【摘要】委婉语(euphemism)一词起源于希腊语。Eu意思是“好的”，pheme意思是“话语”，因此字面上的意思是说好听的话或用礼貌的方式说话。委婉语是一个语言学概念，同时也是一种文化现象，长久以来一直受到人们的关注。总体上讲人们在与异性进行言语交际时，要比在同性面前更多地使用委婉语，女性要比男性更多地使用委婉语，年长的人要比年青的人更多地使用委婉语。人们在“权势关系”的语境中往往要比在“亲密关系”的语境中更多地使用委婉语。受教育程度越高的人，越注意自己的言谈，因而更多地使用委婉语。上述因素年龄、性别、社会地位、教育等并不孤立存在，在交际中，他们交织在一起决定着委婉语的使用。是否使用委婉语还要考虑说话者的态度和交谈的目的。
文章由六个部分组成。第一部分解释了什么是委婉语。第二部分简单列出合作原则的各项原则。它作为语用学的理论基石之一，是指导人们语言交际的原则之一。它可以很好地解释话语的字面意义和实际意义的关系，这对于交际委婉语显得尤为重要。第三部分说明委婉语的构成可以有很多种方式：形式变化，语义变化，修辞手段和语法手段。第四部分阐述了交际委婉语出于替代、掩饰、和礼貌等功能。第五部分是文章的主体，并说明委婉语出于替代、掩饰、和礼貌等原因主要违反了合作原则中的质、量和方式三个次则，基本上是遵循了合作原则中的相关原则。第六部分总结全文。
【关键字】合作原则; 委婉语; 交际功能
1. IntroductionIn the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English – ChineseDictionary the explanation of Euphemism is "(example of the)use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place ofmore accurate or direct ones"[1]. And in the LongmanDictionary of Contemporary English the explanation ofEuphemism is "(an example of) the use of a pleasanter, lessdirect name for something thought to be unpleasant"[2]. Forexample, the man who wants to us to call him a “sanitationengineer” instead of a “garbage man” is hoping we will treathim with more respect than we presently do.
"The word 'euphemism' comes from the Greek eu meaning 'good'
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and pheme meaning 'speech' or 'saying', and thus meansliterally 'to speak with good words or in a pleasantmanner'"[3]. Euphemisms have various reasons for existence.
They conceal the things people fear the most—death, the dead,the supernatural. They cover up the facts of life—of sex andreproduction and excretion—which inevitably remind even themost refined people that they are made of clay, or worse. Theyare beloved by individuals and institutions (governments,especially) that are anxious to present only the handsomestpossible images of themselves to the world. And they areimbedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even thosewho pride themselves on being plainspoken, ever get through aday without using them. But some people still mistake theeuphemisms in the conversation by the Cooperative principle.
Violating the CP, people also can continue the conversationwith euphemisms, which make the author interest in attitudesof participants and the purpose of conversation. That is ourbody today.
2.Formation of euphemisms2.1 Formal innovationTo avoid the emergence of certain letter or sound may achievethe effect of euphemizing. The formal innovation can hideaudio-visually those words we don’t want to say or weshouldn’t say so as to achieve better outcome incommunication.
2.1.1AbbreviationAbbreviation is the shortening of a word and may be seen inthe use of the British expression LADIES for ladies’ room.
There also is GENTS for gentlemen’s room.
2.1.2 ApocopationApocopation is another form of abbreviation apparent in theuse of vamp for vampire here meaning a seductive woman. Andlav is for lavatory; homo is for homosexual; coca is forcocaine; bra is for brassiere.
2.1.3 InitialingInitialing is the use of acronyms instead of their componentparts as in "JC for “Jesus Christ”, BM for bowel movement"[4],"W.C for water closet, B.O for body odor, V.D for venerealdisease, AIDS for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, SARSfor severe acute respiratory syndrome"[5].
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2.1.4 BackformingBackforming is the substitution for one part of speech (usedin shortened form) for another, as in "burgle (rob) which isderived from 'burglar'"[6].
2.1.5 ReduplicationReduplication is the repetition of a syllable or letter of aword. Particularly common in children’s bathroom vocabulary,it substitutes "pee-pee for'piss', poo-poo for 'bowelmovement'"[7].
2.1.6 Blend wordA blend word is a form of phonetic distortion in which twoor more words are squeezed together both orthographically andphonetically. An example of this is "gezunda for a chamberpot, a term derived from the fact that this object 'goes underthe bed'"[8].
2.1.7 DiminutiveA diminutive is the formation of a new term by nicking orshortening a name and adding a suffix indicating affection orsmallness. "Heinie, for example, is the diminutive of 'hindend' and refers to the buttocks"[9].
2.2 Semantic innovation2.2.1 BorrowingMost obviously, euphemisms may be formed by borrowingwords from other languages—terms that are less freighted withnegative associations. Thus, we use Greek and Latinexpressions for many bodily parts and functions. We havecoined halitosis (bad breath) from the Latin (halitus) for“breath” and we have substituted micturition for the morevulgar Indo-European “Piss”. In addition, English euphemismsalso borrowed a lot of scientific or academic terms, which arebelieved to be more euphemistic and objective than the usualterms, such as magnetic for “sexy” and perspire for “sweat”
and so on.
2.2.2 WideningEuphemisms may be made by a semantic process calledwidening. When a specific term becomes too painful or vivid,we move up in the ladder of abstraction. In this way, cancerbecomes growth and a girdle becomes a foundation . Sometimes,in addition to widening we divide the negative connotations ofa single direct term between two or more words. Instead ofsaying “syphilis” openly, we speak of a social disease.
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2.2.3 Semantic shiftAllied to the phenomenon of widening is that of semanticshift. This is the substitution of the whole, or a similargenerality, for the specific part we do not choose to discuss.
We may create such metonymies (substitutions of the whole forthe part) as rear end for “buttocks”. Sometimes, as in theexpressions "to sleep with/go to bed with someone"[10], we usewords naming the larger event in place of more precisereferences to the sexual relations that are part of theprocess.
2.3 Rhetorical devices2.3.1 MetaphorEuphemisms may be made by a process called metaphoricaltransfer, the comparison of things of one kind to things ofanother. The euphemisms chosen are often romanticizing,poeticizing and softening of the original words like "go tosleep; go to his long home; be home and free; rest inpeace; be at rest; go to Heaven/Paradise; join one'sancestors; be gathered to one's fathers; join the immorals fordie"[11], shock for random bombing, constructive destructionfor severe damage, have a road to travel for have a long timeto reach an agreement and etc..
2.3.2 AposiopesisIn English, there is a kind of rhetoric called aposiopesisthat can also act as the way of euphemizing. When we think weshould not say something under certain conditions, we suddenlystop as when we say someone is out (of work); she is expecting(a baby); "to take precautions (against pregnancy); to depart(from this world)"[12]
2.3.3AnalogyAnalogy can often be seen in the vocabularies of work. Atendency to elevate menial or unskilled jobs—sometimessubstituting a grand title for a large salary—can make offalsmell like a rose by promoting garbage men to sanitationengineers or even to waste--reduction managers. Byimplication, they become highly trained technicians andexecutives. Health-club staffs become fitness coordinators,and senators now have their shoes shined by the footwearmaintenance engineer, formerly the Senate bootblack. Even ifyou are not a government official, your janitor is now yourbuiding maintenance engineer.
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