基于合作原則的英語委婉語言研究【開題報(bào)告+文獻(xiàn)綜述+畢業(yè)論文】

1、<p><b>　　畢業(yè)論文開題報(bào)告</b></p><p><b>　　英語</b></p><p>　　基于合作原則的英語委婉語研究</p><p>　　論文選題的背景、意義（所選課題的歷史背景、國內(nèi)外研究現(xiàn)狀和發(fā)展趨勢）</p><p>　　背景：國內(nèi)外研究委婉語的文章不少，歸納起來

2、主要有以下五個(gè)方面。研究委婉語的歷史及演變；界定委婉語的定義；探討委婉語構(gòu)成諸種手段；從社會語用學(xué)角度研究委婉語；從語用學(xué)角度研究委婉語。比較起來，從語用學(xué)角度研究委婉語的文章似顯不足。本文將從語用學(xué)的角度，在美國哲學(xué)家格賴斯合作原則這一言語交際中的理論前提下，對委婉語的使用進(jìn)行進(jìn)一步地研究。</p><p>　　意義：格賴斯認(rèn)為,言語交際中人們總是互相合作的,談話雙方都懷著一個(gè)共同的愿望:雙方的話語都能互相理解

3、,共同配合。因此他們都遵守著某些合作原則，以求實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)愿望。遵守合作原則是一次交談能有效進(jìn)行下去的基礎(chǔ)。同時(shí),他具體分析了該原則所包含的四條準(zhǔn)則。然而，委婉語這種特殊的語言現(xiàn)象恰恰違反了格賴斯的合作原則。通過對委婉語違反合作原則的數(shù)量、質(zhì)量、關(guān)聯(lián)、方式這四條準(zhǔn)則的研究，可以使我們更好地對委婉語和合作原則的關(guān)系進(jìn)一步的了解。同時(shí)我們從語用學(xué)角度對委婉語進(jìn)行了分析，使我們對語用學(xué)的知識有了深層地掌握，拓寬了委婉語的研究層面，使我們又多了一種

4、對委婉語的認(rèn)識。</p><p>　　研究的基本內(nèi)容與擬解決的主要問題 </p><p><b>　　研究的基本內(nèi)容：</b></p><p>　　會話合作原則是語用學(xué)研究的一個(gè)重要內(nèi)容，人們在交際中要遵循合作原則，但在具體語境中卻可能由于禮貌而故意違反合作原則，以求達(dá)到更好的交際效果。作為一種特殊的語用現(xiàn)象，委婉語用一種愉快的方式或動聽的話使

5、受話人產(chǎn)生愉快的效果，這雖然表達(dá)了禮貌，卻往往違反了“會話合作原則”的準(zhǔn)則。本文從語用學(xué)的角度出發(fā)，對委婉語違反會話合作原則四條準(zhǔn)則進(jìn)行了深一層地研究。</p><p>　　擬解決的主要問題 ：</p><p>　　委婉語的定義及功能；</p><p>　　委婉語在國內(nèi)外的研究情況;</p><p>　　委婉語與合作原則的關(guān)系；</p&

6、gt;<p>　　研究的方法和技術(shù)路線</p><p><b>　　文獻(xiàn)研究法：</b></p><p>　　收集委婉語和合作與則的史料及歷史研究文獻(xiàn)， 為本研究獲 得豐富的第一手材料；收集理論文集，實(shí)驗(yàn)數(shù)據(jù)，報(bào)告，結(jié)果。</p><p><b>　　2、比較研究法：</b></p><p

7、>　　在廣泛收集材料的基礎(chǔ)上，對材料進(jìn)行分類，分析，歸納，提升：比較各階段時(shí)期國內(nèi)外對委婉語語言現(xiàn)象的研究；對格賴斯的合作原則進(jìn)行深入的研究；通過自身比 與外部因素比較，形成可靠的認(rèn)識與結(jié)論。</p><p>　　四、論文詳細(xì)工作進(jìn)度和安排</p><p>　　2010年11月30日－12月20日 確定論文題目</p><p>　　2010年1

8、2月21日－2011年1月22日 指導(dǎo)老師下達(dá)任務(wù)書，學(xué)生提交開題報(bào)告，文獻(xiàn)綜述</p><p>　　2011年2月底前 提交論文初稿</p><p>　　2011年3月底前 初稿、二稿的修改</p><p>　　2011年4月底前

9、 三稿的修改</p><p>　　2011年5月中旬前 定稿，提交按要求裝訂的論文終稿一式三份</p><p><b>　　五、主要參考文獻(xiàn)</b></p><p>　　Enright，D.J.Fair of Speech, The Use of Euphemism [M]. Oxford: Oxford

10、University Press, 1985:126.</p><p>　　Hugh Rawson ．A Dictionary of Euphemism and Other Double talk［M］，New York：Crown Publishers 1nc． 1981．</p><p>　　Neaman ，J．S．a(chǎn)nd Carde G．Silver．Kind Words［M］．Ne

11、w York Facts on File Publications．1983·</p><p>　　陳望道．修辭學(xué)發(fā)凡[M]．上海：上海教育出版社．1976．</p><p>　　何兆熊等，《新編語用學(xué)概要》 ［M］，上海：上海外語教育出版社, 2000.</p><p>　　胡壯麟，《語言學(xué)教程》［M］，北京大學(xué)出版社，2002.</p>

12、<p>　　劉純豹，《英語委婉語詞典》[M]．南京：江蘇人出版社，1994.</p><p>　　束定芳、徐金元．《委婉語研究：回顧與前膳》 [J].外國語，1995，(5)：17—22．</p><p>　　斯托克，哈特曼等，《語言與語言學(xué)詞典》[M]. 黃長春，林書武等譯. 上海辭書出版社. 1981. 120.</p><p><b>　　

13、畢業(yè)論文文獻(xiàn)綜述</b></p><p><b>　　英語</b></p><p>　　基于合作原則的英語委婉語研究</p><p>　　前言部分（說明寫作的目的，介紹有關(guān)概念，扼要說明有關(guān)主題爭論焦點(diǎn)）</p><p>　　關(guān)于委婉語的定義有兩種比較流行的說法：</p><p>　　

14、1、"用一種不明說的，能使人感到愉快的含糊說法，代替具有令人不悅的含義不夠尊重的表達(dá)方法。"（《語言與語言學(xué)詞典》斯托克和哈特蔓等編）。</p><p>　　2、"委婉語就是用婉轉(zhuǎn)或溫和的方式來表達(dá)某些事實(shí)或思想，以減輕其粗俗的程度。"（《語言學(xué)詞典》）。</p><p>　　通過定義我們看出： </p><p>　　首先，委

15、婉語是一種語言現(xiàn)象，是人們在一定的場合用以交際的重要手段，人們通常盡力避免使用引起雙方不快或損壞雙方關(guān)系的語言，而是采用一種迂回曲折的語言形式。表達(dá)思想。交流信息； </p><p>　　第二，委婉語是一種社會文化現(xiàn)象，已滲透于人們?nèi)粘Ｉ畹姆椒矫婷?，反映廣泛的社會現(xiàn)象或人民心理：如考慮到避諱問題、禁忌問題、禮貌問題等。</p><p>　　委婉語，用一種 “不明說的、能使人感到愉快的或含

16、糊的說法，代替具有不悅的含義或不夠尊敬的”表達(dá)方法。使用委婉語可以使會話更成功、更順暢地進(jìn)行。委婉語是一個(gè)語言學(xué)概念，同時(shí)也是一種文化現(xiàn)象，長久以來一直受到人們的關(guān)注。隨著人類社會的發(fā)展，委婉語在人類的日常生活中扮演了一個(gè)重要的角色，委婉語也成為了會話中一個(gè)普遍的語言技巧。</p><p>　　結(jié)合委婉語的定義及作為人類社會普遍存在的一種語言現(xiàn)象，學(xué)者們紛紛從不同的角度進(jìn)行研究，提出了委婉語的如下功能：避諱功能、

17、禮貌功能、掩飾功能。這些功能使得委婉語更加普遍地運(yùn)用于人類日常交際中，使得會話更順利地進(jìn)行。然而，人們在運(yùn)用語言進(jìn)行交際時(shí),一般情況下是進(jìn)行直率性表達(dá),從而形成直接語;而在特殊情況下會進(jìn)行隱含性表達(dá),從而形成委婉語。由此可見,委婉語是相對于直接語而言的。 在這一點(diǎn)上，委婉語就是違反會話原則的一種體現(xiàn)。</p><p>　　合作原則的各項(xiàng)原則可以很好地解釋話語的字面意義和實(shí)際意義的關(guān)系，這對于交際委婉語顯得尤為重要

18、。本文從合作原則的角度出發(fā)，分析了合作原則的各項(xiàng)，以及這些原則和委婉語之間的聯(lián)系。通過本文的分析，我們可以更好地使用委婉語，使會話更容易地進(jìn)行。</p><p>　　二、主題部分（闡明有關(guān)主題的歷史背景、現(xiàn)狀和發(fā)展方向，以及對這些問題的評述）</p><p>　　委婉語就是“用順耳的，不大引起反感的表達(dá)方式來代替導(dǎo)致反感，令人不快的或剌耳的表達(dá)方式?！辈煌难芯空邚牟煌慕嵌葘ξ裾Z下了不

19、同的定義，同時(shí)從定義中也反映出委婉語避諱功能，禮貌功能和掩飾功能。</p><p>　　作為語言及文化現(xiàn)象的委婉語一直引起著中外廣大學(xué)者的興趣。中西方的學(xué)者們從不同視角對委婉語進(jìn)行了深入的研究并做出很大的貢獻(xiàn)。</p><p>　　1936年，H. L. Menken根據(jù)美國歷史及社會背景對委婉語的形成原因進(jìn)行了系統(tǒng)的分析出版了他的著作 The American Language，此書成為

20、委婉語研究的寶貴遺產(chǎn)。1981年，英國語言學(xué)家Hugh Rawson 編輯了名為A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Double-talk 的詞典,此詞典是過去五十多年委婉語研究的成就。該書的序言討論了委婉語的歷史起源，定義，覆蓋領(lǐng)域，分類以及特征。1983年，Neaman和Silver出版了委婉語的又一部經(jīng)典著作，Kind Words- A Thesaurus of Euphemisms。該書對委

21、婉語進(jìn)行了更加詳細(xì)的解釋，其引言部分用歷時(shí)觀來看待委婉語和文化。這對于委婉語的研究起著舉足輕重的作用。1985年，D. J. Enright 出版的Fair of Speech: the Uses of Euphemisms一書從文體學(xué)等方面來對委婉語進(jìn)行探討。1991年，A1lan 和 Burridge 出版的Euphemism and Dysphemism一書又從心理學(xué)上研究英語委婉。從此以英</p><p>

22、;　　在中國，委婉語很早就被人們使用。中國古代的文學(xué)詩經(jīng)和史記等作品就出現(xiàn)了委婉語。但是對委婉語系統(tǒng)而又科學(xué)的研究直到近幾十年才開始。陳望道先生是早期研究委婉語的中國學(xué)者之一。他在著作《修辭學(xué)發(fā)凡》（1973）中首次給漢語委婉語下定義并從修辭學(xué)角度研究委婉。二十世紀(jì)七八十年代，隨著外國社會語言學(xué)理論的不斷傳入，很多社會語言學(xué)者對委婉語的社會功能表現(xiàn)出了極大的興趣。后來，陳原先生在他的《社會語言學(xué)》(1983)一書中討論了漢語委婉語產(chǎn)生的

23、歷史背景，社會背景以及心理背景，從社會語言學(xué)的角度解釋委婉語的形成是一種社會跡象。束定芳先生(1989)提出了委婉語構(gòu)造的四個(gè)基本原則：距離原則，相關(guān)原則，動聽原則和自我保護(hù)原則，對后來的委婉語研究影響很大。張拱貴先生主編的《漢語委婉語詞典》（1996），總共收錄了漢語委婉語近3000條，并對漢語委婉語按照科學(xué)分類方法把其內(nèi)容分為十三類。每一類都有詳細(xì)的解釋和例句。伍鐵平先生在《模糊語言學(xué)》(2000)中提出模糊性是委婉語的特征,是語言

24、的一種自然本質(zhì)屬性。李國南先生的《辭格與詞匯》(2001)又從漢英委婉語的語言手段、詞源以及語體變異方面展開對比研究，引起了國</p><p>　　會話合作原則能稱得上是一次交談的語言活動，不會是由一系列互不相干的話語組成的，相反，交談應(yīng)該是成功的語言交際活動。一次成功的交談是參加交談的人共同努力的結(jié)果。要使交際成功，參加的人必須有一個(gè)共同的交際目標(biāo)，或者至少有一個(gè)被雙方或多方都接受的大方向。這個(gè)目標(biāo)或方向常常是

25、在談話的一開始就明確的，例如雙方準(zhǔn)備通過交談商定一次會議的時(shí)間，解決一個(gè)具體的問題，協(xié)調(diào)雙方的行動等等，當(dāng)然，這個(gè)共同的目標(biāo)或方向也可能在交談過程中產(chǎn)生。美國哲學(xué)家格賴斯（Grice）認(rèn)為，在所有的語言交際活動中為了達(dá)到特定的目標(biāo)，說話人和聽話人之間存在著一種默契，一種雙方都應(yīng)該遵守的原則，他稱這種原則為會話的合作原則（Cooperative Principle，簡稱CP）。具體說，合作原則便是要求每一個(gè)交談參與者在整個(gè)交談過程中所說的

26、話符合這一次的目標(biāo)和方向。正是交談?wù)叩倪@種合作使得他們能夠持續(xù)地進(jìn)行有意義的語言交際。</p><p>　　格賴斯認(rèn)為，合作原則這條根本原則可以具體體現(xiàn)為四條準(zhǔn)則：數(shù)量準(zhǔn)則、質(zhì)量準(zhǔn)則、關(guān)聯(lián)準(zhǔn)則、方式準(zhǔn)則。</p><p>　　這四條準(zhǔn)則中的前三條與人們在交談時(shí)“說什么”這個(gè)問題有關(guān)，第四條與“怎么說”有關(guān)。數(shù)量準(zhǔn)則規(guī)定了我們說話時(shí)所應(yīng)該提供的信息量：不應(yīng)少說也不要多說，也就是，凡是交談的對

27、方要求或期待你說的，你知道多少就該說多少，但不能把對方不要求或不期待你說的也說出來。質(zhì)量準(zhǔn)則規(guī)定了說話的真實(shí)性，也就是說要求說話人說真話，不說假話，不說沒有根據(jù)的話。這里所說的真實(shí)性是指說話人認(rèn)為是真實(shí)的話，不否認(rèn)會存在說話人認(rèn)為是真實(shí)的，但實(shí)際上卻是不真實(shí)的情況。在這種情況下，說話人在無意識地說謊，但仍然應(yīng)該說他是在遵循這條準(zhǔn)則的。關(guān)聯(lián)準(zhǔn)則規(guī)定了說話要切題，不說和話題無關(guān)的話。方式準(zhǔn)則在表達(dá)方式上提出了要求，要求說話人簡明扼要，不要用

28、語義含糊的詞語，避免冗詞贅句。遵守這些準(zhǔn)則，人們就能以最直接的方式、最高的效率進(jìn)行交際。</p><p>　　合作原則和其他準(zhǔn)則用來解釋語言使用者在會話中通常所指含義比所說的含義要豐富，然而正是歸因于合作原則總是在起作用，隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備幫助溝通話語和話語所傳達(dá)的含義，人們之間的對話才得以有效，順暢地進(jìn)行。</p><p>　　作為一種語用現(xiàn)象，委婉語理應(yīng)受格賴斯會話含義理論所闡述的會話準(zhǔn)則的影響

29、。然而，在特定的言語環(huán)境中，說話人往往違反這個(gè)合作原則，以達(dá)到某種目的和效果。在委婉語的運(yùn)用中尤其如此。委婉語的避諱功能、禮貌功能、掩飾功能恰恰違反了合作原則中的質(zhì)量、數(shù)量、方式和關(guān)聯(lián)原則。這就是為什么要在合作原則的角度下研究委婉語使用的主要目的。</p><p>　　總結(jié)部分（將全文主題進(jìn)行扼要總結(jié)，提出自己的見解并對進(jìn)一步的發(fā)展方向做出預(yù)測）</p><p>　　以上，我們通過國內(nèi)外學(xué)

30、者的委婉語的研究，了解到了委婉語的定義、委婉語的語用功能。我們了解到委婉語在人們?nèi)粘＝浑H生活中起著不可替代的作用。委婉語是語言藝術(shù)中的一個(gè)強(qiáng)有力的工具，能夠在詞、句子或篇章的層面上為成功實(shí)現(xiàn)交際提供很大的幫助。作為一種語言策略和交際技巧，委婉語可以滿足特殊的社交需要，是一種用曲折委婉的方式表達(dá)說話者思想的特殊語言表達(dá)方式和語言符號，是人類語言中的一種語言現(xiàn)象，也是人們社會交往中為謀求理想的交際效果而創(chuàng)造的一種特別的語言形式。委婉語在社會

31、文化交流和各種語言現(xiàn)象中之所以能夠長盛不衰，正是因?yàn)槠淠軌蜃屟哉Z行為者實(shí)現(xiàn)很多目的，從而在交際中有著非常廣泛的使用空間。</p><p>　　然而，我們在廣泛地使用委婉語的過程中，我們?yōu)榱耸刮覀兘浑H活動能夠順利地進(jìn)行，為了能夠使雙方的關(guān)系不因?yàn)檎Z言的不合適而破壞。我們?yōu)榱祟櫦暗蕉Y貌的關(guān)系往往違反了會話中的合作原則。美國哲學(xué)家格賴斯的合作原則人們相互交談傾聽時(shí)都希望進(jìn)行有目的性的、充滿成效的交流。根據(jù)該原則，人們的

32、交際是一種各位參與者通過共同努力完成共享的且以互惠互利為目標(biāo)的行為。一位充滿合作精神的談話者是以進(jìn)行有效交際為目的，與之面對面的聽話者對于該目的也是非常清楚的。一位充滿精神的聽話者相信說話者也是合情合理的，并會努力去識別這一目的。</p><p>　　正因?yàn)楹献髟瓌t的提出，使人們之間的對話能夠順利地進(jìn)行。然而，委婉語作為一種特殊的語言現(xiàn)象，恰恰違反了合作原則的四個(gè)準(zhǔn)則。但這并沒有影響人們的交際活動，委婉語的使用反

33、而促進(jìn)了人們的關(guān)系。相信委婉語隨著語言的發(fā)展也必將得到不斷地發(fā)展。</p><p>　　四、參考文獻(xiàn)（根據(jù)文中參閱和引用的先后次序按序編排）</p><p>　　Enright，D.J.Fair of Speech, The Use of Euphemism [M]. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985:126.</p><p&g

34、t;　　Hugh Rawson ．A Dictionary of Euphemism and Other Double talk［M］，New York：Crown Publishers 1nc． 1981．</p><p>　　Neaman ，J．S．a(chǎn)nd Carde G．Silver．Kind Words［M］．New York Facts on File Publications．1983·&l

35、t;/p><p>　　陳望道．修辭學(xué)發(fā)凡[M]．上海：上海教育出版社．1976．</p><p>　　何兆熊等，《新編語用學(xué)概要》 ［M］，上海：上海外語教育出版社, 2000.</p><p>　　胡壯麟，《語言學(xué)教程》［M］，北京大學(xué)出版社，2002.</p><p>　　劉純豹，《英語委婉語詞典》[M]．南京：江蘇人出版社，1994.<

36、;/p><p>　　束定芳、徐金元．《委婉語研究：回顧與前膳》 [J].外國語，1995，(5)：17—22．</p><p>　　斯托克，哈特曼等，《語言與語言學(xué)詞典》[M]. 黃長春，林書武等譯. 上海辭書出版社. 1981. 120.</p><p><b>　?。?0_ _屆）</b></p><p><b&g

37、t;　　本科畢業(yè)設(shè)計(jì)</b></p><p><b>　　英語</b></p><p>　　基于合作原則的英語委婉語言研究</p><p>　　A Research on English Euphemism Language Based on the Cooperative Principle</p><p>

38、;<b>　　摘 要</b></p><p>　　委婉語是一個(gè)語言學(xué)概念，同時(shí)也是一種文化現(xiàn)象，長久以來一直受到人們的關(guān)注。合作原則, 它作為語用學(xué)的理論基石之一，可以很好地解釋話語的字面意義和實(shí)際意義的關(guān)系，這對于交際委婉語顯得尤為重要。本文將從委婉語的定義及交際功能入手，在回顧前人研究的基礎(chǔ)上，著重從合作原則的角度，分析委婉語言與合作原則各準(zhǔn)則之間的關(guān)系。</p><

39、;p>　　合作原則是指人們在交際過程中應(yīng)該遵循質(zhì)量、數(shù)量、關(guān)聯(lián)和方式準(zhǔn)則，而委婉語言恰恰違反了這些原則，文章引用了大量說服性的實(shí)例說明了委婉語的使用是如何違反合作與原則以更好地達(dá)到對話效果。對于英語學(xué)習(xí)者來說，理解委婉語言和合作原則的關(guān)系顯得尤為重要，能更好地運(yùn)用委婉語言進(jìn)行交際。</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵詞：委婉語言；合作原則；交際功能</p><p><b>　　Abs

40、tract</b></p><p>　　Euphemism, as a cultural phenomenon as well as a linguistic concept, has attracted people’s attention for a long time. It has long been a topic of much interest in linguistic researc

41、h, and is playing a more and more important role in our daily life. Cooperative Principle, the cornerstone theory of pragmatics, can explain what the literal meaning is and its real intention in communication and ensure

42、that in an exchange of conversation. Based on the scholars’ achievements, this paper studies euphe</p><p>　　Cooperative Principle refers to the quantity maxim, quality maxim,relation maxim and manner maxim w

43、hich people should observe in communication. However, it turns out that euphemisms violate the principle. There are many examples confirm it. As it for English learners, understanding the relations between euphemism and

44、Cooperative Principle is of great importance in communication. </p><p>　　Key words: euphemism language; cooperative principle; communicative functions</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p&

45、gt;<p>　　Abstract………………………………………………………………………………II</p><p>　　1. Introduction....................................................................……..……………………1</p><p>　　1.1 The definition of

46、Euphemism………………………………………………..1</p><p>　　1.2 Communicative Functions of Euphemism…………………………………..2</p><p>　　1.2.1 Avoiding Taboo………………………………………………………...2</p><p>　　1.2.2 Showing Polite

47、ness…………………………………………………….3</p><p>　　1.2.3 Concealing Truth……………………………………………………….4</p><p>　　2. Literature Review………………….………………………………………...........4</p><p>　　2.1 The Rhetoric Perspect

48、ive………………………………………………...5</p><p>　　2.2 The Semantic Perspective……………………………………………….5</p><p>　　2.3 The Pragmatic Perspective………………………………………………6</p><p>　　3. Introduction to Cooperative

49、 Principle………….………….…..……….……....7</p><p>　　3.1 Cooperative Principle………………………………………………………...7</p><p>　　3.2 Four maxims of Cooperative Principle……………………………………....8</p><p>　　3.3 Wide

50、 application of Cooperative Principle…………………………………..9</p><p>　　4. Euphemism and Cooperative Principle.………….…..…………………..........10</p><p>　　4.1 Euphemism violating Maxim of Quantity………………………………….

51、.10</p><p>　　4.2 Euphemism violating Maxim of Quality……………………………………11</p><p>　　4.3 Euphemism violating Maxim of Relation…………………………………..12</p><p>　　4.4 Euphemism violating Maxim of M

52、anner…………………………………...12</p><p>　　5. Conclusion .............................................................................................................13</p><p>　　Bibliography……………………………………

53、…………………………………...14</p><p>　　Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………….15</p><p>　　I．Introduction</p><p>　　The word “euphemism” comes from Greek, in which “eu” means “good” and “phem

54、e” means “speech” or “saying”, and together it means literally “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”. Euphemism is a form of language created in social relations to achieve ideal communication. Using euphemi

55、sm can help to make the language communication go smoothly and successfully.</p><p>　　1.1 The Definition of Euphemism</p><p>　　As a special mode of expression, a widely studied object, euphemism

56、 has been defined differently in different books by many researchers.</p><p>　　Some western linguists give its definitions as follows:</p><p>　　(1) Euphemizing is generally defined as substituti

57、ng an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words. (Neaman.J.S.& Silver.C.G., 1983:1)</p><p>　　(2) Euphemisms are mild, agreeable, o

58、r roundabout words used in place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones. (Hugh Rawson, 1981:1)</p><p>　　However, the various definitions of euphemism presented by Chinese scholars are similar to those given b

59、y westerners. Chen Wangdao was the first person who gave euphemism a definition. In his Introduction to Rhetoric the definition reads: </p><p>　　“Euphemism” means “to say something indirectly, but connoting

60、and substituting it with roundabout and implicit words or even metaphorical expression.” (Chen Wangdao, 2006:129)</p><p>　　Similarly, Chen Yuan defined euphemism from the social–cultural perspective:</p&g

61、t;<p>　　Euphemism more or less originates from taboo…; euphemism is to use pleasant, implicit and less offensive words…to substitute the language taboo. (Chen Yuan, 1983:337)</p><p>　　Through scholars

62、 at home and abroad have defined euphemism differently from different perspectives, the above-mentioned definitions share some features:</p><p>　　1. The purpose of using euphemisms is to avoid directly speak

63、ing out the unpleasant or taboo reference like death, the dead, the supernatural, etc. </p><p>　　2. Euphemism is a kind of polite and roundabout mode of expression.</p><p>　　3. Euphemism is used

64、 to soften or beautify the unpleasantness of reality.</p><p>　　1.2 Communicative Functions of Euphemism</p><p>　　The definitions of euphemism analyzed above show that euphemism has played an imp

65、ortant role in people’s daily communication. It has such functions as avoiding taboos, showing politeness and concealing truth, which will be discussed in details below.</p><p>　　1.2.1 Avoiding Taboos</p&

66、gt;<p>　　Just like what Allan. K. said, “Words are powerful and the reticence and fear that some taboo terms arouse in people can be strong.” (Allan.K. and Burridge. K. 1991:6) </p><p>　　The word

67、 “taboo” is from Polynesian, meaning “scared” or “accused”. Taboos can help avoid evil, expect happiness, reveal the relationship of social classes, seek on courtesy and proper decent speech, and express good wills. Beca

68、use of the great importance of taboos, people are likely to use other pleasant words in their daily communication. </p><p>　　In this way, euphemism plays an important role. Every country seems to have some c

69、oncepts or things that cannot be mentioned directly, so euphemism is used to substitute taboo words. When people are afraid of or feel unpleased with something, they tend to use euphemism. For instance, “death” is a tabo

70、o, as well as an unpleasant word in our daily communication. Losing their beloved ones, people often feel very sad. Using the word “death” is so direct that it will bring more harm to them. In order</p><p>　

71、　“Disease” is almost as dreadful as “death”, so people tend not to speak it directly either. In the modern society, although many diseases can be cured, “disease”is still an unpleasant topic to talk about. So they usuall

72、y use euphemistic words when they mention it. For example, the “Big C” replaces “cancer” and “AIDS” substitutes “acquired immune deficiency syndrome”. </p><p>　　Words about the “birth” are also seldom mentio

73、ned directly because they make people think of sex. When a woman is pregnant, she is described as “to have one watermelon on the vine”, “in a particular condition”, “to have one on the way”, etc. </p><p>　　F

74、rom the examples listed above, it is evident that taboos are used in many fields and euphemism has a relation with taboos.These tendencies motivate people to use euphemism more frequently, moreover largely promoting the

75、evolution of euphemisms in the English language. </p><p>　　1.2.2 Showing Politeness</p><p>　　“Politeness” is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. The goal of

76、 politeness is to make all the relationships relaxing and comfortable with one another. To establish a positive relationship between each other and be aware of the other person’s values are very important in our life. So

77、 another important factor of using euphemism is our strong desire to avoid offending others or hurting others’ feelings. Sometimes, the use of “kind words” shows courtesy and resp</p><p>　　Nowadays, people a

78、re commonly classified in terms of their occupation. People who have good jobs may look down upon those who have indecent jobs such as dustman, cleaner and so on. In western countries, in order to make people feel them i

79、mportant and respectful, they use euphemistic words to replace the unpleasant ones. For example, we would rather use “sanitation engineer” or “waste-reduction manager” to replace “garbage collector”; “kitchen pol

80、ice” as “indigenous personnel” and “hairdr</p><p>　　Whatever one’s true feelings are, criticisms, arguments and disagreements are not welcomed by us; we should be polite and respectful to others. Therefore,

81、euphemism becomes the mechanism by which we produce or consolidate harmony. It can help to form a positive communication atmosphere to establish and maintain harmonious social relationships and eventally to obtain the de

82、sirable communication goals.</p><p>　　1.2.3 Concealing Truth</p><p>　　Apart from the two functions discussed above, euphemism is used to remove or reduce or even conceal the unpleasant meaning o

83、f a term or notion. Some euphemisms can conceal reality so much or so well that they are especially utilized for deception.</p><p>　　In political areas, “underdeveloped country” and “poor and backward countr

84、y” have the same meaning at the first sight; both of them refer to a country which is very poor and develops very slowly. But these two phrases give people different impressions of a country; the second one gives a worse

85、 view about the country. In order to balance the relationship between them, such countries are called “developing countries”, “emerging countries”, “developed countries”, “underdeveloped countries”. </p>&l

86、t;p>　　On the other hand, euphemism is a common and successful way used in commercial advertisements, for it seems that everybody prefers compliments and praise to harsh and upsetting truth. Airline companies are exper

87、ts who are good at using euphemisms. They use “deluxe class” to replace “first-class”, then “second-class” becomes “first-class” and the “third-class” is “economy class”, “business class” or “tourist class”. In this case

88、, passengers in the third-class will not feel inferior and don’t lose</p><p>　　From the definitons and functions of euphemism analyzed above, it is shown that euphemisms can be observed everywhere in our dai

89、ly life. Using euphemisms can help good interpersonal relationship, save face, enhance politeness and conceal truth.</p><p>　　II. Literature Review </p><p>　　As an indispensable and natural par

90、t of English language, English euphemism has been arousing wide interest and many linguists and scholars have studied the linguistic phenomenon from such different perspectives as rhetorics, semantics and pragmatics, etc

91、. </p><p>　　2.1 The Rhetoric Perspective</p><p>　　In the early 80s of the sixteenth centry, a British writer named George Blunt put forward the word “euphemism” which was defined as “a good or f

92、avorable interpretation of a bad word” (Shu Dingfang, 1995:19). Ever since then, a lot of great works came into being on the study of euphemism, which lays a foundation for further research.</p><p>　　General

93、ly speaking, most studies on euphemisms are from rhetorical perspective. Rhetorics is the study of effective speaking and writing. The rhetorical view holds that euphemism is a kind of figure of speech, a way to use a ne

94、utral or elegant word or expression deliberately instead of a sensitive or vulgar one so as to establish a graceful and desirable public image. </p><p>　　From rhetorical point of view, euphemism is analyzed

95、as a technique used to affect a communicative goal by larding our speech with agreeable words or at least non-offensive expressions. Euphemism can always be realized in connection with other rhetoric devices, such as met

96、aphor, pun, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, onomatopoeia, irony, etc. (Chen Wangdao, 1976; Fan Jiacai, 1992)</p><p>　　Many Chinese scholars study euphemism from rhetoric perspective. In 1976, Chen Wan

97、gdao published the book Introduction to Rhetorics. He gave a definition of euphemism and studied euphemism from the angle of rhetoric. Euphemism study in terms of rhetoric is not restricted to the lexical level, but is e

98、xtended to the level of sentence and discourse. Fan Jiacai offered a detailed description of euphemism. In his book The Appreciation of English Rhetorics, he discussed the causes, features and forma</p><p>　

99、　As the frequency of euphemism application is highlighted, the appropriate figurative expressions make language more vigorous and concrete. However, these studies pay much attention to its rhetoric and aesthetic effects

100、at the superficial level.</p><p>　　2.2 The Semantic Perspective</p><p>　　Semantics examines how meaning is encoded in a language. It is not only concerned with the meanings of words as lexical i

101、tems, but also with levels of language below the word and above it.</p><p>　　From the semantic perspective, euphemism is a kind of meaning shift in that meets the demand of being polite, pleasant and strateg

102、ic by means of substituting the negative meanings of certain words with the neutral or positive meanings of other words, and thus the division of positive euphemism, neutral euphemism and negative euphemism.</p>&

103、lt;p>　　Some foreign scholars study euphemisms from semantic perspective. In 1981, British linguist Hugh Rawson compiled A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Double talks. The preface of the dictionary is very valuable

104、 because of its extensive discussion of the definition, classification, features and domains of euphemism. The year 1983 saw the publication of Kind Words — A Thesaurus of Euphemisms, compiled by Neaman and Silver, which