A study on english euphemism with reference to the vietnamese equivalence and implications for english teaching and learning at the national academy of public administration

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A Thesis A STUDY ON ENGLISH EUPHEMISM WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGLISH TEACHING AND

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A Thesis

A STUDY ON ENGLISH EUPHEMISM WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGLISH TEACHING AND LEARNING AT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

(NGHIÊN CỨU UYỂN NGỮ TIẾNG ANH TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT ỨNG DỤNG VÀO DẠY VÀ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN CỦA

HỌC VIỆN HÀNH CHÍNH QUỐC GIA)

NGUYỄN THỊ THU THỦY

Field : English Language

Hanoi, 2017

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A Thesis

A STUDY ON ENGLISH EUPHEMISM WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGLISH TEACHING AND LEARNING AT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

(NGHIÊN CỨU UYỂN NGỮ TIẾNG ANH TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT ỨNG DỤNG VÀO DẠY VÀ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN CỦA

HỌC VIỆN HÀNH CHÍNH QUỐC GIA)

NGUYEN THI THU THUY

Field : English Language

Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr.HO NGOC TRUNG

Hanoi, 2017

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby declare that this thesis represents my own work, except where due acknowledgement is made, and that it has not been previously included in a thesis, dissertation or report submitted to any institutions for a degree, diploma or other qualifications Any contribution made to the study by colleagues, with whom I have worked at the National Academy of Public Administration is fully acknowledged

Hanoi, 2017

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy

Approved by SUPERVISOR

(Signature and full name)

Date:………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc.Prof.Dr Ho Ngoc Trung, for his enthusiastic guidance, useful suggestions and advice Without his help, this paper would not have been possible

My special gratitude goes to Assoc.Prof Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh for support and encouragement

My sincere thanks also go to all the lecturers from the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies of Hanoi Open University who has provided me with invaluable sources of knowledge and instructions during my study at Hanoi Open University

I would like to extend my grateful thanks to my friends, my colleagues and

my students at the National Academy of Public Administration for their help and participation Their warm concern, whole-hearted support and encouragement play

an important role in completion of this study

Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my parent, my son for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of my academic work

ABSTRACT

This thesis has been done in an effort to examine English euphemism with reference to the Vietnamese equivalence as well as to make recommendations for teaching English at NAPA A collection of examples taken from some literary works written in English and in the Vietnamese versions have been analysed to see how euphemisms are used in English and how they are transferred into Vietnamese The readers will have the opportunity to see the correlations and the difference between them Also, the data collected from the survey show the need, functions, purposes and frequency of using euphemism perceived by the students at NAPA In addition, the thesis suggests some ways that teachers of English may apply to help their students use euphemism effectively Besides, it presents some class activities and types of activities which the teachers and learners of English can refer to in teaching and learning English in general, English euphemism in particular

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 3.1 Examples of metonymy and synecdoche 17

Table 3.2 Examples of understatement 19

Table 3.3 Examples of word borrowing 19

Table 3.4 Metaphor used in euphemistic expressions of death 21

Table 3.5 Types of euphemisms of sexual intercourse 22

Table 3.6 Types of euphemisms of pregnancy 25

Table 4.1 Percentage of correct answers about meaning of euphemisms 37

Table 4.2 Percentage of expressions on death choosen by participants 38

Figure 4.1 Percentage of comments on big body shape 39

Figure 4.2 Percentage of expressions on pregnancy 40

Figure 4.3 percentage of expressions on natural bodily functions 41

Figure 4.4 Percentage of expressions on humble occupations 42

Figure 4.5 Percentage of answer about the purposes of using euphemism 43

Figure 4.6 The need for using euphemism in everyday conversation 43

Figure 4.7 The frequency of using euphemism in everyday communication 44

Figure 4.8 euphemism in intercultural communication 45

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for the study 1

1.2 Aims and Objectives of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Methods of the study 2

1.5 Scope of the study 2

1.6 Significance of the study 3

1.7 Design of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Previous Studies 4

2.2 Overview of euphemism 5

2.2.1 Definitions of euphemism 5

2.2.2 Basis for the use of euphemism 6

2.2.2.1 Taboos and Euphemism 6

2.2.2.2 Politeness and Euphemism 7

2.2.3 Functions of euphemism 8

2.2.3.1 Being polite 8

2.2.3.2 Gloss-over 9

2.2.3.3 Avoiding Taboo 10

2.2.3.4 Disguising 10

2.2.4 Classifications of Euphemism 10

2.2.4.1 The positive euphemisms and the negative euphemisms 10

2.2.4.2 The unconscious euphemism and the conscious euphemism 11

2.2.4.3 Other classifications of euphemisms 12

2.2.5 Formation of euphemism 13

2.3 Summary 14

CHAPTER 3: ENGLISH EUPHEMISM WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENCE 16

3.1 Formation of euphemisms in English literature 16

3.2 Cultural features of English euphemism through some taboo topics 20

3.3 A comparison of English euphemism and Vietnamese equivalence 26

3.3.1 In terms of functions 27

3.3.2 In terms of formation 29

3.3.3 In terms of cultural feature 30

3.4 Summary 33

CHAPTER 4: PROBLEMS FACED BY THE STUDENTS OF NAPA IN UNDERSTANDING AND USING ENGLISH EUPHEMISM 35

4.1 Procedure and data collection 35

4.1.1 The Subject 35

4.1.2 Description of the questionnaire 36

4.2 Data analysis 36

4.3 Findings 45

4.4 Suggestions for teaching English euphemism 46

4.5 Summary 49

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 51

5.1 Concluding remarks 51

5.2 Limitations of the study 52

5.3 Suggestions for further study 52

REFERENCES 53

APPENDIX 1 55

APPENDIX 2 56

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale for the study

It is the fact that people often face the situations in communication where they cannot directly express what they want to say, or sometimes a direct expression will cause the listeners awkward and unpleasant In these cases, it will be the best choice for them to use euphemism as an indirect and roundabout way to express their ideas and thoughts, so as to avoid the embarrassment The term ―euphemism‖ is originated from the Greek, ―euphemism‖ which means ―speaking well‖ (Mc Arthur, 1992) We can understand it as a polite or indirect way of saying a tabooed term

Euphemism as a reflection of culture is a common linguistic phenomenon in many languages The generation and development of euphemism are closely related

to culture Psychological, custom habits and cultural features of a nation can be shed light on through this special linguistic phenomenon In English as well as in Vietnamese, there are plenty of euphemisms, but they have similarities and differences in expressions and cultural connotations This is one reason for my study to focus on this sphere of euphemism

As an indispensable and natural part of language, euphemism has been an interesting topic for many linguists and scholars to research And a great number of studies have been carried on this linguistic phenomenon from different perspectives These works have focused on the terms of rhetoric, semantics and pragmatics And

in Vietnam the topic of euphemism have been discussed mainly on death, while many other taboo topics such as sex, pregnancy, child birth have been mentioned Thus, on the basis of the preceding researches, this study attempts to do a comprehensive analysis and to find out formation and the cultural features of English euphemism with reference to Vietnamese equivalence in taboo topics listed above

The findings of the study will help people have a good understanding of this linguistic phenomenon in English and Vietnamese language In addition, it is also easier for interlocutors to overcome the obstacles in cross-cultural communications Moreover, the study can be useful for teachers and learners of English at the National Academy of Public Administration in teaching and learning English as a foreign language

1.2 Aims and Objectives of the study

The study is carried out with the aim to analyze some ways of formation and cultural features of English euphemisms, and then to make a reference to Vietnamese euphemism The result of this study will help foreign language learners have a better understanding of English and Vietnamese euphemisms, which would encourage them to use euphemism more confidently and avoid communication breakdown

This study has three objectives as follows:

 To investigate formation and cultural features of English euphemism through several taboo topics

 To make a comparison between English euphemism and the Vietnamese equivalence

 To investigate problems faced by the students of NAPA in understanding and using English euphemism, and then to give some suggestions for teaching English euphemism

1.3 Research questions

The research has attempted to answer the following questions:

1 What ways of formation and cultural features does English euphemism have?

2 What are the similarities and differences of English euphemism and Vietnamese equivalence?

3 What are the problems faced NAPA students when dealing with euphemism?

1.4 Methods of the study

The descriptive and qualitative methods were employed to describe and analyze formation or types of euphemism as well as cultural features of euphemism in English with reference to Vietnamese English euphemisms used as examples in the study were taken from several English novels ―The Thorn Birds‖, ―A Farewell to Arms‖, ―The Godfather‖, and ―Vanity Fair‖, and so on

The quantative was used in chapter 4 through a survey questionnaire By using this method we have data base to investigate understanding and application of euphemism in communication by the students of NAPA (the National Academy of Public Administration) Based on the result of this survey, implications for teaching and learning English were given

1.5 Scope of the study

The study focuses on formation and cultural features of English euphemism

with reference to Vietnamese equivalence, from which an insight into the two languages can be drawn The data of this study will be collected from seven English novels ―The Thorn Birds‖, ―A Farewell to Arms‖, ―The Godfather‖, and ―Vanity Fair‖, and so on In these novels, popular taboo topics of love, sex, death, pregnancy, and childbirth almost prevailed

1.6 Significance of the study

Theoretically, the result of the study is expected to contribute important insight into applied linguistics and intercultural communication This study will bridge the gap in the current researches of other scholars and linguists

Practically, this study is also expected to be useful for English learners to understand more about euphemism in English and Vietnamese This may arouse their interest in learning The students can distinguish the differences between the two languages and develop their linguistic competences in both languages Besides,

we hope this study will offer some help to the translators when doing translation of euphemism and assist them to overcome the misunderstanding and barriers during the cross-cultural communication

1.7 Design of the study

The research paper consists of five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction presents the Rationale, Aims, and Research

questions, Methods, Scope, Significance and Design of the study

Chapter 2: Literature Review covers the theoretical background of

euphemism, the definitions and classification of euphemism Prior studies on the problems are also reviewed for the groundwork of the research

Chapter 3: English euphemism with reference to the Vietnamese equivalence compares the use of euphemism in some literature works in English

and Vietnamese language Euphemism expresses death, sex, pregnancy, and childbirth

Chapter 4: Implications for teaching and learning English euphemism at NAPA mentions the students‘ problems in comprehending English euphemism and

some suggestions for teaching and learning English euphemism

Chapter 5: Conclusion consists of the conclusion of the whole study, the

limitations in doing the research and recommendations for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Previous Studies

The word ―euphemism‖ was first used in early 1580s by British writer George Blunt in his Glossographia (1656), where he defined it as ―a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word‖ In 1981, British linguist Hugh Rawson compiled A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Double talk, where he divided euphemisms into positive and negative euphemisms, and conscious and unconscious euphemisms, in addition to a thorough description of the meaning, etymology of each euphemism and its relation to other terms in his dictionary In

1983, American scholars J S Neaman and C G Silver published another Kind Words: A Thesaurus of Euphemisms that added more detailed description of the history, formation and motives of euphemism D J Enright (1985)‘s Fair of speech- the Uses of Euphemism discussed the use of euphemism in one specific domain and

put forward that the history of euphemism should be studied within context

Similarly, Allan and Burridge (1991) published a book Euphemism and Dysphemism- Language Used as Shield and Weapon, which offers a functional account of the

various expressions of euphemism and dysphemism from a pragmatic perspective It states that an interesting perspective on the human psyche is to be gained from the study of euphemism used ―as a protective shield against the anger or disapproval of natural or supernatural beings‖ (1991) Euphemism is described as expression that seeks to avoid being offensive, thus defined by reference to face This book further discusses the correlation between euphemism and context Furthermore, Enright, Allan & Burridge paid their attention to the correlation between euphemism and context that context could influence the interpretation of euphemism and restrict the application of euphemism

In Vietnamese, euphemisms have been discussed by some linguists Bằng

Giang in ―Tiếng Việt phong phú‖ (1997), investigates over 1,000 variants of the word death with illustrations In ―Phong cách học Tiếng Việt‖ (2001), Đinh Trọng

Lạc puts forward the basic theoretical background of euphemism in the Vietnamese language He assumes that euphemism is the delicate expression in communicative situation in which the addresser feels uncomfortable to talk about taboo topics because he is afraid that it will hurt or offend the addressee ―Uyển ngữ là phương thức diễn đạt tế nhị trong hoàn cảnh giao tiếp mà người nói không tiện nói ra vì sợ

quá phũ phàng hoặc sợ xúc phạm đến người nghe‖ Trương Viên (2003) focuses on the linguistic features of euphemism by analyzing their formation by syntactic, phonetic, lexical and stylistic means Nguyễn Thị Lê (2006) focuses on the study on commonly-used euphemism in English and Vietnamese newspapers in three aspects: syntax, semantics and pragmatics

In brief, a large number of previous studies have been dedicated to the use, form, and structures of euphemisms However, only few researchers focus on cultural features of English euphemism through several taboo topics with reference

to Vietnamese equivalence This calls for further study on this topic

in order to avoid possible loss of face

The definition of euphemism can also been found in many dictionaries It is defined as a rhetorical device, like ―substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or blunt or direct one‖ (Concise Oxford Dictionary, 7thedition) The definition that given in the Encyclopedia Britannica says ―Figure of speech in which something of an unpleasant, distressing or indelicate nature is described in less offensive terms and in the expression‖ (Longman dictionary, 1988) In addition, according to Wikipedia, a euphemism is an expression intended

by speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word

or phrase it places, or in the case of doublespeak to make it less trouble for the speaker when a phrase is used as a euphemism, it often becomes a metaphor whose literal meaning is dropped However, there is no common agreement of the

euphemism definition up to date These definitions of euphemism are largely identical but with minor differences Although scholars has defined regarding to style and pragmatics, they commonly agree that euphemism is a rhetoric device which allows people to express unpleasant expression in an indirect way or a kind

of strategic communication when people have to mention some unpleasant things that may be offensive or impolite to the listeners or may hurt their feeling and bring the embarrassment

2.2.2 Basis for the use of euphemism

Taboos and politeness are generally agreed to be the most important motivators for the use of euphemisms However, there are other motives for creating euphemisms as well Neaman and Silver (1983) state that the motives for euphemizing are as diverse and as universal as the range of human emotions They also consider ―sentimentalizing tendency‖ to be an ever force behind euphemisms,

as we may refer to ―the wife‖ as the little woman or to ―old age‖ as the golden years Until this century, taboos and the superstitious belief were the main reasons

for employing euphemisms Nowadays, the majority of euphemisms are motivated

by politeness, as we do not want to embarrass other people by talking about unpleasant subjects in public According to Allan and Burridge (1991), the strategies we employ in choosing the type and the tone of the euphemism depend on things such as the speaker‘s attitudes and preferences, the speaker‘s relationship with the listener and their relationship to the issue being euphemized, which is often culture bound Additionally, the situation, the context and the place where the discussion happens can affect the choice of euphemism However, euphemisms are still often about taboos

2.2.2.1 Taboos and Euphemism

In every society, there are taboos, things that we simply try to avoid either doing or talking about Taboos have always existed in language and culture even though the term ―taboo‖ was not defined until 1777 when it was borrowed and introduced into English by Captain James Cook He said the word ―taboo‖ from Tongan ―Tapu‖ or ―Tabu‖ means forbidden Anderson and Trudgill (1990:55) also gave the terms taboo behaviour and linguistic taboo Then, linguistic taboos are further categorized into taboos of concept and taboos of word Taboo of concept can

be simply described as the avoidance of a topic or subject that is not suitable for the occasion Taboo of word occurs when a topic is valid for discussion, but

euphemistic terms are required According to Wardhaugh (1992:236), behavioural taboos may lead to certain things not being said The reason for the disapproval of certain kind of behaviour can be supernatural or the behaviour can be in conflict with the moral code of the society This lead to the use of euphemisms, as we need means to avoid directly mentioning a tabooed matter

Euphemism is the avoidance of words which may be seen as offensive or

disturbing to the addressee Taboo and euphemism are actually two sides of the same coin In the English language, the most obvious taboos are not religious or superstitious concepts but have to do with some private parts of the body, some functions of the body, private matters (such as income), distressing things (such as crisis and unemployment), and death When euphemisms are in use for some time, speakers may not be aware of them Many English expressions still in use are

euphemistic, such as developing countries, the underprivileged, economic recession, mentally retarded, etc In fact, euphemisms are constantly changed, for example the word crisis was replaced by depression, which in turn was replaced

by recession

What is taboo or not taboo depends on the context Some expressions denoting some body functions are avoided on formal occasions but quite normal in doctor-patient conversations when the patient complains about his physical problems to the doctor Taboos and euphemisms are mostly culture-specific What is taboo in one culture may not be so in another culture It is a norm among English-speaking people not to ask about each other's income, but in Vietnamese culture there is no such a norm

2.2.2.2 Politeness and Euphemism

Politeness is contemporarily suggested as the most important motivator for the use of euphemisms Our strong desire to avoid offending others with words can

be explained with reference to the system of face-work (Goffman, 1967) This involves the process of face-maintaining The expressions ―to save one‘s face‖ or

―to lose one‘s face‖ are generally known in many cultures and face-saving is a typical act which euphemism is capable of facilitating Generally speaking, face-work can be said to represent the social skills of an individual as a member of a

society Social interaction is generally oriented towards maintaining face

Allan and Burridge (1991: 4) state that euphemisms and dysphemisms are developed and defined by reference to concerns about face, which are of immense

importance on all occasions of language interchange Every time we decide to say something, we must consider whether what we are going to say will damage, maintain or enhance our own face and we also must consider what the utterance‘s effect will be on others

According to Goffman (1967: 15), if a person feels his own face threatened

or wants to maintain someone else‘s face, he is likely to resort to different avoidance processes It is possible to avoid situations and contacts where face threats are likely to occur However, if such a contact occurs, as defensive actions it

is possible to keep off topics and activities that might lead to the revealing of information that would be inconsistent with the face the person is trying to maintain He will leave out facts, employ euphemisms, doubletalk, and formulate replies and phrases with careful ambiguity so that his own and hearers‘ faces will be preserved was well as possible As a fact, euphemism and politeness are mutually dependent phenomena in the sense that the need to be polite determines euphemistic use in a considerable way The indirectness provided by euphemism, in turn, contributes to avoid offence and ensure politeness

In such case, the practice of euphemism shows its politeness function Here, the key point of politeness function is to respect others, to express something politely, so as

to keep people from being hurt and make them accept those things pleasantly In communication with others, euphemisms can help people form a positive communication atmosphere and establish harmonious social relationship and eventually obtain the communication goals

―Old‖ is a very sensitive word to many people in the English speaking countries, because ―old‖ gives people an impression that someone is useless to society So usually, we use ―senior citizens‖ or ―superior citizens‖ to refer to the old people

In education, euphemisms are likewise prolific Some people prefer educator

to teacher When giving comment about students, negative expressions have given way to more positive ones The comment for a below average student might be that

he/she is working at his/her own level, which doesn‘t hurt anyone‘s pride And if a student cheats in class, the teacher would rather say He depends on others to do his work

2.2.3.2 Gloss-over

According to Enright, D J (1985: 54), the emergence of euphemisms also has something to do with the language sensitivity From about the time when people began to know beauty and ugliness, to distinguish between kindness and evil, they had already got some shame about sex, certain parts of their body, etc And with the development of society, the range of lexical sensitivity is spreading This provides

an open air for the gloss-over function of euphemism Even in the modern world today, people may still ―feel somewhat shameful when speaking of the sexual acts‖

(Petra Christian, 1973) They would like to use “have physical contract with”,

“sleep with”, “go to bed with” or “make love” to express the same meaning And

―free love‖ is called trial marriage; ―illegitimate child‖ becomes love child

Besides, people rarely use the word ―homosexual‖; instead they like to replace it by

gay, comrade, or queer

As for human body, people usually use the following words to refer to some

sensitive parts, for instance, they like to substitute abdomen for ―belly‖, posterior for ―buttocks‖, chest or bosom for ―breasts‖, limb for ―leg‖ And as for the physical shortcomings, ―physically handicapped‖ is usually substituted for ―crippled‖ If someone is deaf, people would rather say ―He is hard of hearing‖, if blind, people would say ―He is visually retarded‖

Additionally, in recent years, more and more euphemisms are being used in talking about social life and social affairs For example, euphemisms are used in referring to occupation either to conceal unpleasantness, or to improve social status There are fewer occupations called jobs; many have become professions A

―garbage collector‖ is described as a sanitary engineer; a ―gardener‖ is called a landscape architect; a ―barber‖ is called a hair stylish or a hair ologist; and

―salesmen‖ are beautified as customers’ representatives Besides, some professions

that people despise also have many euphemisms For example, ―prostitute‖ is

addressed as lady of the evening, business girl, harlot or streetwalker

Taboo is one way in which a society expresses its disapproval of certain kinds of behavior believed to be harmful to its members, either for supernatural reasons or because such behavior is held to violate a moral code Consequently, so far as language is concerned, certain things are not being said or certain objects can

be referred to only in certain circumstances Of course, there are always those who are prepared to break the taboos in an attempt to show their own freedom from such restrictions

2.2.3.4 Disguising

Euphemism can be used to beautify things to avoid negative impact and it is not always used out of good motives By using euphemism, ―ambiguity can be produced and truth can be hidden‖ (Neaman, J S& Carole G S, 1990) As a consequence, some profiteers and politicians are likely to use euphemism to make it a language of deceit For example, in 1983, American army invaded Grenada The President Reagan fit to be tied because news reporters used the word ―invade‖ very much in reporting the news

On the other hand, Reagan called it ―rescue mission‖

Since euphemisms often express something in an implicit and roundabout way, sometimes this may cause ambiguity and people may feel confused about them So, politicians, statement and businessmen always make full use of this feature to mask the reality, exonerate their guilt and raise high the quality of their goods, thus making euphemisms have the disguise function The primary feature euphemism here is to numb the public without telling a downright lie yet to get an almost equally desirable response Therefore, ―industrial climate‖ means ―dispute between employer and

employee‖

2.2.4 Classifications of Euphemism

Euphemism can be classified into different categories that analyzed from different perspectives

2.2.4.1 The positive euphemisms and the negative euphemisms

According to Rawson, the euphemism can be divided into two general types

positive euphemism and negative euphemism according to its relation to taboos The positive euphemism can also be called stylistic one It ―inflates and magnifies the word meaning, making the euphemized items seem altogether grander and more important than they really are‖ (Rawson, 1981) Positive euphemism transfigures taboo word more positive The first major group of positive euphemisms is the job title The social status of the job could be glorified and the ego of the people who takes this job could be protected For example, ―funeral director‖ for ―undertaker‖;

―account manager‖ for ―salesman‖; ―administrative assistant‖ for ―secretary‖ HR (Human resources) is experts in creating appellations for jobs The word ―engineer‖

is the most frequently used word to transfer a junior position to an advanced job There are various kinds of fancy job title of ―engineers‖, such as ―beauty assistant‖ for the sales girls on cosmetics counter, ―stylist‖ for ―barber‖ ―Wardrobe engineer‖ for ―boutique sales‖ The common way is try to turn one‘s trade into profession A high-ranking title is the important part of a job to attract the candidates Personal respects constitute another important part of positive euphemism such as undertakers use ―patients‖ and ―clients‖ when referring the corpses Positive euphemism also appears in the name of many institutions, which transfer

―madhouse‖ into ―mental hospital‖ and ―colleges‖ into ―universities‖

The negative euphemisms, also called traditional euphemism, are closely related to taboos They are defensive in nature have extremely ancient origins They make the taboo features seem less obvious than they really are and even conceal the disturbing factors from the receiving ends (Rawson, 1981) As we discussed in the previous session, the earliest euphemism came from peoples‘ fearing towards the gods Birth, death, illness, sex, disease, secretion, excretion and many forbidden territories are all negative euphemisms

2.2.4.2 The unconscious euphemism and the conscious euphemism

The positive and negative euphemism are based on the motivation of how people using them There is another classification of euphemism, consciously and unconsciously Euphemism whether it is positive or negative can be used unconsciously or consciously Unconscious euphemism, generally speaking, is the euphemism that being used by people unconsciously It refers to those whose origins has been forgotten as they are created for a very long history and treated as ordinary words in today‘s communication For example, the word ―cemetery‖ which originated in Greek in the fourteenth century, means ―dormitory or sleeping

place‖ and was widely replaced the word ―graveyard‖ It has been used so often that people hardly realize that they are euphemizing the place of the burial ground to avoid talking about death

Also, people may not aware the word ―indisposition‖ is the euphemized expression of ―disease‖ and ―illness‖ as it occurs frequently in our daily communication The animal names like ―donkey‖ and ―rooster‖ were originally created to replace the word ―ass‖ and ―cock‖ On the contrary of the unconscious euphemism, people are aware of that they are euphemizing what they really mean when using conscious euphemism People use intentionally to avoid taboo words or the offensive part in the communication for not embarrassing the listener As stated

in the previous paragraph, death is the strongest topic among all the taboo topics due to its mysterious, terrible and people‘s fear of the nature The word ―die‖ has lots of replacement like ―depart‖, ―sleep forever‖ or ―pass away‖ This kind of euphemism is welcomed in daily communication, for it accounts for people‘s intention to hide the truth they feel embarrassed to admit

2.2.4.3 Other classifications of euphemisms

Besides the above mentioned two classification of the euphemism, according to their contents concerned, euphemisms can be semantically divided into:

 Euphemisms expressing death

 Euphemisms expressing sex

 Euphemisms expressing pregnancy

 Euphemisms expressing childbirth

 Euphemisms expressing prostitutes

 Euphemisms expressing genitals

 Euphemisms expressing occupation

 Euphemisms expressing unemployment

 Euphemisms expressing diseases…

Similarly, Neaman and Silver (1983) categorized euphemisms into eleven categories: body parts euphemisms, sex euphemisms, crime & punishment euphemisms and war euphemism etc Religion, illnesses, human anatomy and sex were also discussed in their book There are other many ways of classification that concerning to different perspectives Such as death euphemisms, war euphemisms and sex euphemisms are classified according to its characteristic Criminal‘s euphemisms, police‘s euphemism and teacher‘s euphemisms are classified according

to its angle of users Instantaneous euphemisms and continuous euphemisms are classified according to the length of time euphemisms have been in use It also can be classified in terms of its geographic area, like American euphemisms and Australian euphemisms Classify the euphemisms according to the ways of their formation is also reasonable No matter which way we classified, all euphemisms are follow the same rule of ―a polite, peaceful or less explicit term used to avoid the direct naming

of an unpleasant, painful or frightening reality‖ (Webster‘s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, 1961)

2.2.5 Formation of euphemism

According to Allan & Burridge (1991), euphemisms are formed by using clipping, part-for-whole, general-for-specific, substitution, circumlocution, litotes, hyperbole, metaphor, abbreviation, acronym, understatement, language borrowing, and so on Generally speaking, it can be classified into thirteen types of euphemism

a Metaphor is speaker‘s utterance meaning which is in commonly implicit and

replace the literal meaning For example, she is an old bag means ―she is an unattractive, old woman‖, or the cavalry’s come replaces ―I‘ve got my period‖, go to the hunting ground for ―die‖

b Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language

that uses rhyme Examples are over-shoulder boulder-holders for ―bra‖, umpti-poo for ―toilet‖, groan and grunt for ―cunt‖, bristons for ―breasts

c Remodeling is the way of replacing part of the word like sugar, shoot, and shucks for ―shit‖, tarnation for ―damnation‖, basket for ―bastard‖

d Circumlocution is a roundabout way of talking, often including metaphor or

metonymy It is common in the form of compound or idiom like little girl’s room for ―toilet‖ and categorical inaccuracy or terminology inexactitude for

―lie‖

e Clippings is euphemisms starting off with a modifying word then the

modifier is dropped as the phrase ceases to be euphemistic like jeeze for

―Jesus,‖ bra for ―brassiere‖

f Abbreviations are written and pronounced as strings of letters like J.C for

―Jesus Christ,‖ S.O.B for ―Son of a Bitch‖ or pee for ―piss‖

g Acronyms are abbreviation of several words in such a way that the

abbreviation itself forms a pronounceable word, for example: AIDS for

―Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome‖, snafu for ―Situation normal, all

fucked up‖, or RIF for ―reduction in force‖

h Omission:

- Quasi-omission substitutes some non-lexical expression for the dispreferred

term into dashes and asterisk like mhm, er-mm, and so on

- Full-omission seems less common than quasi-omissions, for example: I need to go is a full-omission by omitting ―to the lavatory‖

i Substitution consists of Whole-for-part and Part-for-Whole substitution, which

is traditionally called metonymy and synecdoche

- Whole-for-part substitution means a word or phrase that is used to stand in

for another word For example, the word Go is used to implicit ―urinate or defecate‖, unmentionables for ―underclothing‖, or go to bed for ―fuck‖

- Part-for-Whole substitution is also synecdoche which is a figure of speech

in which a word or phrase referring to a part of something is substituted to

stand in for the whole For example, tits is used to refer to ―breasts‖, spend a penny for ―go to the lavatory‖

j Hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration or overstatement found in euphemisms

like flight to glory for ―death‖, a garden of remembrance for ―cemetery or graveyard‖, a funeral-director for ―an undertaker‖

k Understatement (litotes) is used to emphasis and to negate the opposite of what

we wish to convey, such as: sleep for ―die‖, deed for ―act of murder‖, the needy for ―the poor‖, less than truthful for ―lying‖, armed conflict for ―war‖

l Euphemism through borrowing: the use of foreign language (French or Latin

etc.) is considered to counteract taboo terms such as bodily effluvia, sex, and

the associated acts and bodily organs For example, perspire is used instead

of ―sweat‖, defecate and feces for ―shit‖, genitals for ―sex organ‖, vagina for

―cunt‖

2.3 Summary

Chapter 2 has reviewed some previous studies associating with the topic,

which will be the basis of my study Different definitions of euphemism were given

by various scholars These definitions of euphemism have a lot of common, although they are considered from different perspectives of style and pragmatics The scholars commonly agree that euphemism is a rhetoric device which allows people to express unpleasant expression in an indirect way or a kind of strategic communication when people have to mention some unpleasant things that may be

offensive or impolite to the listeners or may hurt their feeling and bring the embarrassment The two important motives for the use of euphemism are taboos and politeness

The functions of euphemism in communication can be seen in avoiding taboos, being polite, gloss-over, and disguising We also have different classifications of euphemism such as positive and negative euphemism, conscious and unconscious euphemism, and euphemism of taboo topics At the end of the chapter, we discussed about formation of euphemism Thirteen types of euphemism are formed on the basis of three main principles of borrowing word from other

languages, semantic changes, and phonetic distortion

CHAPTER 3: ENGLISH EUPHEMISM WITH REFERENCE TO THE

VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENCE

3.1 Formation of euphemisms in English literature

a Metaphor is speaker‘s utterance meaning which is commonly implicit and

replaces the literal meaning In the novel ―Farewell to arms”, the rain is a metaphor

for death After the happy time that Catherine and Frederic are together in Milan,

Catherin tells Frederic that the rain always make her scared She cannot stop

imagine that one day herself or him is lying dead in it However, Frederic says that

he is always finding the rain interesting and because he has suffered an injury and

seen other dying, the fear of mortality is not a problem to him In fact, because

Catherine has been still affected by her fiancé‘s death, death to her is immediate and

visible The rain always reminds her of her mortality and the mortality of people she

loves

Another example of metaphors can be taken from “The Vanity Fair” which

is Amelia‘s piano The piano is not only a tangible object and plot point but also a

symbol in the story Due to bankruptcy the Sedleys have to auction off all their

assets including this little piano It reflects Amelia‘s past including her youth and

her family wealth as well

b Circumlocution

In the Harry Potter series, the dark lord Voldemort is frequently referred to as:

―You-know-who‖

―He-who-must-not-be-named‖

These circumlocutions are designed to avoid bringing down Voldemort‘s

curse, which can be caused by speaking his name This euphemistic practice is

similar to many religious prohibitions around the world against speaking the names

of divine or demonic figures

Circumlocution is a rhetorical device that can be defined as a paradoxical

way of looking at things When somebody wants to be ambiguous and not say

something directly, he/she is using this strategy It is used when the speaker is

unable to choose the right words to express or say something, for social purposes in

order to avoid using offensive words, in politics and law (sometimes it becomes

difficult to judge which perspective of a politician or a lawyer should be supported),

and in poetry and verses where it is used to create a regular meter It is extensively

used in songs and poetry to make the verses soft and beautiful

―So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round:

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.‖

(Kubla Khan by S.T Coleridge)

The author uses circumlocution to illustrate the underlying concepts He describes the outside natural world that is wild and that things are protected and peaceful within the palace walls

c Substitution consists of Whole-for-part and Part-for-Whole substitution,

which is traditionally called metonymy and synecdoche

In Hamlet, we could find many examples of metonymy "By a sleep to say

we end the heart-ache" is considered as the most famed metonymy in "Hamlet‖ Shakespeare connects ―sleep‖ to ―death‖ and continues to describe this ―sleep‖ as the solution to a lifetime of struggle "To be, or not to be"

In Act 4, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Macbeth, when Macbeth gets angry, he kicks out a servant by saying: ―Take thy face hence‖ "Thy face" presents "you" Macbeth is commanding the servant to leave, but using synecdoche makes the tone

of his saying more harsh and insulting It shows how angry he really is Other examples of metonymy and synecdoche can be seen in the table below:

Table 3.1 Examples of metonymy and synecdoche

Whole-for-part

genitals belly, low country, nether regions,

down there, crutch, bottom, tail, thingamabob,…

Part-for-Whole

Have sex go to bed, or postthing

underclothing Inexpressible, unmentionables, smalls, the monosyllable (slip,

pant )

d Hyperbole compares or describes things in an exaggerated way for the

sake of emphasis It is common, for example, to pronounce, ―I‘m starving‖ when

one is merely hungry or ―I‘m freezing‖ when one is quite cold The state of starvation is much direr than mere hunger, and so we say we are starving to emphasize the need for food

Taking ―To Kill a Mockingbird‖ into consideration The story takes place during the Great Depression in Maycomb County, Georgia a sleepy place where nothing much ever happens:

―People moved slowly then They ambled across the square, shuffled

in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything A

day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer There was no

hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to

buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb

County.‖ (―To Kill a Mockingbird”, Chapter 1, p.2)

Lee uses hyperbole to describe the town as ―nothing to buy, no money to buy

it, nowhere to go‖ This links the difficult economic situation to the people's pace of life, as well as to the insular, isolated nature of this community

e Understatement (litotes) is used to emphasis and to negate the opposite of

what we wish to convey or make a situation seem less important than it really is

In The Great Gatsby, when Tom Buchanan and narrator Nick Carraway survey his

palatial estate, he says:

―‖I‘ve got a nice place here,‖ he said, his eyes flashing about

restlessly Turning me around by one arm, he moved a broad flat hand

along the front vista, including in its sweep a sunken Italian garden, a

half acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub-nosed motor-boat that

bumped the tide offshore.‖ (The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald)

The place is obviously more than just ―nice‖ as Tom describes However, it would be rude in this society to boast about one‘s wealth so Tom lets the house house speak for itself

In daily conversation, understatement is also a useful tool based on the frequency of usage The table below shows some other examples of understatements:

Table 3.2 Examples of understatement

f Euphemism through borrowing: the use of foreign language (French or

Latin etc.) is considered to counteract taboo terms such as bodily effluvia, sex, and the associated acts and body organs

Table 3.3 Examples of word borrowing

3.2 Cultural features of English euphemism through some taboo topics

Functionally, euphemisms allow us to talk about or disguise things which are considered as unpleasant, unlucky or bad They conceal the things that people fear the most such as death, the supernatural and also cover the very real facts of life like love, sex and reproduction In scope of this paper, the write only focus on four popular euphemisms of every language which indicate death, love, childbirth and

sex

Firstly, let examine euphemism of death – the thing that people tend to avoid

talking about in almost all of cases It is observed that when life is becoming better and better than it used to be, death is becoming unwelcome release to most of people even though they are always preparing for it

In many countries including English speaking countries, Christianity is the most popular religion From the point of view of Christian, following Jesus‘ instruction, death is considered as simply coming home and being reunited with the Father God Therefore, ―die‖ means ―Gone to God‖ Because death is always bringing out the fear of leaving family and familiar people, describing it as ―gone to God‖, ―been at peace‖, ―out of pain‖ help reduce the sorrow and lessen the regret and misery for the loss

―No, Meggie, Hal‘s not better in the way you mean, but he‘s at peace

He‘s gone to God, he‘s out of his pain ‖ (The Thorn Birds, p.87)

―Only lately the day of my demise seems a lot closer than it used to,

and I feel….oh, I don‘t know.‖ (The Thorn Birds, p 44)

Normally, we are afraid of facing the death because it may remind us of our own finiteness that we fear of It also makes people feel that it is nothing worthy when someone they love has died Dan died so suddenly in this case, so word replacement was used to denote expression of death such as ―go‖, ―lie somewhere‖,…

―He must come home! I‘d hate to think of him lying somewhere far

from Drogheda‖ (The Thorn Birds, p.391)

In Vanity Fair, there are several ways of expressing death such as using

―depart of this life‖, ―descend to the grave,… It is believed that there is another life after death The soul will go to the land of death where might be a place of happiness or sadness

―yet, as it sometimes happens that a person departs this life who is

really deserving of all the praises the stone cutter carves over his

bone‖ (Vanity Fair, p.6)

―and so descended to the grave, after two bailiffs had quarreled over

his corpse.‖ (Vanity Fair, p.11)

―Mr.Crawley had tended that otherwise friendless bedside She went

out of the world strengthened by such words and comfort as he

could give her.‖ (Vanity Fair, p.111)

In addition, to lessen the misery of the losses, the death is also considered as

a long sleep It can see from the similarity of the dead one and a sleeping body Death could be seen as a permanent sleep which helps people to take rest and enjoy the peace

―with the handles muffled up in paper, into the great front bedroom,

where Lady Crawley had slept her last‖ (Vanity Fair ,p 53)

In fact, there are many other euphemisms of death which can be

categorized into difference group of metaphor as table below:

Table 3.4 Metaphor used in euphemistic expressions of death

A sleep Gone into during sleep, asleep in Jesus, sunk into

his last sleep, sleeps so long sleep,

A rest Called to heavenly rest, laid to rest, gone to rest from his

long labour, rests in peace till we meet again,…

A departure Passed/crossed over the river, passed to a better home,

gone beyond the horizon, gone to Glory,…

A return gone home, gone to his heavenly, gone to his fathers,

returned to his native soil,…

An

occupation

fed the fishes, die in harness, closed up his accounts with the world,…

A sport played his last card, went to the races, took the jump,…

A recreation took the curtain call, his number was up,…

Secondly, let‘s analyze how euphemisms of sex have been used Given by

many discussions, the subject of sex is always a major concern in human life and obtains embarrassment become a fertile source of euphemism in Western culture

Sexual euphemisms could be divided into three categories such as euphemisms referring to sexual intercourse, associated body parts and masturbation (penis Rawson 209)

Rawson (1982) also indicated that sexual taboo is greater than any other ones due to size of euphemism collections In the study of Allen and Burridge (1991:96),

it is stated that "the degree of synonymy in the vocabulary for the genitalia and copulation has no parallel elsewhere in the English lexicon - except in the terms for 'whore'." They also found nearly 1,000 for 'penis', 1,200 terms for 'vagina', 800 for 'copulation', and about 2,000 for 'whore'

Referring to sexual intercourse, Rawson has indicated that there are three main types such as the Latinate, the slangy, and the bland metaphoric Examples can be seen in the table below:

Table 3.5 Types of euphemisms of sexual intercourse

injection,…

congress, service, relations, sleep with, generation, spend the night with,…

In Farewell to arms, ―a love affair‖ is used with the meaning of ―having

extramarital copulation: ―That‘s just another example of your sneakiness You had a love affair all summer and got this girl with child and now I suppose you‘ll sneak off‖ (p 227)

“How are you, darling?‖ she said, ―Isn‘t it a lovely day?‖

―How do you feel?‖ – I feel very well We had a lovely night.‖ (p

230)

In The Thorn Birds, there are other expressions of sexual intercourse In

verbal disguising of copulation, besides major verbal euphemisms of sexual intercourse like ―sleep‖ or ―sleep together‖, ―getting into bed with‖ for ―have sex with‖ or ―had a night with‖, also are widely used in English

―I‘ll have to go and see him, tell him And, much as I loathe the idea,

sleep with him.‖ ―I‘m two weeks overdue, and I‘m never a day

overdue The only other time I was, Justine was starting I‘m

pregnant, Anne, I know I am‖ (p.250)

―Had it not been for the new life she was sure was growing in her,

getting into bed with Luke ever again would have been the ultimate

sin against her-self.‖ (p.252)

In term of sex intercourse, the vague expression of ―it‖ appears so frequent that it is considered as the most effective one of sex euphemisms This euphemism -

―it‖ depends on the specific interpretation of context, situation or collocation

In ―The Thorn Birds‖, the author seems to make use of this euphemism:

―A woman can live without it quite well for years at a stretch, but it

was nice, when it was the one man,‖ (p311)

―I don‘t know, Vittorio I wish I did! At the time it just seemed the

only thing to do I‘m not gifted with Promethean foresight, and

emotional involvement makes one a poor judge Besides, it

simply…happened.‖ (p.262)

In The Godfather, Mario Puzzo denotes the sexual intercourse as ―the

marriage bed‖ which Sony‘s wife feared as ―unbelievers once feared the rack‖

Other euphemistic words also work well to indicate the extramarital copulation, sexual satisfaction, sexual temptation in English such as ―limited‖, ―the flesh‖, ―and the drives of the body‖ The following sentences are taken out from

―The Thorn Birds‖:

―One could get away with it for a while if one was discreet; forever if

one limited women to the yearly vacation away from the parish‖ (p

144)

―So she had abjured the flesh, preferring to wield power‖ (p.42)

―But now she was old enough to be officially beyond the drives of

the body‖ (p.42)

Regarding the euphemism of human body parts relating to sex, they can be divided into three categories such as euphemisms for the penis, euphemisms for the vagina and euphemisms for the breasts These components have numerous names Rawson found that there are six general sub-groups of euphemisms referring the penis such as anatomical illusions, miscellaneous metaphors, personal names, generalizations, nonsense and baby talk and the weapons Whereas, three sub-groups of the euphemisms for the vagina are the general, the physical and the poetical Rawson also indicates that euphemism for women‘s breasts mainly relate

function, form and size

―Do you know anything about women, Dane?‖ she asked suddenly,

opening her eyes again

He smiled ―The birds and the bees, you mean?‖

(The Thorn Birds, p 333)

To euphemize the knowledge and understanding about human sexual intercourse, the author provides the embarrassing connotation on non-human species which are the bird and the bees

In general, euphemisms of sex are always one of the largest collections of euphemisms It takes much time to show every single kind of sex euphemisms From these above examples, we can partially understand how euphemisms work in denoting the expression of sex in literature

Thirdly, the openness about pregnancy has been changing over years Back

to the past time, right to the time of our grandparents, it is believed that women might hide their pregnancies and rarely show them off Euphemisms therefore are used to refer ―be pregnant‖ with connotation depending on the feeling towards the situation

There is variety of euphemisms for pregnant in English such as ―bun in oven‖, ―bacon in the drawer‖, ―up the pole‖, ―in pig‖ to name a few

―The young rascal‘s hot loaf would be in her oven, Nazorine thought lewdly, if

proper steps were not taken‖ (The Godfather, p.8)

When peoples want pregnancy, there are several ways to denote the situation such as ―expecting‖, ―having a baby‖,…

―All healthy women do But when they‘re expecting a baby, they stop until

after the baby is born ‖ (The thorn birds, p 98)

―That‘s how women tell they‘re expecting babies.‖ (The thorn birds, p 98)

―Why do they stop when they‘re expecting babies?‖ (The thorn birds, p.98)

―I‘m going to have a baby, darling It‘s almost three months gone You‘re

not worried, are you? Please please don‘t You mustn‘t worry‖ (Farewell to arms, p

You never knew it, did you?‖ (Farewell to arms, p 128)

In addition, the euphemism ―to make a child‖, ―got the girl with child‖ is also referring to ―to become a parent‖, ―having a baby‖

―Does she understand that? She will make you a fine boy A fine blonde like

she is That‘s fine That‘s all right What a lovely girl.‖ (Farewell to arms, p.90)

―That‘s just another example of your sneakiness You had a love affair all

summer and got this girl with child and now I suppose you‘ll sneak off.‖ (Farewell

(The thorn birds, p.252)

In short, euphemisms of pregnancy can be grouped by its style of speaking listed in the table below

Table 3.6 Types of euphemisms of pregnancy

To be in the family way,

Waiting for a blissful event,…

Being in the club, Having a bunny in the oven,

Up the junction, Knocked up, Bat in the cave, The rabbit died,

In the pudding club,

Up the duff, Tin roof rusted, Pea in the pod, Eating for two,…

Fourthly, child birth or the term of giving birth is also a typical topic for euphemism