从英汉委婉语中透析中西文化差异.docVIP

本 科 毕 业 论 文 第 1 页 共 15 页 1 Introduction Euphemism, an appropriate language form created for perfect communicative effect and an important way to coordinate interpersonal relationship, is a common linguistic phenomenon existing in people’ s use of language. Euphemism appears first in ShiJing , so it has a long history. Chinese scholar Chen Wangdao defines “ euphemism ” and studies it from the perspective of rhetoric in The Origin of Rhetoric. In the 1970s and 1980s, affected by the foreign social linguistic theory, scholars who work on the study of social linguistics become interested in the special social function of euphemism. In Sociolinguistics , Chen Yuan discusses the profound historical and psycho-social background of euphemism, revealing its social essence of avoiding mentioning those unpleasant things or phenomena. In The Euphemism in Modern Chinese Language published in Chinese Language Learning, Shu Dingfang attempts to describe and discuss the structure and research scope of euphemism in modern Chinese language from the angle of modern linguistics for the first time. The study of euphemism at abroad also has a long history. In the 1580s, the English writer George Blunt created the word “ euphemism ” and presented the following definition: a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word. Referring to the historical cultural background of American society, American linguist Menken probes into the reason why several hundred euphemisms appear and become popular in The American Language published in 1936. The book A Dictionary of Euphemism and Other Doubletalk written by English linguist Hugh Rawson manifests the research achievements about euphemism of English and American linguists. The book not only reviews the study history of euphemism, but also makes an extensive discussion of the characteristics, definition and classification of it. Euphemism, as one form of language which contains affluent cultural connotations, must be the reflection of a specific cu