A Contrastive Study On English And Chinese Euphemisms

Language is the main part of culture. Euphemism, as an effective lubrication in human communication, is not only a linguistic concept, but also a cultural phenomenon. Different cultures embody different euphemisms. Many linguists and scholars have studied this linguistic phenomenon from different angles such as semantics, sociolinguistics, rhetoric, psychology and pragmatics. However, the previous researches are mainly done in single language such as Chinese or English, while contrastive studies on both English and Chinese euphemisms are comparatively limited. With the increase of cross-cultural communication, the understanding of euphemisms in different cultures becomes unprecedentedly important. In order to discover the cultural and pragmatic features of both English and Chinese euphemisms, this thesis makes a contrastive analysis on English and Chinese euphemisms from the perspectives of culture and pragmatics.This paper first gives an introduction to the origin, definition, classification, formation of euphemisms as well as the researches on euphemisms home and abroad. Then a contrastive study of English and Chinese euphemisms from the perspective of cultural reliance and pragmatic similarity has been made. As a cultural phenomenon, English and Chinese euphemisms belong to different cultures, thus they have their unique features. The realization of understanding of these features and the differences between English and Chinese euphemisms from the cultural perspective is quite important to better understanding of euphemisms as a whole. The author discusses the reliance of English and Chinese euphemisms on their cultures from what they pose in communication and summarizes the differences of English and Chinese euphemisms from the cultural perspective, and the reasons that cause these differences. Meanwhile, in the application of euphemisms, the similarities of English and euphemisms are analyzed in the forth part. After the analysis, the author holds the opinion that both English and Chinese euphemisms obey and violate some of the rules in pragmatics. In communication, in order to achieve some communicative purposes, English and Chinese euphemisms violate some of the maxims of the cooperative principle and meanwhile adhere to the maxims of politeness principle and Face Theory.A contrastive analysis of English and Chinese euphemism from the perspectives of culture and pragmatics helps a better understanding of western and eastern culture, and meanwhile the awareness of the differences and similarities of English and Chinese euphemisms are of considerable value and guidance to cross- cultural communications.