
well
，
for
instance
people
will
heartily accept a man as their leader even if he has some criminal record
in the past
，but for a woman it’ll be impossible to become the leader of
a mass(for a social issue)if she’d been involved in a minor crime．
Some
companies only invite applications for a job to the male
，
and even in the
job advertisements
，reading“no female” obviously．
In some areas of the
state
，
feudal thoughts deeply influences thoughts of adults so that some
people only like boys and for girls
，
who sometimes are confronted with
miserable destinies
，
like abandoned
，
fostered
，
etc
．

3. Taboos on Death
Chinese
and
English-spoken
people
tend
to
avoid
mentioning
death
and
illness
directly
and
intentionally
．
They
are
afraid
of
being
ill
because
it
brings
forth sad memory
．
Both people try to employ roundabouts and euphemisms
instead of taboos
．

Taboo
on
the
dead
includes
the
taboo
against
touching
of
a
corpse
and
those
who
are
caring
for
it
；
the
taboo
against
mourners
of
the
dead
；
and
the
taboo
against
anything
associated
with
the
dead(e
．
g
．
，
the
dead
person’s
name)．
In
the
US
，
attitudes
toward
death
along
with
sexuality
and
a
huge
emphasis
on
Christian morality and social etiquette
，
was very stringent and any
discussion
or
jokes
about
death
was
hailed
a
serious
taboo
，
in
part
of
the
mourning
process
and
death
promotes
“mental”
gr
aphic
imagery
．
The
taboo
on
naming
the
dead
prohibits
any
utterance
of
a
dead
man’s
name
or
any
other
words similar to it in sound
．
The Chinese have many taboos where death is
concerned
．
You should avoid attending a funeral and a wedding on the same
day
．
Also
，avoid
going
to
another
person’s
house
after
going
to
a
funeral
wake
．

English and American people seldom say He died
，
they will say
：
He went to
get
rewards
．
(
他去领奖了
)
，
He
fell
asleep
．
(
他躺下长眠了
)
，
He
passed
away
．
(
他
离去了
),He
breathed
his
last
．
(
他咽下了最后一口气
).
In
Chinese
，
the
emperor
died
，
which
is
called
Jia
Beng
(
驾崩
)
．
If
a
person
with
some
social
status
died
，
which is called Xian Shi(
仙逝
)
．
In English culture
，
death is also
substituted
，
like
，
joint the silent majority, pass away, go to heaven
，
fall
asleep
，
pass
beyond
，
fade
，
be
at
rest
，

close
one’s
eyes，
breathe
the
last
breath
，
be
heard
of
no
more
，
go
to
grass
，
go
to
sleep
for
forever
etc
．

According
to
Geoffrey
Hughes
in
A
History
of
English
Words,
death
is
often
referred to as a
“metaphorical journey in comforting variants and
traditional forms such as:passing on
,going to one’s Maker and joining
the majority”．
4Other less- dignified ways of referring to death include
to
resigning
one’s
being,
moving
into
upper
management
and
being
no
longer
eligible for the census
(Death).

4. Taboos on Sickness
Because in different culture, people think that infractions of taboos can
lead to illness or death, as well as to the lesser penalties of corporal
punishment
，
incarceration, social ostracism or mere disapproval
，
they do
avoid tabooed behavior unless they intend to violate a taboo
．

People use terminal illness in place of cancer
．
There are some examples
，
for example
，
AIDS(Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
，
Big C(Cancer)
，
DT’S(delirium
Tremens)，
V
．
D(Venereal disease)
，
B
．
O(body odor)
．
In
old
China, people always abstain from illness
，
so when they named themselves
，
like Huo Qubing, Xin Qiji
，
Zhang Zhuang, Li Kang and so on
．

In
America,
patients
have
rights
to
know
his
true
illness
and
if
the
patient
requires telling his illness
，
the doctor should tell in truth
．
In Chinese
culture
，
if
the
patient
gets
heavy
illness
，
the
doctor
and
family
dependents
are
inclined
to
conceal
the
state
of
his
illness
to
relieve
his
pressure
．
If
people have some mental and intelligent illness
，
they will periphrase
，