Abstract:Language, an important tool for human communication, is produced in the process of human labor. Language also bears the character of arbitrary; however, given more observation, one can easily find that in actual communication, people do not usually say what they want. In certain cultures and occasions, people will avoid certain words or topics. People are unwilling or afraid to mention those topics or words at will. This is taboo phenomenon in language. Language taboos, due to their own sensitivity, have always been a taboo area in the field of linguistics. However, as a special linguistic phenomenon, taboos exist in every culture and are restricted by social culture. Taboos in different languages and cultures are quite different. If they are not properly understood, they will lead to misunderstandings, conflicts and even more serious consequences, thus disrupting communication and failing. Therefore, in order to increase mutual understanding between people in different cultural backgrounds and avoid conflicts, it is necessary to learn and master English and Chinese taboos. In this paper, first of all, the relevant knowledge of taboos were discussed. It aims to make readers have a clearer understanding of taboos. And then specifically discusses the theoretical background of taboos research: context theory and face theory. Finally, the author of this paper makes an analysis of Chinese taboo and English taboo for the purpose of finding the similarities and differences, and some strategies for avoiding taboos intercultural communication were briefly discussed.

Key words: Taboo; Similarities and differences; Intercultural communication; Strategy

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Introduction-1

Chapter 1 An Overview of Taboo-2

1.1 Definition of Taboo-2

1.2 Sources of Taboo-2

1.3 Context Theory and Face Theory-3

Chapter 2 A Contrastive Study of Chinese and English Taboos-5

2.1 The Similarities Between Chinese and English Taboos-5

2.1.1 Taboos on the Names of Saints-5

2.1.2 Taboos on Blasphemies and Expletive-6

2.1.3 Taboos on Life and Death-7

2.2 The Differences Between Chinese and English Taboos-8

2.2.1 Color Taboos-8

2.2.2 Digital Taboos-10

2.2.3 Name and Title Taboos-11

2.2.4 Topic Taboos-12

Chapter 3 Avoidance Strategies of Taboo-14

3.1 Learning foreign culture-14

3.2 Mastering the differences of different taboos-14

3.3 Using euphemism-15

Conclusion-16

References-17

Acknowledgements-19