TheComparisonofTaboosbetweenEnglishandChinese-最新文档

1、The Comparison of Taboos between English and Chinese： Taboo is a prevailing social and cultural phenomenon. In different cultures， taboo is varied.Comparative analysis of taboos between English and Chinese helps people understand the cultural connotation and different concepts of values and ethics.

2、It is helpful for international communication and cultural exchange freely and comfortably.Taboo is a commonly existing cultural phenomenona mong nations in the world which regulates people s language and social communication. The great difference between Chinese and western culture directly results

3、 in the great difference between Chinese and English taboo. So ， taboo exiting both in Chinese and English .With the consideration of the different cultures and customs， we should avoidusing offensive expression： taboo ， in internationalcommunication. In the process of the development of language an

4、d society ， taboo is the product of their constant interaction. Sociolinguistics is a branch of linguistics disciplines to the study of humanl anguage fromthe perspective of social perspective. Thus， it opened up a new field of language“ Taboo”， the discussion of therelation between the taboo and la

5、nguage is conducive to English teach ing and communication. Whats more， it can also help us to have a better understanding of attitudes and thinking models between China and Britain.1. The origin and background of taboo“Taboo”， literally translated as“塔布” inChinese ， means “need extreme attention to

6、 do”. Itbelongs to Tonga in Polynesia.“Taboo” also means holy ，untouchable and was forbidden used at that time. It has two aspects about this phenomenon. One is that the respected sacred items cannot be literally used and the other one is people cant touch the hindering things casually. The producti

7、on of taboo word has its own age reasons. When it was ancient ages， people had blind faith in ghosts and gods and worship God. Those things linked with ghosts and gods would not be talked casually as it might bring unfortunate to them. So it is the original reason about the taboo word. At the same t

8、ime ， except the region element， with thedevelopment of our society and the globalization of the whole world on custom ， culture tradition ，self-cultivation and communication also have a great impact on the appearance of taboo word. In different cultures ， the contents and forms of taboo are differe

9、nt. What we should do is to know about them then have a good communication with others.2. The similaritiesbetween English and Chinese taboo2.1 In PronunciationBoth Chinese people and westerners believe that saying words that imply misfortunes or disasters may bring trouble. People consider that repl

10、acing taboo words with homophones would prevent misfortunes.In China ， a lot of taboos are caused by superstitions. There is a custom in Shanxi province that mulberries cannot be planted in front of the house and willows cannot be planted behind the house. The reason is that the Chinese word “sang/桑

11、” sounds the same like another Chinese word “sang/丧”，“li/ 梨” sounds the samea s “li /离”. These words may impact that there will be a funeral or departure. In China ， clocks cannot be presented as gifts in ceremonies ， because “clock ” pronounces “zhong/钟” which has the same pronunciation as“zhong/终”

12、 whichmeans death in Chinese. Many similar examples also can befound in western countries. Whena word sounds the same asa taboo word ， it needs to be changed. For instance， inearlier 18th century ， the female in English and American countries always tried to avoid using the word ass（thebottom part o

13、f the body one sits on）， which was considered inelegant ， so people called the animal ass as donkey.Another typical example is that“fuck （ a sail ）”，“feck ” or “fack （fact ）”are seldom used or even go out of use ， because they pronounce the same as“fuck ”.2.2 In Vocabulary2.2.1 Taboos on disease and

14、 deathDisease and death is the regular pattern and it is the commont opic and cannot be avoided to people. There are many reasons why they are unwilling to mention it ， maybe they are afraid of it and think it will bring unlucky to them.But the most important one would be the burden of their psychol

15、ogy. Death is the most feared thing in the world.When people die ， peop le do not use“dead” or “deathto directly talkabout the death people.In China ， peoplereplace“death ”with words as “安息”，“长眠”，“谢世”，“仙逝”，“夭折”，“永别”，“作古”， “逝世”，“辞世”，“寿终”，“牺牲”，“百年了”，“走了”. In English ， people use many other euphemisms

16、to express d isease or death. Such as “be safe in the arms of Jesus”， “be asleep in the valley ”，“be in Abrahams bosom”， “be promoted to glory ”，“be taken to paradise ”， “breathe ones last ”etc. At the same time， when we talked about someone was ill or got serious diseases ， we also have tactful add

17、ress. For instance ， we will say “Are you feeling OK ？”to replace “Are you ill ？”. And we will use “C.C” to take the place of canner. Venereal disease substitute for “V.D”.2.2 Tabooson religion and GodThe Ten Commandmentso f Bible has prescribed ， “Thou shat not take the name of the Lord thy God in

18、vain； forthe Lord will not hold him guiltlessthat take his name invain. ” In oral English， using the English words ofreligion ， such as God， devil ， heaven ， hell ， Christ ， Jesus ， damn would be considered blasphemous and would be punished ， so people often use golly ， gosh instead of God. In the C

19、hinese view of thinking， God enjoys such anabsolutely high power that no one or other things have a capability to exceed. If a person wants to cite god as his witness while making his vows， such phrases as “天”（ sky ）“上天作证”， “对天发誓”， or “上苍见证” will be chosen to express his feeling. Besides， people hav

20、e suchexpression in Chinese as “妖魔鬼怪”，“钟馗捉鬼” and “鬼来了” .2.3 Taboos on sexual discriminationIn both English and Chinese， there are lots oflanguages whose centre is depended on man. They are partial to and side with man while belittle woman. The most obvious example is that people will not use“she” to

21、 instead of“he” in communication as well asto Chinese when thesexual distinction is not clear. The host will call woman “chairman ” even “madam chairman”. In ancient China ， womena re thought as ignorance ， lower status ，“womans view （妇人之见）”， “long hair with short experience （头发长见识短）” and so on. Whi

22、le the husband may call his wife as in home（家里的）”， “the behind （后头的）” or “humble wife （贱内）” . As for Chinese characters ， there are lot of words with evil meaning formed by“女”，suchas “奸”， “嫖”， and “婊”. So it is unfair for people to look down on woman.In conclusion ， the taboo in English and Chinese

23、have some similar characters and tendency. Though there may belots of differences on geography ， languages ， customs and other aspects ， the thought of one thing cant be totally contrary ， it is the general character of human.3. The differences between English and Chinese taboo3.1 Taboos in Privacy

24、Regarding Age， Weight ， Income and so on.As is known to all ， the westerners place a high value on privacy. They are self-centered and hold the views that their individual interests cant be invaded at any time. The questions related to ones age， weight ， income ，marriage will never be asked； otherwi

25、se they will enticemore prejudice and offence. Yet， it is not the case in China. In fact ， there is no equivalent t erm for “privacy ” in Chinese. The spirit of collectivism is treasured by Chinese people from one generation to another. On the other hand，Chinese people enjoy living together with the

26、ir family members because it is a way to show harmony in the Chinese view of thinking. It is not strange for us to find that even people from different families share a big courtyard in China. Further ， people in China dont favor changing their homes frequently from one place to another. Consequentl

27、y ， the Chinese family members always live in one place throughthe whole life and they are ought to be very family with people who share the courtyard with them. We have a saying to the effect that “远亲不如近邻”， which means when in trouble ， the one who can help you is not the relatives who live far awa

28、y from you， but your neighbors.3.2Taboos in NumberIn China ， the number “4” sounds the same as the another Chinese word “si/ 死（death）”. Whenp eople say the number “4”， it reminds them of “death ”， so people avoid saying the number or even using it in phone numbers， license plate and so on. Among the

29、 elderly， they think“73” and “84” are two key ages. If they are 73 or 84 years old ， they might die before the king of hell invites them. Therefore ，many elders avoid talking about their exact ages. While in western countries， one of the mostinfluential taboo numbers is 13. According to the story of

30、 “The last supper ”， Judas sat in the 13th chair. Therefore ， number thirteen is considered to be unlucky. Just as Chinese people dislike number“4”， thewesterners avoid number thirteen in every aspect.“13”will not be door s number or room s number. People even dont allow 13 people have dinner togeth

31、er. Ordinarypeople feel upset on 13th in every month.3.3 Taboos in Naming and AddressingIn western countries ， people address others by using the first name such as Mike， Jane， and Eric etc. ratherthan by using complex address relating to rigid hierarchy in China. So the western people call others M

32、r. Brown， Mr. Jones， or Mrs. Wolf， even if they meet for the first time. And western children often call their parents or grandparents name directly while Chinese children should call their parents or grandparents respectfully. Whats more， in the English culture ， there are no such namet aboos. For

33、example ，“the British Prime Minister Churchillsfather was named Randolph Churchill ， and one of the Prime Minister s sons was also named Randolph Churchill. The grandfather and grandson had the same name. The American president Franklin D. Roosevelts son a lso had the samename with his father ”. In

34、China ， we have “三讳“国 讳，家讳，名人讳” that means the nameo f the dynasties and emperors ， the name of our fathers ， the name of important persons should be avoided. In the feudal dynasties of China ， emperors always emphasized and forced all their subjects to believe that they were endorsed their power by

35、the heaven to govern everything beneath it. So even if someone else shared the same name with an emperor or a single character in the emperors names， it must bechanged. Otherwise ， he or she was to be severely punished. For example， in the Qing dynasty the poet Xu Jun was killed because his poem had

36、 “Qing 清” in his poem “清风不识 字，何事乱翻书” . He was considered to humiliate the Qing Dynasty and killed by the emperor， but he wouldn t bekilled in other dynasties.4. Ways of avoidinglinguistic taboos4.1 Having a good knowledge of the taboo cultureLanguages and cultures rely on each other and influence ea

37、ch other. Languages are formed and developed under certain cultural background. So linguistic taboo is a kind of social phenomenon. Its existence and development are restricted and influenced by specific cultural background. If one wants to avoid violating taboos，he or she shouldhave a good knowledg

38、e of what is or is not a taboo in this culture. For example ， English people always connect the “old” with “uselessness ”and “death”. Therefore ， when contacting with English people， the saying of“somebody is old” should be avoided in order not to arouse unpleasantness. A smooth cross-cultural communication greatly benefits from the good command of a foreign language s cultural background knowledge.4.2 Using euphemismFrom the above discussion ， we know that some harsh ， blunt ， unpleasant offensive and tab