英语委婉语的起源与社会作用

“

润滑剂

”,

使刺耳< /p>

,

不文雅的话变得委婉愉悦。

它在人们的 社会交际过程中发挥着重要作用。

本文从其避讳功能、

礼貌功能 以及掩饰功能三

方面阐释了英语委婉语的社会交际功能。

通过充 分理解英语委婉语的起源及其社会交际功能

,

进一步理解英语语 言文化

,

以避免社会交际中的各种冲突。

【关键词】起源

;

交际功能

;

避讳

;

礼貌

;

掩饰

uction

Euphemism is a cultural phenomenon as well as a linguistic concept. Every language has its ow

n euphemism, so does English. It is deeply rooted in social life and has a great influence on social

communication. As an indispensable and natural part of English language, English euphemism has

attracted

people?s

attention for a long time. Since Euphemism was coined, it has played a very im

portant role in

people?s

communication. The communication without euphemism is unimaginable.

Euphemism is used like lubrication, which makes the communication go on smoothly. This thesis

will have an overview of the origin of English euphemism, and state its social communicative func

tion.

English euphemism as a linguistic concept, it has close relationships with the western culture, a

nd it truly reflects the life and values of English people and their history. Euphemism is a particula

rly good medium for access to the force of language that has provided an effective approach to un

derstanding the human mind. The study of English euphemism can help us understand the western

culture and promote the international development because euphemism is widely used in internati

onal negotiations. So there is a great need for us to study English euphemism, including: its origin,

its social function, etc.

2. The definitions of English euphemism

Euphemism is a universal linguistic phenomenon. Nearly in every language, there are some disg

usting words, which make people feel embarrassed. In the process of communication, the unsuitab

le or too direct words will make people feel uncomfortable, even angry. Then there is a great need

for us to use a tactful way to express emotion, exchange ideas. That is to say, to use a pleasant, mil

d or indirect words or phrases take the place of tabooed words.

It is known that euphemism is a form of language intentionally created in social relation to achi

eve ideal communication. Without them any language would seem to be vulgar and rude, void of p

oliteness and vividness to some extent. As a common communication in the process of people usin

g language, euphemism is an important way for people to coordinate the social relationships. Like

a kind of lubrication, euphemism enables people to express what cannot be uttered directly and en

sures communication to be carried smoothly. It is a language strategy in civilized society for avoid

ing taboo. It is unimaginable if the communication is without euphemism.

The word

“euphemism”

was derived from the Greek word

“euphemismos”,

which means

“fair

s

peech”.

The prefix

“eu”

means

“good,

sound

well”

and

“pheme”

means

“saying”

or

“speech”.

And

thus the literal meaning of

“euphemism”

is

“to

speak with good words or in a pleasant

manner”.

T

hat is to say, euphemism is used as an alternative to unpleasant expression, in order to avoid possi

ble lose of face, either

one?s

own face or through going offense, that of the audience, or some of th

ird of party. This unpleasant expression may be tabooed, fearsome, or for some other reasons that s

peakers

can?t

or intend not to use some certain expression directly on some occasion.

“In

Webster?

s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language is

?the

substitution of a mild, indir

ect, or vague expression for one thought

substituted?.

Rawson Blunt, a British writer, defined euph

emism as

?a

good favorable interpretation of a bad

word.?”[1]

“Encyclopedia

Britannica(1994) als

o defines euphemism as

?a

figure of speech in which something of an unpleasant, distressing or in

delicate nature is described in less offensive

terms?”[2]

From the above mentioned, we could clearly see that euphemism is characterized by avoidance

language and evasive expression. The speakers use words or expressions as a protective shield aga

inst the anger or disapproval of natural or supernatural things. It is one form of language and a ling

uistic phenomenon

origins of English euphemism

3.1 The religious origin of English euphemism

The earliest English euphemisms come from

“taboo”.

The word

“taboo”

comes from Togan, a k

ind of Polynesian. It indicates evasive language or action.[3] The emergence of English euphemis

m is to meet the need of avoiding taboos. In primitive society, people

can?t

explain such things as

ailment and some supernatural phenomena.

“People

have confusion between the name of the thing

s and things themselves. The name is viewed as an extension of things. Just as the idiom says

?Spe

ak of devil and he

appears?.

Naturally the words or phrases related to such things become

taboos.”

[4] In the ancient times, people had blind faith in ghosts and Gods they respected. They whispere

d and even feared them so they did not dare to address their names directly. They think it profane t

o name God. Therefore the names of gods become the earliest taboos. To speak name of gods was

to evoke the divinity whose power then had to be confronted. Such dangerous practices were reser

ved for priests skilled in negotiating with the supernatural. So the usual way to avoid is to employ

euphemisms. Therefore, for the religious need, a lot of euphemisms about religion emerged. For e

xample, in order not to desecrate God, people in English-speaking country always use some other

name for God instead of calling directly, such as

“Adonai,

the Almighty, Caes

ar?s

Cruth, the Creat

er, Dod, Gad, Land, Lawks,

Lawd.”[5]

The opposite side of god is devil, which is more terrible for

people. When people refer to them, they tend to use such euphemisms to replace: D, the Big D, th

e Evil one, the Black one, the Goodman, Jesse, Old boy, Our father, Lord of lords, King of kings, t

he Light of the world, etc.[6]

From the above mentioned, we can find that religion brings many euphemistic terms in the relig

ious matter, especially the naming and addressing of God to the language.

3.2 The racial and national origins of English euphemism

It is known to all, the phenomenon of racial discrimination is deeply rooted in America in which

“equal

opportunity”

is flattered by American white people as an equal right enjoyed by everyone.

Due to the pressure of social public opinion, although some whites discriminate the black from the

ir heart, they will not expose this kind of prejudice in public. Meanwhile, few people dare to humil

iate and persecute blacks publicly for no reason at all. In other words, the way of discrimination be

comes tactful. There are many euphemisms emerging for this reason. In the 1930s,

?nigger?

is still

a neutral noun in England, and has no meaning of humiliating blacks. But since this word has the

obvious meaning of discriminating the blacks, most of people in England and Americans use some

other euphemistic words, such as

“colored

black”

instead. When talking about some other races, it

does not often use the direct words that are related to color. People often use some euphemistic ex

pression, such as the geographic name.

3.3 Historical, literary and political origins of English euphemism

From the time the Normans conquered England in 1066, English has emerged many euphemism

s. At that time, the main reason to use euphemism is that the language used by the conquered is oft

en disparaged, and is thought as gross language. The upper class surely

doesn?t

want to lower their

status to use such words. In order to avoid using such gross words, they tend to use

“the

elegant w

ords”,

which originated from Latin. And these words were mixed into English gradually.

There are also many euphemisms in literary works. For example, in Hamlet, Shakespeare use th

e expression

“The

undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler

returns”(< /p>

从来不曾有一个

旅

人

回

来

过

的

神

秘

之

国

) to express his great sympathy for Hamlet.[7] The famous American writer Mark Twain use

“re

lease”

to express

“die”

in his work The Adventure of Tom Sawyer. Besides, politics is a fertile are

a for the appearance and growth of English euphemism, which is cosmetic in expression but decep

tive in nature. Euphemisms of this kind are always consciously and deliberately. The cosmetic eup

hemism can be easily found in American English.

Government?s

discussion of the Vietnam War w

as saturated with euphemisms. Villages burned and inhabitants imprisoned were

?Pacifications”;

th

e war itself was not a war but a

“conflict”,

the

“bombing”

becomes

“logistical

strike”

or

“close

air

support”,

and

“killing”

becomes

“wasting

the

enemy”.

These euphemisms are used to deceive and

to hide the dirty business of war. [8] The use of such political euphemisms helps government to be

autify the action and prevent people from taking any anti-government action. So in order to satisfy

the political needs, many euphemisms come to exist.

social communicative function of English euphemism

From the perspective of language communication, euphemism functions to avoid taboos, to sho

w politeness and conceal feelings. Thanks to euphemism, it is easy for people to accept the things

that are likely to make others feel embarrassed or unhappy. It is

people?s

general character to expr

ess their ideas as mildly and tactfully as possible. Euphemism helps people to reach this goal. Fro

m the moment euphemism came into existence, it has played a very important role in our daily co

mmunication, and help establish a good relationship between human beings and even strengthen th

e social stability. Euphemism are motivated by the desire not to be offensive. People use them to s

how their politeness, to avoid being offensive and to meet the psychological and beneficial needs

of both speakers and hearers in communication. But sometimes they are used to conceal or cover s

omething. Accordingly, euphemism serves three basic communicative functions: evasive function,