英语语言学概论论文论文题目:An Analysis of Euphemism in English From the Politeness Principle of PragmaticsAbstractEuphemism, cosmetic words, is not only a lingual phenomenon, but also a cultural and social phenomenon.It is like a mirror, reflecting the values, aesthetic conceptions and moral concepts in some extent.Euphemism plays an important part in social communication.It is like lube that avoids hurting the other party’s feeling.It oils the human relationship in communication and helps to save face of communicators.If people make full use of euphemism, it can accelerate and facilitate human communication.This paper elaborates on the features and social functions of euphemism.And it focuses on the relationships between its polite functions and Politeness Principle.This thesis is composed of six parts with Chapter Four and Five as its core: The first chapter focuses on the origin and definitions of euphemism.The second chapter discusses the features of euphemism in many ways.The third chapter talks about the social functions of euphemism from the angle of pragmatics.The fourth chapter forms the basis of the whole research by connecting euphemism with politeness and face-saving theory.The fifth chapter centers on euphemism and Politeness Principle.The last chapter concludes the whole thesis.Appropriate use of English euphemism can contribute a lot to successful message exchange.Key Words: euphemism; social functions; Politeness Principle; face1.IntroductionThere is a humor: Once a Paris tourist resided in UK.A landlady told him sadly that, “My husband has just passed to the other side.” The guest looked from the fence of the garden but saw no one, feeling confused.The landlady explained: “I mean he’s kicked the bucket.” The guest comforted her that: “I hope his foot will be better soon.”The landlady felt unintelligibly and said: “No, he wasn’t here, he snuffed it… you know.” The guest wondered and said: “But you’ve got electricity here.”The reasons why the guest didn’t answer properly are that he didn’t realize that the landlady used euphemism, nor did he understand the “conversational implicature” of euphemism.What the landlady wanted to say is that her husband died.The word euphemism comes from the Greek word “euphemos”, meaning "auspicious/good/fortunate speech" which in turn is derived from the Greek root--- words eu, "good/well" + pheme, "speech/speaking".The eupheme was originally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that should not be spoken aloud (Such as taboo).The primary examples of taboo words requiring the use of a euphemism are the unspeakable names for a deity, such as Persephone, Hecate, Nemesis or Yahweh.By speaking only words favorable to the gods or spirits, the speaker attempted to produce good fortune by remaining in good favor with them.“Euphemism is defined in the New Edition of the Oxford Concise Dictionary (1976) as‘Substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or direct one; expression thus substituted.’ IN Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1973) the definition reads, ‘Substitution of an agreeable or inoffensiveexpression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.’”Euphemism is an important rhetorical means in English.Itplays an important role in people’s daily communication.Itis not only a culturalphenomenon, but also a social phenomenon.It just likes amirror, which reflects some social and psychological phenomena.2.Features of euphemism 2.1 Indirect and implicitThe most important character of euphemism is indirect and implicit.Euphemism always gives people hints in a roundaboutway.We can infer the deeper meaning and intention from the context.For example, when someone is ill, we always say heis under the weather.If someone is mad, we say he is soft inmind.2.2 UniversalityUniversality is something that is well-known and acceptedby all of the people.Though euphemism is indirect and itdoesn’t come straight to the point, people can easily inferits deeper implication.Some taboos connected with sex, death,or body functions are replaced by euphemisms.And the publichas accepted this kind of use.For example, when we refer to death, we seldom say “die”.We use the expression “pass away”.2.3 The feature of timesThe changes of language depend on the need and changes ofthe society.And euphemism undergoes a process ofmetabolism.It bears a marked brand of times.For example,“‘She is pregnant’ has many different euphemisticexpressions in different eras.(1) She has canceled all her social engagements.(1856)(2) She is in an interesting condition.(1880)(3) She is in a delicate condition.(1895)(4) She is knitting little bootees.(1910)(5) She is in a family way.(1920)(6) She is expecting.(1935)(7) She is pregnant.(1956)”But after 1960s, euphemisms of pregnant develop slowly because in modern times, people are not so implicit.They always mention things directly.And now, the phenomenon of pregnant is a cheerful thing.People will not be shy when mentioning it.3.Pragmatic functions of euphemism3.1 Taboo function“Taboo is the main psychological basis of the emergence of euphemism.Euphemism is the avoidance of the unpleasant, inelegant things.A famous sociolinguist Mr.Chen Yuan once said: ‘Generally speaking, the coming into being of euphemism all begins from taboo.’ From the origin of euphemism, we can see that taboo is the first function of euphemism.Euphemism has been using for a long time, and it is closely related to taboo.In fact, euphemism dates back to the language taboo in the early period of human civilization.When people try to avoid and give up taboo words, they have to find another word to replace this vacancy at the same time.Hence, people created euphemism.”There are some taboo things, such as birth, death, funeral, sex, nakedness, defecation, and urinate.If they are expresseddirectly, 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.”“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.”3.2 Polite functionPolite 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 notthreatening face.” It means that in real life, when peoplemeet with some unpleasant things or behaviors, they usually choose some vague expressions to avoid making bold or hurting other’s feeling----to use euphemism.It is harsh to say someone is deaf, so people use“auditory-impaired” to replace it.They sound moregracefully.“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’.” Westerners are sensitive to age.In their opinion, “old” equals to “useless” in some extent.In ordernot to hurt the feeling and self-esteem of the old, “old men”are replaced by “senior citizens” or “seasoned men”.Forthe word “senior” has many meanings.Except “older”, italso means higher in rank or authority.And the word“seasoned” means experienced.3.3 Tactical functionIf a same meaning is expressed in many different ways,their effects are entirely different.This is what we calledthe art of speaking.If we apply this strategy to our dailylife, our life will be more colorful.For example, on the plane,there are some bags that can be used by the passengers to shoothis cookies.People don’t print the words “vomit bag” onthe surface of the bag.Instead, they use the words “for motion discomfort”. And the result proved that the vomit phenomenonhas reduced.Because compared with the former words, the word“for motion discomfort” prevents the passengers fromvomiting when in a state of airsickness.This is the tactical function of euphemism.By contrary, if we use euphemism inappropriately, theresult would be worse.Try to compare the following two statements:I am an old cripple, drawing an old-age pension, working hard to raise vast quantities of vegetables on an allotment and well aware that, one of these days, I shall die. If, however, I listen to the voice of officialdom, it turns out that I am a disadvantaged senior citizen, registered as disabled, drawing a retirement pension, renting a leisure garden and, presumably, immortal because I shall never die--- I shall merely pass away.We can see that in the first statement, the author talks directly about his life status.The second statement is that the government officials make a survey of the hardship of citizens.They try to cover the facts by using euphemisms.4.Euphemism and politeness4.1 Euphemism and interpersonal communicationEuphemism has been widely used in the real human communication.It can be regarded as a kind of polite terms .In primitive and traditional society, taboo and euphemism are the two sides of a coin.They are used for social control and religious control.And in modern English, there are a number of words connected with holy, sex, body organ and body function.So when people’s topic refers to those, they have to find euphemisms to replace them.They often use some vague language to avoid mentioning them directly.4.2 Politeness and face-threatening theoryThe main function of euphemism is polite function.Thus, the main character of euphemism is polite.Politeness plays an important role in human communication.It oils human relationships.So euphemism accords with politeness willaccelerate human communication.5.Euphemism and Politeness PrincipleFrom the above, we know that euphemism has something to do with politeness.We can associate politeness with Politeness Principle.5.1 Leech’s politeness principle“Generally speaking, most of the euphemisms accord with conversational principle, especially politenessprinciple.Leech’s maxims of the Politeness Principle tend to go in pairs as follows:(1)Tact Maxim :a.Minimize cost to other;b.Maximize benefit to other.Some examples : a、If you keep this diet, you’ll be on the heavy side.(c.f.: If you keep on eating too much, you’ll become very fat.)b、Thank you for your kind hospitality.(c.f.: Thank you for your delicious food.)(2)Approbation Maxim:a.Minimize dispraise of other;b.Maximize praise of other.Some examples: a、He is a senior citizen now.(c.f.: He is an old man now.)b、Cao Yu is a Shakespeare of China.(c.f.: Cao Yu is the best playwright of China.)(3)Modesty Maxim :Minimize praise of self;b.Maximize dispraise of self.Some examples: a、This is a token of my regard for you.(c.f.: This is a present for you.)b、Your praise is the highest honor for me.(c.f.: Thank you for your praise.)Leech ties politeness to the relationship between both parties and the language used.He claims that “static” feature, such as social distance, interact with “dynamic” features, such as the kind of illocutionary demand the speaker is making on the maker, to produce an appropriate degree of politeness.The core of his politeness is to minimize the expression of impolite benefits.5.2 Polite function and Politeness PrinciplePolite function is the basic social function of euphemism.And Politeness Principle shows this function.Euphemism always abides by the Politeness Principle.In such a case, euphemism can make people’s relationship more harmonious.But there are also some exceptions.Euphemisms of military do not accord with Politeness principle most of the time.5.3 Politeness Principle and the cooperative PrincipleThe Politeness Principle shows equal and friendly relationships between people in the society.It demands that in communication, the speaker should cooperate with the hearer.The two parties use euphemisms to replace harsh words because it can meet the psychological needs of face-want.And the language used by the two parties should be appropriate.Generally speaking, the appropriateness of the speech is closely related with euphemism.However, “The Maxim of Relevance” of Grice’s “Cooperative Principle” limits the choice of euphemism.He suggests that in communication, the reply of the hearer should be closely related to the speech of the speaker.In the process of communication, the euphemisms used just now should be connected with the primary language symbols.In such case, it will provide a clue to the hearer so that he can understand the connotation of thespeech.This principle provides a lot of standard conversational implicatures. In a word, the two parties can understand the intention of each other from the context.A: How is John doing with his study at schoolB: He’s a machine.Here, from the literal meaning of B's reply, he seems haven’t answer A’s question.But at least, his answer violates Quality Maxim and Relation Maxim.We know that though B’s answer doesn’t cooperate with A’s question, we can still understand B’s meaning by the deeper implication of his speech.First, we should suppose that this conversation tally with Cooperative Principle.Second, we can guess the implication between machine and study.At last, we can infer that John is hard-working.Thus, if the utterance is not relevant with each other, we can reason.“Unlike presuppositions and entailments, implicatures are inferences that cannot be made from isolated utterances.They are dependent on the context of the utterance and the shared knowledge between the speaker and the hearer.”6.ConclusionEuphemism is an appropriate language form created by people to achieve an ideal communicative effect in the social interactions.“Enrighr D.J.stated that ‘If euphemism doesn’t exist, the movement of the world will stop and it will be filled with hatred.” Nearly no one can live without euphemism.Euphemism is not only a social phenomenon, but also a lingual phenomenon.The formation of euphemism is the result of social factors and psychological factors.From the day of its birth, there are countless ties between euphemism and thesocial culture.Euphemism develops while the society develops.Euphemism is a mirror.We can learn the values and moral concepts of the society.Euphemism that accords with Politeness Principle oils human communication because polite function is the main function of Politeness principle.If we make good use of this language form, it will accelerate and facilitate human communication.People’s interpersonal relations will be more harmonious.We can make full use of euphemism and make our life more colorful.References:1.李国南.辞格与词汇 [M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社,2001.2.胡春梅.论委婉语的构成及功能[J].浙江教育学院学报,2005,1.3.刘纯豹.英语委婉语词典[Z].北京: 商务印书馆,2001.4.吴祥云.委婉语的社会功用[J].昭通师范高等专科学校学报,2004,2.5.Joanna Channell.Vague Language [M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2000,6.6.李鑫华.英语修辞格详论[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2000.7.李树德.冯奇.英语修辞简明教程[M].上海:复旦大学出版社,2003,10.8.Jean Stilwell Peccei.Pragmatics [M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2000,8.。
