A Dynamic Study Of Linguistic Taboo In Intercultural Communication: From The Perspective Of Politeness

The word taboo was originally used by the speakers of Tongan, living in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean to refer to persons, things and activities (including speech) that were sacred, forbidden or should be paid much attention to. Violation of taboo may result in various kinds of punishment, including death. This phenomenon is not unique in Tonga, but exists widely in almost every culture throughout the world, ranging from personal to social life. It is also manifested in language: persons, things and activities that are tabooed 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.Numerous studies have shown that language and its use are deeply rooted in the particular social and cultural milieu. It is impossible to understand language comprehensively without considering the context of culture and the context of communication in which language is used. Linguistic taboo is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a social phenomenon. Like other parts of language, it can reflect the social norms and the culturally accepted values and beliefs of a particular culture on the one hand, and its use is largely constrained by them on the other. It is not only universal but also culture-specific and context-dependent. Therefore the study of linguistic taboo must take into consideration the specific context and especially the influence of such contextual factors as participants, setting and activity.In communication, people from the same culture usually avoid using linguistic taboos spontaneously in order not to offend others. Due to their sensitive nature, they have long been put aside in the study of language. Few records can be found in the authoritative documents of linguistics and noble linguists also wouldn't like to discuss them. The early contributions to the study of linguistic taboos are relevant to anthropology, ethnography of communication and sociolinguistics. In foreign language teaching (abbreviated to FLT), both teachers and students are reluctant to mention them. But linguistic taboos, as an integral part of language, are closely related to social taboos.They have their own positive functions. They can reflect the change and the development of human society and the values and beliefs of the culture in which they were born.However, different cultures may not all agree on what is or is not taboo in a given context. Lack of knowledge in this part of language or improper use of them may lead to misunderstandings, conflicts and other unknown serious consequences in intercultural communication, which is increasingly frequent and wide now. In addition, from the perspective of history, linguistic taboo, as part of language, changes with the development of human society to satisfy human being's need for communication. Especially with the advancement of science and technology, many puzzles in the universe are solved, and with the increase of material wealth, human demands for spiritual civilization are also becoming higher. As a result, among the various factors creating linguistic taboos, politeness is becoming more and more prominent, especially in intercultural communication. Violation of linguistic taboos is usually considered as violation of politeness principles.Politeness, as an important means of enhancing interpersonal relationship, is universal in every culture, but different cultures may put forward different standards mainly because of differences in values. In intercultural communication, people from different cultures tend to abide by different rules of politeness to understand each other or adopt different politeness strategies to achieve the same communicative goal especially when habits and ethnocentrism are at work, which may lead to transfers at both linguistic and cultural levels, and further pragmatic failure.This thesis intends to study linguistic taboo in intercultural communication dynamically from the perspective of politeness using the theory of context to contribute to reducing miscommunications and conflicts in intercultural communication, to improving teachers and students' awareness of intercultural communication in FLT and to developing students' intercultural communicative competence to meet the rapid development of the technology of information and transportation.It starts with an introduction of the previous studies of linguistic taboo, theimportance of studying linguistic taboo in intercultural communication, the methodology adopted in this study and the purpose of the study.Chapter one, on the basis of a statement of the definition, sources, features and functions of linguistic taboo, suggests putting the study in specific contexts.Chapter two deals with the change of linguistic taboo as human society evolves according to the relationship between language use and social development, and the relationship of linguistic and social rules; on the basis of a review of the theories put forward by Bronislaw Malinowski, J. R. Firth, M. A. K. Halliday and Dell Hymes, it focuses on the analysis of the influence of such contextual factors as participants, setting and activity on the use of linguistic taboo.Chapter three, based on the statement that communication and context are constrained by culturally set rules, especially rules concerning politeness, points out that, due to cultural differences, habits and ethnocentrism, participants from different cultures tend to abide by different politeness principles in intercultural communication.Chapter four puts linguistic taboo in intercultural communication. Improper use of linguistic taboos is impolite and should be avoided or replaced by euphemisms. In intercultural communication, because linguistic taboo and politeness are culture-specific, linguistic and cultural transfers concerning linguistic taboo may lead to pragmatic failure at various levels, which reduces the effectiveness of the communication.Chapter five puts forward some suggestions for FLT and intercultural communication based on the previous four chapters.The last part is the conclusion which summarizes the whole thesis, and at the same time, indicates the significance of the study.