Comparative Study And Translation Of English And Chinese Euphemisms From Pragmatic Perspective

Euphemism, as a phenomenon of language, is observed in all societies and used in all human interactions. In speech interaction, sometimes, out of politeness or tact, one tends to employ pleasant or less direct wording to avoid unpleasantry or embarrassment. Euphemism is one of the ways people resort to for realizing this purpose. So using euphemism is speakers'active pragmatic strategy in a certain time and a certain situation.Spurred by the Western studies on euphemism, Chinese scholars have also contributed a great deal to this research area. However, there have been few comprehensive and systematical comparative studies of euphemisms between English and Chinese, and this thesis is an attempt of this orientation. It first explores the similarities and differences between English and Chinese euphemisms in terms of definition, history and classifications. Then it probes deep into them by applying the pragmatic principles covering the key aspects of: Indirectness of Language; Cooperative Principle; Politeness Principle and Face Theory.Analyzed further in the paper are the different pragmatic functions of euphemisms both in English and Chinese, which are generalized into three common types: a) evasive; b) upgrading and c) cosmetic.The evasive function of euphemisms is to evade using taboos, enabling the speaker to talk about tabooed things freely. This function is discussed in terms of: a) diseases and disabilities; b) death and funeral; c) sex and reproduction; d) body excretion and body elimination process; e) parts of the body/forbidden territory and f) old age.The upgrading function refers to magnification and inflation of certain sensitive topics, making them sound better and acceptable. For this part, various examples of both English and Chinese euphemisms are cited along these lines: a) parts of the body/ neutral territory; b) unemployment and poverty; c) occupation and d) form of address.And the cosmetic function operates as ways and means whereby governments...