委婉语和禁忌语

EuphemismsandTaboo2008级4班吕佳佳Thereexistsacloserelationshipbetweeneuphemismsandtaboo.Taboocanbeusedasacriteriontojudgewhetherawordiseuphemismsornot.Taboosandeuphemismsexistineverylanguage.Theyplayanimportantpartinculture.Dealingwiththemappropriatelyenablesustosuccessfullycommunicate.Andeuphemismsandtabooplaysanimportantroleinourdailylife.Thereforeitisnecessaryforpeopletohaveaclearviewofsomefundamentalknowledgeaboutthem.Nodoubt,euphemismisawidelyandfrequentlyusedfigureofspeech.Asahotresearchissueinthefieldoflinguistics,itneedsaconciseanddefinitecriteriontojudgethescopeofeuphemism.Westernlinguiststhinktheword“euphemism”comesfromtheGreek“eu”(meaning“good”)and“pheme”(meaning“speech”or“saying”),andthusitliterallymeans“tospeakwithgoodwords”.Lateron,euphemismisdefineddifferentlyandmoreprecisely.Astraditionalwesternlinguisticsrestrictseuphemismstudytothelexicon,euphemismsare,therefore,wordsorphrasesinplaceofthingsconsideredtoberudeorunpleasant.Insimpleterms,aneuphemismisjustalessexplicitsubstituteforanexplicittermorphrase.Itmanagestoconcealtheoffendingnatureofthewordorphrase,butstillgetsthemeaningacross.Thishasledtothebirthofmanysatiricalmovies,showsandbooksthateffectivelyusetheartof“doublemeaning”phrasesinanattempttohumorpeople.Fromamoralpointofview,thepersonwhoproducesthiscontenthasaresponsibilitytoensurethathiscontentdoesnotoffendanyparticularperson,leastofall,children.Forinstance,talkingaboutsexualintercourseopenlyinamovieisboundtohaveabadeffectonchildren,andthiswillgreatlyoffendtheirparents.Asanalternative,thebirthofphraseslike“tosleepwith”or“tomakeloveto”havefoundtheirwayinpopularculture,andtheyarelessgraphicandexplicitindicatorsofthesameaction.Readmoreongrammarandcomposition.ThewordtaboowasborrowedfromtheTanganlanguage,originallyusedinPolynesiawithreligiousconnotations.Nowinsociolinguisticsitreferstoaprohibitionontheuseof,mentionof,orassociationwithparticularobjects,actions,orperson.Whatistabooornottaboodependsonthecontext.Someexpressionsdenotingsomebodyfunctionsareavoidedonformaloccasionsbutquitenormalindoctor-patientconversationswhenthepatientcomplainsabouthisphysicalproblemstothedoctor.Taboosandeuphemismsaremostlyculture-specific.Whatistabooinoneculturemaynotbesoinanotherculture.ItisanormamongEnglish-speakingpeoplenottoaskabouteachother'sincome,butinChineseculturethereisnosuchanorm(thoughitishardtopredictwhethertherewillbethesamenorm).Inmanyculturestaboosandeuphemismsareassociatedwithreligionandsuperstition.Taboosandeuphemismsexistinallnaturallanguagesbutwhatistabooisculture-specific.Concerningabouteuphemismsandtaboo,alargeamountofinformationexistedindifferentlanguagesandculturescausemuchanxietytopeoplewhentheycommunicatewitheachother.Intermsofthispuzzlingproblem,adequateexamplesareneededtohelppeopleunderstandhowtheyareappropriatelyusedindifferentsituations.Thefollowingexamplesillustratedcanbefullytoalleviatepeople’spuzzle.OneofthemostcommoneuphemismexamplesintheEnglishlanguageisthephrase“passedaway”torefertosomeonewhohasdied.Tosimplysaythatapersonhasdiedcouldbeviewedasoffensivebysomepeople,andthereforeapoliticallycorrectwayofsayingthishadtobethoughtof.Thisissomethingthatpeoplearesentimentalabout,andallmeasuresmustbetakensoastonotoffendsomebody.Herearesomehumorouseuphemismexamplesforyou.Themostcommoneuphemismexamplesforkidsarefoundintherealmofmoviesandcinema,andmostfilmmakershaveevenadoptedthistechniqueandmadeitbeneficialforthemselves.Movieslike“ScaryMovie”andshowslike“Southpark”regularlymakeuseofeuphemismstodenotesomethingexplicit,butmakeaparodyoutofitatthesametime.Thisglossaryofliterarytermswillteachyoumoreaboutsuchtools.Euphemismsaretermsusedtorefertothingsoractionswhichsoftenthenametheyareusuallycalled.Usuallyitisapositivewordtocoversomeharsh,unpleasantreality.Forexample,whensomeonedies,weoftensaytheyaresleeping,havepassedaway,etc.Whentheywork,euphemismsmaychangethewaywethinkaboutorseethethingnamed.Thismaybegood.Ifaskingaboutalovedonewhohas“passedaway”givessomesenseofpeacetothepersonwholovedhim/her,thensurelyitisausefultermwhichbothprotectsfeelingsandshowsourrespectandconcern.However,sometimeseuphemismsareusedtoimpressorworsen,tohidesomethingthatwereallyshouldknow,tomisleadanddeceive.Forexample,themilitaryusesmanyeuphemismstohidethedarkrealityofwar.In“TheWorldofDoublespeak,”WilliamLutztellsusthatthemilitarycallskillingtheenemy“servicingthetarget”andtriedtogetfundingfortheneutronbombbycallingitan“enhancedradiationdevice”(LanguageAwareness,p.60).InCrazyTalk,StupidTalk,mediaprofessorNeilPostmanderidestheterm“OperationSunshine”whichtheU.S.governmentgavetosomeexperimentsitonceconductedwiththehydrogenbombintheSouthPacific.Heseesthiseuphemismasmorallywrong.Postmanwarnsus,however,thatpeoplewhoavoidtheuseofeuphemismsinfavorofmore“earthy”languagearenotnecessarilyspeakingmorehonestlyorplainly.“Toaskwherethe‘shithouse’is,isnomoretothepointthantoaskwherethe‘restroom’is.Butinthedifferencebetweenthetwowords,thereisexpressedavastdifferenceinone’sattitudetowardprivacyandpropriety”.Aeuphemismistheuseotherwordsorphrasesin