透过侮辱和咒骂性语言看中国文化
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摘 要：语言和文化密切相关。一方面，语言是人们表达思想的载体；没有语言就没有文化；另一方面，语言的含义依赖于人们的认知，更确切地说，语言能否表言答意在很大程度上取决于人们对周边事物的认知方式。侮辱和咒骂性语言，作为表达说话者强烈感情的特殊语言，往往能典型地反映出与该语言紧密联系的文化背景。鉴此，本文分析了收集到的47个汉语侮辱和咒骂性语言的使用情况并透过它们考察了蕴含在内的中国传统文化。资料分析结果不仅支撑了认知语言学的主张,而且窥测了一些受儒学思想影响的中国文化特征，如对道德品质、妇女及传宗接代等问题的重视等。文章最后还提出了一系列今后可以继续提升的研究问题。
关键词：语言与文化;认知、隐喻、感情、侮辱和咒骂性语言;中国文化特征;儒家学说思想
Chinese Culture as Reflected by Insults and Curse Words
Abstract: language and culture is closely related. On one hand, language is the representation of people's thoughts，without language, there in no culture; on the other hand, meaning in a language is grounded based on human's cognition, more exactly, it is based on their daily experience，the way people conceptualized their experiences contribute to the meaning of linguistic expression. Insults and curse words, as a special language to express speakers' strong feelings, tend to typically reflect people's thoughts which are closely related to their cultural background. Therefore，this paper is an attempt to investigate certain traditional Chinese culture through a study of insults and curse words in Chinese language based on forty-seven words collected. The results not only support the claims resulted from cognitive linguistics but also predict certain Chinese cultural features such as the importance of moral quality, virginity and family line, which are under the influence of Confucian teachings.
Key words: language and culture, cognition, metaphor, emotion, insults and curse words, Chinese cultural features, Confucian teachings;
1 Introduction
Insults and curse words, one of the strongest verbal ways to give revenge to the offenders, are interpreted differently in different languages. Do insults and curse words sends a more effective message? Do insults and curse words represent certain cultural features in the language? How do Chinese people insult or curse when they are greatly offended? This paper is an attempt to reveal Chinese culture through the study of certain Chinese insults and curse words.
Insults and curse words are one of the most effective ways of expressing emotions. This paper discusses how insults and curse words are used in the Chinese language. It also explores the cultural features of Chinese that are reflected in insults and curse words.
2 Insults and Curse Words in Chinese
It is well known that language is closely related to culture. On one hand, culture can not stand alone without language. Since the nature of culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experiences and to generate behavior (Hiebert 1976: 2). On the other hand, language, as a tool of communication, is actually a representation of people's thoughts. It can mirror many aspects of its speakers, such as mental life, worldview, and value system and so forth.
Meaning is grounded in human experience, the way people conceptualize their experiences in the world contributes to the meaning of linguistic expression (Kovecses 1986). Emotions are a crucial element of human existence. People experience emotions both in the physical and in the psychological spheres. Gary Palmer and Rick Brown's study of Tagalog emotion-language reveals that notions of honor and respect are pivotal in Tagalog emotion-scenarios, indicating expressions and feelings of happiness, grief, sadness, peace of mind and so on (Palmer 1996).
As one of the prototypical ways of expressing emotions through languages, insults and curse words are manifestations of emotions. Elzbieta Tabakowska focuses on a particular group of curses in Polish. The study points out metaphors in emotional languages may be conditioned by man's everyday experiences as well as by a particular culture. It is the culture that underlies a shared linguistic image of the world, which has among its "sub-worlds", those of values and emotions (Elzbieta 1996).
Based on the above theories and previous research work done by others, this paper will demonstrate certain typical Chinese cultures through the analysis of forty-seven insults and curse words collected from dictionaries, internet and interviews. The insults and curse words are divided into four categories: words related to animals, words related to virginity, words related to damnation, and words related to body parts. Each of these categories is discussed in the following sections.
2.1 Words related to animals
In Chinese, animals linked with insults include dog, pig and mule and so on, among which dog is the one used most frequently. Differently from other languages, like English, dogs in Chinese carry bad connotations. Many insults are linked with dog, and they are mainly used to insult the offender's personal qualification, as in (1).
（1）a. 狗东西 ：(dog things) " look down upon somebody, those who are invaluable"
b. 狗男女：(dog man and woman) "cheap and obscene man and woman"
c. 狗腿子：(dog leg) "hired thug, lackey, henchman"
f. 狗头军师：(dog head army head) "villainous adviser"
The examples in (1) above express the speaker's recrimination towards the offender by saying he/she is directly related to "dog". Among which, example a is a general word to insult people, 东西 (things) is a neutral word which can refer to people or inanimate objects, but once it is linked with "dog", it refers to a person, implying that the offender is very invaluable. Examples (1) b and d are used in a similar way. Examples (1) c, d and e involve both metaphor and metonymy respectively: THE LEG STANDS FOR A PERSON; A BAD GUY IS A DOG. The meaning of "dog" is mapped onto a hired thug based on people's daily experience with dog, mainly a dog will be loyal to anyone who feeds it. Thus, a person who commits evil things for the sake of his own benefits is linked with the leg of a dog; this metaphoric and metonymic use of dog typically refers to a traitor who uses his country for personal gain.
Since dogs in the Chinese culture are associated with a person's low character, any action related to "dog" cannot be noble. Thus, the concept of "dog" is often used to describe the defendant's bad behaviors such as flattering, desperation and so on. The concept of "dog" also implies the offenders' low social position, as in (2).
（2）a. 狗坐轿子,.不识抬举
dog sit sedan , not know carry lift up
"Fail to appreciate someone"s kindness; not knowing how to appreciate favors"
b.. 狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心
dog bite a person, not know kind human heart
"snarl and snap at Lu Dongbin, wrong a kind-hearted person"
A dog is a kind of animal which normally carries bad connotations. Therefore, whatever is related to a "dog" cannot be something good. Thus, many insulting words are compounded with "dog", as in the following (3).
（3）a. 狗屁=：(dog shit) "dog's excrement, nonsense, rubbish"
b. 狗皮膏药：(dog skin plaster) "quack medicine"
c. 狗胆包天：(dog's gut covers the sky) "monstrously audacious, impudent"
d. 狗屁不通：(dogs shit not understand) "mere trash, unreadable"
Example (3) a is commonly used to insult one's work which has the value of rubbish or trash. If the defendant does not even know "dog"s shit", he/she is certainly a pure idiot: what he/she writes will either be "mere trash" or "unreadable". Example (3) b originates from a plaster which was formerly spread on dog skin, now it is widely used for rheumatism, strains, contusions, etc. In a given context, like 卖狗皮膏药 "sell dog skin plaster", this expression has the connotation of "quack medicine". Thus a person who sells dog skin plaster is practicing quackery or palming things off people.
Another way to compound insulting words by using the concepts of "dog" is to containing the concept of "dog" is to make a comparison between a dog and another animal which tends to have positive connotations. The comparison usually focuses on manner or quality, as in (4).
（4）a. 狗苟蝇营
dog life housefly live
"Shamelessly seek personal gain"
b. 狗尾续貂
dog tail continue sable
"A wretched sequel to a fine work"
c. 狗嘴里吐不出象牙
dog mouth inside spit not out elephant tooth
"A filthy mouth cannot utter decent language, what you can expect from a dog but a
bark"
In summary, the concept of "dog" is used to convey insulting information via two means: the concept of "dog" in Chinese culture, and things related to dogs. This is a common way to insult the defendants by linking him/her with the concept of "dog". "Dog" is the most typical animal in Chinese insults.
Example (10) c and d are really rude words in Chinese and a person is not expected to say them in public. People normally use them in a euphemistic way, such as "that part", if they have to mention them. If such kind of words is used to refer to the defendant, it means a bad insult to the defendants. Similarly, words related to body excrement also tend to be used as an insult to the defendants, as in (11).
（11）a. 屁话：(bullshit) "bullshit, nonsense, rubbish"
b. 吃屎： (eat one's shit) "eat one's shit, rubbish"
3 Conclusion
This study provides a general investigation into insults and curse words in Chinese based on four categories: words related to animals, words related to virginity, words related to damnation, and words related to body parts. It proves the idea claimed by Hiebert (1976) that language is a cultural phenomenon while culture is a social heritage. Without language, there is no culture. Language is also the representation of thought. Anything that a culture sees as important will be emphasized in that language. For instance, a particular word pertaining to an important concept in that culture will be used frequently and in many ways, especially when people need to express a strong feeling, such as anger, even insult or cursing.
Insults and cursing words, as a special aspect of language, tend to reflect cultural features related to that language in a simpler and clearer way. The insults and curse words being studied in this paper reflect the way in which Chinese people express their strong emotion. The ideas conveyed by the insults and curse typically represent the speaker's evaluation system and mental life. Among the four categories, various of bad connotations of "dog" support the cognitive linguistics that meaning is grounded in human experience, the way people conceptualize their experiences in the world contributes to the meaning of linguistic expression.
Through the four categories of insults and curse words being analyzed, the following Chinese cultural features can be predicted:
1）Chinese people attach importance to one's moral quality. Whatever depreciates the offender's character will be strong insults. The concept of "dog" is typically used to insult the defendant.
2）Woman may have a lower social position compared with man, this can be conferred from the insults related to virginity. It seems that insults within this category are only for woman, and it is of greater importance for a woman to keep her virginity that a man. This suggests that Confucian teachings still have an influence in Chinese culture.
3）Family line is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Since it is of great importance to trace their ancestry from one generation to the next one, thus producing the next generation plays a significant role in people's life. In addition, ancestors are highly respected by their offspring; any verbal expression offending their ancestors may bring the defendant insults or curse.
Annotation
①The other two sins are royalty and filial piety.
References
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作者简介：季红丽（1977-），女，汉族，讲师，语言学硕士，研究方向为语言学及英语教学。