摘要

语言，是文化的载体，是互相交流的工具。禁忌语是语言必不可少的一部分，它被用来规范人们的言语。随着文明的发展，禁忌语形成了一种复杂的文化现象，在人们的思考和交流中随处可见。本文首先介绍了禁忌语的起源与发展。其次，比较了中英两种禁忌语的异同，分析了禁忌语的类别。最后，本文提出了如何避免由禁忌语产生问题的方法，从而在跨文化交际中达到与不同宗教，不同种族，不同文化背景的人进行和谐交流的目的。

关键词： 英文禁忌语；中文禁忌语；文化差异；对比研究

Abstract

Language, as a carrier of culture，is thought of as the means of communication. Taboo is an essential part of language and is used to regulate people’s utterance. With the development of civilization, taboo has become a complicated cultural phenomenon that you can see everywhere, reflected in both thinking and communication. Firstly, the paper introduces the origin and development of “taboo” and examines the similarities and differences between English and Chinese taboos. Then, it analyses the variety of taboos in English and Chinese. Finally, the paper puts forward some ways on how to avoid problems caused by taboos so that people may communicate smoothly with those from different religions, races and cultural backgrounds in cross-cultural communication. 

Key words:  English taboo; Chinese taboo; cultural difference; contrastive study

1. Introduction
Language, as a carrier of culture, was created in the process of human productive activities and was thought of as the tool of communication. However, it may also bring negative effects. As an old saying goes, “Out of the mouth comes evil.” Many people believe that language itself can bring fortune or misfortune. In that case, taboos are created to help people restrict the use of languages. With the development of civilization, taboos have become a complicated cultural phenomenon that you can see everywhere, reflected in both thinking and communication. As we all know, every country uses its own taboos to restrict their people’s behaviors which can make it easier to maintain normal order in society. Taboos can be seen in both English and Chinese, so it is quite important to study them both in linguistics and culture. The great differences between Chinese and western culture directly lead to the great differences between English and Chinese taboos, which make people feel embarrassed to communicate with those from different cultures. In this modern society, thinking of the fact that cross-cultural communication plays an increasingly significant role due to the globalization, people all believe that a contrastive study of taboos between English and Chinese can not only avoid conflicts when communicating with others, but also help understand different cultures and make communication more comfortable.