Comparative Studies of Chinese and English Euphemisms about Death

朱小宇

Euphemism is the way of expressing terrible and embarrassing things by using indirect expressions， and causes Alienation effect between signifier and signified psychologically. Death euphemism is the important component of euphemism. According to the record of Chinese Grammar Rhetoric Dictionary， there are as many as 400 kinds of death euphemisms in China while 300 or so in English. Death is always dreadful to human beings. Hugh Rawson， anAmerican linguist， once made the compassion of the death euphemism to “Radioisotope”，considering that as soon as we do research into it， we can possibly spy out the changing in our language， thought and culture.

Either English or Chinese， metaphor is widely used in euphemism for death. For instance， the English idiom ‘go to ones long home and the Chinese expression ‘回老家去了 （back to ones hometown） are all euphemism for death. Furthermore， ‘go to sleep forever and 長眠（sleeping for long time） are indicates death. All this euphemistic expression makes death less dreadful.

There are many euphemisms about death in Chinese， lets see some common examples：1牺牲；2作古；3长眠；4捐躯；5殉国；6陨落；7升天；8见背； 9闭眼；10上西天；11弃天下；12撒手人寰； 13一病不起；14葬玉埋香；15自寻短见；16葬身鱼腹；17命归黄泉； 18呜呼哀哉； Its too difficult to sum up all the death euphemisms inEnglish， here are some common examples： 1“to die”； 2“to die off”；3“to lie down and die”；4“to go from dust to dust”；7“to join the majority”；10“to perish”；12 “to lay”；13“to depart”；14“to depart with the world”；15“to leave this world”；16“to pay ones debt to nature”；17“to fall”；18“to breathe ones last”. No matter English or Chinese， metaphor is usually used in death euphemisms. English phrase “go to ones long home” is the same meaning with “回老家去了” inChinese. The two phrases here both the euphemisms about death. All of these euphemisms make death sounds less frightening.

One similarity between Chinese and English culture may be summarized from the vocabulary indicating demise listed above： people detest and even fear death， which is， therefore， often expressed in the form of euphemism. Due to the horror and abstention people holding towards death， the linguistic symbols referring to death come to become a taboo. That is also the reason why a lot of euphemisms on death exist in all kinds of languages.

Many death euphemisms in English derive from the Christian folklores and legends， most of which are from the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome， such as “gather home”， “give up the ghost” and “go out of this world”. A lot of euphemisms on daisies come into existence， for instance， count daisies， hide ones name under some daisies and turn up ones toes to daisies. In recent years， the euphemisms as funeral home， memorial park and sleeping garden come into use， for such words as “home” and “park” may sound warm and peaceful， and do make the living especially the relatives feel comfortable. Accordingly， the death euphemisms in English are rich in sensibilities， while less in number and variety than those in Chinese.

The framework of the traditional culture in China is Confucianism， Buddhism and Taoism. It is generally believed that the Confucianism is not a kind of religion， while the Buddhism and Taoismare， deriving respectively from India and China. The British people believe in Christianity， one of the most important religious in the world. Different religious beliefs lead to different death euphemisms.

The English people believe in Christianity， which lays great emphasis on the salvation of after life. The issue of death is mentioned in the bible and many sermons， hymns and eulogies； therefore， there exists in English a large number of death euphemisms deriving from religion， such as“应上帝号召”，“安睡在上帝怀中”，“上天堂”，“到比岸”and“与天使同在”. Such idioms as“to go to Heaven”， “to go to be with God” and “to meet ones maker” are all related toChristianity. From the euphemisms above， we can draw the conclusion that， all the great longings for better life and a bright future will come true in afterlife.

The euphemism about death is a general phenomenon in all cultures. But， behind the death euphemism， we can know different religious faith， expression ways， political system and folk-custom and so on. If we neglect these information， we will probably misunderstand others.In a word， the paper just wants to compare the euphemism about death in Chinese and English to find out the differences between them and the relationship between language and culture. The author hopes that could give something practical and useful to the latecomers in the process of studying and using language.

References：

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