Abstract

 Intercultural communication refers to the communication between people who differ in language and culture. Language is the carrier of culture and speech taboo is a special social phenomenon exists in Chinese and Western culture. Now with the close ties between countries, people’s cross-cultural exchanges often encounter many sensitive issues, mainly because of the lack of sufficient knowledge and understanding of the taboo language. Violating the taboo of the others usually causes the deterioration of the communication scene, leads communication conflicts between the two sides, and finally results in the failure of communication. Although there are many differences between Chinese and English taboos, the contradictions and conflicts in the process of communication can be reduced as long as people know the taboo of each other, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble and facilitate the smooth flow of communication. This paper discusses some general situations of the taboos, including the definition and characteristics of taboo. Through the analysis of the meaning and characteristics of taboo, this paper clarifies the scope of taboo language. At the same time, the similarities and differences of the taboo between Chinese and English are analyzed, and the reasons of the formation of taboo in Chinese and English are expounded from the aspects of social and cultural factors and politeness factor. At last the strategies to avoid the conflict and embarrassment in cross-cultural communication are put forward to promote the smooth progress of international communication.

Keywords: cross-cultural communication；taboo；similarities；differences

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1.Introduction.1

2.Literature Review1

3.The Features of Taboo.2

3.1 Universality2

3.2 Nationality3

3.3 Time characteristics3

3.4 Implicativeness.4

4.A Contrastive Analysis of Taboo in Chinese and English..5

4.1 Similarities of taboos in Chinese and English..5

4.2 Differences between Chinese and English taboos..6

4.3 Causes of taboos in Chinese and English.7

5.Strategies of Avoiding Taboo in Cross-cultural Communication.9

5.1 To master taboo differences9

5.2 To use euphemism..10

5.3 To use body language.10

6.Conclusion..11

Works Cited12