礼貌原则下《摩登家庭》中委婉语的交际功能分析_英语论文

Analysis of Communicative Functions of  English Euphemism in Modern Family  Based on the Politeness Principle

摘要

英语委婉语是人们为调节各种人际关系而采用的一种较为隐晦、婉转、礼貌的语言策略，它的使用遵循了礼貌原则。因此，本研究旨在从利奇的礼貌原则出发，阐述委婉语的使用是如何遵从或违背礼貌原则的。作者以美剧《摩登家庭》为例，选取有代表性的例子具体分析委婉语的交际功能实现的成败现象，以此让人们懂得如何在不同的交际情境下有效且正确地使用委婉语。

关键词：英语委婉语；礼貌原则；交际功能；《摩登家庭》

Abstract

English Euphemism is a relatively implicit, indirect and polite linguistic strategy which is utilized to improve various interpersonal relationship. The use of euphemism is actually following the politeness principle. Therefore, this thesis aims to explain how the uses of Euphemism obey or violate the Politeness Principle from the perspective of Leech’s Politeness Principle. This paper selects representative examples from a popular American TV section Modern Family to make a detailed analysis on the success and failure in the realization of communicative functions of English Euphemism. Thus people will know how to use euphemism effectively and correctly in different communicative situations. 

Keywords: English Euphemism; Politeness Principle; Communicative Functions; Modern Family

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction to Modern Family 1

1.2 Introduction to euphemism 2

2. Literature Review 4

2.1 Previous studies on euphemism 4

2.2 The politeness principle concerning the application of euphemism 5

3. Analysis of Communicative Functions of English Euphemism in Modern Family Based on the Politeness Principle 7

3.1 Cases successful in achieving the communicative functions 7

3.2 Cases failing in achieving the communicative functions 10

4. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 15