Research On Korean Euphemism

Euphemism is the lubricant of people's daily speech communication activities.In daily speech communication,people tend to avoid using unpleasant or disrespectful expressions in consideration of various factors such as culture,etiquette,religion,national psychology,etc.,instead of evasion,which can make people feel happy and comfortable,namely euphemism.The study of euphemism has strong theoretical,practical and teaching significance.With the joint efforts of scholars at home and abroad,the existing studies have achieved fruitful results from multiple levels and perspectives.However,the exploration of Korean euphemism,a mysterious treasure,is only in its infancy,and there is still room for further research in related fields.For example,the definition and category of euphemism are not unified and clear enough;more general analysis,less systematic research results;more macro research,less case analysis;no unified corpus source,etc.On the basis of prototype category theory and indirect speech act theory,this paper redefines and divides the concept and category of Korean euphemism,systematically combs the formation,semantic change and social function of Korean vocabulary euphemism and sentence euphemism from three aspects of form,semantics and function,and makes a dynamic analysis in specific context,trying to establish Korean Language Commission The theoretical system of euphemism.The main findings are as follows:First,based on the analysis of the existing definitions of euphemism,this paper redefines euphemism as:in the specific context,for the content that makes people feel bad,unclean,uncivilized and uncomfortable,use language or non-verbal means to express indirectly,so as to avoid making the other party feel pain and unhappiness.On this basis,it points out that the categories of euphemism include lexical euphemism,sentence euphemism and discourse euphemism.Vocabulary euphemism refers to the words or phrases that make people feel bad,unclean,impolite and uncomfortable in a specific context.Other words and phrases are used to indirectly express the negative aspects of awe object,death,disease,sex,physiological phenomenon,physical condition,social life,political and economic,so as to avoid making the other party feel pain and unhappiness.The object and scope of lexical euphemism are relatively fixed and limited.Sentence euphemism refers to the use of grammatical means such as sentence type conversion,sentence pattern conversion,sentence meaning addition and other pragmatic means such as circuitous expression,ellipsis,hint,etc.,to indirectly express the intention of request,order,question,persuasion,accusation,rejection,etc.,so as to avoid embarrassment and unhappiness to the other party.Sentence euphemism belongs to the category of pragmatics,which has a very wide range of use and is difficult to cover all kinds.Discourse euphemism refers to that in a specific context,when both lexical euphemism and syntactic euphemism are difficult to meet the needs of expression,the discourse can be used to convey complete information,logical coherence,language cohesion,and a certain purpose and function of communication.Different from lexical euphemism and sentence euphemism,the purpose of discourse euphemism is not only to avoid the pain and unhappiness of the other party,but also to realize the goal of protecting oneself and taking care of the other party in a specific context on the basis of accurately judging the interests of both parties.Secondly,there are many ways to form Korean euphemism.In a broad sense,it can be divided into verbal means and non-verbal means;in a narrow sense,it mainly refers to linguistic means.The language structure of Korean euphemism mainly includes:phonetic mode,literal mode,lexical mode,sentence mode,rhetorical mode,etc.The phonetic modes mainly include changing sound,inversion,saving sound,substituting sound and adding sound;the literal modes include changing word,empty word,breaking word and mark substitution;the lexical modes include synonym substitution,antonym substitution,abstract word substitution for concrete word,Chinese word substitution for inherent word,loanword substitution,word formation and idiom substitution;the syntactic modes include unmarked sentence and marked sentence;the rhetorical modes are subject It should cover conceptual metaphor,metonymy,personification,etc.Thirdly,in the aspect of semantic change,according to the characteristics of semantic evolution of euphemism,this paper classifies the semantic evolution of Korean euphemism into two parts:semantic aggregation and semantic fuzziness,in which semantic aggregation can be divided into semantic identical,semantic reverse,semantic expansion and semantic transformation.Semantic fuzziness includes referential vagueness,indeterminacy of the meaning,lack of specification and semantic omission.This paper will discuss the semantic changes between euphemism and direct speech from these aspects.Fourthly,in terms of pragmatic function,the pragmatic function of Korean euphemism is divided into two categories:politeness function and self-protection function,according to the criteria of "others" or "oneself",i.e."benefiting people"or "self-interest".One of the basic purposes of using euphemism is to create a harmonious conversation atmosphere,to show the good manners of the speaker,to make the listener feel the kindness and sincerity of the speaker,not to make the other party feel intimidated and embarrassed,and to cause the other party's good feelings.Especially in the expression of negative information,politeness is an effective means of verbal communication and an important function of euphemism.The politeness function of euphemism in communication is mainly reflected in the following aspects:to politely express unclean things,to politely express respect and sympathy for the weak,politeness expresses face threatening behavior.People do not just communicate for the sake of communication,usually with a variety of purposes.It's human nature to protect ourselves and say good things for ourselves.Therefore,the function of politeness is only part of the function of euphemism.Once the communication behavior involves their own interests,people may take their own safety,interests,status,face into account and do their best to protect themselves.The self-protection function of euphemism in communication is mainly reflected in the following fields:self-protection,self-interest protection and self-respect protection.In a word,euphemism can not only perform politeness function,but also produce self-protection function.On the other hand,all euphemism users are consciously or unconsciously protecting themselves from unnecessary harm.To some extent,the function of self-safety protection restricts the function of politeness.When there is a conflict between them,the function of politeness is ultimately subordinate to the function of self-protection.Therefore,we believe that the ultimate goal and pragmatic function of euphemism is self-protection,that is,seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.The correct use of euphemism can achieve the effect of containing without omission,bending without obscurity,avoiding the displeasure and unhappiness caused by tit for tat,making it easier for the listener to accept the conversation,improving the conversation efficiency and promoting the smooth communication.