摘要

委婉语不仅是一种语言现象，也是一种文化和社会现象。在交际时，人们为了避免直接提及某些概念或事物，避免使用可能引起不快、不满或有损关系的语言，往往使用一些代用的、模糊的或暗示性的词语。由于英语委婉语在社会沟通中发挥重要的作用，他们值得仔细和深入的研究。所以，本文对英汉委婉语的文化内涵与语用功能做了初步研究。本文由五个部分组成，其中第二章和第三章为核心：第二章重点介绍委婉语的文化内涵。第三章论述了英汉委婉语的语用功能。第四章讲述了委婉语在不同领域的应用。最后一章总结了全文。知道这些都可以帮助我们提高我们的语言交际能力。

关键词：委婉语；文化内涵；语用功能
 
Abstract

Euphemism is not only a lingual phenomenon, but also a cultural and social phenomenon. In order to avoid direct reference to certain concepts or things, or to avoid the use of language that may cause unhappiness, dissatisfaction or undermine relationships, people often use some alternative, vague or implied terms. Since English euphemisms play an important role in social communication, they worth careful and thorough study. So the preliminary study on the cultural connotations and pragmatic functions of English and Chinese euphemism is made in this paper. This thesis is composed of five parts with Chapter Two and Three as its core: The second chapter focuses on the cultural connotations of euphemism. The third chapter discusses the pragmatic functions of English and Chinese euphemism. The fourth chapter talks about the application of euphemism in different fields. The last chapter concludes the whole thesis. To know these could help us improve our language communicative ability.

Key words: Euphemism；Cultural Connotations；Pragmatic Functions