A Contrastive Study Of English And Chinese Euphemism From The Perspective Of Pragmatic Functions

Euphemism exists in every nation in the world, which is a stunt of language skill.It is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a cultural phenomenon. The wordschosen to form the euphemism are elegant, indirect and euphemistic. With thestrengthening of the globalization, during the process of cross-cultural communication,it is necessary and crucial to use the euphemism correctly and successfully. With thetrend and demand, the comparative study on the English and Chinese euphemism isparticularly important.To master the similarities and differences between English and Chinese isbeneficial to the exchange of two kinds of culture and plays a positive role inpromoting the successful cross-cultural communication. English as an internationallanguage and China has a relatively high amount of English learners, which make thecontrast between two languages become more important. Through analyzing of twolanguages on euphemism can make English learners to better understand thesimilarities and differences between cultures, conventions and social values whichconcealed in language itself. Euphemism exists widespread in any culture and societyand it is no exception in English and Chinese, especially as the important means ofrhetoric and expression in the process of frequent using for communication. Althoughthe euphemism of the two languages is formed on the basis of different culturesrespectively, there are still great similarities and differences. Euphemism can be seenas the lubricant which infused in the process of language use. With euphemism peoplecan make communication mildly and implicitly. In many occasions which areunfavorable to express or speak indirectly, euphemism can make them happy andrelaxing.Many studies of researchers on euphemism have been carried on mainly referredto two sides, such as rhetoric semantics and dictionary compiling. But the discussionson euphemism from the perspective of pragmatics are less. In order to reveal the universal laws of euphemism and offer a better understanding the specificcharacteristics of euphemism of these two languages, many linguistic researchersmake contributions to. From the beginning of1880s, the famous English writer GorgeBlunt firstly cited the word euphemism and defined it; James Fraser, English scholaronce did research on euphemism systematically and explored the reasons ofpopularity of euphemism; the linguists Grice and Leech presented three principles ofeuphemism (politeness, cooperation, self-protection) which are observed incommunication. At home, Shu Dingfang, a famous linguist, presents questions whichare closely to euphemism for further study and has strong impact on English learnerswho are interested in euphemistic expressions. Certainly, many other researchers andscholars also make contributions to this field, such as, Liu Chunbao, Wu Liquan andLi Guonan.Chinese linguistic researchers pay more attention to the field of pragmatics, butthe study of euphemism and the relation between euphemism and pragmatics areseldom referred to. Therefore, from the perspective of pragmatics, the author willcarry on the study from the following two aspects:1. the similarities between Englishand Chinese euphemism.2. the differences between English and Chinese euphemism.This paper will be studied under the cooperative principle, politeness principle andface theory,and compare and analyze the expressive method of English and Chinesefrom the perspective of pragmatics to find out the similarities and differences betweenthem and further discuss the effects of the learning of euphemism make onindependent college students. It’s necessary to make a contrast of English and Chineseeuphemism, since the important role it plays in daily communication and its closerelation to pragmatics. The requirement of college English asserts that the aim ofEnglish teaching is to train students’ ability in English use, especially abilities oflistening and speaking, so in the future, in aspects of study, work and social contactsthey can use English to communicate effectively, and enhance their ability ofautonomous learning, improve the quality of academy, and in order to adapt to thesocial development of our country and meet the international exchange about thelanguage. When talking about the English learning, we naturally come up to the competence of listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating. Only with theaccumulation of the western and the Chinese culture can students have the rightunderstanding in listening and reading, and then in cross-cultural communication, andcan we get the exact words and understand the true meaning of words in theconversation in communication, especially the euphemistic expressions in Englishtest.Euphemism is updated with the changes of society and culture, and it’s necessaryto use euphemism effectively in communication. Therefore, mastery of euphemism inEnglish and Chinese forms of expression and with the guidance of English teachersare important for the students who have relatively poor competence in Englishlearning, and it is significant for independent college students to put the usage ofeuphemism into practice. The competence of listening, speaking, reading, writing andtranslating is the basic requirement for language learners, while for non-Englishmajors, especially the competence of listening and speaking are required. Independentcollege is the private university which has own unique features. The students in thatcollege have relatively poor English because their weak academic basis in high school.So, in the process of teaching, when teachers explain the language points, they shouldtell the students different euphemistic expressions exist resulting from the differentcultural backgrounds. When analyzing the content of reading material, teacher shouldtell the students to explore the deep meaning which exist, which is beneficial forcultivating students’ ability of autonomous learning and help them to get goodachievements in different bands of test in English.