Abstract With the development of globalization, the interactions between various people with different cultural backgrounds have been increasingly intensified. People can be aware of the fact that linguistic taboos exist in almost every aspect of their daily life, and it is an universal social phenomenon in all the cultures in the world .Taboo has become a commonly used word in anthropology and studies of religion and folk custom. In our daily life, violation of taboos may be seen inappropriate and results in different degree of communication barriers, even leads to communication failure. Therefore, people，whether in China or Western countries , are very cautious about taboos. The thesis firstly analyzes the previous studies on taboos of researchers from home and abroad . Secondly, the similarities and differences from five aspects will be discussed separately. Finally, some useful suggestions for avoiding taboos are put forward. And this thesis could help English learners improve their ability in intercultural communication .  60708

Key words: Chinese; English; taboos; comparison; suggestions

摘要随着经济全球化的发展，具有不同文化背景的人们之间的交流也日益加强。在人们日常生活方方面面都会涉及到禁忌语，它普遍存在于世界上各种文化中。禁忌语在人类学、宗教与民俗研究中已经成了一个常用词，在日常生活中，不恰当使用禁忌语会显得唐突无礼，造成不同程度的交际障碍，甚至造成交际失败。所以无论是东方还是西方的人们都极其重视避免禁忌语的使用。本文首先概述了中外研究者对禁忌语的探索研究，其次从5个方面分别讨论其在中西方文化中的相同点和不同点，最后提出有益的建议来帮助英语学习者提高跨文化交际的能力。

毕业论文关键词：汉语；英语；禁忌语；比较；建议

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. The Similarities between Chinese and English Taboos 2

3.1 Taboos on Religion and God 3

3.2 Taboos on Birth 3

3.3 Taboos on Death 4

3.4 Taboos on Discrimination 5

3.5 Taboos on Excretions 6

4. The Differences between Chinese and English Taboos 7

4.1 Taboos on Names 7

4.2 Taboos on Numbers 8

4.3 Taboos on Privacy 9

4.4 Taboos on Colors 9

4.5 Taboos on Age 10

5. Suggestions for Avoiding Taboos 11

5.1 Observing and Learning 11

5.2 Thinking Culturally and Appreciating Dfferences 12

5.3 Using Euphemism 12

6. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 15

 1. Introduction 

“It is manifested in language: persons, things and activities that are taboo should not be talked about or should be mentioned in a roundabout way in language. Words and expressions related to these social taboos are linguistic taboos. ”（周秀敏 6） This definition shows us that linguistic taboo, as an integral part of language, is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a social phenomenon. With the advancement of science and technology, the increasing communication between different countries make the mutual understanding more and more frequent. In intercultural communication people come together and communicate with each other, however , culture differences can keep them apart. Certain differences are unavoided because of cultural custom and social tradition.In present society, taboo plays a considerably significant role in the development of cross-culture communication in Chinese and English and it is urgent to carry out a more extensively study of taboos in intercultural communication.