The Cultural Connotation of Euphemisms
- Submitted by: sophinehan
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 11/19/2010 12:27 AM
- Pages: 13
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Abstract
Euphemism, as a common phenomenon in language，is widely used in daily communication and is of great help to deal with the complex human relationships. It is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a social and cultural phenomenon. It is a faithful mirror of certain society and culture. With the development of modern society, it has become an indispensable element in people's interactions. Therefore, the proper understanding and utilizing of euphemism may be of vital significance to our learning of language and culture.
The thesis briefly discusses the definition and formation of euphemism, especially the cultural connotation of euphemism from the perspective of the origins and pragmatic function. The origins for the cultural connotation of euphemisms is derived from its religious belief, social psychology,. rules of conduct, political life and commercial activities; The pragmatic function is to avoid taboo or avoid offending others. Finally, it discusses some skills in the translation of euphemism. All of these are of great help for us to comprehend the cultural connotation of euphemism in different cultures and to translate euphemism much better. They play a positive role in our cross-cultural interaction under the circumstance of globalization.
Key words: euphemism; cultural connotation; translation skills
I． Introduction
Euphemism, as one form of language, can be said to be a faithful mirror of certain society, which reflects the speaker’s attitude, facts, believes, values and knowledge in communication. On one hand, people create all of the linguistic devices; on the other hand, we are greatly influenced by the language we use in our daily life. Most of the time, we have to admit that the key to successful communication does not lie in what we say, but how we say.
Euphemisms, ever since their creation, have gradually developed into one of the most important linguistic devices and have...
Euphemism, as a common phenomenon in language，is widely used in daily communication and is of great help to deal with the complex human relationships. It is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a social and cultural phenomenon. It is a faithful mirror of certain society and culture. With the development of modern society, it has become an indispensable element in people's interactions. Therefore, the proper understanding and utilizing of euphemism may be of vital significance to our learning of language and culture.
The thesis briefly discusses the definition and formation of euphemism, especially the cultural connotation of euphemism from the perspective of the origins and pragmatic function. The origins for the cultural connotation of euphemisms is derived from its religious belief, social psychology,. rules of conduct, political life and commercial activities; The pragmatic function is to avoid taboo or avoid offending others. Finally, it discusses some skills in the translation of euphemism. All of these are of great help for us to comprehend the cultural connotation of euphemism in different cultures and to translate euphemism much better. They play a positive role in our cross-cultural interaction under the circumstance of globalization.
Key words: euphemism; cultural connotation; translation skills
I． Introduction
Euphemism, as one form of language, can be said to be a faithful mirror of certain society, which reflects the speaker’s attitude, facts, believes, values and knowledge in communication. On one hand, people create all of the linguistic devices; on the other hand, we are greatly influenced by the language we use in our daily life. Most of the time, we have to admit that the key to successful communication does not lie in what we say, but how we say.
Euphemisms, ever since their creation, have gradually developed into one of the most important linguistic devices and have...