201208014504文献综述

本科生毕业论文文献综述题目AStudyintoPramgmaticFunctionsofEuphemisminBusinessEnglishNegotiations专业英语班级125姓名崔晓梅指导教师袁良平（教授）所在学院外国语学院时间2015年12月20日Althoughweallhavealreadyhadtheimpressionofeuphemism,thereisstilltheneedtounderstanditdeeplyandcompletely.Withtherightacknowledgementofeuphemism,theuseofitcanbemoreproperandeffective.Euphemism,asacommonlinguisticphenomenonindifferentculturesoftheworld,isappliedfrequentlyinalmostallthelevelsandfieldsofoursociety.While,businessEnglishnegotiations,whosesubstancereferringtothemutualbenefitsofthetwosides,andinfluencingthedevelopmentsoftherelationshipbetweenthetwosides,arebecomingincreasinglyimportantintheageofglobalization.Byusingeuphemisticexpressionandpolitenessprinciple,differentopinionsinbusinessnegotiationcanbeexpressedgently,inagentleandpoliteway.Itcanimprovenegotiator'slanguageskills.TheapplicationofeuphemismiscriticalinbusinessEnglishnegotiationsinmanyways,suchaseasingtension,creatingacollaborativeatmosphere,andmaintaininglong-termrelationships.1ResearchesontheDefinitionofEuphemismEuphemismisdefinedas“anindirectwordorphrasethatpeopleoftenusetorefertosomethingembarrassingorunpleasant,sometimestomakeitseemmoreacceptablethanitreallyis”,accordingtotheOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglishChineseDictionary.BritishwriterGeorgeBluntinthesixteenthcenturytotheeightiesEuphemismisdefinedas:Euphemismisagoodorfavorableinterpretationofabadword.StokesandHartmancompiledtheLanguageandLinguisticDictionarytotheEuphemismisdefinedas:Euphemism:withanot-ming,andbeabletomakepeoplehappy,orambiguousstatement,insteadofwiththeunpleasantmeaningorlackofrespectforthewayofexpression.Actually,theEnglishword“euphemism”hasGreekroots,andtheprefix“eu”means“good,while“phemism”means“speech”(WangHui,2010:92).Sotheliteralmeaningofeuphemismreferstotheuseofamild,vagueorroundaboutexpressionratherthananoffensive,vulgarordirectwordorexpression.Itisusedtocoverthetruthinakindorfriendlyway.Wecanfindeuphemismsinbothreallifeandliterature.Knowinghowtouseeuphemismscouldnotonlyimproveourwritingandspeakingskills,butalsobroadenourhorizonandmakeourinterpersonalrelationshipsbetter.Moreover,alleuphemismscomefromthestoriesofdifferentculturesand,whenusingandleaningeuphemisms,wegainnotonlylanguageskillsandabilities,butalsotheknowledgeofvariousculturesandtheirlongandsignificanthistories.Sotheeuphemismstandsasatooloflanguageandalsoasasignofculturesandsocietieswhichinteractinalmosteveryaspectinoureverydaylife.Forexample,“communicatorsmayrepresentationallydisplaceanunpleasanttopicbyavoidingdirectreferencetoit(e.g.,shedied)infavorofaeuphemism(she’snolongerwithus)”.(S.McGlone&Beck&Pficster,2007:268).2TheHistoryandEmergenceofEuphemisminBusinessNegotiationsDuringourconversation,therearealwayssometaboosoflanguage,butsomeofthemcannotbeignored,that’swhyeuphemismcametotheworld(LiYiting,2010:36).EnglisheuphemismscanbedatedfromthetimewhentheNormansconqueredtheUnitedKingdomin1066.Theonlyreasonthattheeuphemismwasusedinthattimeisthatthelanguagewhichwasusedbytheconquerors,theAngloSaxons,wasderogatedandconsideredasharsh,bluntandscandalous.Decidingtoavoid“vulgarization”,theupperclassofthelocalplacebegantousesomemore“gentle”wordsoriginatedfromtheLatin;thosewordshavebeenslowlyintegratedintotheEnglishvocabulary.Besidesthat,therearestillsomereasonswhichcontributetotheemergenceofeuphemisms.Thefirstoneisreligion.Duetothefearofnatureandtherespectofgods,manywordsthatpeoplethinkmaydishonorgodsarechangedbyeuphemism.Forexample,thenamesofgodsareregardedasthegodsthemselvesinordertorespectthemsopeoplecannotpronouncetheirnamesdirectly.Tocomply,theyhavetouseeuphemismstocalltheirgods.Thesecondreasonistocoversomeuncivilizedthingsorbehaviors.Withthedevelopmentofcivilization,peoplestartedtofeelthatitwasnecessarytousesomemoregentlewordsinsteadofthecrudewords.Likewhensuggestingthatapersonisgettingoldorthattheyaredead,itwouldbeconsideredbluntandhurtfultosayitoutright.Euphemismreleasesthebadeffectsbytellingthetruthbutnothurtingpeople’sfeelings.Anothermajorreasonis“politeattitude”(WangHui,2010:92).Ifweuseeuphemismsinanappropriatewayininterpersonalrelationships,itcannotonlygaintheconfidenceofbothspeakersandlisteners,butitcanalsobalancetherelationshipandreducecontradictionsandconflicts.Asculturesandlanguagesareconstantlydevelopingandchanging,therearealsosomechangeswitheuphemisms:somewordsandexpressionsnolongerholdtheirobviousmeaningofeuphemism,butstillsomeotherwordsaregeneratedasneweuphemisms.Therearestillsomeeuphemismsthatarewidelyusedwithoutanychange.Theeuphemismisacommonphenomenonthatexistsinalotoflanguages.Therefore,theusageofeuphemismsisquitecommonandessentialinmanycultures.3TheClassificationofEuphemismAsfarastheclassificationoftheeuphemismisconcerned,itcanbedividedintomanyvariouscategoriesaccordingtodifferentstandardsordifferentways.Generallyspeaking,itisalwaysdividedintothreegroups.Theyare:shortingperiodeuphemismsandlonglastingeuphemisms,traditionaleuphemismsandstylisticeuphemisms,andunconsciouseuphemismsandconsciouseuphemisms.Thisclassificationcanbeunderstoodeasily,becausewecantellthem