5。1 To master taboo differences。。9

5。2 To use euphemism。。。。。。10

5。3 To use body language。。。。。10

6。 Conclusion。。。。。。。。11

Works Cited12

1。 Introduction 源C于H优J尔W论R文M网WwW.youeRw.com 原文+QQ752-018766

With the globalization of information and economy, the exchanges between countries and ethnic groups are becoming increasingly close。 People of different cultural backgrounds will encounter a variety of problems when communicating, and such problems tend to hinder the effective conduct of communication。 Among them, the root cause of smooth communication is linguistic and cultural differences。 The taboo language, is also spelled as Tabu which originates in Polynesian island。(Kramsch 10), as an integral part of the human language, plays a vital role in human communication。 At the same time, taboo is a relatively sensitive topic, which sets an obstacle for intercultural communication。 Therefore, the study of Chinese and English taboos and understanding each other’s taboo habits can avoid the occurrence of unhappy things and promote the smooth progress of communication。

Intercultural communication refers to the communication between people who differ in language and culture。 Language is the carrier of culture, speech taboo is a special social phenomenon which exists both in Chinese and Western culture。 Now with the close ties between countries, people often encounter many sensitive issues, mainly because of the lack of sufficient knowledge and understanding of the taboo language in cross-cultural exchanges。

As part of the language, taboo is difficult to be avoided in daily work and life, with the economic and political globalization, international communication are becoming increasingly close, the research on taboo has more significance。 The taboo language research in our country has been very extensive, many papers and journals and books have been published, scholars study the taboo language of Chinese and English from different angles。 However, our scholars’ research on the taboos in Chinese and English, especially in cross-cultural communication, is still not perfect, and we need further study。 This paper will study it from several aspects。 At first, it will talk about the features of the taboo, such as universality, nationality, implicativeness and time characteristics。 And then, it will make an analysis on the similarities and differences between Chinese and English taboos, and point out the causes of taboos in Chinese and English from several aspects。 At last, the paper will come out with some strategies to help people avoid taboos in cross-cultural communication。

2。 Literature Review

Taboo is an important part in human language。 As a significant aspect in language research and cross-culture communication, researchers and scholars are paying more attention to taboos, and there are a lot of researches have been carried out both in western countries and China。论文网

Early researches on taboos are mainly limited to these fields: anthropology, ethnography, psychology and sociology。 And they are mostly concerned with the classification and the negative influences of taboos。 During that period there have already existed some important tentative researches, such as The Golden Bough by Sir James G。 Frazer in 1911, and Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud in 1913。 However, it was not until 1967 that the most comprehensive overview about taboo came into being。 It was Steiner who illustrated the word “taboo” in his work Taboo, Truth and Religion。 This work includes the origin, cognates, meanings, significance and functions of taboos and probes into its relationship with anthropological and psychological theories。 With the development of Sociolinguistics in 1960s, many sociolinguists and researchers began to research taboos。 There are some famous works, for example, R。A。 Hudson’s Sociolinguistics, An Introduction to Language and Society in 1983 and Peter Trudgill’s sociolinguistics, An Introduction to Language and Society in 1983 and Ronald Wardhaugh’s An Introduction to Sociolinguistics in 1986。 In the 1970s taboos gained greater importance and there are more works concerned, for example, A Treasury of Curses, insults, put-Downs, and other Formerly Unprintable Terms from Anglo-Saxon Times to the present by Hugh Rawson in 1989 and in 1997 the book: Don’t Do It written by Philip Thody was published in English, which mainly talks about the historical account of taboos in different periods and societies。