ABSTRACT

Death is a topic that people never want to talk about. Whenever talking about death, people will feel fear, panic and sadness. At the very first, people did not understand the natural rules governing the world, so they were afraid of death. With time passing by, more and more death euphemisms have been created by people. By using a euphemism, we can say the same thing in a softer, indirect and vague manner. Whether in Chinese or English, there are more than 400 death euphemisms. Thus, whenever we study euphemisms, we should pay much attention to death euphemisms.

    This thesis, based on main theories of death euphemisms, mainly discusses the similarities and differences between Chinese and English death euphemisms. Besides, the reasons for these similarities and differences are also explored from the respects of national psychological structures, ways of thinking, social customs, culture and tradition. The author hopes that this study will help people to better understand the characteristics of nations and decrease the pragmatic failures in cross-cultural communication, and also help to improve translation quality between these two languages. 

Key words: comparative study; death euphemisms; language taboo; cross-cultural communication

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 Previous Studies of Euphemisms-3

2.2 Previous Studies of Death Euphemisms-4

Chapter Three DEATH EUPHEMISMS-6

3.1 Euphemisms-6

3.1.1 Definition and classification-6

3.1.2 Features-8

3.1.2.1 Indirectness and relevance-8

3.1.2.2 Fuzziness-8

3.1.2.3 Pleasantness-9

3.1.2.4 Ethnics-9

3.2 Death Euphemisms-9

Chapter Four THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DEATH EUPHEMISMS-11

4.1 The Similarities of Death Euphemisms between Chinese and English-11

4.1.1 In terms of origin-11

4.1.2 In terms of emotional colouring-11

4.1.3 In terms of metaphorical technique-12

4.2 The Differences of Death Euphemisms between Chinese and English-12

4.2.1 In terms of structures-12

4.2.2 In terms of social values-13

4.2.3 In terms of religious beliefs-14

4.2.4 In terms of characteristics of human nature-15

Chapter Five SIGNIFICANCE OF THE COMPARATIVE STUDY-17

5.1 To Improve Cross-cultural Communication-17

5.2 To Improve the Translation Quality of Death Euphemisms-17

5.3 To Improve Foreign Language Teaching-17

Chapter Six CONCLUSION-19

WORKS CITED-21