Abstract

Taboo is a universal cultural phenomenon existing in human society, and its origin can be traced back to the beginning of human birth. As a standard of behavior that is custom in psychology or spirit, taboo custom is not only a strict restriction on the words and deeds in daily life, but also the practice and mapping of a nation's culture.

As a component of a national culture, taboo customs are also indigenous. Due to the need for cultural exchanges, understand cultural connotations similarities and differences under the different cultural background taboo custom and its implication is particularly important, it will help us to overcome the lack of communication barriers in cross-cultural communication because of the taboo of understanding. This thesis is devoted to the comparative study of taboos in Chinese and English. First of all, through the comparison and analysis of Chinese culture and English culture, especially the common and universal taboo customs in Anglo American culture, this paper explores the similarities and differences of taboo customs in the two cultural backgrounds. These taboos related to people's daily life, human and objects etc.. Secondly, on the basis of the comparison of Taboos between Chinese and English, this paper further analyzes and reveals the cultural implication implied and implied by some taboos.

Key words:intercultural communication; cultural comparison; traditional taboo

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction 5

2. A comparison between Chinese and British cultural taboos5

2.1 Taboos in Chinese and British wedding and marriage cultures-5

2.2 Taboos in Chinese and British food Culture-6

2.3 Taboos in Chinese and Britishlanguage and phraseology-8

2.4 Taboos in Chinese and Britishsocial communication10

3. An analysis of Chinese and British cultural taboos 

3.1 Similarities of taboos in Chinese and British cultures 12

3.2 Differences of taboosbetween Chinese and British cultures-13

4. Conclusion14

References-15

Acknowledgements16