A Cognitive Research Of Generation Mechanism Of Euphemism Restricted By Context

Euphemism is an important and universal linguistic phenomenon. The comprehension of language meaning has always been an important subject in linguistic study. And this phenomenon has been paid much attention in many fields, such as psychology, philosophy and linguistics. Euphemism is originated from language taboos and it is "the substation of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or blunt or direct one". As a special language variety, euphemism covers a broad range of topics, from human beings to matters, related to the war, government, diplomacy and so on. Euphemism has become an essential part in human communication, and it is used to smooth social interaction and to harmonize interpersonal relationship.The application of euphemism is always restricted by many factors, the most important one is context. Context is usually known as the language environment, and it is a significant component in communication. Because context has two main functions--the restrictive function and the interpretive function, it can exert great impact on the production and the interpretation of language forms that applied in communication. This thesis will meanly talk about its restrictive function.Euphemism has been many scholars'research focus since the 1980s, and many aspects of euphemism have been probed, such as the definition, the classification and the function. Many scholars and linguists both abroad and at home have conducted a great number of studies of euphemism from different aspects respectively. And most scholars have accepted euphemism as an effective strategy in communication and it is widely used in our daily life. But few research concerning the cognitive linguistics, in particular on Conceptual Integration Theory, and the contextual study of euphemism by the former scholars has not enough, so more effort is needed in this aspect.In view of this, the thesis will do further research on euphemism by adopting the Conceptual Integration Theory, which will enrich the previous studies. This thesis, based on their achievements, makes an account of some essential knowledge on the definition, classification, formation devices and principles of Euphemism. And the paper also points out that much attention has been focused on the perspectives of rhetoric, pragmatics, traditional semantics and sociolinguistics in the previous studies of euphemisms. This thesis makes an effort to analyze euphemism restricted by context within the framework of Conceptual Integration Theory. And the author expects to adopt a brand new angle of research to explore the meaning construction and reasoning mechanism of euphemism restricted by context. Meanwhile, this thesis tries to prove the powerful explanatory of Conceptual Integration theory in interpreting the different levels of euphemism.The paper consists of six parts:In chapter 1, the paper will introduce the purpose and significance of this research, the methodology and data of resources, especially on the theoretical framework of this research.In chapter 2, the paper will review the contribution and limitations of the research in China and abroad.In chapter 3, the paper will construct the theoretical framework of this research and the example illustration.In chapter 4, the paper will introduce the definition, the classification and the function of context, focus on the relationship between context and euphemism.In chapter 5, the paper will give a detailed explanation of euphemism from the point of view of Conceptual Integration Theory.In chapter 6, the paper will have a summary of the findings and the limitations.