从合作原则的视角分析哈利波特中的委婉语

【摘要】委婉语广泛地存在于人们的日常对话中，并且在社会交际中发挥着重要的作用，在一定程度上反映了社会价值观和道德观。哈利波特系列是世界著名的科幻小说，带领读者进入一个神奇的令人神往的魔法世界。而大量的委婉语见于哈利波特系列中的人物对话中，帮助塑造了人物的性格和推动情节的发展。本文旨在以合作原则的理论来分析探究哈利波特系列中的委婉语，从而使我们对委婉语的语用功能有个更深层次的理解，帮助我们更好地运用委婉语来推动日常的交流对话。

【关键词】合作原则 委婉语 语用学 哈利波特

1. Introduction

The application of euphemisms is a common language phenomenon in modern society. In a conversation， people use euphemisms to replace straightforward and offending words to avoid hurting others feeling. Euphemisms and cooperative principles are two closely interrelated research fields. For one thing， its inevitable to cause a violation of cooperative principles while people use euphemisms to express an unpleasant or embarrassing fact. For another， this kind of violation， which aims to achieve better communication effect， is done deliberately and understood by two parties of communications. Euphemisms can be understood and appreciated from the perspective of cooperative principles. Therefore， the interdependent relationship between euphemisms and cooperative principles justifies the felicities of the mutual study of the two fields. The paper collects euphemism data from Harry Potter， the worlds well-known science fiction， and tries to analyze them on the theory of Cooperative Principle.

2. Euphemisms； cooperative principles

2.1 Euphemisms

Euphemisms comes from euphemismsos in Greek， prefix eu- means “well， pleasant， good”； Stem - pheme means speech. Therefore， euphemisms refer to the “lip service” or “pleasant words”. People have a tendency to use mild， agreeable language when speaking of an unpleasant or embarrassing fact because direct accounts of the fact could make the listener or speaker have negative psychological emotion （邵軍航 2008：14）.

2.2 Cooperative principles

“Cooperative principles” are put forward by Grice， a famous American linguist and philosopher， because he believes that in the process of communications， the participants observe some principles consciously or unconsciously so as to complete communicative tasks. More specifically， the general principle includes four maxims which are the maxim of quantity， the maxim of quality， the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner respectively. Each maxim is accompanied by some sub-maxims. To observe the maxim of quantity， the speaker needs to give required and not redundant information. To follow the maxim of quality， one should not give information that is false and not supported by evidence. The maxim of relation requires the relevance. The four sub-maxims of manner are clearness， preciseness， conciseness and orderliness （Yule 2000）.

2.3 Euphemisms —— the violation of cooperative principles

People are required to abide by four maxims in communications but its impossible for people to act totally in accordance with these maxims in real life. Euphemisms make the conversational meaning that the speaker tries to express indirect. The production of euphemisms inevitably leads to the violation of four maxims in cooperative principles （張晶， 景莹 2012：94）.

3. The application of euphemisms in Harry Potter and cooperative principles

In the Harry Potter series， euphemisms can be seen in many examples from different characters. To different extent， these examples have justified the violation of the four maxims of Grices Cooperative principle. The paper will select some examples to analyze.

3.1 The violation of quantity maxim

The violation of quantity maxim is produced when the speaker give the information that is unexpected， insufficient or unnecessary. The application of euphemisms is concerned with the use of obscure words and the decrease of information that is required. For example，

（1） Hagrid said darkly：“Theres not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasnt in slytherin. You-know-who was the one.” （Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone）

You-Know-Who is a euphemism Hagrid uses to indicate the dark wizard. He doesnt provide the full name and violates the maxim of quantity for he doesnt offer sufficient information. Actually， its generally accepted to use “You-Know-Who” to refer to Voldemort， which is a taboo word， because Voldemort brings death to wizards and witches. Nobody is not afraid of him and dares to speak out his name. Though this euphemism violates the maxim of quantity， the hearer still understands the conversational implicature because the hearer is aware of the violation and the speakers intention （Capone & Poggi： 184）.

（2） “Dont be sorry， my dear sir， for nothing could upset me today！ Rejoice， for You-Know-Who has gone at last！ Even muggles like you should be celebrating， this happy， happy day！” Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a muggle. Whatever that was， he was rattled.

The word “Muggle” in Harry Potter Series refers to those who do not know how to use magic. It is a creative and euphemism expression. In this example， the speaker called Mr. Dursley muggle because he didnt belong to the magic world. Obviously， the speaker violated the maxim of quantity to indicate that Mr. Dursley was an ordinary person. Mr. Dursley didnt know the implicature of the word as he didnt belong to that group. From this example， we know that if the hearer wants to understand the true meaning of euphemisms， he needs to have the same context as the speaker.

3.2 The violation of quality maxim

The observation of the maxim of quality requires people not to give information that is false and not supported by evidence. For instance，

（1） He waved his wand， but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep. “Are you sure thats a real spell？” said the girl. “Well， its not very good， is it？ Ive tried a few simple spells just for practice and its all worked for me…” （Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone）

The girls name is Hermione Granger， who is one of the main characters in the series. “He” is Ron， also one of the main characters. Here Ron didnt exert the spell well. Hermione used tag question， a kind of euphemism， to avoid hurting Rons feelings instead of saying that it isnt a real spell， which is true. Violating the maxim of quality indicates that Hermione is clever and polite.

（2） When Dumbledore， the president of Hogwarts， died， the students cannot accept the truth， they would say that Dumbledore left for a moment rather than tell other students about the truth that Dumbledore was dead.

Its a common euphemism to describe death. The students here say what they believe that is not true because they do not want to make others fall into sadness. It is a violation of quality maxim， which is necessary and shows their kindness.

3.3 The violation of relation maxim

The maxim of relation requires that the conversation should be related to the topic. However， for some reason， the speaker deliberately uses some irrelevant expressions or sentence to express meaning in a tactful way. For example，

（1）“What do you think about the work Ron has done？” Hermione asked Harry in a soft way， expecting some good words.

“Um…He is a good friend.” Harry answered with a little awkwardness.

“Hum… You think he cannot do the job？” Hermione actually wants to laugh， because she knew Ron cannot do the job well， so she can make fun of him.

“Actually， he is a nice person， who treats everyone friendly， right？” Harry still holds the polite tone of him.

Hermione asked Harry twice about the work done by Ron. Though Harry knew that Ron did a bad job， he used some euphemism expressions such as a good friend and a nice person to describe Ron instead of answering the question directly. Its obvious that Harry violates the maxim of relation because his answer has no connection with the question. Actually， it conveys the meaning that Ron didnt do the job well. In addition， his answer shows that he cherishes his friendship with Ron and he wont say bad words behind Ron.

（2） “Well，” said Ginny slowly， helping herself to a bit of egg， too， “if you really want to talk to Sirius， I expect we could think of a way to do it.”

“Come on，” said Harry dully， “with Umbridge policing the fires and reading all our mail？”

“The thing about growing up with Fred and George，” said Ginny thoughtfully， “is that you sort of start thinking anythings possible if youve got enough nerve.” （Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix）

Ginny didnt answer Harrys question directly and her answer seemed to have no relation to the question. Ginny said that anything is possible if youve got enough nerve. Actually， she conveyed the meaning that they could think of a way even with Umbridge policing the fires and reading all their mail in an implicit way. She violated the maxim of relation but demonstrated her courage and wisdom.

3.4 The violation of manner maxim

The maxim of manner includes avoiding obscurity of expression， avoiding ambiguity， being brief and orderly.

（1） At once， Hermione Grangers voice filled his head， shrill and panicky. “Your scar hurt？ Harry， thats really serious… Write to Professor Dumbledore！ And Ill go and check Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions…Maybe there is something in there about curse scars.” （Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire）

Here Hermione use euphemism expression——something which refers to some bad things that they dont expect to happen as Harry is the only person that survived Voldemorts curse. Violating the maxim of manner， this kind of obscure expressions is frequently used in Harry Potter series to avoid mentioning unpleasant things.

（2） N.E.W.T is the acronym of Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests and O.W.Ls is the acronym of Ordinary Wizard Levels.

The two tests are the ones that students in Hogwarts must pass. Acronym is often seen in Harry Potter Series. It replaces some complicated expressions， which can be seen from this example. It also displaces curses or magic words. Two parties who have the same context can understand acronyms and the conversation can be brief. Acronyms， a form of euphemism， in Harry Potter Series， follow the maxim of manner， helping a smooth communication.

4. Conclusion

The paper studies euphemisms in Harry Potter series from the perspective of cooperative principles so that people can understand euphemisms better. We discover that English euphemisms and cooperative principles are closely linked to each other. We can better study and apply euphemisms in our communications if we take cooperative principles into consideration while we using euphemisms to communicate.

References：

[1]Capone，A.& Poggi，F.2016.Pragmatics and Law[M].Berlin： Springer International Publishing.

[2]J.K.Rowling.1997.Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone[M].New York：Scholastic Press.

[3]J.K.Rowling.2000.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire[M].London：Bloomsbury.

作者簡介：罗薇（1997.1-），女，广东韶关人，华南师范大学英语翻译专业学生。