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摘 要每一个民族都有自己的语言禁忌,文化的不同导致了禁忌语的差异，它存在于我们日常生活的各个方面,是人们对某些行为的自我限制。语言禁忌来源于人们对某种神秘力量的畏惧，而且也包含着人们与大自然作斗争中长期积累的经验以及在长期的人际交往中所形成的社交礼俗。本文通过对比的方法，对中英禁忌语进行研究，分析两种语言在禁忌语方面的异同，及其在文化交流中的作用。文章介绍一些有用的策略,为了帮助谈话者在跨文化交际中实现有效的交流，避免因为语言禁忌而产生误解和冒犯。35238
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毕业论文关键词：禁忌语；中英对比；策略
Abstract Every nation has its own language taboos，and the different cultures lead to the differences of taboos that exist in every aspect of our life, which are the limitations of the people to their own behaviors. Language taboos come from people’s fear of mysterious force, and also include the long-term accumulation of experience and the long-range human communication of social customs that people struggled with nature. This article is to analyze the similarities and differences between Chinese and English taboos and the effect in cultural exchanges by the study of Sino-British taboos through comparisons. This paper introduces some useful strategies in order to help speakers realize the effective communication in intercultural communication and avoid misunderstanding and offending because of the language taboos.
Key words: taboo; the Sino-British comparison; strategies
A Comparative Study of Chinese and English Taboos
Contents
摘 要 i
Abstract ii
I. Introduction 1
II. Similarities Between China and UK Taboos 2
2.1 Taboos on Blasphemy 2
2.2 Taboos on Physiology 3
2.3 Taboos on Death 4
2.4 Taboos on Diseases 5
2.5 Taboos on Poverty and Profession 5
III. Differences Between China and UK Taboos 6
3.1 Taboos on Religious Faith and Political Tendency 6
3.2 Taboos on Privacy 7
3.3 Taboos on Names 7
3.4 Taboos on the Old 8
IV. Strategies to Avoid Using Taboos 9
4.1 Use of Euphemism 9
4.2 A Good knowledge of Taboos 10
4.3 Question-asking Strategy 12
V. Conclusion 12
Bibliography 14
Acknowledgements 15
I. Introduction
Literally, taboo is something that we can’t say, is a kind of internal constraints to our behavior. Taboo originally comes from Tabu (塔布) for human don’t understand natural phenomenon and the forces of nature. In18th century, the British navigator, James Cook in the south Pacific islands, Tonga, found the inhabitants had lots of strange social phenomena, for example, only the specific (god, monks, kings, chiefs) people have the right to use something, rather than allow the ordinary people to use; only for specific purposes, something are not allowed to be used for general goal; or a particular social group or some people (such as women) can’t use and so on, which are called taboo by the residents there. The word then entered the areas of anthropology, ethnology and sociology, which is a widely used terms as a special social phenomenon (taboo). This phenomenon includes two aspects: on the one hand, it is respected fetish (神物) that can’t be used casually, on the other hand, it is the despised materials that can’t be contacted randomly (Z. W. Liu 43). Language taboo, therefore, also includes two aspects that are the expressions of the admiration for God or other holy worship and the ban or displacement for disgraceful matters. The implication in modern English is “an inhibition or ban resulting from social custom or that aversion”. Corresponding to the modern Chinese, the meaning of the word is “the forbidden or taboo words and deeds”. British people hold that avoiding taboo is the symbol of their social civilization, in fact, taboo is a common cultural phenomenon in the world that just shows the different contents and forms of taboos. In China, the history of the word “taboo” is very old. The Western-han dynasty Ban Gu’s “Hanshu the yin-yang school” said: “Detainees, are constricted with taboos, stickle into the minor points, surrender the important things and follow the ghosts and gods.”（及拘者为之, 则牵于禁忌, 泥于小数, 舍人事而任鬼神。）Visibly, the word “taboo” as early as the Han dynasty has appeared in some historical records.