浅谈跨文化交际中的中西禁忌语异同_英语论文

Similarities and Differences of Chinese and Western Taboos in Cross - cultural Communication

摘要

跨文化交际就是指在语言和文化层面有差异的人们之间进行的交际活动。语言是文化的载体，言语禁忌是中西文化中存在的一种特殊社会现象。现在随着各国之间联系的紧密，人们进行跨文化交往时经常会遇到许多敏感的问题，主要原因是人们对禁忌语缺乏足够的知识和理解。冒犯对方的禁忌通常会引起交际场面的恶化，引发交际冲突，导致沟通双方不和，最后造成交际的失败。虽然汉英禁忌语的差异有许多，但是只要明确对方的禁忌语就可以减少交际过程中的矛盾与冲突，从而避免不必要的麻烦，促使沟通顺利进行。本文论述了禁忌语的一些概况，包括了禁忌语的定义和特征。通过对禁忌语含义和特征的分析，来明确禁忌语的范畴。同时，分析了汉英禁忌语的相似性和差异性,并从社会文化因素和礼貌因素两方面阐述了汉英禁忌语形成的原因。最后提出了策略来回避跨文化交际中的冲突和尴尬，促进国际沟通的顺利进行。

关键词：跨文化交际；禁忌语；相似性；差异性

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

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 English5

4.1 Similarities of taboos in Chinese and English5

4.2 Differences between Chinese and English taboos6

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 euphemism10

5.3 To use body language.10

6. Conclusion11

Works Cited12