Abstract

Taboo words are those words that will make others dissatisfied or disgusted in certain contexts. So those words will be replaced by the other expressions which is more Euphemistic in our communication. And Pragmatics is a new brunch of Linguistics that mainly studies how the language contextual factors influences the using and understanding of a language. Taboo words shows how people use language in certain situations, so it belongs to the research scope of Pragmatics.

Pragmatists consider that language contextual factors is the most important factor that influences the using and understanding of language. And it’s generally believed that language contextual factors is mainly consisted of social, nationality, history, psychology and culture. Obviously, Chinese and English-speaking countries have differences in these aspects, so there will be differences of using taboo words.

This thesis will compare the differences between Chinese and taboo words from the angle of Pragmatics.

Key words: Pragmatics；Taboo words；Language contextual factors；The differences between China and the west

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-1

1.1 Background information-1

1.1.1 The definition of taboo words-1

1.1.2 The history of research of taboo words-1

1.1.3 The definition of Pragmatics-2

1.2 The purpose and significance of this research-3

1.2.1 The purpose of this research-3

1.2.2 The significance of this research-4

2  Literature Review-6

2.1 The features of Chinese taboo words-6

2.2 The features of English taboo words-7

3  The analysis of the differences-9

3.1 The differences between the using of Chinese and English taboo words....-9

3.2 How factors of Pragmatics causes these differences-10

3.2.1 The factors influence language using according to Pragmatics-10

3.2.2 The concrete reasons of the differences-11

3.2.2.1 Social-11

3.2.2.2 Nationality-11

3.2.2.3 History-12

3.2.2.4 Psychology-12

3.2.2.5 Culture-14

4  Conclusion-15

Bibliography- 16

Appendix-17

Acknowledgements-18