英语论文Cultural Differences in Chinese and English Euphemism on Death.docx
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英语论文Cultural Differences in Chinese and English Euphemism on Death.docx
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英语论文CulturalDifferencesinChineseandEnglishEuphemismonDeath
CulturalDifferencesinChineseandEnglishEuphemismonDeath
1.Introduction1
2.Euphemism2
2.1Definitions2
2.2Characteristics3
3.DeathEuphemism4
4.Thecomparativestudyofthe“death”EuphemisminChineseandEnglish5
4.1TheoriginofChineseandEnglisheuphemismondeath.5
4.2Thereflectionsofdifferentreligiousbeliefs,socialstatus,socialvaluesandlifestyles.6
4.2.1Deatheuphemismandreligiousbeliefs6
4.2.2Deatheuphemismandsocialstatus8
4.2.3Deatheuphemismandsocialvalues10
4.2.4Deatheuphemismandsociallifestyles11
5.Deatheuphemismandcross-culturecommunication12
6.Conclusion14
References16
1.Introduction
Languageisusedtoavoidsayingcertainthingsaswellastoexpressthem(RonaldWardhaugh,2000).Ineverylanguagethereseemstobecertainunmentionablewords.AsRonaldWardhaugh(2000)claims,“Certainthingsarenotsaid,notbecausetheycannotbe,butbecause‘peopledonottalkaboutthosethings’;or,ifthosethingsaretalkedabout,theyaretalkedaboutinveryroundaboutways.”Thustherearetwolinguisticconcepts——taboointhefirstplaceaswellaseuphemisminthesecond,soastoavoidmentioningcertainmattersinthedirectway.
“Euphemism”canbedividedintothe“eu”and“phemism”,“phemism”means“wordsofgoodomen”or“goodspeech”inthelanguageofGreece(OxfordDictionaryofEuphemisms,“deatheuphemism,”int.1995).Euphemism,inBolinger’s(1975)eyes,isanameforsomethingunpleasantproducingthesamequalmsastheunpleasantthingitself,andtendstobeavoided.Euphemismasapartofourlivesiseverywhere.“Death”EuphemismisamajorpartoftheEuphemism.Peopleusetheeuphemismofdeathtomakethe“dead”soundsnotsoterrible.AccordingtoOxfordDictionaryofEuphemisms(“deatheuphemism,”int.1995),thereareabout400kindsofwordingsofthe“death”euphemisminEnglish.Deathisdescribedas“havingpassedaway”,“departed”andsoon.“Death”Euphemismisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoreflectsculturaldifferencesbetweenthedifferentculturalphenomena.Numerousresearchershavetriedtheirbesttogivetheirparticularandsystematicexplanationsonthiskindofeuphemism.
ThisthesisanalyzedthedifferentwordingsofdeatheuphemisminEnglishandChinese.Bystudyingfromthe“death”euphemismwhichreflectsontheculturalphenomenaanddifferences,wecanbetterunderstandthecharacteristicsofdeatheuphemisminthelanguageandculturebetweenChineseandEnglish.
2.Euphemism
Inthispart,wewilllearnsomethingabouteuphemism.
2.1Definitions
Theterm“euphemism”comesfromtheGreekeu,meaning“well”or“soundinggood”,andpheme,“speech”.Thuscomestheliteralmeaningof“euphemism”,thatis,“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”.Touseeuphemismequalstousemild,agreeablewordsinplaceofcoarse,painful,oroffensiveones.Certaindefinitionscanbeseenaboutthisterm:
-“Substitutinganinoffensiveorpleasanttermforamoreexplicit,offensiveone,therebyveneeringthetruthbyusinginwords.”(FromNeamanandSilver,1983:
1)
-“Amildorvagueperiphrasticexpressionasasubstituteforbluntprecisionofdisagreeabletruth.”(FromFowler,1965)
2.2Characteristics
Euphemism,tosomeextent,isendemicinoursociety,“theglorificationofthecommonplaceandtheelevationofthetrivial.”(Rawson,1981)Througheuphemism,wecanexpressourinwardanxieties,conflicts,fears,andshamesbyusingtheseoutwardandvisiblesubstitutes.
Euphemismaffectsusalthoughwemaynotbeasdeeplyconsciousoftheeffects,butaffectsusratherdeepasitdoes.Euphemismreflectssociety’sambivalentfeelingsoncertainsubjects.OrputbyRawson(1981),euphemismislike“radioactiveisotopes.Bytracingthem,itispossibletoseewhathasbeen(andis)goingoninourlanguage,ourminds,andourculture.”
Rawson(1981)givesasystematicandvividdescriptionofprinciplesappliedincreatinganddecipheringeuphemism.Therearealtogethersevenprincipleslistedbyhim:
1.Simplestistomakeastraightsubstitution,usingawordthathashappierconnotationthanthetermonewishestoavoid.
2.Foreignlanguagessoundfiner.
3.Badwordsarenotsobadwhenabbreviated.
4.Abstractionsarenotobjectionable.
5.Indirectionisbetterthandirection.
6.Understatementreducesrisks.
7.Thelongertheeuphemismthebetter.
Wewillhaveadetailedlookattheapplicationofsomeoftheseprinciplesaboveinthefollowingpart.
3.DeathEuphemism
Deathanddying,aswellasliving,accompanyeverymortalsofarasheorsheisontheearth.Thedeeplovetolifestrengthensthedeepfearofdeath,orviceversa.Hence,theprettyingupofdeathanddyingbecomesalinguisticnecessityinacivilizedemotionalcommunityorsociety.Peoplemayrefertoaharmlesseuphemism,apoeticmetaphorlikesleeporrestinplaceofdying.Itisnowonderthatanicedescriptionondeathcanbeseeninthefollowing:
“Thelovedonesareunderthegoodcareofthekindbereavementcounselor,afteraneverlastingcosmeticbythederrmasurgeon,theywearaslumberrobe,andwillbeputinaslumberbox,thencarriedtoafinalrestingplace,i.e.,amemorial,andterminallygotothehappyhuntinggrounds.”(ZhuXinhua&LiLijun,2000)
“Deatheuphemism”,togetherwithothereuphemism,fallsintothelargerframeworkcalledlanguage.Languageisamirrorthroughwhichwecanseethemysteriousandcolorfulculturesofthesociety.Goodenough(1957)himselfgivesawell-knowndefinitiontoculture,“asociety’scultureconsistsofwhateveritisonehastoknoworbelieveinordertooperateinamanneracceptabletoitsmembers,andtodosoinanyrolethattheyacceptforanyoneofthemselves.”
Toresearchintothevarious“deatheuphemism”bothinEnglishandChinesewillcontributealotinstudyingthedifferentculturesaroundaspecificsubject.Furthermore,wecanhaveaclearcomparisonandcontrastbetweenthetwodifferentculturesandputitintopracticeinordertomaintainamoresuccessfulculturalexchange.
4.Thecomparativestudyofthe“death”EuphemisminChineseandEnglish
“Deatheuphemism”,fromtheviewpointofculture,mirrorsthevariouskindsofsociallifeincludingthesocialstructure,thenationalpsychology,thereligions,thevaluesystem,thecustoms,etc(Rawson,1981).Withoutsocialculture,therewillbenodeatheuphemism.Inordertoanalyzetheculturalmeaningofdeatheuphemism,westartfromthestudyoftheoriginof“death”Euphemism.
4.1TheoriginofChineseandEnglisheuphemismondeath.
Languagemirrorsthevariousculturesofthesociety.Differentculturesorganizetheirbackgroundknowledgedifferently.Earlyinhumansociety,thereweremanynaturalphenomenacouldnotbeexplained.Suchas,“death”,peoplecouldn’tunderstandwhytheydied.Theybelievedthatitmustbecontrolledbysomemysteriouspower.Deathwassodreadfultohumansothattheydidn’twanttomentionit.Thefearoflosingfamilymembers,theuncertainworldafterdeath,andthedecayofbodymadethemuncomfortable.Sotheyfoundsomethinglessdreadful.EitherinEnglishorChinese,metaphorwaswidelyusedineuphemismfordeath.Forinstance,theEnglishidiom“gotoone’slonghome”andtheChineseexpression“回老家去了”(backtoone’shometown)arealleuphemismfordeath.Furthermore,“gotosleepforever”and“长眠”(sleepingforever)indicatesdeath.Allthiseuphemisticexpressionmakesdeathlessdreadful.
4.2Thereflectionsofdifferentreligiousbeliefs,socialstatus,socialvaluesandlifestyles.
Inthispart,Iwillcompareandanalysisthecommonanddistinctcharactersof“death”euphemisminEnglishandChinese,andfurtherstudythetwodifferentwaystoexpressthecommonanddifferencesinChineseandEnglish.
4.2.1Deatheuphemismandreligiousbeliefs
Inordertoclearofftheworryandfearofhumanbeings,differentreligionsgivedifferentinterpretationsondeathandevendescribetheafterlifeworld.Theseviewsdeeplyinfluencepeopleintheirviewofdeathandlife,whichreflectsintheirlanguage.MostoftheEnglish-speakingcountriesbelieveinGod.TheybelievethatGodcreatedhumanbeings,thushumanbeingarethechildrenofGod.Godloveshischildrenandviceversa.TheyhavetobeloyaltoGodinordertobesavedandsenttoHeavenwithGod.Thisisreflectedintheirviewofdeath:
“toanswerthefinalsummons,tobecalledtoGod,todeparttoGod,tobeasleepintheArmsofGod,tojointheHeavenlyHost,go/passtoone’srecord,tojointheangels,tojointheangelicchoirs,tobecalledtotheGreatBeyond,tobetakentoparadise,togotoHeaven,goto/reachabetterworld,beinthegoldenhence,bein/gotoheaven,gotomeet/joinone’sMaker,gotoone’slast,bewithGod,gotoHeaven,gotoone’sMaker”.Quitealot“deatheuphemism”justcomesfromtheBible,forinstances,“crosstheJordan”“handinone’saccounts”and“gotoone’s(long)accounts”comefromDayofJudgment.(ShuDingfang,1989)
ThemostinfluentialreligionsinChinaareBuddhismandTaoism.Buddhism,originatedinIndia,influencestraditionalChineseculturealot.Itholdsthatalltheliving(mortal)shouldshouldersomegreatchangesandhardshipsanddifficultiesinordertobeacceptedbytheGreatBuddhawithoutanypain.Thiscouldonlybedonebyveryprestigiousmonks.Thereissomeeuphemismindescribingthedeathofthemonks.“涅磐,圆寂,,归真,,坐化,etc.(nirvana,parinirvana,passintotherealworld,passawayinasittingposture,etc.).
InTaoism,ChuangTzu(ChuangTzuisbelievedtolivedintheFourthorThirdCenturyBCE,atatimewhenChinawassplitupintoanumber
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