政治委婉语及其修辞应用
论文作者:谢朝华论文属性:短文 essay登出时间:2009-04-06编辑:黄丽樱点击率:10205
论文字数:5060论文编号:org200904061123135599语种:英语 English地区:中国价格:免费论文
关键词:social functionpolitical euphemismrhetorical application社会功能政治委婉语修辞应用
[Abstract]
Euphemism is derived from taboo, which is used to describe something inappropriate to talk about directly in communication. It is a cultural phenomenon as well as a rhetorical device. It is also a proper language pattern people created in social communication in order to make the communication effective. It plays an important role in our daily life. The most important social functions of euphemism are evasive function, polite function and cosmetic function. Political euphemism is a type of euphemism, so it has the feature of euphemism. Political euphemism is used widely by politicians, through which they can deliver their real information in a mild way without any harshness. This article will make an introduction of the origin, social functions and the application of euphemisms, and then discuss respectively the political euphemisms used in internal and international aspect and the rhetorical application of political euphemisms.
【摘 要】 委婉语起源于民俗禁忌,人们在交际中用来描述不宜直言的人或事物,既是一种修辞手法,又是一种文化现象。委婉语又是人们在社会交际中为谋求理想的交际效果而创造的一种适当的语言形式。它在生活中发挥着十分重要的交际功能。最主要的有避讳功能,礼貌功能,掩饰、美化功能。政治委婉语是委婉语的一个范畴,沿袭了普通委婉语的特征,广为政治家们所用。它使政治家们得以一种温和、不带任何刺激性的表达方式传递其真正的信息。本文将从委婉语的起源、社会功能、修辞入手,分别阐述政治委婉语的国际国内使用情况和政治委婉语修辞应用。
1. Introduction
1.1 The definition of euphemism
The English word “euphemism” derived from the Greek word “euphemismos”,which means “fair speech”. The prefix “eu-” means “good,sounding well”,and “pheme” means “saying” or “speech”. So the literal meaning of “euphemism” is “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner.” In the book of Modern Linguistics, it is defined as “a mild, indirect or less offensive word or expression substituted when the speaker or writer fears more direct wording might be harsh, unpleasantly direct or offensive.”[1]
1.2 The origin of euphemism
To trace the beginning of euphemisms, we can’t neglect “taboo”. In primitive society, people couldn’t explain such things as death, ailments and some supernatural phenomena. They also had confusion between the names of things and the things themselves: The name is viewed as an extension of the things. Just as the idiom says “Speak of the devil and he appears.” Naturally the words or the phrases related to these unexplainable things became taboos.
For ordinary people, the safest way to avoid mentioning these things that they have to mention in many circumstances is to use another name---euphemisms to replace the true name of such a thing. In many cultures,the names of gods and devils are taboos .In order to avoid mentioning them directly, people use “gosh or golly” instead of God and “dicken or old Nick” instead of the devil. Therefore,we can safely state that “the existence of taboo words or taboo ideas stimulates the creation of euphemisms”.
In our modern society, however, the religious and superstitious relics still exist. But to a larger extent,euphemism is mostly motivated by people’s fear of death. Thus it is no wonder that such a large number of euphemisms about “death” exist: depart, decease,pass away,etc.
In short,euphemism originates from taboo. Because of the psychology of fear, people dare not or would rather not call something by name directly. If such unpleasant things have to be mentioned,people work out indirect terms to replace them. Thus euphemisms come into being. Using euphemisms gives people a feeling that they are somewhat distant from what they fear,and resorting to euphemisms seems to be a guarantee of their safety,happiness,health and good luck.
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