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《A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Euphemism on Death 英语专业毕业论文》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、AComparativeStudyofEnglishandChineseEuphemismonDeath1.IntroductionTheword“euphemism”comesfromGreekmeaning“tospeakfavorably”or“goodspeech”.ChenDingan(2004)said“Euphemismsaremild,pleasant,neutral,orinoffensiveexpressionsusedinsteadofharsh,blunt,coarse,or
2、unpleasantones”.Theyareoftenusedbecauseofcourtesyorconsiderationforotherpeople’sfeelings.AccordingtoSunXianghua(2005),“themainfeatureofeuphemismisthatpeopleusetheabstractandvagueconceptsormetaphortomakethespeakerscouldadoptakindofindirectwaywhiletalkin
3、gaboutsomethingwhichisnotsuitabletospeakinadirectway”.Inthisway,embarrassmentcanbeavoidedwhentalkingaboutthesethingsarenecessary.Euphemismmaybesaidtobelubricatingoilofsocialcommunicationbypeople.Enrigh(1985)said“theworldwillstoprunningbecauseofobstruct
4、ion,andpeoplewillfullofhostilitiesifthereisnoeuphemism.”Hudson(1980)regardedeuphemismnotonlyasakindoflinguisticphenomenon,butalsoakindofculturalphenomenon.Themosttypicaleuphemismis“death”.Themysteryofdeathandthefearofdeathmakepeoplenotdareorunwillingto
5、speakitdirectly.Inlanguagecommunication,peoplealwaysavoidmentioningtheword“death”.Therefore,thesubstitutesfordeatharemadeoneafteranotherinbothEnglishandChinese.Theyhaveavarietyofdifferencesandsimilaritiesinbothexpressedformationsandculturalconnotations
6、.ThispaperfocusesonthedifferencesandsimilaritiesofbothEnglishandChineseEuphemismondeath,whichhaveacloserelationwithpeople’slife.TakingeuphemismondeathasanexampletogiveabriefanalysisondifferencesandsimilaritiesofbothEnglishandChineseculture.2.TheCausesf
7、ortheUseofEuphemismonDeath2.1Thefearofdeathleadstoavoidanceofspeakingandtalkingaboutit.AccordingtoBaoLihong(2000),“Inancienttime,peoplewerenotabletounderstandbirthanddeath,thunderandlighting,volcaniceruptionandearthquake.”Sothefearwasproduced,anditslow
8、lyledtothesuperstition.Asaresult,naturalworshipisarousedbysuperstitions.Undertheinfluenceofconceptthatallthelivingthingshavesouls,peoplethinkthateveryphenomenon,includinglanguagephenomenon,arecausedbythechangesoflivingthings.Thereby,the
