英语语言与文化lecture.ppt

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1、Euphemism,Lecturer-zhouwei,He is a bicycle doctor.”此句不能译作:他是个骑单车的医生,因句中的doctor是委婉语(euphemism),是某种职业的美称,故不作医生解,而是表示repair man的涵义,因此应翻译为他是个自行车修理工.,常用委婉语举例,原 称 委 婉 语无线电修理工radio electrician radio doctor理发师 barbercosmotologist家庭妇女 housewifehousehold executive收垃圾工人 garbage collectorsanitary engineer老人 old

2、 peoplesenior citizens,Outline,I.Introduction 1.1 Definition of Euphemism 1.2 The Features of Euphemism 1.3 The Functions of Euphemism 1.4the ways how euphemism come into beingII.The Application of EuphemismIII.A Comparison of Euphemism between English and ChineseIV.Translation Strategies of Euphemi

3、sm,I.Introduction,1.1 Definition:Euphemism is originated from the ancient Greek“euphemismos,”in which the prefix“eu”means“good”or“elegant”and the root“pheme”means“speaking”or“words”.The Random House College Dictionary defines it as“a substitution of a mild,indirect,or vague expression for one though

4、t to be offensive,harsh or blunt.”语言与语言学词典把委婉语定义为“用一种不明说的、能使人感到愉快的或含糊的说法,代替具有令人不悦的含义或不够尊敬的表达方法”.,Euphemism 一词源于希腊语，由吉利话（Words of good omen）的意思，现在普遍使用的委婉语定义是“温和，含糊和迂回的说法对粗俗、生硬和直率的替代”。,委婉语起源于远古,维多利来女王时代中期为其鼎盛时期,在现代英语中,其出现频率依然颇高,因为人们通过委婉语,可以用温顺悦耳的词语去谈论或叙述一些原来令人不快或逆耳之事物.为此,他们用domestic help,day help或live

5、-in help代替mail或servant(佣人);以custodian或superintendent替代doorkeeper,caretaker或janitor(看门人或管理人);用She has a tile loose或She has a cylinder missing去代替She is crazy或She is not right in the head(神经失常).,1.2 Features,1.2.1 Time.The same object may have different expressions in different times.For example,“trous

6、ers”had several substitutions as“indescribables,unspeakables,sit-upons”and so on several hundred years ago.The followings take“pregnant”as an example to illustrate the changes of euphemism in different times.,1)She has canceled all her social engagements.(1856)2)She is in an interesting condition.(1

7、890)3)She is in a delicate condition.(1895)4)She is knitting little booties.(1910)5)She is in a family way.(1920)6)She is expecting.(1935)7)She is pregnant.(1956),More,1.2.2 Regional.For example,“沉”is a taboo along the seaside regions,thus the boat owner whose family name is“陈”is often segmented int

8、o“耳东”.In Tianjing,“添煤”is a taboo during spring festival and must be replaced by“添火”.“书,梳”are avoided to mention before a match as its pronunciation is similar with“输”which means“losing”.,And,1.2.3 Language register(语域性).People of different ages,social status,or educational background use different e

9、uphemisms.For example,ladies might replace“going to the toilet”with“powder ones nose or freshen up”,while men with“to relieve oneself,because natures calls”;and children with“go to number one,go to the pot.,And,1.2.4 Universal.Although people of different classes may use various euphemisms to replac

10、e the same thing,it is,however,an universal social phenomenon which exists in peoples daily communication.1.2.5 National 1.2.6 Idiomatic and Short-lived1.2.7 Casual,II.The Application of Euphemism,2.1 Such taboos as“appearance,old,disease and death”.For example,“plain and homely”replace“ugly”,“weigh

11、t watcher,plumy,and stout”are used to replace“fat”,“slender,lean”to replace“skinny”.In western countries,“old”is a taboo,thus many substations have appeared,such as“advanced in age,senior,elderly”.As for“disease”,“long disease”is to replace“cancer”while“heart condition”for“heart attack disease”.“Dea

12、th”is a taboo for all human beings and has the largest number of substitutions.It is said that there are almost 102 euphemisms for death in English,it is also rich in substitution for death in Chinese.,More,2.2 About sex.2.3 About poverty.For example,“needy”for“poor”,“substandard housing”for“slum”.M

13、any decent euphemisms are created to satisfy peoples vanity.For instance,“garbage collector”“street orderly”and“sanitary engineer”for“dust man”,“assistant”for“secretary”and so on.,More,2.4 In education,euphemism are found prolific.(page 80 for examples).2.5 In social affairs such as economic difficu

14、lties,political relations,euphemisms are used to beatify or cover up the truth so as to distract the publics attention.(page 79-81 for more examples),1.3 Functions of Euphemism,1.3.1 To invite good luck.1.3.2 To be elegant 1.3.3 To be polite1.3.4 To cover up the truth-to be continued,Whats more,1、代替

15、禁忌语，这些委婉语通常称传统委婉语，种种语言都有一些词语属于忌讳的范围。这是因为客观存在的某些事物或思想，受到社会制约，不宜直说，而必须用另一钏说法却取代，这就是委婉语，英语中的忌讳语多是与身体某些器官及功能或宗教有关，包括脏话（obscene）粗俗语（vulgar）和触犯神灵的话（profane）与性有关的的人们最忌讳的，所以骂人常用这些话，,英语中的一些词如fuck、cut、penis都有相关的委婉表达法，人们经常不愿说go to toilet而是说go to washing room或restroom等，另一类禁忌语产生于人产对神灵的恐惧和崇拜，他们使用委婉语，一是因为神灵不可侵犯，二是

16、因为他们认为神灵太神奇可怕，这种禁忌语存在于人与动物上，就像印度人把“牛”看做神灵一样，不同的民族都有其惧怕和崇拜的动物。,2、用于谈论敏感话题，一些敏感话题，也促进了委婉语的发展，这些话题是包括死亡、疾病、体重、年龄、私人事务、身体或精神缺陷、财富、贫穷、社会层次，职业及其欺骗、偷窃、杀人酿酒、吸毒、自杀罪过以及近几年来出现的下岗等话题。,英语中出现的此类委婉语举不胜举，如说die（dean）常用的有pass on，pass away，expire任何一件工作都可称为professions，于是各种职业竞相媲美；将garbage collector尊称sanitation engineer，

17、没有任何职业的house wife也可称为 housemaper。,3、除此之外，在教育、商业、政治、军事、外交等领域来加强说服，粉饰、欺骗和残酷或为了易于接受。商业上为了招徕生意，正在充分利用委婉语，电视台觉得用commercial 太露骨，而代以message used car称为pre-oune car，pornography称为adult books。,政治上的委婉语也在扩大使用美国政客不喜欢politician这个词，他们自称legislator，而且肆意利用委婉语达到不可告人的目的，如为了掩饰社会矛盾，否认poor的存在，只讲disadvantaged/underprivilege

18、d，贫民们也由slum变成了substandard housing，这些都是美国政客们常用的伎俩。,4、自谦委婉语，是说话者故意降低自己身份来抬高对方，对示尊敬和谦虚，如英语中自称：“your bumble servant”，在汉语中的自己为“部队”，妻子为“内人”，“儿子”为“犬子”等等。,1.4the ways how euphemism come into being,1、利用语言手段形成委婉语。委婉是避免某些字眼和声音的出现，使用语音手段可以从听觉上和视觉上隐藏某些不该说或不想说的词语，以达到更好的交际效果，具体又包括省音和避音。,省音：省音是通过简写或缩写某些音节以达到委婉目的，如英

19、语中把garbage man称为G-man，用lav代替lavatory。海湾战争中出现了HRP（装尸体用的袋子）和SLUD（受害者流泪、遗尿等现象）样的缩略词，来掩盖战争的痛苦。,避音：避音是指在交际中为了委婉故意避开某些音。在黑人面前，讲英语的人尽量不说niggard一词，因为它听起来象mugger，在双语环境产这些情况更常见。泰国学生在英语世界中不说泰语词fag（sheath）和prig（pepper），以免被误解成为fuck和prick，汉语中我们忌讳“送钟”谈的话和行为，喜欢带8的号码，如车号、电话号（8音近似“发”间）而不喜欢带4的号码（4音近似“死”音）。,某些语境中，说话者可使

20、用升调讲话表示商量的口气，会显得缓和有礼貌。2、利用语义手段形成委婉语。从语义角度讲，委婉分褒义委婉语（positivisms）和否定委婉语（negative euphemism）前者使用语义得以扬开，如称garbage collector为sanitation engineer，称janitors为custodians，汉语中称“护士”为“医生”等，后者是降低所指的非委婉语义特点，象英语中用gee代替God，heck代替hell。,谈话中要避开的事实上不是语言符号本身，而是与这相连的含义，由于种种的社会原因，指同一客体的两个词，一个是委婉高雅，另一个则粗俗令人难以接受，虽然委婉语的所指与其代

21、替符号的指一样，但是，它的字面意义变了，至少听起来好听，所以语义手段且要婉的主要手段。,3、利用某些修辞格使语义转移形成委婉语。,用明喻法（metonymy）Buttocks代reared用go to bed with sb代have sex with sb。用暗喻法（metaphor）如用cherry，forget-me-not和go to slecp forever代by men condom die。用派调陈述法（understatement）如用plain代ugly用slow指stupid，用zap代kill。用对比法（contrast）如称butcher为meat，typist为se

22、cretary等。,4、用语法手段形成委婉语。Bollinger（1981：148）说过，“委婉语不仅限制在词汇层次，使用一些语法手段也可增加话语的委婉度”。在英语中，过去时的使用能增强委婉含蓄的效果，有许多句子以I wanted，I wondered，could you开头，如Iodide if you would mind helping me？这样的请求帮助即可为对方拒绝留用余地又不至于尴尬。,5、用句法上否定形成委婉语，Not pretty是ugly的委婉语，因为前者范围比后者方，Not pretty也可能是“一般”，不一定就是ugly。类似的用法还用in no small measu

23、re，in no uncertain terms等等。,利用虚拟语气委婉否定义法与I don,t think，I,m afraid，I wish。I,m not sure，more than,too,much,particularly等成分连用。巧用人称代词，常用“我们”或“我们的”往往比常用“我”或“你”的人更受欢迎。一位和蔼的医生可能说How do we feel today？,替换和省略，替换指用表现不相关的词，外来词或外语词代替某些词。在美国说送某人去the big house是送他进监狱。汉语“扯谈”一词中的“谈”代替的是“蛋”。学外语的中国学生也常借用外来语来充当委婉，但由于我们感

24、觉不到其力量或色彩，于是外语中本来要避开的某些词却成为我们的委婉语。,省略：即省掉某些用法中的某个成分或上、下文中省掉这些用法，使表面意义有所改变以成委婉。Someone is out是someone is out of work的省略方式，C-girl是call girl的省略，汉语文学作品中常见到到类似的符合代替某些脏话。,6、利用语用段形成委婉。语用学研究的里语言的使用，委婉语的使用也是语用学的一个课题。人是“社会人”，与别人和整个社会总是有各种联系。与别人和整个社会总是有各种联系，与人交往就离不开别人的帮助，但怎样才能做到“有求必应”呢？这就要看你是否会使用委婉的语用手段。,显然对“你

25、能递给我那本书吗？”一句不能用“能”或“不能”来回答，这实际是一个礼貌的请求而非问句。当有人说It,s interesting，来回答what do you think of my new dress？时，意思说明显，I don,t like it。这样改变原话的言外之意，“顾左右而言吧”并没有掩盖住我们说话的真正意图，且能更好地表达自己的言后之意。,III.A Comparison of Euphemism between English and Chinese,3.1 Indirect and direct expressive ways are used to refer to the

26、same thing.In western countries,people believe in Christen,they think that to call god or devil directly might bring themselves disasters,thus many euphemisms are created to replace god or devil.“The Black One”,“Old Boy”“The Tempter”,“Old Harry”“the Wicked One”etc.are used to replace“devil”.,While C

27、hinese have no universal religious belief and so they are direct to talk about devils.In Chinese,the social order and family order are very strict,thus some euphemisms on names are created,but in western countries,people believe in“all men are created equal”so they often call each other by given nam

28、es.,More,3.2 Some expressive ways are euphemisms on one side,but offensive on the other side.(old)3.3 The similar euphemisms may have different connotations on both sides.For example“go west”has religious color in Chinese while it has no such connotation in English.“Sunset years”both refer to“old ag

29、e”,but it is optimistic in English and pessimistic in Chinese.,IV.Translation Strategies of Euphemism,4.1 直译法.对于民族文化色彩十分浓厚的委婉语,直译有利于保留原文形象,同时也可以引进新颖的表达方式,丰富本民族的语言表达法.,1)I used to think that I was poor.Then they told me that I wasnt poor.I was needy.Then they told me it was self-defeating to think of

30、 myself as needy.I was deprived,then they told me that deprived was a bad phrase,bad image.I was under-privileged.,They told me under-privileged was overused.I was disadvantaged.The social worker said I belong to the low-income brackets.I still dont have a dime but I have a great vocabulary.,Transla

31、tion,过去我一直认为自己穷,可他们认为我并不“穷”,只是“需要接济”;然后他们又对我说,认为自已“需要接济”太丢脸，我只是“缺少好的生活条件”后来他们又说“缺少良好的生活条件”不是个好字眼，形象不佳我属于“享受权益较少”的阶层，可他们又说“享受权益较少”这个词用得太滥了，我只是“处境不佳”社会福利工作者说我属于“低收入阶层”如今我仍是身无分文，却拥有了很多新词,More,4.2 直译加注法 对于那些民族色彩浓厚，而译入语中又没有相应的表达方式，为了清楚表达，可采用直译加注法2)white meat and dark meat译成“鸡胸肉”“鸡腿肉”(维多利亚时代，受过良好教育的上层女子言语

32、中不能直接有“胸，腿”等字眼，否则会受非议,4.3 译本义法.东方文化讲究含蓄、谦恭，英语文化则直接表达真实的见解，注重精神。因此，汉语中众多的谦词和与敬语在英译过程中就不能做到完全对等，在这种情况下可采取译本义法。寒舍：my house,my place 贱内：my wifeOh,dear!噢，天哪！The eternal 永恒的主您的高见 your opinion,More,4.4 变通译法。对于英汉文化中一些非常独特的委婉语，还可以采用变通方法处理，通过解释表达原文之意。苦绛珠魂归离恨天。Unhappy Vermilion Pearls Spirit Returns in Sorrow

33、to Heaven,再看两个委婉语的例子,Nowadays many weight-watchers would like to go to the gym.如今有不少胖人喜欢到健身房去锻炼.They are the culturally deprived.他们是没有学识的人.,值得注意的是,委婉语虽然是古已有之,于今为烈,但决不能用得过多过滥.使用时要考虑场合和对象,如用得不得体,反而会使你欲礼而不达,甚至令人不知所云,一头雾水.You can find doctors and doctors in Hongkong！在香港，既有好医生，也有坏医生。这句话不能译作：“在香港，你能看到很多很多的医生”。,Homework,1.please review chapter 9 Please preview chapter 103.please try to use euphemism if it is possible,