The Translation Of Euphemisms Between English And Chinese

This thesis is a study of the translation of English and Chinese euphemisms from the cultural perspective, but due to the limit of space and time, I focus only on the translation of lexical euphemisms, leaving grammatical and non-verbal euphemisms for future studies.Despite the large common core of the euphemisms in all human languages, such as their semantic features, functions and generating laws, there do exist distinctions between euphemisms of different languages because of the influence of different histories, cultures and social values. A good grasp of such factors of the euphemisms to be translated is crucial for transferring their cultural connotations to the TL readers.This thesis consists of six chapters including the introduction and the conclusion. Chapter Two is an overview of relevant theories about euphemisms, in which I first examine the previous researches on euphemisms from rhetoric, semantic, pragmatic and sociolinguistic perspectives and later introduce cultural translation theories. It is pointed out that the translation of euphemisms inevitably involves the transmission of culture since euphemisms are culture-loaded. Chapter Three, "A General Survey of Euphemisms" is a brief description of the features and functions of euphemisms, as well as the mechanisms in which euphemisms are created. In Chapter Four, "A Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemisms", I make a contrastive study of differences between English and Chinese euphemisms in terms of history, culture and social values. It is found that English euphemisms are closely related to cultural traits like individualism and equality and Christianity while Chinese euphemisms are mainly influenced by collectivism, status-based culture and Confucianism. In Chapter Five, "Principles and Strategies Suitable for Translating Euphemisms", I put forward the purpose-oriented principle for the translation of euphemisms. It is pointed out that the translation method depends on its purpose. Literal translation is good for appreciation while free translation is better for the application of euphemisms in the target language culture.The last part is the conclusion, which summarizes the main points of the thesis.