东西方委婉语差异Euphemism.ppt
东西方委婉语差异Euphemism Still waters run deep.流静水深流静水深,人静心深人静心深 Where there is life,there is hope。有生命必有希望。有生命必有希望WhatiseuphemismAeuphemismisawordorexpressionusedinplaceofonethatmaybefoundoffensiveorsuggestsomethingunpleasant.refertotabootopics(suchasdisability,sex,excretion,anddeath)inapoliteway,andtomaskprofanity(亵渎).Theoppositeofeuphemismroughlyequatestodysphemism(粗直语).ThedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishEuphemismSemanticfeaturesAwordshouldbeeuphemizedbecauseofitsnegativemeaninginonlanguage,whileinanotheritdonot.13bitch(母狗)含有lechery(淫荡)之意，所以有“ladydog”“girldog”的婉称，而汉语中则没有这种情况。CharacteristicsofwordformationEnglish:shortening(homo,gents,ladies,Ca)acronym(W.C,B.O,V.D，XYZ)backformation(burgle(v.破门盗窃某处，撬窃某人的家)就是从burglar(n.夜盗；窃贼；破门盗窃者)逆构而成的词。Chinese:commendatorywords(富态，丰满）ambages(“你脸上又添新伤疤了”孔乙己)analogy（走了，去了）vaguewords(个人问题）religionEnglish:(Christian)manyeuphemismcomesfromBible,especiallywordsaboutdeathandsex.(makelove,gotomeetonesmaker,bewiththegod)Chinese:(Buddhism)“诸行无常，诸法无我，一切皆苦，涅槃寂静”成佛、圆寂、坐化（Taoism)道教认为生活在世界上是一件美好的事情，死亡才是痛苦，因而道教追求的是得道成仙，这样就能超脱生死，在仙境中过仙人的生活.仙逝、得道、成仙、羽化、归道山Social statumEnglish:(freeandequal）name:sonandfatherhavethesamename.(HenryFordHenryFordHenryFord)address:callfatherormothersnamedirectly.Chinese:(hierachical)name:avoidingeldersormonarchsname.(雍正名是胤禛，他的兄弟们都是取名为胤，后来他即位后，他的兄弟们都被改成允)address:cannotaddresseldersormonarchsnamedirectly.(红楼梦里黛玉的母亲叫贾敏敏，黛玉只要看到敏字，她都念成密；司马昭因为他的名是昭，而王昭君的名字有昭，晋朝时为避司马昭讳，称王昭君为明妃明妃)malechauvinism:menssocialstatusishigherthanwomen.(千岁，奴家，民女，奴婢，妾身，贱妾，*氏）EtiquetteEnglish:(practicalandself-esteem)donotbelittlethemselvesandpraiseothersatwill.Chinese:(self-modest)toshowrespectbybelittlingthemselvesandpraisingothers.(鄙人，阁下，贱内，尊夫人，犬子，令公子）Euphemism on the Function of Face SavingFace TheoryBrown and Levinson(1987)construe face theory as consisting of two specific desires or face-wants:negative face and positive face.FTA:Face Threatening Act1.Whats FTA?2.Why should we use euphemisms to avoid FTA?Examples1.Personal FigureBig-boned or Portly=heavy or overweight Break wind=pass gas Vertically-challenged=short “Ah,Ill read it to you.The old library building on Chestnut Street,which has been vacant for over a year now,was supposed to be made into a community center to serve the senior citizens as well as the younger people of Riverdale.”(AshortspeechfromRobbiesgrandfatherinFamily Album.)Examples2.Social MattersComfort woman=prostitute Between jobs=unemployed Domestic engineer=maid Sanitation engineer=garbage manEliz:Youre a Senior System Engineer,is that correct?Epstein:Thats right.Eliz:What are your main responsibilities?Epstein:My main job is to reduce production costs.(a short dialogue Functioning in Business)Eliz:What did you do after graduation?Epstein:My first job was as an engineer for a small company in San Francisco.Eliz:And what were your main responsibilities?Epstein:I was a quality assurance engineer.I worked for them for two years.(a short dialogue Functioning in Business)Euphemismsabout“death”“死亡”的禁忌是禁忌中的典型。英语国家主要受基督教文化的影响，在基督教文化中死亡被认为是神秘而不朽的,与上帝共享永恒的福乐。基于这个原因，死亡对于基督徒或受基督教文化影响的西方人来说不仅不让他们产生恐惧心理，有时反而可能是一种期盼.Example1：topayCharon出钱雇冥河上的船夫卡戎将自己的亡灵渡过冥河Charon krn n.1.【希腊神话】卡戎(厄瑞玻斯和夜女神之子，在冥河上摆渡亡魂去阴间的神)2.【天文学】卡戎(冥王星的卫星)Charon在Etruria这个地方，以冥界船夫的身分为人所熟知。死者要前往应去的国度时，必然会经过这条河。这条河的名字是Acheron，它意味着悲伤之河或无喜悦之河。卡伦的职责就是这条河的摆渡人，负责接运死者的灵魂，因此也被视为灵魂的导引者。在古希腊时代，人们有着在下葬的死者口中或眼睑上放置钱币的习俗。这钱币当然是支付给卡伦的渡河费用。Example2：crossovertheriverStyx度过死亡分界线theriverStyx冥河 Styx stiks n.【希腊神话】冥河(环绕地狱的河）theGreatDivide阴曹地府crossover横渡、穿越Example3:crossovertheGreatDividegoovertheGreatDivideGreatdivide:ContinentalDivide北美大陆分水岭（从阿拉斯加延伸到墨西哥的一系列山脊，它构成北美大陆的分水线。其中大部分延落基山脉的山峰分布，在美国被称为大分水岭，美国人用GreatDivide表示生死关头）Example4:tosendsomebodytoeternity送某人去来生送某人上西天eternity：n.1.永恒；无穷2.永存；永生；不朽3.无限的时间，无始无终(的时间)；世世代代4.(似乎)无终止的一段长时期5.来世，来生；来世，来生；(死后的死后的)无穷时间无穷时间6.用复数永恒的真理Example5:togothewayofallflesh走众生之路死亡flesh fle n.1.肉体，躯体(区别于灵魂、精神)2.人性，人情味；肉欲、淫欲，情欲，兽性(区别于精神性和道德性)3.众生，一切生物众生，一切生物 西方人崇尚人人生来平等西方人崇尚人人生来平等Example6：tolaydownonesshovelandhoe放下铁锹和锄头（喻指为国家利益而献出生命）为国捐躯杀身成仁肝脑涂地舍生取义Example7:tobetorestinAbrahamsbosom躺在亚伯拉罕的怀抱Abraham在圣经旧约中为西伯来人的第一个族长和先祖，艾萨克的父亲。Abrahamsbosom即“极乐世界，天国“
