A Pragmatic Study On English Euphemisms

The word "euphemism" comes from the Greek eu, "good", and pheme, "speech" or "saying", and thus means literally "to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner". Euphemism, as a cultural phenomenon as well as a linguistic concept, has attracted people's attention for a long time. It has long been a topic of much interest.This thesis intends to study English euphemisms from a pragmatic perspective, that is, in its actual cultural and communicational context so as to find out how the application of euphemisms flout the Cooperative Principle to obey the Politeness Principle and how these factors of a communicational event, such as participants, setting, subject matter, medium, purpose of conversations and attitudes of participants, etc. influence the practice of euphemisms in communication. Furthermore, we may discover how to use English euphemisms appropriately and effectively in communication.This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter one reviews researches on euphemisms and puts forward the theme of this thesis—a pragmatic study on English euphemisms. Chapter two examines classifications and formation of English euphemisms, as well as motives for euphemizing, laws and principles of euphemisms' formation. Chapter three serves as the main body of this thesis, which adopts a pragmatic approach to account for the practice, features and functions of English euphemisms in language communication. The pragmatic principles that guide the practice of English euphemisms are given a detailed discussion so as to find out how euphemisms flout the Cooperative Principles to obey the Politeness Principles. Taking Dell Hymes' the Ethnography of Communication as theoretical foundation, various factors that are involved in the application of English euphemisms are analyzed respectively to give us a better understanding on when, where and how to use English euphemisms appropriately. What is more, the pragmatic features and social functions of English euphemisms are also touched upon. Then it goes on to probe the culture values reflected in the use of English euphemisms. Finally, special attention is given to the pragmatic failures that occur in the use of English euphemisms. Chapter four concludes the whole thesis and puts forward several suggestions on English language learning and teaching as well as intercultural communication.Language is the carrier and reflection of culture, and euphemism is a very vigorous part of English language. By the studying of English euphemisms in social context, we can know more about what is going on in people's mind, in their language and culture. At the same time it is expected that this paper may shed light on intercultural communication and English language teaching and learning.