毕业论文文献综述

毕业论文文献综述 河北科技师范学院 本科毕业论文文献综述 委婉语的构造原则和构成方式初探 ,黑体二号居中～标题行间距为32磅, 院(系、部)名 称 : 专 业 名 称: 宋体小三号 学 生 姓 名: 学 生 学 号: 指 导 教 师: 黑体小三号 年 月 日 河北科技师范学院教务处制 A General Overview of the Studies on Euphemism (Arial 3号加粗，居中，单倍行距，段前24磅，段后18磅) As a popular rhetorical device, euphemism is widely employed in kinds of discourse and it is deeply rooted in people?s social life. That is why Rawson (1981) affirms “Euphemisms are embedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even those who pride themselves on being plain-spoken, ever get through a day without using them” (p.3). The study of euphemisms is of great importance as it can ….. The research of euphemisms has a long history ……………..And there have accumulated a large literature. Many scholars have attempted to define its nature or addressed its characteristics, functions, etc. from different perspectives. This paper is to give a general overview of the previous studies. 1 The definition of euphemism The word euphemism comes from Greek; the prefix “eu-“ means good and the stem “phemism” means speech; the whole word? s literal meaning is word of good omen. In the early 1580s, the British writer George Blunt first created the word euphemism and defined it as „a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word? (Shu, 1995:17). Concerning the definition of euphemisms, there are a lot of versions. In Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1973) the definition reads “substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.” In The New Edition of the Oxford Concise Dictionary (1976) the definition reads “substitution of mild or vague or round-about expression for harsh or direct one; expression thus substituted.” ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… The definitions above illustrate the general characteristic of euphemism---the use of a pleasant, polite, or harmless sounding words or expressions to mask harsh, rude, or infamous truths. It reflects people?s desire for better things. 2 Researches abroad Euphemism appeals the attention of language scholars from long time ago. It is a kind of social rules, so people have to know and grasp it, and put it into daily practice. Meanwhile it is a language phenomenon, so the scholars have to study it as science, in order to help people understand it well. 2.1 Researches from sociolinguistic perspective After the British writer George Blunt first created the word euphemism, the American linguist Menken (1936) in his book The American Language discussed the reasons for the generation and popularity of hundreds of English euphemism on the basis of American society and historical cultural backgrounds. In his Sociolinguistics (2nd edition), R. A. Hudson (2000) stresses that for showing power-politeness there are different „address? words (for example, sir, please), and the function of all the euphemisms is to protect the other person from being offended (for example, spend a penny, pass away). …………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………. 2.2 Researches from semantic perspective In 1981, the British linguist Hugh Rawson published his A Dictionary of euphemisms and Other Doubletalk, which is a collective manifestation of the evolutions of years? research of euphemism done by both British and American linguists. In this dictionary, Rawson traced the history of euphemism?s studies; he made a deep research on the definition, classification, characteristics and domains of euphemisms. The dictionary is considered as one of the most important works on the study of euphemism and it is of great value to the further studies. In 1983 American linguists J. Neaman and C. Silver published their book Kind Words, a Thesaurus of Euphemism. In the book the authors introduced the history of euphemism, the formation of euphemism, the motivations of euphemism, also collected a great many of examples of euphemism in nearly all the areas. 2.3 Researches from pragmatic perspective The tradition of pragmatic study of euphemism has gradually got established. The usage of euphemism in nature is saving face for both speakers and listeners and establishing good relationship between them. Allan and Burridge (1991) published a book Euphemism and Dysphemism, which is a valuable book of English euphemism from the pragmatic and psychological perspective. They affirm that euphemism is a protective shield against the anger or disapproval of natural or supernatural beings. ……………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………… ……………………………… 3 Researches in China English as a foreign language in China boomed in the later 1970s and since then the researches on English attracted the attention of experts and scholars greatly. Euphemism is one of the fields that they pay great attention to. Some of them study euphemism as a rhetorical device; others study euphemism on the basis of sociolinguistics or pragmatics. 3.1 Studies of euphemism from sociolinguistic perspective Chen Yuan is the earliest scholar who begins to study euphemism. In his Sociolinguistics (1983), he studied euphemism in a special separate chapter. He investigated the deep historical and socio-psychological background of the generation of euphemism and revealed the nature of this social phenomenon; he analyzed the characteristics of its formation and usage by giving lots of examples of euphemism. This book is of great value for the researches of euphemisms for its all-around. ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… 3.2 Studies of euphemism from pragmatic perspective Xu Haiming (1996), from the perspective of pragmatics, discussed how to choose and understand euphemisms in communication and the principles of using them. Liang Hongmei (2000) analyzed euphemism with the pragmatics theories of Cooperative principle and Politeness principle, showing the relationship between euphemism and pragmatics: though it violates the Cooperative principle, euphemism basically observes the Politeness principle, indirect act theory and face-saving theory (Bi, 2003) …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… 3.3 Other influential studies about euphemism Shu Dingfang (1989) extended the scope of euphemism by dividing them into euphemism in narrow sense and euphemism in broad sense. In 1995, Shu Dingfang and Xu Jinyuan developed the concept of euphemism in narrow sense and euphemism in broad sense. They defined euphemism in narrow sense as words or phrases established by popular usage. And euphemisms expressed through phonetic techniques, grammatical techniques or textual techniques in language system are called euphemism in broad sense. Mao Xingeng (2001) and Lixinghua (2000) explored euphemism from an aesthetical linguistic perspective and they thought the reason why euphemism can reach so excellent and popular effect in the communication lies in that euphemism can inspire the sense of beauty in the mind of speech receiver, also can show the beauty and elegance of the speaker (Huang, 2004). ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………… 4 Conclusion In a word, the research of euphemism both in abroad and home has made great progress. And with the introduction of some original foreign linguistic books, the domestic research scope of euphemism will become deeper and broader. Among the several trends of euphemism study, the investigation from pragmatic perspective has attracted more and more researchers, and appears to be a most prospecting one. The present study is to explore the constitutional principles and formative methods of euphemism following the direction of pragmatic view. The present author wishes it could be helpful to the learners of euphemism.