[Abstract] Language, as the carrier of culture, is created d(6)
2013-08-19 01:05
导读：Racism is the belief that certain human races are inherently inferior to others and racist language is that which shows a biased attitude towards certain racial or ethic groups.[15] In English, no mat
“Racism is the belief that certain human races are inherently inferior to others and racist language is that which shows a biased attitude towards certain racial or ethic groups.”[15] In English, no matter intentionally or not, the following words are against black people and annoying them unsatisfied. For example, “white” means “pure”, “clean”, “benevolent”, which have positive meaning. While “black” is related to “evil”, “wrongdoing”, and “dirty” such as “blackguard”, “blacklist”, “blackmark”etc. Besides, “nigger” and “boy”, for a black adult man, often have offensive meaning.
In Chinese, there is also racist language. For example, “using “蒙古大夫” for an incompetent doctors; using “小鬼子” for Japanese. “洋鬼子”,“大鼻子” for westerners.” [16] Most of these words are derogatory. It shows off that Chinese is more superior than other racial or ethic groups.
4The differences between Chinese and English linguistic taboo
Although there are many similarities in English and Chinese, different views about what is or isn’t taboo can be found in two cultures. Differences between Chinese and English linguistic taboo embody the following aspects:
4. 1. In subjects
English people place a high value on privacy. “The English have a saying ‘ A man’s home is his castle, meaning a man’s home is sacred to him; no one should come in without permission. So it is also with his life and personal affairs’”.[17] Chinese people often like to greet to others like “Have you had a meal?” This common greeting indicates we begin our conversation with our acquaintance, just as foreigners ask “How nice the weather!” But the Chinese greeting will make the foreigners suspect that you want to invite him to join the dinner. Sometimes when we get together and talk naturally about these questions: “ How about your salary?” “Are you married?”, “What do your wife/husband do?”, “How much is your skirt?” In this way, we express our care for our friends. Generally speaking, we never feel embarrassed about these conversations, but when we ask the westerners the same questions, they will think we may involve in their privacy. Annoyingly, in western countries, it is also improper to ask about other people’s religious beliefs. “Are you religious?” “What is your religion?” “Are you Catholic?” etc are questions that might be offensive to most English speakers. People don’t like, especially female, others to ask them “How old are you?”, because they are very sensitive to their age. “Even on a birthday call one may find the following congratulation: You may not like to be reminded that you are a year older today, but that would not keep me from saying ‘happy birthday!’.” [18] But in contrast, there was no such concept of privacy in Chinese people’s mind.
（科教作文网http://zw.nseAc.com） 4.2 In numbers
In China, the number “4” and the word “死 (death)” almost sound the same. People do not like the number “4”, because it reminds them of “death”. Among old people, they think “73” and “84” are two key ages. If you are 73 or 84 years old, you will die before the King of hell invites you. So many old people avoid talking their exact ages.
While in western countries, one of the most influential taboo numbers is 13. According to the story of “The last supper”: Judas, the person who betrayed Jesus, sat in the No.13 chair, therefore, Number thirteen is universally considered to be unlucky. No door’s number is thirteen; no hotel has the No.13 Room; they don’t allow 13 people have dinner together. All in a word, they avoid number thirteen in every aspect. Ordinary people feel upset on 13th in every month. Therefore, thirteen became a taboo word in western countries.
Another number concerning taboo in western is Friday. It also has long been considered as an unlucky day. “This taboo term affects people probably not only because they believe that Jesus Christ was put to death on the cross on Friday, but also because Friday is for many years the day of execution of criminals, commonly called “hangman’s day”. [19]
Another striking contrast is that Chinese people like even numbers. For example, they say “好事成双”，“成双成对”。Chinese people especially like the even number “6” and “8”. The saying “六六大顺” can prove it . But in western countries, they like odd numbers. “The Roman poet Virgil says, ‘The god delights in an odd number’. In Shakespeare’s play Merry wives of Windsor, Falstaff says, ‘Good luck lies in odd numbers—’ They say, ‘there is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance or death.’” [20]
