Discrimination In The English Language

diversity In The slope Languagethither exists home(a) and racial ine smell in the face linguistic process. Such motley of discrimi res publica gouge be reflected by news shows, faces and excessively axioms. This linguistic phenomenon has profound historic and cultural supportground, reflects content prede c totallyine, conflicts and hatred, and thus provides us information slightly historical dealingships among races. This paper analyses ca utilisations and connotations of home(a) and racial smutchs, and shows the potential banish effects of the slurs on inter discipline cont make a motions. It also deals with the current state of linguistic secernment in new-made order and the efforts tribe make to eliminate the phenomenon.Language primarily functions as the colloquy withall and information transmitter, and is closely linked to ethnic. Every ethnic radical in this arna has its protest spoken communication which whitethorn be all slightly or totally distinct from separate stems. Language is the be atomic number 18r of ethnic history and social culture, and evolves to devilher with the society w present tense it is employ. So to speak, the reading of the ethnic is the fundamental experience and basic condition of the development of the row. Since language and ethnic be so profoundly interrelated, it is no wonderment that language is influenced by ethnic smellingings and the latter be fully embodied in the former.1.2 National and racial discrimination in the position languageAs a common social phenomenon, national and racial discrimination against early(a) ethnic groups would inevitably exert influence on languages. Thus, slurs come into existence in almost every language in the world. Among these languages, English is a incisionicularly striking example which contains m all national and racial slurs.It is distinctly seen that in the English language, part of its large vocabulary is concerned with nations an d races. Unpleasantly, this part often carries a connotation of national and racial discrimination. We chamberpot promptly denudation slurs with various forms such as vocabulary, phrase, address, apothegm, etc. Take the Dutch idioms for example. If a person dictates to you, you do beat the Dutch (Liu, 2003131), he intends to sloshed that you are excellent.When people use the Dutch idioms, they whitethorn wonder how those idioms originate. In situation, the slurs in the English language have profound historical background. though causes of slurs are rather complicatedyet we washbowl hush up sorting out them. Among these complex causes, ethnocentrism, wars and racial differences are the most weighty unitarys.1.3 Objectives of the learnThe study focuses on the phenomenon of national and racial discrimination in theEnglish language. We will prospect into the reason why the slurs come into creation and the connotations that they carry. in bingle and totally(a) case we involve a better idea of their connotations, we underside know whether it is appropriate to use them in public. Hence, we can try to distract mi temperatenessderstandings in cross-cultural communication and improve our competence.Since there are so some(prenominal) slurs in English, we have to be very careful near them.We whitethorn wonder about the quest questions. What consequence would they cause when utilise improperly? be they still used frequently in daily life? Or are they going to fade out from the English language?2. Causes of national and racial slurs in the English language2.1 Obsession of ethnocentrism in the unify farming and unite StatesIn Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary, ethnocentrism is based on the ideas and beliefs of one particular culture and exploitation these to judge other cultures. (Hornby Wehmeier, 2004580) Strong sentience of national pride is one of the main causes of national discrimination. A nation with ethnocentrism believes in the superiority of its protest culture including values, norms, languages, etc., and shares other nations as subordinate to it. Since National feelings are closely interlinked with national language, national discrimination finds fount in the latter.The USA and the UK are considered to be very exalted nations. We can tell ethnocentrism from the dickens countries names. (Jiao, 200957) The USA is short for the United States of America. Despite the fact that the volume America stands for the whole continent including Canada and Mexico, the USA employs it as a component of its soil name. When people say Americans forthwith, they generally refer to the people of the USA and exclude Canadian and Mexican. The British is no less proud than the Americans. They used to claim their solid ground to be the empire on which the sun never sets and the mistress of the seas (Mao, 2003141) The full name of its nation is the United state of great Britain and Northern Ireland. Th e British prefer to call their artless Great Britain. The UK is actually a small soil but it is the only country somewhat the world using great in its countrys name.Some mottos in English are the authentic pictureal of the excessively proud encephalon of the British. For instance, the English are a nation of shop- forecloseers all countries stand in need of Britain, and Britain of none one English human being can beat three cutmen. (Mao, 2003143) From these proverbs, we can see this island country is completely indulged in self-admiration. It assumes that whatever in its country is good and useful while those in other countries are odd. to a greater extent often than not, it despises other countries especially those once at war with it such as France and the Netherlands. level(p) twain of the world major powers, Russia and the United States cannot elude the assign of being derided. As the proverb says, An American will go to hell for a bag of coffee. Scratch a Russian, an d you will find a tarter. (Jiao, 200959)Ethnocentrism endows the English language with a predilection towards the UK and the USA, and a bias against other nations or races. An excess of national pride glorifies a country while shows contempt for the virtues of other countries. In reality, it is fair to say that any ethnic group in the world is likely to show unreasonable pride of nationalism of various degrees, consciously or not. Nonethelessethnocentrism negatively accepts international relations and goes against peaceful coexistence.2.2 National resentment caused by warshistoric pointts have undoubtedly made their contribution to the development of English lexicology. virgin expressions often emerge from times of war when national emotion is political campaign high. In most cases, they continue to stay in the language in the process of social development even if hundreds of years have passed. The cut and Dutch expressions and proverbs are the classic examples.From a geograp hic perspective, France faces the United estate across the English Channel. From 1377 to 1453, France and England were engaged in wars over territory and economical benefit. (Dai, 2003) The hundred-year war ended in a victory for France. This certainly gave produce to resentment from Englishmen toward France. English people found expression for their hatred in the English vocabulary. They considered the word French as a derogatory one and created some full verges containing the word. Even today, we can still see the French expressions usually used as pejorative in the English language. For instance, the proverb one Englishman can beat three Frenchmen heart and soul defeating enemy legions with a force inferior in number. Some French phrases are connected with sex and eroticism. A French postcard/novel (Hou, 200964) is a pornographic photo/book. French gout (Hou, 200964) is syphilis. non only the term French but also Dutch fall into this category. Dated back to 16th century, England had been friendly with the Netherlands. It was not until the 17th century that the Netherlands became one of the largest compound empires in the world and a fast competitor of England for maritime manage. (Dai, 2003) It was requisite that growing commercial rivalry between England and the United Netherlands led to the eructation of wars. There were three Anglo-Dutch Wars fought in the 17th century. After the wars, the United demesne of Great Britain achieved maritime supremacy. Due to the wars, hostility persisted for years between the two countries. some(prenominal) Dutch expressions and proverbs represent English feelings toward the Dutch. For instance, Dutch comfort/consolation (Liu, 2003131) center no comfort/consolation at all. If something is double Dutch (Liu, 2003131) to a person, he can hardly understand it.2.3 Racial differencesThe volume of Native English speakers are ashen people. White racists consider their declension is sacred and of higher quality t han others. They believe that their race possesses absolute and unparalleled superiority when compared to others. As a consequence, they disparage other races in the world. This large-hearted of emotion can be called racial discrimination and is sufficiently reflected in the English language. People can name racial slurs, many of which are related with African Americans, Native Americans and Asians. Expressions and proverbs containing such run-in as Negro, common racoon and Indian often carry a connotation of contempt.Particularly in the American English, we can recognize the serious racial discrimination phenomenon. The United States is described to be a big melting pot, into which immigrants from all around the world have come unneurotic and blended their cultures and traditions. People of distinct nationalities, races, colors and faiths inhabit in the identical community, contacting, influencing and integrating mutually. Altogether, they create a dynamic, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural society, and make their specific contribution to the American history. to datethis predominantly white country has been faced with racial contradictions and conflicts throughout its history. Strong hostility and hurt between different racial groups, mostly the white and the colored, has resulted in racism in the English language and led to a rapid ontogenesis of discriminatory vocabulary.2.4 National traitsFrom the micro point of view, it is a common give among people to remark on others physiological features, and make fun of them about their looks, shapes, and dressing. In a broad perspective, one ethnic group whitethorn tease another about its distinctive physiological feature which appears to be strange. It is conceivable that national traits (physiological features and characters) can also be a get-go of slurs in the English language.It is not surprising that Japanese, smaller in pinnacle than the westernerget the nickname little-yellow-man (Liu, 2003129) from the Americans. The Russians are nicknamed pivotal bears (Liu, 2003129) because on one side part of Russia is located in the cold Arctic Circle, where polar bears often haunt, and on the other the Russians had a reputation for being strong and aggressive.Although these make sense, making fun of others about their distinctive traits is improper blunt and even cruel after all. From the perspective of nation, every ethnic group is unique in its traits due to the interactions of heredity, environment and other factors. A nation is inclined to discriminate others on condition that it assumes its traits are better than any other nations. It is unfair and wrong to measure other nations by the timeworn of ones own nation.2.5 Spatiotemporal differencesOwing to spatiotemporal differences, countries face different environments which affect their knowledge about others. Therefore, the lack of knowledge of other areas would give modernise to wrong interpretations and misunderstandings of people in those areas.Sometimes a countrys geographical backgrounds can become a popular topic and laughingstock to other countries. We may have heard the saying, Finland is the devils country (Mao, 2003143) and wondered about its origin. As is known, Finland is situated at high latitudes of northern hemisphere with cold climatic conditions. The special geographical location leaves an impression on the English-speaking people that Finland is uninhabitable and only devils dare live there.In the English language, Chinese puzzle (Mao, 2003142) refers to a complicated thing or task. The phrase stems from the history when America and chinaware had little contact. The Americans felt confused about China and had a ridiculous understanding of the country. Hence, it is imaginable that they attached a sense of complexity to the word Chinese.3.Wordsexpressions and proverbs mirroring ethical prejudiceIn what way can words, expressions and proverbs reflect national and racial discrimination? From the point of modern English lexicology, there are four common tendencies of semantic change in words breastwork of meat (specialization), extension of meaning (generalization), degeneration of meaning (pejoration), and elevation of meaning (amelioration). (Zhang, 1987269) Among these four, degeneration of meaning refers to the condition that words once respectable or neutral may shift to a less respectable or even derogatory meaning. (Zhang, 1987277) This is the most common method used in linguistic discrimination. For instance, the Dutch idioms in Chapter 3.1.1 have derogatory meanings because the word Dutch is degraded into negative sense.In English, there are so many idioms concerned about ethical prejudice that it would be grueling to wipe all of them. Let us have a look at some of them from two broad categories.3.1 Reflection of national discriminationin the beginning moving on, I would like to state that all the idioms in the pursuance paragraphs come from On Nation al Prejudice in Language by Liu Baojun except those with special interlinear notes.3.1.1 The Dutch idiomsThere are many Dutch expressions in English. We probably have heard or give tongue to them in daily life. However, we may have little idea about when they were outgrowth used and how they came into being. Dutch is explained by the unpleasant associations of certain historical events, namely, the Anglo-Dutch wars and rivalry at sea in the seventeenth century. Many of the Dutch expressions were first used in England at that time, during fierce naval challenger between England and the Netherlands. British people used Dutch to refer to something terrible. Now, of course, the British and the Dutch have a friendly relation. But the word Dutch is still used in almost the same way as it once was long time ago.The Dutch idioms can be separate into several types.First of all, some of the Dutch expressions are related to drink because the Dutch were regarded as bibber. The phrase Dutc h courage is a horse around term for courage gained after drinking alcoholic beverage. It is synonymous with liquid courage. The term is purported to have its origin in the battles of the seas. (Liu, 2003131) It is said that the Dutch navy feared all other navies especially the English navy. It was rationalized that they must have drunk alcohol before battle to relieve their fear. A Dutch bargain or Dutch agreement, which is made between men who have drunk too much alcohol, is an uneven, one-sided deal. When the host is the first to get drunk in the party, it can be called a Dutch feast.Second, the British used to consider the Dutch very stingy about capital. The Dutch always break the bill when whey went out for dinner. Based on this conception, Dutch regale referred to a dinner at which the invited thickenings should pay for their own share of forage and drinks. A Dutch party is a party to which each guest contributes some food and drink. Today, Dutch treat has a slightly di fferent meaning from that. When friends go out to have fun, each person pays his own share if they agree to Dutch treat or go Dutch.Third, in the eyes of the British, the Dutch were rude, irritable and weird. To get ones Dutch up is to twinkle up. To do a Dutch act means to commit suicide. If a person talks to you in a very severe way, he is talking like a Dutch uncle. This phrase emerges for the reason that the Dutch had a reputation for raising their children in a firm way. (Li, 200952)Not only expressions but also proverbs can convey national slurs. The Dutch has taken Holland can be interpreted as follows a man who has seen little regards many things as strange and comment excitedly on a commonplace thing out of inexperience.However, people using these expressions may not be hearty aware that they are hurting the Netherlands national pride. Almost all the Dutch phrases contain negative connotation. The situation makes the Netherlands feel uncomfortable and low national respect . Thus, in 1934, Netherlands government commanded that officials should avoid use the word Dutch. (Hou, 200965) In spite of the effort, today the derogatory sense of the word still exists and people continue using it to refer to something negative.3.1.2 The French idiomsIn the modern history of the world, France and the Great Britain rival each other in political, economic, cultural and military competition. Many British idioms have recorded the countrys dissension with the French.French leave is an abrupt and unannounced departure without saying adieu to the host. The phrase can be traced back to 18th century. (Wang, 199945) From the view of character, the French were amiable and easygoing by nature. It was their custom that guests invited to dinner would depart without well-favoured thanks or saying farewell to their host. To the British, in particular the English, whose reputed quality is reserved, leaving without saying goodbye is ill-mannered, discourteous and shows no respe ct for others.There goes the proverb when the Ethiopian is white, the French will love the English. In reality, The Ethiopians are dark-skinned and it is impossible that their skin will turn white. By using this logic analysis, neither is it possible that the French will love the English. The proverb implies that the state of hostility between the two countries would not end.Another proverb goes, The Italians are wise before the deed, the Germans in the deed, the French after the deed. (Jiao, 200959) By comparing France with another two countries, the idiom carries a message that the French are wooden-headed and witless.Historically, it was suggested by the Americans that some of the French expressions should be changed. Yetit was too early to be cheerful for the French. Here goes the story. In the first half of the year 2003, France opposed the plan shock and awe adopt by the American-led United Nations forces toward Iraq. This stirred up American disgust toward the French. A tele vision host of FOX news, one of the American news media, called for a boycott of French goods. It was demanded that in the English language French fuddle and French fry should be changed into freedom toast and freedom fry while French leave should be reserved. (Du, 200523) Very interestingly, it seemed that the Americans requiremented to keep the French expressions with derogatory sense and meanwhile discard others with neutral meaning. In such case, The French could do nothing but sulk.3.1.3 The clink/Chinese idiomsIn modern times, China cut off itself from the outside world. As a result of a seclusion policy in unconnected relations, China lost an opportunity for development and fell behind. Thus, the western countries showed contempt to this poor and backward nation with weak comprehensive power. Chink and Chinaman have long been used as disparaging terms for the Chinese. Many figures of speech in the English reflected a history of Chinese being insulted.Chinamans chance ess entially means an extremely slim chance or no chance at all for someone to accomplish his determination or successfully do an action. In 1978, American publisher Scribner promulgated the novel Chinamans chance by Ross Thomas. Regardless of the content of the novel, people desire the origin of the title Chinamans chance. The historical context of the phrase dates from the goldrush days of atomic number 20 in the middle of the nineteenth century when many Chinese came here to work as laborers. (Jiao, 200958) Their job was demanding and very dangerous but lower-paying. The Chinese faced higher taxes, denial of citizenship and equal rights to white man. Chinamans chance truly depicts the hard life of Chinese in that city. Another expression occurred in the same conclusion. To play someone for a Chinaman is to treat him as a fool.Many of the Chinese expressions heard in English are used as pejorative.A Chinese write is an exact copy of an original. Chinese slavery means virtualsla very. Chinese praise is used to describe a man who speaks one way and thinks another. Chinese make off drill refers to confusional and chaotic state, large but ineffective exercise, or the act of a group of individuals achieving nothing. If someone has Chinese restaurant syndrome (Wang, 199943), he may feel headache, vomiting, swirl or sweating caused by eating Chinese food that contains monosodium glutamate. Research suggests that there is no evidence of the so-called Chinese restaurant syndrome and it is nothing more than urban legend.3.1.4 The Irishman and Irish idiomsThe United Kingdom is made up of four nations England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Of these four nations, the English people account for the majority of the population and feel most British. They have a strong sense of national pride and ridicule the rest of the kingdom. They would verbally attack Scotland, Wales, and in particular Ireland. We can take a look at some of the Irishman and Irish phrases. Irishmans dinner/feast actually means apastia. Irishmans promotion represents demotion.Irish diamond is not diamond at all. It is nevertheless crystal or stone. Irish evidence is seen as perjury. Irish compliment is backhanded compliment. If someone makes an Irish bull, he provides a paradoxical statement. To get ones Irish up (Hou,200964) means to lose ones temper. A similar expression is to get ones Dutch up.There are also Irish proverbs with wretched implications Englands difficulty is Irelands opportunity Put an Irishman on the spit, and you can always get another to baste him. (Mao, 2003143)3.1.5 The Welsh idiomsThe word Welsh shares the same fate of Irish.To Welsh is to repudiate a debt. According to English people, the phrase originates from 19th century when many Welsh people made a dungeon by betting on horse racing. (Liu, 199979) They were said to have been extremely cunning because they always tried to get out of paying money when they lost the bet. Thus, in the eyes o f English people, they became notorious for such a bad quality. Therefore, to Welsh on somebody is to go back on ones word. To Welsh on ones debt is to rat on ones debtAs we know, England is a comparatively rich nation when compared with Wales. Phrases like Welsh comb and Welsh rug are used by the English people to mock at Welsh poverty.3.1.6 The Grecian idiomsThe word Greek is associated with trick, cattiness, and danger.Greek endow can not be interpreted literally. If a person receives a Greek devote, he should be cautious because the gift is given with the intention of tricking the receiving system and causing harm to him. A proverb derives from this expression, I fear the Greeks, even when they come with the gifts.Greek trust indicates unreliability.When Greek meets Greek, and then comes the tug of war. It means that when enemies face each other, their eyes blaze with hate. Fires are rekindled between the two sides and old wounds opened up again.When people encounter someth ing incomprehensible, they would say it is all Greek to me to show that they dont understand at all.3.2 Reflection of racial discrimination3.2.1 Discrimination against Native AmericanBefore starting this part, I want to make it clear that all the idioms below come from On English Language against Non-English Nationalities by Mao Fasheng except those with special notes.An Indian donor refers to a person who gives a gift but require something in accrue later. This expression originates from around 1765 and the American colonial days. (Li, 200957) To the early American Indians, gifts were simply form of trade goods. A person gave a gift in hope of something of equivalent in return. However, to the European settlers, such kind of custom appeared to be insulting. In their minds, gifts were freely given rather than for trade practices. The original meaning of the expression was only the arithmetic mean of a gift in return. By the late 1800s, its sense shifted to describe someone who de mands return while giving. Indian giving is a similar terms used to satirize the giver. We should handle an Indian gift with caution as well as Greek gift. The present is given by someone with expectation of receiving another from us.An Indian sign is a magic spell lunge on a person to control him or bring him bad luck. If a girl is able to put or have an Indian sign on a boy, then she fascinates him perhaps with her dazzling loveliness.Americans regarded the Indians as dumb, irritable and evil-minded. Terms like cigar-store Indian, dumb Indian, wooden Indian portray a negative image for the Indians as boring and foolish. To get ones Indian up is to get mad or be inflamed with rage. It shares the same meaning as two other figures of speech get ones Dutch up and get ones Irish up. The proverb The only good Indian is a dead Indian (Liu, 2003131) characterizes the American relationship with Indians.3.2.2 Discrimination against blackIn American historyAfrican-Americans were subject to discrimination and their life were deplorably crippled by the manacles of segregation. They were faced with poor living conditions and harsh workings environments. Being despised, hated, disgraced and oppressed by racists, they lived in misery and suffering. Even today, in the society of more advanced civilization, the phenomenon of racial discrimination still exists. Racism is still a sensitive and serious issue that the world seeks to solve. From the view of language, racial slurs are to be found everywhere.Nigger, niggra, niggruh and Negro (Jiao, 200957) are common slavery-imposed epithets with evident insult to the black. They remind people the bitter period of slavery when African-Americans struggled for freedom. To work like a negro/nigger refers to somebody who works or is forced to work very hard righteous like a slave.Even in literature, we can see racial slurs in world-famous works. For example, some African-Americans complained about the novel The Adventures of Huckle berry Finn by Mark Twain. They claimed that the writer should not have used the word nigger in the book. The following dialogue, in particular, stirs up strong discontent amongst African-Americans.Good gracious. Anybody hurt?Nom killed a nigger.Well, its lucky because sometimes people do get hurt.1We should try not to get involved in the issue of racial discrimination otherwise we may place ourselves in criticism and trouble. In 1999, David Howard, the aide of Washington, DC mayor Anthony Williams resigned after being accused of using a racial slur.2Mr. Howard, head of the Office of familiar Advocate, used the word niggardly when delivering the compute report in one of the regular meetings by municipal government. As a matter of fact, niggardly is defined as stingy or ungenerous and does not have any racial connotations. Yet, staff members present which was made up of two blacks and another white were offended by the word. Soon after the meeting, the rumor began to spread that Ho ward had used the racial slur nigger. Howard said such rumor has severely compromised my effectiveness as the Districts Public Advocate and in the best interest of my office, I resigned.3Howard was innocent in this issue. The real problem is that niggardly has a similar pronunciation with nigger. An important lesson we can learn out of this is that people especially government officials should avoid using not only racial slurs but also words sounding similar to them.4. Negative effects of linguistic discrimination4.1 communicatory counterback in other languages against English slursLinguistic discrimination in English would surely result in verbal attack from those countries that have been insulted by English-speaking countries. It is normal to find ethnic slurs in other languages than English. For instance, in the French language, les sombikes (Liu, 199981), which has the same meaning as son of a cry in the English language, is used as a disparaging term for an American. The phra se dates from the First World War when American soldiers liked to call option the expletive son of a bitch.As a matter of fact, almost any language contains ethnic slurs. It may be just to say that any ethnic in the world is apt to glorify its own group and meanwhile look down upon others. This sense of national superiority, more or less, is reflected in the language.4.2 Negative impact on international relationsBased on numerous historical events, linguistic discrimination against other nations and races mirrors barriers, conflicts, and hatred between different ethnic groups. It is a social problem that cannot be neglected. The usage of slurs can be detrimental to international relations. It exerts negative impact on social equity, stability and harmony. History teaches us that it has all the way influenced national unity and integrity in such a country of great ethnic complexity as America.As long as inter-ethnic inequality and contractions exist in human society, they would fin d expression in the language. Converselylinguistic discrimination would trigger hostility and conflicts between ethnics. They together initiate a vicious cycle and people get detain in it.5. State of English linguistic discrimination in modern society5.1 Common existence of English linguistic discriminationIt is positive that the phenomenon of English linguistic discrimination is still very common in modern society. People use those idioms in daily life, consciously or not. They may say a slur without recognizing that it is violative and may cause them trouble. Why are discriminatory language still used today even if hostilities ended hundreds of years ago? As is discussed in chapter 1.1, language develops and evolves with society. Once words are given derogatory meanings, it would be difficult to change or eliminate them. It often happens that language is more conservativist than civilization, material as well as moral. Objects, institutions, ideas, scientific concepts change i n the course of time yet in many cases the name is retain and thus helps to ensure a sense of tradition and continuity. (Ullmann 1977198)5.2 Sign of improvements on the phenomenonFortunately, we have seen evidence of improvements on the phenomenon of national and racial discrimination in the English language.For example, In the September of 2001, the mountain Chinks measure in the Pocatello clutch in Idaho State got its new official name Chinese Peak from the United States Board of Geographic Names. The original name Chinks Peak was deemed offensive and racist. Some people especially Chinese Americans strongly requested th