从语用学的礼貌原则看英语中的委婉语(1)(4)
2017-08-23 01:51
导读：There are some taboo things, such as birth, death, funeral, sex, nakedness, defecation, and urinate. If they are expressed directly, they are called taboo words and the feelings they give us are vulga
There are some taboo things, such as birth, death, funeral, sex, nakedness, defecation, and urinate. If they are expressed directly, they are called taboo words and the feelings they give us are vulgar, crude and harsh, whereas if they are expressed indirectly, they are called euphemism, and the impressions they made on us are elegant, implicit and polite. The evading function of euphemism also works today. Some taboo notions cannot be easily removed from people’s mind.
Though science and technology are highly developed today, the word “death” is the taboo words to all nations. Thus there are a lot of euphemisms related with it. “Such as pass away, answer the final call, be asleep in Jesus, be safe in the arms of Jesus, be at rest, be called to God, be home and free, be in Abraham’s bosom, cross the River Jordan, final sleep, go home, go to meet one’s maker, go to one’s own place, join one’s ancestors, join the great majority, return to dust, with God, be no longer with us, pay the debt of nature, tick the bucket, etc.” [11] “Among those, ‘one-way-ticket’ is the synonym of ‘die’. It reflects the speaker’s experience of life. Life is just like travel. People set out to travel, but when they arrive to the termination, they cannot go back. In the past, people often used graveyard to express the place where the dead sleep peacefully. But the associations it gives us are horrified and gloomy. So now, people use funeral home and memorial park to replace them. In such a way, it comforts people.” [12]
3.2 Polite function
Polite function of euphemism is to avoid inelegant things and make people feel pleasant. As Joanna Channell put in her book Vague Language “Vagueness is used as one way of adhering to the politeness rules for a particular culture, and of not threatening face.” [13] It means that in real life, when people meet with some unpleasant things or behaviors, they usually choose some vague expressions to avoid making bold or hurting other’s feeling----to use euphemism.
（科教论文网 lw.nseaC.Com编辑发布） It is harsh to say someone is deaf, so people use “auditory-impaired” to replace it. They sound more gracefully. “When English-speakers refer to the appearance, they don’t use the word ‘ugly’ or ‘awful’, which has strong derogatory sense. Instead, they use the word ‘plain-looking’ or ‘not pretty’.” [14] Westerners are sensitive to age. In their opinion, “old” equals to “useless” in some extent. In order not to hurt the feeling and self-esteem of the old, “old men” are replaced by “senior citizens” or “seasoned men”. For the word “senior” has many meanings. Except “older”, it also means higher in rank or authority. And the word “seasoned” means experienced. “Following are some euphemisms about profession.” [15]
Harsh expressioneuphemism
butcherMeat technologist
Chimney workerChimney consultant
firemanFire fighter
Garbage manSanitation engineer
hairdresserHair stylist
housekeeperHousehold executive
Press-agentPublic relation counselor
Prison guardCorrectional officer
