Euphemistic Discourse

Rather than chasing an idea this morning I stilled my mind and let the idea come to me.  I never know what it might be.

Euphemistic Discourse.  At first I felt it settle softly.  Then I felt it grab me.  I could spend the rest of the day with this idea.

All my journeys on the internet seem to start with Google.

How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else. (Buckminster Fuller) 

The first google hit took me here.  All the way to China!  I did not set out to go there!

Chen Liwen presents A Cognitive Contrast Study of Euphemistic Discourse Between Chinese and English.  I didn't know there was one.  Discovery is the joy of the journey.

There is a contrast.  "Euphemisms are abundant in both Chinese and English. Although there are surprising similarities between corresponding expressions in two languages, differences between them are obvious, especially in euphemistic discourse."


That got me hooked.  Tell me more Liwen.

"Chinese euphemisms tend to employ two presentation spaces to map onto one reference space, whereas in English often there is only one presentation space."

That is an interesting view.  I can only guess that in English the single presentation space is a direct mapping of the euphemistic expression to the direct explicit statement or word that it represents.  Apparently, Chinese expression of the euphemism is a two part thing relating to the explicit statement or word.

Thinking about that, this is what I thought:

The explicit statement or word that a euphemism leads to is an obvious but subjective interpretation on the part of the person hearing the euphemism:  I heard you say this but in raw simple terms I know that you really said this.  Maybe what Liwen is going to talk about is that in Chinese there are two parts to the euphemistic statement and it is up to the person to put the two parts together and produce the simple explicit conclusion of what is being said.  How much more interesting and perhaps challenging.  The constructor of the euphemism has to think about how to present part one and part two of the euphemism then convey it to the listener so that the listener gets the explicit meaning by putting 1 and 2 together to get part 3.  Just my guess.

The Chinese euphemism might then be more teacher/student oriented in that it requires the student to think rather than just translate.  The challenge in an English euphemism is the listener either getting it or not.  There is simple direct connection or not.  In Chinese the maker says in effect:  This is part 1, this is part 2 in words not only removed from their explicit meaning but another step removed from their explicit meaning.  Stating 1 and 2 that way is my signal to you that if you want to get the part 3 explicit conclusion you have to figure it out by yourself.

That is an interesting and perhaps more elegant way to communicate.  It can also lead to ambiguity in meaning but only if the speaker and listener do not know the rules of the method by which Chinese euphemisms are formed but how they are passed as a message.  If both are masters of this art then the conversation would be a very interesting display of communication skill on an elegant level of chess.

Moving the Chinese conversation from the master/student relationship to the master/master relationship makes it even more interesting.  I would conclude a euphemistic discourse between two masters to go like this:  One master constructs the euphemism as 1 and 2 and expresses it with the intention that it would be received and put together to turn on the light of insight to an explicit meaning 3 in the mind of the receiver.  The receiving master gets the euphemism and responds as follows:

a. I got your part 3 intended explicit meaning.  I know what you intended to say and confirm that to you.  You put it together so well in expressing the 2 parts to me that there is nothing more to say. I grant you a point.

b.  Your 1 and your 2 may also explicitly mean 4.  That is so because within either 1 or 2 or both is a sub part 1 and 2.  Something that you did not see but that I perceived as a higher level thought that you did not have when you formed 1 and 2 thinking that they are obviously 3.  If you agree, grant me a point.

How inscrutable to an outsider that does not know the rules of the game nor its elegance!

The Chinese are clever people.

So, I am thinking all this after reading Liwen's brief summary of what might obviously follow in an expanded explanation with example that I was already looking forward to examining to learn if what I was thinking about the nature of Chinese euphemisms in comparison to English euphemisms was correct.

Ah, the link at the bottom that opens the door to the adventure of discovery to be found in Liwen's Contrastive Study!  I click on the following link with great expectation of learning more:


Download(PDF format)


Bummer!

It is one of our most exciting discoveries that local discovery leads to a complex of further discoveries. (Buckminster Fuller)  

 For further discoveries here I will have to learn Chinese!

How do euphemisms in French compare to those in Chinese.  Maybe some guy in France is as disappointed as me that we will never know....................