英语A Comparison between Chinese and Western Taboos.docx
- 文档编号:11614233
- 上传时间:2023-03-28
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:13
- 大小:31.95KB
英语A Comparison between Chinese and Western Taboos.docx
《英语A Comparison between Chinese and Western Taboos.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《英语A Comparison between Chinese and Western Taboos.docx(13页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
英语AComparisonbetweenChineseandWesternTaboos
Abstract
Languageisthecarrierofculture.Differentcountryhasitsculturedeeplyrootedinitslanguage,andinturn,theuseanddevelopmentoflanguagehavebeengreatlyaffectedbytheculture.So,learningaforeignlanguageistolearnnotonlythevocabularyandgrammar,butalsoknowabouttheculture.Linguistictabooexistsinalmosteveryaspectofpeople’slifeandisauniversalsocialphenomenonbothinChinaandthewest.ThesametaboosinChineseandEnglishincludeaspectsofdeathandfuneraletc.Becauseofthedifferentculturalbackground,ideologiesandtheconceptsofvalue,therearesomedifferenttaboosinaspectsofprivacy,religionandnumberetc.Sometimes,thesesimilaritiesanddifferencesbringalotoftroublestocross-culturalcommunication.Howtoavoidthesetroubles?
Themostimportantistohaveagoodknowledgeofthetaboocultureanduseeuphemism.Thispaperwouldhelppeopleimprovetheirabilityofcross-culturalcommunicationandachievebettercommunicationaleffectsbycomparativeanalysis.
KeywordsChineseandWestern,taboos,culture,Comparison
摘要
语言是文化的载体,不同国家的文化都深深地根植于它的语言中。
反过来,语言的应用和发展也受到文化很大的影响。
因此,学习一国语言不仅要学习它的词汇和语法,还要学习其文化。
语言禁忌存在于人们生活的各个方面,是一种中西方普遍存在的社会现象在汉英两种语言中,有一些禁忌语是一致的。
如”死”和”葬礼”等方面。
但是由于中西方文化背景、意识形态、价值观念等的不同,其禁忌语也有一些差异,如在个人隐私,宗教及数字禁忌等方面。
这些异同有时会给跨文化交际带来麻烦。
如何避免这些麻烦,最重要的是充分了解中西方禁忌文化以及使用适当的委婉语。
本文旨在通过对比分析汉英禁忌语来帮助人们提高跨文化交际的能力,从而达到理想的交际效果。
关键词中西方,禁忌语,文化,对比
Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………….………..1
ChapterⅠEvolutionofLinguisticTaboos.............................................................................2
1.1PrimitiveSuperstitiousStages……………………………..………………………….2
1.2FeudalPatriarchalStage…………………………………….…………………….......3
1.3ModernDemocraticStage…………………….………………………………….…...3
ChapterⅡSimilaritiesofEnglishandChineseTaboos…………………………….............4
2.1Inlanguage………………………………………………………….……...................4
2.1.1InPronunciation…………………………………………………………….….…...4
2.1.2InVocabulary……………….………………………………………………….…...5
2.2Inlife………………………….………………………………………………….…...6
2.2.1AboutDeath……………….…………………………………………………….….6
2.2.2AboutFuneral……………….……………………………………………................7
ChapterⅢDifferencesofEnglishandChineseTaboos……………………………...........8
3.1DifferencesofPrivacy………………….………………………………………..……8
3.2DifferencesofReligion……………………………………………………….............9
3.3DifferencesofNumber………………………………………………………...…….10
3.4DifferencesofColor………………………………………………………................11
3.5DifferencesofSocialTaboos…………………………………………………..........11
3.6DifferencesofPublicTaboos...............................................................................…...13
3.7DifferencesofGiftsTaboos...............................................................................…...14
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………...16
Bibliography...........................................................................................................................17
Introduction
Tabooisasubjectthatpeopleavoidbecausetheythinkitisoffensiveorembarrassingorasocialcustomwhichmeansaparticularactivityorsubjectmustbeavoided.Tabooisthereflectionofsociety’sculturalbackground,socialbeliefandvalueconcepts.Generallyspeaking,tabooiscomposedofnon-languagetabooandlanguagetaboo.Thetaboosstudiedinthispaperincludenotonlythetabooinlanguagebutalsothethingsthatareregardedastaboo.
Tabooisalsospelledastabu,Tongantabu,orMaoritapu.ThetermtabooisofPolynesianoriginandwasfirstnotedbyCaptainJamesCookduringhisvisittoTongain1771.HeintroduceditintotheEnglishlanguage,afterwhichitachievedwidespreadcurrency.AlthoughtaboosareoftenassociatedwiththePolynesianculturesoftheSouthPacific,theyhaveprovedtobepresentinvirtuallyallsocietiespastandpresent.Tabooisregardedasoneofthegreatestobstaclesininterculturalcommunication.Misusingtaboowillleadtoseriousconsequencessuchasculturalconflicts.
Domesticandforeignexpertshavedoneextensiveresearchontaboos.Forexample,SigmundFreud,Austriandoctor,psychologist,philosopher,andfounderofpsychoanalysis,wrotethefamousbookTotemandTaboo,inwhichheanalyzedtheoriginoftaboosandtheirmanifestations.EnglishwriterJamesMcDonaldcompiledDictionaryofObscenity&Taboo,introducingtaboowordsfromlinguistics,folkloreandliterature.ThebookChineseFolkTabooswrittenbyChinesewriterRenChengisthefirstworktosystematicallyexpoundtheChinesefolktaboos.However,thecomparativestudyofEnglishandChinesetaboosisrelativelysmall.
Tabooisakindofsociolinguisticphenomenon,whichiscloselyrelatedtoitsculturebackground.Withtheincreasinginter-culturalcommunication,itisnecessaryforpeopletopaymoreattentiontothetaboosindifferentcultures.Languagereflectscultureandisthecarrierofculture.Cultureisthecombinationofbelief,habits,livingpatternsandbehavior,whichisgenerallyownedbythepeoplewhooccupyaspecificgeographicalarea.Differentcountryhasitsculturedeeplyrootedinitslanguage,andinturn,theuseanddevelopmentoflanguagehavebeengreatlyaffectedbytheculture.Learningaforeignlanguageistolearnnotonlythevocabularyandgrammar,butalsoknowaboutakindofculture.Culturecontainsanextremelywiderangeofelements,suchashistory,socialcustomsandliterature,etc.Knowingabouttheseisthenecessaryconditionsandmethodstolearnalanguageandcommunicate.Inthispaper,throughthecomparativeanalysisofthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinesetaboos,peoplecangetadeepunderstandingofthedifferentculturalconnotationandvalueconceptsoftheEastandWest.Moreover,thispaperishelpfulforpeopletomoreaccuratelyunderstandanduseEnglishandmakeamoresuccessfulcross-culturecommunication.
ChapterIEvolutionofLinguisticTaboos
1.1PrimitiveSuperstitiousStages
Abouttheoriginoftaboo,therearetwoviewpointsnow.OneviewpointisthatthewordtaboowasborrowedfromTongan,aPolynesianlanguage,inwhichitreferstoactsthatareforbiddenortobeavoided.Whenanactistaboo,referencetothisactmayalsobecometaboo.Thatis,firstyouareforbiddentodosomething,thenyouareforbiddentotalkaboutit.TheotherviewpointisthatthetermTabooisoriginatedfromnativelanguageinthemiddlePacificIslands.Mostscholarspreferredthefirstviewpoint.TheCambridgeEncyclopediaofLanguagedefinestheword“taboo”asfollows:
“taboohasbeenborrowedfromTongan,whereitmeans‘holy’or‘untouchable’.”
TaboophenomenaarenotuniqueinTonga.Instead,ithaslongexistedinallculturesandlanguagethroughouttheworld.
Intheprimitivestagesofhumansociety,withthebackwardnessofsocialcivilizationandthelowproductivity,itwashardforpeopletoconquerthenaturaldisastersanddiseases,sopeoplethoughtthatthenaturaldisastersanddiseaseswereallgod’spunishmentforhumanandtheydarenottomentionthewordsrelatingtogodordevil.
1.2FeudalPatriarchalStage
Withthedevelopmentofsociety,classesemergedandtheunfairnessappeared.Thereweremorerestrictionsonpeople’sconservationandbehaviorduetothedictatorshipoftherulingclass.Especiallyintheslavesociety,slaveswereusedastoolsthatcanspeakwithoutanyfreedomofspeech.IntheancientChina,aseriesofcruelprinciples,suchasburningbooksandburyingConfucianscholarsaliveandliteraryinquisition,hadimprisonedpeople’smindsstrictly.
TaboosweremosthighlydevelopedinthePolynesiansocietiesoftheSouthPacific,butvirtuallytheyhavebeenpresentinallcultures.Therefore,theword“taboo”,asaspecialnounforthiskindofspecialphenomenon,wasbroughttosociologyandanthropology.Itisinterpretedasonewayinwhichasocietyexpresseditsdisapprovalofcertainkindsofbehaviorinwhichwereconsideredtodoharmtoitsmemberseitherforsupernaturalreasonsorforhiringsuchbehaviorwillviolateamoralcode.Forexample,theZuni,anIndianpeopleinNewMexico,U.S.A.,regardfrogastheirgod,therefore,theword“takka”(frogs)isforbiddenduringthereligiousfeasts,andinstead,thereisaverylonglinguisticstructure---“severalaresittinginashallowbasinwheretheyareinliquid”.(MaoFeng,2002:
109)
1.3ModernDemocraticStage
Inmoderntimes,linguistictaboosstillplayasignificantroleduringthecross-culturalcommunication.SoitisnecessaryforustogettoknowthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweentheChineseandEnglishtaboos.
Thereisnogenerallyacceptedexplanationoftabootillnow,butthereisbroadagreementthatthetabooscurrentinanysocietytendtobecomeprohibitions,excludingsomethingfromuse,approach,ormentionbecauseoftheirsacredandinviolablenature,orbansorinhibitionsresultingfromsocialcustomoremotionalaversion.
Therearetwoaspectsoftaboo:
oneisthatobjects,beingrespected,can’tbeusedfreely;theotheristhatobjects,beingdespised,can’tbetouchedfreely.Inabroadersense,tabooexistsinallknowncultures,referringtocertainacts,objectsorrelationshipofwhichthesocietywishestoavoidandthelanguageusedtotalkaboutthem.Inotherwords,tabooconsistsofBehavioralTabooandVerbalTaboo.Generallyspeaking,BehavioralTaboocausesVerbalTaboo.VerbalTabooindicates“atotalorpartialprohibitionoftheuseofcertainwords,expressionsandtopicsinsocialinteraction.”(FengGang,2006:
77)
ChapterIISimilaritiesofEnglishandChineseTaboos
2.1Inlanguage
2.1.1InPronunciation
PeopleinChinaandEnglish-speakingcountriesgenerally
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- 英语A Comparison between Chinese and Western Taboos 英语
链接地址:https://www.bdocx.com/doc/11614233.html