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A Comparative Study of "Death" Euphemism between Chinese and English 1 Introduction Death is the most terrible event to most human beings, which means the end of existence. As a consequence, it is a forbidden area in almost every culture. However, people must face it no matter whether they like it or not. To avoid mentioning directly the word "death", which probably will arouse unhappy feeling and frighten people, lots of euphemisms are created to substitute for it. This thesis uses "death euphemism" to stand for this category of euphemism for convenience. John Gross (Enright, 1985:203) concluded, "Death, we are frequently told, has replaced sex as the great forbidden subject." Some death euphemisms express commendatory meaning, such as to be in heaven, to be with God; some neutral, such as to go, to decease; still some derogatory, such as to crock, to kick the bucket. People are reluctant to accept the fact that the dead persons have left this world forever, and they employ various strategies to achieve their goal. Death is just like a rest or some other forms of non-consciousness, so the dead just close their eyes and fall asleep; death is a journey or a leaving from life to some specified or unspecified places, so the dead pass away and go to a better place or even are in the arms of Jesus; death is an imperative invitation from the authorities in the afterlife, so the dead receive the final summons and have to answer the call; death is a loss for those who know the dead, so the dead are no longer with us and are sadly missed; death is also an end, so the dead breathe their last and are no more. Chinese death euphemisms are more complicated due to the deep cultural connotations, for instance, death euphemisms can indicate not only people's attitude towards the dead, but also the identities of the dead. Euphemism, for a long time, has been discussed by scholars as Fromkin (1988), Rawson (1981), Leech (1985)，张拱贵(1996) etc. in their respective fields of research. Their study has been mainly restricted in three areas: dictionary compiling, rhetoric, and semantics, among which, dictionary compiling accounts for the largest proportion. The major concern of scholars as Rawson (1981)，Neaman&Silver (1983), Ayto (1993)，刘纯豹(1990) and张拱贵(1996) is to collect and categorize euphemisms for dictionaries or thesauruses. This lexicographical approach mainly deals with the meaning, etymology of each euphemism and its relation to other terms, paying little attention to the socio-cultural aspect of euphemisms. The rhetoric view treats euphemism only as a figure of speech, revealing in detail the formation, classification of euphemisms. While the semantic view regards euphemizing as an "associative engineering", that is, replacing a word having offensive connotation with another expression, which makes no overt reference to the unpleasant side of the subject, and may even be a "positive misnomer"(Leech, 1985:45). This approach explores the origin and formation of euphemisms in terms of their semantic features. Most of the studies on death euphemisms also concentrate on the above-mentioned ways of analysis. However, those linguists concerned with the details of language structure pay little or no attention to the context in which speech is embedded or to the socio-cultural factors, which condition its use. There are some scholars as吴慧坚(1994),李思国(1999), to mention just a few, who all relate the study of death euphemism to its cultural context. However, there still lacks systematic and contrastive analysis with theoretical support. Psychological, religious, or conventional factors trigger the increase of death euphemisms in number and frequency, but researches on death euphemism in cross-cultural communication are not systematic compared with its wide application. The author's point in this brief review of euphemism, especially death euphemism, is that since death euphemism is a socio-cultural language phenomenon, the study of death euphemism should consider its cultural context. 2 Definition Euphemism is a common and long-standing linguistic and cultural phenomenon in both western communities and China. The English word "euphemism" comes from the Greek eu, meaning "well" or "sounding good", and pheme, meaning "speech" or "saying" that is, speaking with good words or in a pleasant manner. According to Allan and Burridge(1991:11)，the definition of euphemism is: A euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either one's own face or, through giving offence, that of the audience, or of some third party. English euphemism can date back to the Norman Conquest in 1066. Considering Anglo-Saxon words vulgar and obscene, Normans and the native upper English circles borrowed "elegant" Latin words to substitute them. Gradually these Latin words became absorbed by English, and were regarded as the earliest English euphemisms. Around 1750 a trend of fastidiousness in language became increasingly common which accelerated around the turn of that century. As a result, a huge amount of euphemisms for sex, death, reproduction, and other physical functions were popularized prior to the start of Victoria's reign in 1837. Since then euphemisms have been a must in English-speaking nations. The Chinese equivalent for "euphemism" is"委婉"or"婉辞",or the most popular one"婉曲"comprising of"婉言"and"曲语",both of which mean not to utter directly the unpleasant or rude things but to have them expressed in indirect ways. Death euphemism is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a cultural phenomenon, which can reflect the social structure, traditional value, religion, and social customs of the nation. Thus the investigation of death euphemism is indispensable with the investigation of the cultural information behind this language phenomenon.#p#分页标题#e# The term"English death euphemism" in this thesis must be clarified. The term "native English speakers" includes people of many countries---Americans, Englishmen, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders and others. Each of these belongs to a culture that is somewhat different from the others, in spite of the fact that they all speak English. Actually, even the language they speak differs from country to country. For example, "elevator" in America is called "lift" in Great Britain. Since this thesis cannot possibly cover all of the English-speaking peoples, the analysis regarding culture conducted in this thesis will focus on American one except those that are clearly indicated. This is partly because of the political, economic and cultural position of America in the English-speaking world. 3 Differences As one form of language, the growth of death euphemism is greatly influenced by culture since language and culture are closely interrelated to each other. Goodenough (1957:167) articulated that "A society's culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members, and to do so in any role that they accept for any one of themselves". Therefore, culture is the "know-how" that a person must process to get through the task of daily living. Since in almost every culture, people value certain things and dislike some others, which would undoubtedly be reflected in their language. Culture certainly determines how a language specific bits and pieces are the way they are. In this way, language is used and is the vehicle of culture and hence a manifestation of this nation's mentality, national peculiarities, and accepted ways of behaviors. Thus their cultural values may influence their expression of politeness, euphemistic ways of speaking and ways of avoiding taboos. That's why there are death euphemisms in almost every culture, but each has different cultural connotations. On the other hand, death euphemism changes along with the development of society, and the use of death euphemisms varies according to the variation of the context. It is a reflection of culture and carries vestigial patterns once dominant in a society. Whether they are acceptable varies from one historical period to another within this single culture. Even in the same historical period, within the same culture, using of death euphemisms is also variable and different because of different social factors, different cultural context. Hartwell (1982:317) said, "Euphemisms, in fact, tell us a good deal about the values of a culture." Death euphemism, of course, is no exception. 3.1 Differences of Cultural Patterns In comparing cultural patterns, this thesis focuses on human nature, relationship of man to nature and sense of time. The following parts will examine them one by one. 3.1.1 Human Nature Orientation Nearly all judgments about human behaviors, be they moral or legal, begin with this core question: What is the character of human nature? Discussions of human nature usually deal with goodness and rationality. The question about goodness and evilness of human nature has been raised since man has a clear sense of self. Because answers to this question vary, it is better to place cultures on a continuum that has three logical divisions: basically good at one end of the scale, mixture of good and evil in the middle, and basically evil at the other end of the continuum. China has been under the influence of Confucius for thousands of years, and people are taught by its doctrine to believe that man is basically good as《三字经》noted, "Man is born with good nature,人之初，性本善". Since people are constantly under threat of being corrupted, it is the responsibility of those in authority to protect people from evilness and erect models of virtue for them. If parents, teachers, and political leaders can do this, children will follow suit. The Western belief about human nature is that man is basically evil. The Bible story of Adam and Eve can best demonstrate that. God drove them out of the Garden of Eden because they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge. Ever since then, man is born with original sin. Evil is a part of human nature and can be erased only by God. People are "perfectible", that is, by following certain rules, people can improve their characters and even be "saved". If they believe in Jesus and accept him as the supreme God, they will get guidance from God "the Father", and then, at the Day of Judgment, when they hand in their accounts, they can still go to heaven, and join the heavenly Choir in their after life. However, if one disobeys the guidance of God and let the evil part of his character grow freely, he will certainly go to the hell and suffer. 3.1.2 Relationship Between Man and Nature The differences in the conception of the relationship between man and nature produce three kinds of cultures. At one end of the scale, there is the view that man is subject to nature. The middle, or so-called cooperation view is that man and nature are in harmony. At the other end of the scale, there is the view that compels man to conquer and direct the forces of nature to man's advantage. Chinese people take the corporation view, that is, man lives in harmony with nature. This is inseparable with the origin of Chinese culture. Chinese civilization has been built on agriculture. The Han nation lived inland, and depended on agriculture as the only way of living, so they were highly dependent on nature. This philosophy holds that a "power" links all things and creatures together. Man is just a part of nature. This view is clearly reflected in Chinese Gardening. Pavilions, paved alleys and other artificial structures are integrated with the natural scene, so it is hard to separate one from the other. Man's life rhythm also follows that of nature. Everything in nature experiences spring, summer, autumn and winter. Man follows suit. Man goes through birth, childhood, youth, adult, senior man and finally death. The death of man is no more than the withering of plants or hibernation of animals, so there are death euphemisms as" diaoling凋零, lingluo零落, lingxie零谢, weijue萎绝".#p#分页标题#e# Western culture, especially that of the Great Britain and the United Sates, derived from the ocean. Their ancestors lived on the sea. Facing the mysterious, powerful, and sometimes threatening ocean, they felt if they were frightened by the power of nature, they would be wiped out. Therefore, they had fought against the sea might bravely earn a living by and succeeded, so this in return, reinforced their belief on man's control over nature. Also the Western experience of man's dominance over nature can be traced back to the Bible story of creation. When God creates Adam, he is given power to master all of God's creation. Adam and his human descendents stand apart from and above nature. They are told to use the natural resources to meet human needs. As master of nature, man is encouraged to control it and explore it in whatever way man likes. It is God's intention for man to make the earth their private domain. The clear distinction between man and nature makes English lack the kind of death euphemisms that use natural phenomena to indicate man's ending. 3.1.3 Sense of Time Different culture has different emphasis on past, present and future, which results in three kinds of time orientations. They are respectively, past-oriented, present-oriented and future-oriented types. China is a past-oriented nation. Chinese believe strongly in the significance of prior events and tradition plays a key role. Chinese are taught from childhood their ancestors' glorious past. They know their history clearly and may talk about an event of a hundred or a thousand years ago as if it happened yesterday. They can do this because the past is kept alive in history books, storytelling, music, religious practices and customs. The Chinese proverb "gain new insights through reviewing old material,温故而知新"clearly states the importance of the past. History, established religions and tradition have dominant influence so people believe that the past should be the guide for making decisions and determining truth. In China, cultural memories are rich and deep, and people like to quote respected philosophers and leaders from the past. That's why so many death euphemisms derived from ancient times are still in use. In past-oriented societies, people are likely to experience time as cyclical, as repeating itself according to certain pattern. Chinese culture is strongly influenced by Buddhism doctrines. According to Buddhism, the history is cyclical; everything alive in this world goes through a life circle from heaven to earth to hell. Nothing can escape. If a person dies, he or she is just leaving the earth to a new place, as the " lunhui轮回", or " zhuanshi转世 "meaning to begin a new life. Americans are good at projecting themselves into the future. This has its historical reasons. American history is only about two hundred years. They have no glorious past to adore. People don't know their history in much detail. Overcoming the limitations of the past or surpassing the accomplishments of the past are good reasons of doing something new. For this, history in their mind is no more than a limit to surpass. In the highly competitive world, time is money. There is seldom time for people to sit down and recall the past. People just set goals for future, dates for meeting them, and outline specific steps for getting to the goal. Their attitude is that people act today because this action is a step toward the future they are preparing for. For them, the future is concrete and knowable but not something to dream about or fear. People work just for this life in this world. Time is linear, which means that it moves only forward and in one direction from birth to death. There is no circle, no returning to birth again. So they also don't have such death euphemisms as Chinese has. 3.2 Differences of Religion Most people in English-speaking nations believe in Christianity which in turn has a dominant influence on the language people speak. While in China, people mainly believe in Buddhism and Taoism. This section will analyze the religion differences from the following aspects. 3.2.1 English Death Euphemism and Christianity Most people in English speaking nations embrace Christianity and thus Christian creeds become the ethnical rules abided by the western society. This monism in religious exerts great influence on English death euphemism. A huge amount of English death euphemisms are of religious origin. They largely come from the Bible or other legends and literary quotations involving the Bible, most of which manifest Christian philosophy. Christians believe in God as the creator of heaven and earth, the one without who the world and all that is in it are meaningless and make no sense at all. Human beings are significant because God created them in his image. God made men by earth, thus after death, men will eventually return to dust (earth); God is the master of all creatures and men are bound to be called to God and answer the final summons. They hand in their accounts pending the last judgment made by God. Ever since the ancestor of human beings---Adam and Eve, committed the "original sin" of disobedience, man is born guilty. Everyone has to believe in God and confess his or her guilt. Only through these practices can he or she be atoned and not be punished to suffer in the hell after death. Thereafter, he is able to be asleep in the Arms of God and be at peace. In this way, men go to his final reward. Upon doing these,man can launch into eternity and have one 's name inscribed in the Book of Life. So death is not a terrifying fact. It is a perfect end to all Christians. Since most people practice Christianity, it is not surprising that those death euphemisms with religious hue have turned into the common core of English language and are widely accepted by people in the society even including non-Christians. #p#分页标题#e# 3.2.2 Chinese Death Euphemism and Buddhism The subject of death and the afterlife has fascinated human beings since time immemorial. For Buddhism, death is a doorway through which one passes into a different kind of existence whose nature depends on one's attitudes towards death. Buddhists believe in cyclical birth and death and rebirth. According to this view, death may be considered as a gate through which the consciousness departs from one life and begins the journey to a new life. Rebirth may take place in a different world, such as one of the many heavens. Rebirth may be in one of many forms. One may be reborn as a god in heaven, or conversely, as an animal on earth, depending upon the accumulation of karma(因缘) merit from deeds in past lives. Comparatively speaking, both Christianity and Buddhism have the tendency of paying close attention to what happens after man's death, and take man's good or evil in this life to decide the fate of man's hereafter. In Buddhism, life's essence is suffering, and the final goal of life directs at the eternal happiness after man's death which means being free from samsara(轮回).So the significance of this life is only to provide ground for the eternal happiness after man's death by means of doing good and removing evil in this world. Upon death, very good persons go to Buddha's Pureland(西天极乐世界)at once and very bad persons fall into hells(下地狱)immediately. Buddha says life is suffering, caused by desire. To end the suffering, we must end desire. From a greater perspective, death causes pain because of our desire for life. We fear death because we hold onto life. Death is all around us. We will die and all the people we love will die. Life is impermanent with suffering lurking, and the suffering of transmigrating in the cycle of life and death is beyond comprehension. Buddha achieved liberation from this vicious cycle and then pointed out the path toward such liberation for all sentient beings. When the Buddhists practice Buddhism, they usually sit with two legs crossed and eyes closed, and also they put their hands on their legs. They remain in such a posture to get rid of all the evil or impure thoughts in their mind. This is called "da-zuo,打坐". Some of the Buddhists choose to remain in this posture when they pass away which shows that they are not afraid of death and treat it as something natural and peaceful. Death with this posture is called "zuohua坐化" or "zuotui坐蜕". This gradually became a death euphemism that most Buddhists adopted and actually practiced. 3.2.3 Chinese Death Euphemism and Taoism Taoism started as a combination of psychology and philosophy but evolved into a religious faith in 440 CD when it was adopted as a state religion. At that time Lao- Li became popularly venerated as a deity. One dominant concept in Taoism is the belief in some form of reincarnation. The idea that life does not end when one dies is an integral part of Taoism. The goal in Taoism is to achieve "Tao,道"，to find the way. Tao is the ultimate reality, a presence that existed before the universe was formed and which continues to guide the world and everything in it. Tao is sometimes identified as the Mother, or the source of all things. That source is not a god or a supreme being, as Taoism is not monotheistic. The focus is not to worship one god, but instead on coming into harmony with Tao. Desire, ambition, fame, and selfishness are seen as hindrances to a harmonious life. It is only when a person rids himself of all desires can Tao be achieved. By shunning every earthly distraction, the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The longer the person's life, the more saintly the person is presumed to have become. Eventually the hope is to become immortal, to achieve Tao, to have reached the deeper life. This is the after life for a Taoist, to be in harmony with the universe, to have achieved Tao. To understand the Taoism concept of life and death, the origin of the word Tao must be understood. The Chinese character道is a combination of two characters that represent the words head and foot. The character for foot represents the idea of a person's direction or path. The character for head represents the idea of conscious choice. The character for head also suggests a beginning, and foot, an ending. Thus the character for Tao also conveys the continuing course of the universe, the circle of heaven and earth. Finally, the character for Tao represents the Taoist idea that the eternal Tao is both moving and unmoving. The head in the character means the beginning, the source of all things, or Tao itself, which never moves or changes; the foot is the movement on the path. Taoism upholds the belief in the survival of the spirit after death. Taoist believes birth is not a beginning, and death is not an end. There is an existence without limit. There is continuity without a starting point. 3.3 Differences of Social Customs Man was born, grows up and lives in the boundless universe till his death. Death is inevitable to anyone. Funeral is a kind of etiquette formed through thousands of years for the dead to rest in peace and the living to be satisfied. The whole process of funeral is the conversation between the deceased and the living; there exists a strong complex----the complex of cherishing the memory of ancestors and dear ones. The complex is presented in both physical and spiritual contacts between the living and the dead. That is what is contained in the depth of the funeral customs.#p#分页标题#e# 3.3.1 Funeral Customs in English-speaking Nations Modern funeral customs in the U.S. vary due to geographic region, ethnic background, religious affiliation, and economic and social class. Depending on where how, and when death occurs, it is common to notify a physician or the police. Then, the cause of death is certified by a physician, coroner, or medical examiner. After the family chooses a funeral director, the director removes the body to the funeral home where it is embalmed, or if it will be cremated, it is sanitized. The family must make other decisions such as: the time and location of the funeral service, whether to publicize it, who will give the eulogy if one is to be said, and the place of burial or cremation. Garments must also be chosen and should be something the deceased enjoyed wearing in life. The family must also choose a casket. And then Funeral directors are immediately called upon someone's death, and generally come to the home to direct the funeral and carry out the embalming. A basket of flowers is hung on the front door. Religious services are held at the home or in the church, and then conclude with a procession to the cemetery. Participatory worship is to be encouraged for Christian funerals. The funeral liturgy serves as a comforting and educational tool for family, friends, and congregation. It focuses not on ourselves and our desires, but on God's redemptive love and its meaning for us in life and in death. Viewing the dead body is widespread in the U.S., occurs in all social class levels, and is almost always done at the funeral home. This last look at the dead is a memory picture. Black clothing does not necessarily need to be worn. However, guests should wear something modest and with a neat appearance. There is a guest book just inside the door of each funeral chapel, and guests are encouraged to sign it. In front of the casket is a kneeler upon which visitors may stop and say a prayer while looking at the deceased. Depending on the religion of the deceased, there may be a pedestal near the casket upon which are prayer cards. These cards have a religious picture on one side, and a prayer, the name of the deceased, and date of death on the reverse. Flowers are commonly sent by friends and relatives to the funeral home and later transported to the gravesite. Many families now prefer a donation be made to a favorite charity in lieu of sending flowers. In the dioceses of the United States, the principal rituals in the Order of Christian Funerals are the Vigil for the Deceased, the Funeral Mass, and the Rite of Committal. Music selected for the Order of Christian Funerals should be appropriate for Christian prayer and conform to liturgical directives. The texts of the music should express the paschal mystery of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection. This is especially important for the Song of Farewell. Popular non-religious songs are not to be used in the liturgy. A eulogy is not appropriate where a homily is prescribed, although examples from the person's life may be used in the homily. The literary genre of eulogy is not a homiletic form. Rather, the homily is to "illumine the mystery of Christian death in the light of the risen Christ" as proclaimed in the readings. Before the casket is sealed, jewelry should be removed from the corpse so it can be passed down to future generations. It is at this time that family members may place items inside the casket that they wish the deceased to be buried with. They can include a favorite book of the deceased, a handwritten poem, or a child's drawing. A wake usually lasts for two nights, with the funeral being held on the third day. With few exceptions, there is little active participation other than attendance by family and friends at the funeral. This is a uniquely American custom, whereas the family fully participates in other countries. The casket is transported to the cemetery by the funeral director in a hearse, and the immediate family is often transported in a limousine with other family members and friends following behind in their cars with their headlights on. At the cemetery there are a few religious committal rites, and the family leaves with the casket still above ground. After the funeral, the family usually has a reception at home for the guests. Modern cemeteries are operated by the government, by churches, or by private corporations. Most cemeteries are laid out in rows of burial plots for earth interment. Some permit the erection of large family monuments. However, the word "cemetery" causes a fair amount of disquiet. Whatever the euphemistic intention behind the word may once have been, the predominant associations of it today are municipal, impersonal, and bleak. It is thus more comfortable to talk of a memorial park or a garden of remembrance. But in so-called memorial parks, only grave markers that are flush with the ground may be installed. This practice is becoming more and more common. Modern tombstones are usually made of granite and carved by mechanical means. They rarely include more than the name and dates of the deceased. 3.3.2 Funeral Customs in China The burial of the dead (cremation is traditionally uncommon) is a matter taken very seriously in Chinese societies. Improper funeral arrangements can wreak ill fortune and disaster upon the family of the deceased according to the Chinese tradition. Ancestor worship---the emphasis on the continuity of kinship links between the living and the dead, the belief that ancestors could intercede with deities on behalf of their living descendants ---is an essential stimulus for the evolution of the elaborate death ritual practiced by the Chinese.#p#分页标题#e# To a certain degree, Chinese funeral rites and burial customs are determined by the age of the deceased, the manner of his or her death, his or her status and position in society and his or her marital status. According to Chinese custom, an older person should not show respect to a younger. Thus, if the deceased is a young bachelor, his body cannot be brought home but is left in a funeral parlor. His parents cannot offer prayers for their son: being unmarried, he has no children to perform these rites either, hence why the body does not come to the family home. If a baby or child dies, no funeral rites are performed, as respect cannot be shown to a younger person---the child is buried in silence. Funeral rites for an elderly person must follow the prescribed form and convey relevant respect: rites befitting the person's status, age etc. must be performed. Burial of the dead represents the last moment of the dead's stay in this world. So burial ceremony is typically regarded solemnly. When the coffin has been sealed, it is ready for removal from the village, town, or neighborhood of the dead. This expulsion is the last formal act in the sequence of the funeral. Since the coffin would be bury under ground and in the earth, this process is also called" rutu入土, guitu归土, zuantu钻土" in Chinese. These words all become death euphemisms later. The transfer of food, money, and goods from the living to the dead is one part of the funeral. Mock money and paper models of items to be used in the afterlife (such as, houses, furniture, servants, vehicles, etc.) are transmitted by burning. Food is presented in the form of offerings, whereby the essence of the gift is consumed by the dead. It is probable that China has undergone transformation in funerary rites over the centuries, and the above mentioned is also not exhaustive. However, what are stressed here are some common practices in most funerals that are related to the study of Chinese death euphemisms. 4 Factors of Differences Death euphemism originating from taboo reflects strong cultural motivation. Thefactors for differences of death euphemism attribute to these cultural motivation. This section will focus on the analysis of the cultural motivation from the following aspects. 4.1 Traditional Morality Morality is an important part of culture, which refers to the standards, or principles of good behavior of a certain society. These principles surely will influence people's good behavior, something including linguistic behavior. That is to say, according to a certain morality, can be said directly, while the others may not be mentioned at all. Therefore, euphemisms, the roundabout ways of speaking, would enable people to keep the morality and communicate successfully. Take Chinese ru school(儒家)as an example. Ever since the Han dynasty, the Chinese emperor"汉武帝"adopted the policy"honor ru school and abolish other schools of thought, 罢黜百家，独尊儒术", people had enjoyed rare ideological freedom. Ru school stressed respectability, ritual and paid great attention to morality and prestige. This affected their linguistic behavior. Naturally, people governed by the doctrine of ru school tried to talk in roundabout ways about things that are against the moral code if mentioned directly. Ru school has different choice of words for different social ranks. People should never use"beng崩" to refer to the death of the common, otherwise, both the speaker and the person referred to would be suspected of bearing malicious intention and would be punished severely for that. People should behave according to their social status which is required by the morality of the nation. That's why there are so many death euphemisms for different people of different positions. 4.2 Social Convention Convention is the generally accepted practice, especially with regard to social behavior. It is the custom or certain behavior that is formed after longtime practice and is accepted by most of the people. People behave according to the social convention and longtime practice makes social convention penetrate into people's mind, which might even be shown through their characteristics. Different groups play by different rules, and conventions vary considerably between individuals even within the same community. Different cultures have different repertoires of face-saving strategies. There are cultural differences to the use of death euphemisms, but essentially, the same parameter recurs in every culture to motive death euphemism. Being polite is a code or principle people follow in communication. As etiquette, it is found on the basis of most nations' cultural psychologies. Mutual respect and face effect require polite mode of expression in communication in both Chinese and English-speaking nations. This provides good environment for the growth of euphemism. There are times when more or less everyone would agree that people should not mention the word death directly. A couple whose child has just been killed in an accident, a young man learning for the first time that he has only a few weeks to live，it would be peculiarly brutal to talk about death directly instead of doing one's best to soften the blow. A set of euphemism, at such moments, would defeat its own purpose. What are needed at that very time are words that would make the dreadful finality of the fact blur, if only for an instant. So people fall back on the most effective forms of euphemistic talk. 4.3 Psychological Factor Psychologically, the origin of death euphemisms is a stimulus-response process. After a word has long been associated with the stimulus that provokes it, the word itself picks up aspects of the response elicited by the stimulus object (Neaman &Silver, 1983:9). For instance, the term "die" or "decease" denote the same fact, but why is the former tabooed, the latter acceptable for use? Generally, taboo words call up explicit, undesirable association, whereas euphemisms evoke indirect, mild, pleasant associations. Taboo words are not intrinsically nasty. The unfavorable emotions and attitudes attached to them are often shaped during the long period of cultural development.#p#分页标题#e# Throughout history, death has been described in terms of every new belief, technology and pastime. Americans are even linguistically proud of their vast terms about death. The most audacious of the death-denying strategies is to pretend that death is life. John Ayto(1993:233) joked that if you can convince yourself that the dead person has not really died，you are amply consoled. That is why there are death euphemisms as "fall asleep沉睡"，and "go to heaven去天堂".The affective meanings of these words cover the brutal fact and leave people only a peaceful atmosphere. 5 Conclusion Language is a constantly changing semiotic system, with language variation as the prerequisite of language change. This paper aims to analyze death euphemism, a kind of language variation. From this analysis, it is found that Chinese and English death euphemisms are greatly different from cultural aspect. Firstly, from Chinese and English death euphemisms, it can be seen that man is basically good and lives in harmony with nature in Chinese while in English, man controls nature; Chinese people cling strongly to their past while most people in English-speaking nations believe only in future. Secondly, there are also religion differences. The utmost religious influence on English death euphemism is Christianity while on Chinese, Buddhism and Daoism. Thirdly, the social customs related to death and funerals in these two cultures are also different due to their different cultures. Death euphemism has been heavily applied than ever before, and it has great vitality. Extraordinary collections of death euphemisms have formed around the taboo word death over the years as a consequence of the continual creation of new terms and it seems safer to say that the sizes of these collections reflect the strength of the underlying taboo. In both Chinese and western societies, people use those refined, veiled death euphemisms almost everyday. It can help people set up favorable relations with others in communication and keep the verbal exchange going on without a hitch. A contrastive study in this field may well enhance people's awareness and understanding of other cultures as well as their own, thereby facilitating cross-cultural communication. The analysis in this thesis is not exhaustive since death euphemisms grow as time goes by, besides that, with the process of globalization, cross-cultural communication becomes a must in people' daily lives, so more and more attention are drawn to the analysis of cultural differences of death euphemisms. 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