Analyze the Difference between Chinese and English Taboo Words from the Angle of Pragmatics_英语论文

摘要

禁忌语指的是在特定的语言环境中，一些说出来会引起他人的不满或者反感的词语。在语言交流时，这些词语会被其它更委婉的表达方式取代。语用学作为语言学的一个新兴分支，其主要研究范围就是研判语境如何影响语言的理解和使用。因为禁忌语展示了人们在具体环境中的语言使用，因此也属于语用学的研究范围。

语用学认为语境是影响语言理解和使用的最重要因素。而一般认为语境大体上是由社会、民族、历史、心理和文化这几个方面影响的。中国和西方英语国家在这些方面显然不同，因此中西方禁忌语在使用上也会存在大量差异。

本文将从语言运用的角度对比中西方不同语言环境所产生的不同的禁忌语以及它们的使用情况。

关键词：语用 禁忌语 语言环境 汉英差异 

Abstract

Taboo words are those words that will make others dissatisfied or disgusted in certain contexts. So those words will be replaced by the other expressions which is more Euphemistic in our communication. And Pragmatics is a new brunch of Linguistics that mainly studies how the language contextual factors influences the using and understanding of a language. Taboo words shows how people use language in certain situations, so it belongs to the research scope of Pragmatics.

Pragmatists consider that language contextual factors is the most important factor that influences the using and understanding of language. And it’s generally believed that language contextual factors is mainly consisted of social, nationality, history, psychology and culture. Obviously, Chinese and English-speaking countries have differences in these aspects, so there will be differences of using taboo words.

This thesis will compare the differences between Chinese and taboo words from the angle of Pragmatics.

Key words: Pragmatics；Taboo words；Language contextual factors；The differences between China and the west  

Contents

1  Introduction 1

1.1 Background information 1

1.1.1 The definition of taboo words 1

1.1.2 The history of research of taboo words 1

1.1.3 The definition of Pragmatics 2

1.2 The purpose and significance of this research 3

1.2.1 The purpose of this research 3

1.2.2 The significance of this research 4

2  Literature Review 6

2.1 The features of Chinese taboo words 6

2.2 The features of English taboo words 7

3  The analysis of the differences 9

3.1 The differences between the using of Chinese and English taboo words.... 9

3.2 How factors of Pragmatics causes these differences 10

3.2.1 The factors influence language using according to Pragmatics 10

3.2.2 The concrete reasons of the differences 11

3.2.2.1 Social 11

3.2.2.2 Nationality 11

3.2.2.3 History 12

3.2.2.4 Psychology 12

3.2.2.5 Culture 14

4  Conclusion 15

Bibliography 16

Appendix 17

Acknowledgements 18