【正文】 第三章主要是對比有關(guān)死亡，貧困，婚姻，懷孕和疾病方面的中英委婉語。委婉語是為了避免禁忌語，且存在于各種文化和社會中。然而又很多東西是不能直接說的，有很多詞語會讓人尷尬和不愉快。因此，為了避免冒犯以及誤會，人們在交流的時候通常用一些間接的以及令人愉快的表達(dá)來代替那些令人不高興的粗魯?shù)脑~語。為了幫助語言學(xué)習(xí)者更好的了解和掌握委婉語，這篇論文 主要討論了英語委婉語和中國委婉語在文化上的不同。由此得出結(jié)論，如果想要學(xué)好一門語言，就有必要了解這門語言的文化。在第二章，作者介紹了委婉語，語言以及文化三者的關(guān)系。委婉語在人們的日常交流中扮演著重要的角色。 Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………..…………..…I English Abstract………………………… ………………………… …………. … … II Chinese Abstract… ……… ……………………………………… …………. … … ….III Chapter1 Introduction………………………………………………… .……..…… … 1 definition of euphemism……………………………………… .… … 1 features of euphemism……………………………………… .……… 2 characteristic……………………………………………… 2 feature……………………………………………… .…… 2 and Implicit……………………………………………… 3 ……………………………… ………………… …… …3 …………………… …………………………………… .… …3 ………………………… ………………………… .… … ..4 Chapter 2 Euphemism, Language and Culture………………………………… ..…… 5 definition of culture……………………………………… ..………… 5 and culture………………… ………………………… ..……… 6 and culture…………………………………………… ..…… 6 Chapter 3 A Comparison About English and Chinese Euphemism………… ..……… 8 for death……… …………………………………………… 8 for old age…………………………………………… .…… 9 for poverty………………………………………… ...…… 10 for marriage and pregnancy……………………………… 11 for disease………………………… ……………………… 12 Chapter4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………… 14 References…………………………………………………………………………… 15 第 I 頁 Acknowledgements This thesis is a result of contributions from many supporting individuals. During the process of writing, I have received various kinds of help from many people. Because of their help, I have finished writing this thesis so smoothly. Here, I want to render my sincere thanks to all the teachers and classmates who have given me their help in the last four years. The help is not only one of the most important treasures deserving cherishing all my life, but also will be a perfect guide in my life in the future. My deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to my supervisor – Ms. Peng Qiying. In this short but sufficient period, she has given me many good suggestions for the materials and the ways of anizing ideas. Without her consistent instructions, this thesis would not have reached its present form. My sincere thanks are also owed to all the teachers who have taught me during the four years of my university study. I also thank the library of Guizhou University and the library of our college for providing me with the facilities and sources that I needed for my research and writing. I also acknowledge my sincere thanks to all my classmates and friends who have enriched my life with their generous help and precious friendship. The finishing of my thesis is not an end but a new beginning. I believe that I can do better and better in my future life. Thank you again, my supervisor, my classmates and my teachers. 第 II 頁 Abstract One of the most important ways for our human beings to municate with others is language. Language is an important means for people to maintain their social relationship. However, there are many things which are supposed to be unspeakable. Many words also make people embarrassed and unhappy. So, in order to avoid the offensiveness and misunderstandings, people usually use the indirect or pleasant expressions to replace with those unpleasant and rude words in munication. We call that euphemism. Euphemism plays an important role in people?s social munication and exists in almost every culture and society. In order to help the language learner to understand euphemism better, this thesis mainly explores the cultural differences between English and Chinese euphemisms. In chapter one, the author introduces the definition and features of euphemism. In chapter two, the author introduces the relationship between euphemism, language and culture. Chapter three is mainly a contrastive study of English and Chinese euphemism from these aspects: euphemisms of death, poverty, marriage, pregnancy and disease. Then the author brings to the conclusion that if the language learners want to learn a foreign language well, it is better that he has a good knowledge of its culture. Key Words： euphemism, definition, feature, culture, difference 第 III 頁 摘要 語言是人與人交流的最重要的方法，也是保持社會關(guān)系的重要方法。那些詞語就叫做委婉語。在第一章，作者介紹了委婉語的定義和特點(diǎn)。 關(guān)鍵詞 ：委婉語；定義；特點(diǎn)；文化； 差別 第 1 頁 Chapter 1 Introduction The definition of Euphemism Verbal munication is one of the most important methods people apply to maintain the social relationship. In order to avoid the offensiveness in munication, people usually use some polite or pleasant words to replace the rude or embarrassing ones. Therefore, euphemism emerges. Euphemism is a mon linguistic phenomenon in all cultures, it takes an very important role in people?s daily munication. Euphemism is originated from the Greek. Its prefix “eu” means good, pleasant, and its root “pheme” means speech. Thus, euphemism literally means “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner” (Neaman and Silver, 1990:32). According to Allan and Burridge (1991:11), the definition of euphemism is: A euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either one?s own face or through going offense, that of the audience, or of some third party. Many people have defined euphemism. There are some definitions of euphemism below: (1) mild or vague expression substituted for a harsher or more direct one. (Pocket Oxford EnglishChinese Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1996) (2) 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, ) (3) (an example of) the use of a more pleasant, less direct name for so