A Contrastive Study Of Euphemism Related To Chinese And Polish

Language is a carrier of culture, which deeply reflects values, lifestyle, traditional customs and psychological state of a certain nation. Euphemism, as a common language phenomenon, also can reflect above mentioned national characteristics, and consequently is an indispensable part of language, widely used in daily communication. Euphemism, due to its linguistic and cultural connotations, helps to understand the unique social psychology and cultural traditions of the nation. China and Poland have different social and cultural backgrounds, accordingly, euphemisms in both languages also have some differences in formation means and pragmatic functions. This kind of differences can cause some serious barriers or even lead to failure of communication. Therefore, in the process of teaching Chinese or Polish to speakers of other languages, euphemism teaching is necessary and meaningful,because it can improve the quality of communication.The main research object of this study is euphemism and its performance in Chinese and Polish languages. Author conducted comparative analysis of this language phenomenon and summarized main similarities and differences in both languages. This thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter describes and compares different methods of euphemism construction in Chinese and Polish. The second chapter examines the language functionality of euphemism, its classification criteria are euphemisms’ pragmatic functions. Both Chinese and Polish euphemisms have four main functions: avoidance of taboo, avoidance of vulgarity, politeness and concealing of the direct meaning. In accordance with the classification, author described and analyzed specific examples of euphemisms in both languages and demonstrated the main similarities and differences. The third chapter focuses on the place of euphemism in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Based on comparative analysis results and her own learning experience, author provided some euphemisms’ teaching strategies and suggestions, hoping for change in teaching Chinese to Polish students and overall quality improvement of this important process.