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1、AComparativeStudyofTaboosinEnglishandChinese1IntroductionWhatislanguage?“Languageistheprincipalmeanswherebyweconductoursociallives.Whenitisusedincontextofcommunication,itisboundupwithcultureinmultipleandcomplexways.”(Kramsch,2000)Whatisculture?Halliday(1964)statedthat“Cultureisthetotal
2、accumulationofbeliefs,customs,values,behaviors,institutionsandcommunicationpatternsthatshared,learnedandpasseddownthroughthegenerations’interpersonalcommunicationthatisdifferentacrosscultures.”Itiswellknownthatlanguageisanimportantpartofcultureandalsothecarrierofculture.Taboo,asaninteg
3、ralpartoflanguage,existsinbothEnglishandChinese.Anycarelessnessofusingtaboomayleadtounhappiness,misunderstanding,evenconflictsincross-culturalcommunication.Asthedevelopmentofsocietyandtechnology,theworldisgettingsmallerandsmaller.Theword“globalvillage”isappeared.Inordertohaveasuccessfu
4、lcommunicationwiththepeoplefromdifferentcultures,boththefactorsoflanguageandcultureshouldbecarefullymanipulated,especiallyincross-culturalcommunication.Inordernottooffendothersandhaveaneffectiveandsuccessfulinterculturalcommunication,thisthesisattemptstostudytaboosunderculturalcontext.
5、1.1DefinitionoftaboosTaboosexistinallcultures,butwhatistabooonearth?SigmundFreud(1986),thefounderofpsychoanalyticschool,pointedoutthattabooincludestwooppositemeanings.Ononehand,itwaslofty,sacred;ontheotherhand,itwasmysterious,dangerous,prohibitiveandunclear.OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEngli
6、sh–ChineseDictionarydefinestabooasfollows:a)banorprohibitiononsomethingthatisregardedforreligiousorotherreasonsasnottobedone,touched,used,spokenofetc.b)generalagreementnottodiscussortodosomething.AccordingtoWardhaugh,tabooisonewayinwhichasocietyexpressesitsdisapprovalofcertainkindsofbe
7、haviorbelievedtobeharmfultoitsmembers,eitherforsupernaturalreasonsor17becausesuchbehaviorisheldtoviolateamoralcode.”(Wardhaugh,2006)TheCambridgeEncyclopediaofLanguagedefinesthewordtaboomorespeciously:“TaboohasbeenborrowedfromTongan,whereitmeans‘holy’or‘untouchable’.”InChinesetabooise