A Comparative Study Of English And Chinese Euphemism Translation

Euphemism, a very important culture-loaded figure of speech, is often employed in communication and reflects the historical, political, economic and ideological situations of a nation with its own characteristics. The translation of euphemism has become more and more important with the development of the inter-cultural communication. Although many Chinese scholars have contributed a great deal to euphemism research in the currently theoretical field, a small quantity of comprehensive and systematical comparative studies in the euphemism translation between English and Chinese have been made.To make up for this deficiency, choosing English and Chinese euphemism translation as topic, this thesis draws on the application of Yan Fu's and Nida's translation theories, including the enumeration of a great number of true and reliable translation examples to analyze the similarities and differences between English and Chinese euphemism translation, and then provides the effective strategies for euphemism translation.The thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter One includes a general survey of euphemism including definition, classification, features, functions of English and Chinese euphemism, and the relationship between euphemism and culture. Chapter Two deals with the research at home and abroad on euphemisms and is mainly about the review of Yan Fu's and Nida's translation theories, and the retrospect of the Gresham's Law and the Law of Succession showing what has been and remains to be done in this field. Chapter Three includes a contrastive study of similarities and differences between English and Chinese euphemism translation and the inadequacies in current euphemism translation. Chapter Four contains the illustration of proper principles in English and Chinese euphemism translation. Chapter Five dwells on the elaboration of appropriate strategies in English and Chinese euphemism translation. Chapter Six focuses on the discussion and far-reaching implication in contrastive study of English and Chinese euphemism translation.The significance of contrastive study in this thesis lies in two aspects. In theory, its significance is to apply the translation theories to euphemism translation, and then to put forward advisable principles and strategies in euphemism translation through the analysis of the factors such as social and cultural aspects that restrict and influence euphemism translation. In practice, the author believes that the contrastive study of English and Chinese euphemism translation can improve the quality of euphemism translation, facilitate the foreign language teaching, and then boost better understanding in cross-cultural communication. The study is expected to help reduce communication hindrance, make euphemisms become the truly "lubricant" in language using. The author of this thesis hopes to provide assistance for the further study of English and Chinese euphemism translation in the future.