Abstract：
Euphemism, is not only a lingual phenomenon, but also a cultural and social phenomenon. It is like a mirror, reflecting the values, aesthetic conceptions and moral conceptions in some extent. Euphemisms are mild, agreeable or roundabout words used in place of coarse, painful or offensive ones. Euphemism plays an important part in social communication and helps to save face of communicators. If people make full use of euphemism, it can accelerate and facilitate human communication. Appropriate use of English euphemism can contribute a lot to successful message exchange. The Politeness Principle is a key part in pragmatics and it may give great direction to the study of euphemism. In order to achieve a better communicative effectiveness, the basic principle of Politeness Principle has embodied in euphemism and the appropriateness of politeness plays an indispensable part in the use of euphemism. As an indispensable and natural part of language, euphemism has been arousing wide interest. Many linguists and scholars have studied this linguistic phenomenon, from the perspectives of pragmatics, rhetoric, semantics and sociolinguistics. On the basis of their researches, this thesis attempts to do an analysis of English euphemism and Politeness Principle. It is composed of four parts. The first chapter introduces the origin and the definitions of euphemism. The second chapter focuses on the social functions of euphemism from the angle of pragmatics. The third chapter, the core of this thesis, centers on euphemism’s polite function and Politeness Principle. The last chapter concludes the whole thesis. It is hoped that through the deep study of English euphemism, people can use euphemisms appropriately, and hence help communication be more efficient and successful and benefit multi-cultural communication.

Key words：euphemism; Politeness Principle; pragmatics; social functions

摘 要：
委婉语是一种语言现象，更是一种文化现象、社会现象。在一定程度上，它像一面镜子，反映了社会的价值观，审美观和道德观。委婉语是指用温和、含糊、迂回的话语代替粗俗、尖锐、直率的语言。委婉语在社会交际中发挥着重要作用，并帮助保全交流双方的面子。如果充分使用委婉语，可以促进和利于人们的交流。合理使用英语委婉语大大有助于信息的成功交流。礼貌原则是语用学的重要组成部分，它对委婉语的研究有重要指导意义。为了实现更有效的交流，礼貌原则的基本准则体现在委婉语中，并成为不可缺少的一部分。作为语言中必不可少和普遍存在的一个部分，委婉语引起了人们广泛的关注。许多语言学家、学者从语用学、修辞学、语义学及社会语言学的角度对委婉语进行了研究。基于前人的研究成果，本文主要研讨了英语委婉语和礼貌原则。文章分为四个部分。第一章介绍了委婉语的定义及起源。第二章从语用学的角度分析了委婉语的社会功用。第三章侧重于委婉语的礼貌功能与礼貌原则的关系，是本文的核心。第四章是文章的结论部分。希望通过对英语委婉语的深入研究，人们可以正确使用委婉语，从而使得交流更有效、更成功，并进而有利于跨文化交流的顺利进行。

关键词：委婉语；礼貌原则；语用学；社会功用