中文摘要：禁忌是存在于人类社会的普遍文化现象，其产生可追溯到人类诞生之初。不同地域的人们有着不同的文化。由于中西方人的历史传统、风俗习惯、宗教信仰、价值观念的不同，禁忌语也有很多不同之处。本论文从禁忌的定义出发，浅析禁忌的演变，结合具体实例着重探讨了中英文在禁忌上的异同点，并针对中英文禁忌的差异，提出了应对措施和方法，最后得出了结论：掌握语言禁忌对跨文化交流和外语学习具有重大意义。

关键词：禁忌、文化现象、语言、历史传统、演变

CONTENTS

中文摘要

Abstract

1.-Introduction-1

1.1The definition of “taboo”-1

1.2 Typical examples of linguistic taboos-1

2.-The Evolution of Linguistic Taboos-2

2.1 The primitive superstition phase-2

2.2 The feudal patriarchal phase-2

2.3 The modern democratic phase-2

3.-The similarities between Chinese and English linguistic taboos-3

3.1 Racial and gender discrimination-3

3.2 Pronunciation-4

3.3 Vocabulary-4

4.-The differences between Chinese and English linguistic taboos-5

4.1 In privacy-5

4.2 In compliment-6

4.3 In address-6

5.-Strategies to avoid linguistic taboos-7

5.1 Having a deeper understanding about foreign culture-7

5.2 Using euphemism-7

5.3 Mastering the differences between linguistic taboos-7

5.4 Using body language-8

5.5 Telling a white lie-8

5.6 Asking questions-8

6.-Conclusion-8

Works cited-9