Chapter 1Introduction

1.1 Preliminary remarks

As a common language phenomenon, euphemism has its special function incommunication and plays an important role in our daily life, and thus be called the"lubricant" and “disinfector” of communication. Generally speaking, almost all kinds oflanguages have certain things or behaviors which people try to avoid mentioning directly,such as death, sex, diseases, body function, crime and punishment, occupation, old ages,ugliness and so on. These are called taboos which are the original motivations foreuphemisms. According to Wardhaugh (2000)，taboo refers to certain things or behaviorsthat people or even a society disapproved since these things and behaviors violate moralcode or just because people hold in awe and veneration for the supematura  power. Thuseuphemism is created to avoid discourtesy and embarrassment by using indirect，implicitand roundabout expressions. We can imagine that any language, without euphemism, isjust a defective tool of communication. Through the ages, various scholars have studied itfrom perspectives such as sociolinguistics, semantics, pragmatics, rhetoric, fuzzylinguistics and cognitive linguistics.Cognitive linguistics is a new booming linguistic paradigm over the past thirty years.It holds that language competence is a part of cognitive ability, and people's languagestructure is decided by their conceptual knowledge, physical experience and discoursefunction. With this guidance, cognitive linguistics offers nove insights into numerouslanguage phenomena. According to Yang Zhong and ZhangShaojie (2002)，cognitivelinguistics mainly concentrates on the universal law of production, acquisition，andapplication of our language. Meanwhile, it studies language pattern that is connected withmemory and thought. One of the fundamental characteristics of language is classification,the psychological process of which is called categorization. And the product ofcategorization is cognitive category. Based on which, prototype is proposed. Prototypetheory, which is an important and elementary part in cognitive linguistics, holds that thestatus of members of the same category is not equal with prototype member possessingmore typical features.

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1.2 Purpose and significance of the study

Great achievements from different perspective have been reached in the field ofEnglish euphemism. Nevertheless, the study of English euphemism from the angel ofcognitive linguistics is rarely involved, which is a deficiency in the previous researches.And it is the deficiency that left a note for the author to carry out in-depth study andexploration.Over the past twenty years, cognitive linguistics becomes a new booming linguisticparadigm. Rosch (1976) believed that categorization and prototype theory have the abilityto interpret different kinds of meaning construction. Therefore, for the sake of acquiringan all-sided and in-depth understanding of English euphemism and making a contributionto the systematic study and application of English euphemism, the author intends to applythe categorization and prototype theory to the study of English euphemism. And thisstudy will make an explanation of various kinds of euphemisms within the prototypetheory on words level and sentence level, as well as analyze the dynamic change ofeuphemism and the cognitive motivations of euphemism.The significance of this study is that it provides people with a cognitive perspectiveto understand the nature of euphemism. After mastering the dynamic changing rule ofeuphemism, people can make a better use of it and improve their communicationcompetence and skills in daily life.

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Chapter 2Literature Review

2.1 Definitions of euphemism

It is a common thing that sometimes we may find it is difficult to express somethingdirectly, such as disease, death, old ages or sex. So when we have to mention these topics，in order to substitute those direct but impolite words, we prefer to use indirect, implicitand roundabout expression. And that is what we called euphemism. The term “euphemism’，is derived from Greek language, “eu’，means good orpleasant- and “pheme” means saying or speech. Thus the meaning of euphemism is “tospeak good words, or in a pleasant manner' (Neaman & Silver，1983，p.l).According lo Neaman & Silver (1983，p.4)，a British writer George Blunt, for thefirst time, introduced the word "euphemism" into the English language and defined it as“a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word’’. Maybe now this definition appears abit too simple. From then on，euphemism has been defined by different scholars fromdifferent perspectives with people's deeper understanding and more frequent use oflanguage. Here we would choose some classical, pertinent and representative definitionsand then make an analysis of them.

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2.2 Formations of euphemism

ShuDingfang (1()89) has put forward three principles, the principle of remoteness,the principle of relevance, and the principle of pleasantness, which are mutuallyinteractive and restricted, and lay basic requirements for the formation of euphemism. Indaily life, with the purpose of shunning using the taboo words, people will chooserelevant euphemism expression. According to the principle of remoteness, the longerdistance between the taboo and euphemism, the better the euphemistic effect will be. Theprinciple of relevance requires the appropriate and accurate choice of relevanteuphemism expression. In the light of the principle of pleasantness, the euphemismshould remind the hearer of a pleasant association of the indicant.According to the three principles, euphemism is created from four devices: lexicaldevice，grammatica] device, rhetorical device, and phonetic device. In current China, it is common to borrow words from English and Japanese. Some ofthese words are served as euphemism. This condition is equally applied to English. Whilein English, the main source of loanwords is from Latin and French. Based on theprinciple of remoteness we mentioned above，there is indeed a long distance between thenative words (taboo) and loan words (euphemism), thus loan words would bring lessassociation to the subject itself, which ensure the loan words more indirect andeuphemistic. For example, among the euphemisms of female's underwear, brassiere isfrom French, and perspire is from Latin.

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Chapter 3 Categorization and Prototype Theory....... 17

3.1 Categories and categorization.......17 

3.2 The classical theory of categorization.......18

3.3The prototype theory of categorization....... 19

3.4The characteristics of the prototype category.......  20 

3.5Basic level of categorization.......22

3.6Summary .......25

Chapter 4 The Elaboration of Euphemisms within the Prototype Theory....... 26

4.1A general explanation of euphemism based on the prototype theory ....26

4.2Illustration of various kinds of euphemism....... 28

4.2.1Euphemisms on the word and phrase Level....... 30

4.2.2Euphemisms on the sentence level .......32

4.3The dynamic change of euphemism....... 35

4.4The cognitive motivations of euphemism within the prototype theory........38

4.4.1The changing from prototypical meaning to peripheral meaning.......40

4.4.2The weakening of the typicality of family resemblance.......40 

4.5Summary .......41

Chapter 5 Conclusion.......42

5.1Major findings.......  42 

5.2Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study....... 42

Chapter 4The Elaboration of Euphemisms within thePrototype Theory

4.1 A general explanation of euphemism based on theprototype theory

Lakoff (1987) believed thai typicality widespreadly exist in language category. Andtypicality is applied lo the deilnition of natural kinds and cultura) kinds. For instance,typical cup has handgrip, typical tomato is red. and typical bird has wings, can fly andchirp, while there arc cups without handgrip。squared-shaped cultured tomatoes, andostrich, penguin. Language, as well as the other category, has family resemblance andmembers share different status. Thus, it is observed that typicality and atypicality areexisted in semantic category.Since ancient times, people are accustomed to relate language with weal and woewhich are brought by the forces of nature. People believe that the mention of certainthings will bring tragedy. Thus those certain things become taboo. Polilc words orexpressions used to refer to taboo are euphemism.

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Conclusion

To sum up. euphemism, which always adopts indirect and roundabout words orexpressions to avoid some directness and offending, is not only a figure of speech butalso a cultural phenomenon. Through the ages, various researchers have been studied itfrom different perspectives such as sociolinguistics. semantics, pragmatics, and rhetoric.This paper tries to make a new study of euphemism from the view of cognitivelinguistics.The symbiosis of taboo and its corresponding euphemisms makes it possible toresearch on them based on the framework of prototype theory. The following is thefindings reached from the study:Firstly, according to the principle of family resemblance, taboo and its correspondingeuphemisms- which may be formed scmantically. formally or even grammatically, havefamily similarities, thus they can be treated as a category. In this category, since taboopossesses the most typical features and semantic attributes, it is regarded as the prototype,centered on which, these euphemisms that is served as peripheral members are build upradially according to how many features and semantic attributes it holds. The mention oftaboo words (prototype) will convey people some unpleasant and offensive feelingswhich leave people strongest impression and will be perceived promptly. While theapplication of euphemism can abstract people's attention by highlighting certaincharacteristics but suppressing others. That is to say. the associations that the euphemismscaused will only possess neutral or positive characteristics of the category.

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Reference (omitted)