委婉语定义

委婉语定义 1.1. Definition in western Western linguists think the word “euphemism” comes from the Greek “eu”(meaning good) and “pheme” (meaning speech or saying),and thus, euphemism literally means “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner” (Neaman and Silver, 1990:32). Later on, euphemism is defined differently and more precisely. There are some definitions of euphemism below: (1) The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt. (Webster’s Dictionary of American English, Random House, Inc.1997) (2) the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought substituted.(Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language,1996) (3) A polite word or expression that you use instead of a more direct one to avoid shocking or upsetting someone. (4) that figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a word or expression of comparatively favorable implication or less unpleasant associations, instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is intended(Oxford English Dictionary) (5) The Random H in 1979 defined the meaning of euphemism as “the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt”. 1.2. Definition in China Euphemism has existed in the Chinese language for thousand years. The earliest literary application of euphemism is found in the Book Of Song(诗经)，a book ththcontaining Chinese poems composed between the 11 century B.C. and the 6 century B.C. Take the Mountain Gales(谷风) for example, in “there below the mountain gales; foul weather still prevails”(习习谷风，以阴以雨)，the author indicate that the unfortunate event is going to take place by describing cloudy weather and rain. . Chen Wangdao (1997) defined euphemism as a figure of speech in which roundabout and implicit words and expressions are used to substitute direct expressions to hint the meaning. “Weiwan (委婉)” is a figure of speech in Chinese. It is also called “wanqu (婉曲)” or “wanzhuan(婉转)”. Another figure of speech in Chinese is called “bihui (避讳)” or “huishi (讳饰)”. The combination of the figure of speech “weiwan (委婉)” and the figure of speech “bihui (避讳)” in Chinese is equivalent to the figure of speech “euphemism” in English (Li Guonan, 2001:190). “Euphemism is the figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a word or expression of comparative favorable implication or less unpleasant associations instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is instead”. (赵政清, 1996: 153) In a word Euphemisms are pleasant, polite or harmless sounding words or expressions used to make harsh, rude or infamous truths. Perhaps, in all cultures there seem to be certain notions or things that people try to avoid mentioning directly, though there are such terms in language. When these notions or things have to be referred to, people tend to use words or expressions that sound better. These words or expressions are termed as euphemisms.