委婉语与合作原则的违背

Euphemisms and the Violation of the Cooperative Principle

合作原则,作为人际交流沟通的指导原则之一以及语用学的理论基石,对于委婉语的研究有着至关重要的作用。作为一种语用现象,委婉语的使用应遵循合作原则阐述的准则,但人们在使用委婉语进行实际交际时,经常在一定程度上故意违背合作原则,要求听者探测说者的弦外之意,领会其真正意图。主要从合作原则的量、质、关联、方式准则四个方面论述委婉语对合作原则的违背。委婉语虽然违背了合作原则,但是不妨碍对话的流畅进行。为了增强理解、欣赏以及运用语言的能力,应正确看待委婉语对合作原则的违背这一现象。

The Cooperative Principle, as one of the guiding principles of interpersonal communication and the theoretical basis of the study of pragmatics, plays a very important role in the study of euphemism. As a pragmatic phenomenon, the use of euphemism should obey the maxims of the Cooperative Principle. However, while people use euphemism in communication, they violate the Cooperative Principle deliberately to some extent, so listeners have to find out the conversational implicature in order to understand their true purpose. This paper tries to analyse how the use of euphemism violates the Cooperative Principle from such four maxims as quantity, quality, relation and manner. The paper concludes that although the use of euphemism violates the Cooperative Principle, it doesnt impede normal communication. In order to improve our ability to comprehend, appreciate and use language, we should put the use of euphemism into perspective.