摘要

一切被宗教、传统和社会习惯所禁止的事情，我们称之为禁忌。它应避免直接使用，否则会令人讨厌，进而冒犯别人。
总所周知，由于文化的差异性，各国人民对禁忌并不完全一致。这篇文章介绍了禁忌语的定义，禁忌语存在的原因，也从文化差异这个角度比较了中英禁忌语的不同点和相同点。主要的目的使人们对语言禁忌有更好的了解，并且在交流中能够建立更高的警觉性避免使用禁忌语，然后提高他们的跨文化交际能力。

关键字：文化；禁忌语；差异；帮助

Abstract

Anything which is prohibited by religion, tradition or social usage is a taboo. And it should be avoided mentioning directly, or it will make people unpleasant or offensive.
   As we all know, people of different countries have different taboo because of the cultural diversity. This paper introduces the definition of taboo words, the reasons for the existence of taboo, and then compares the similarities and differences of taboo language between English and Chinese cultural differences. The main purpose is to help people have a better understanding of linguistic taboo and develop a clearer awareness of avoiding taboo words in communication, thus enhancing their cross-cultural communicative competence.

Key words: culture; taboo; diversity; help

1. Introduction

Taboo is a common language phenomenon existing both in Chinese and English culture. “In a certain cultural occasion, some words should not be talked about or should be mentioned in a roundabout way in language.”Words and expressions related to these social taboos are linguistic taboos which are not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a social phenomenon. Therefore, language is like a mirror to reflect national culture. In modern society, especially in informatization of today, it’s very common to communicate with people from different cultures. So understanding the taboo language and its cultural connotations can help us communicate effectively in cross-cultural contexts. A lack of knowledge in this field, which usually results in improper use of linguistic taboos, may lead to misunderstandings, conflicts and other unknown serious consequences in the cross –culture communication.