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ABSTRACT Taboo is a ubiquitous cultural phenomenon existing in human society, which tends to reflect a nation’s culture, value and belief. With the process of economic globalization, the international communication, especially the cultural communication, has become increasingly frequent and extensive. However, intercultural communication may be a challenge for people as a result of the various disparities of different cultures. In order to avoid the misunderstandings and conflicts that are caused by the disparities of culture in the cross-cultural communication，it is of great importance to make an acquaintance with taboos in different cultural contexts. In addition, it is necessary to hold an appropriate attitude to taboos in different cultures.46375
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This paper intends to make a comparative research on English and Chinese taboos, as well as introduce some useful strategies to help people improve their intercultural communication competence. It analyzes the similarities and differences of the taboos by contrast, and further explores the reasons for the formation of these differences. We will find that the similarities of taboos mainly lie in two aspects: death, sickness and birth, religion and god, and the differences mainly lie in four aspects: privacy, number, color, and animal. As a special cultural phenomenon, the taboo reflects its culture and history. To a degree, learning about taboos is a way to study the culture of a country. After acquiring the cultural connotations behind the taboos and the strategies of how to improve communication competence, we tend to express our intentions properly and avoid using taboos in the cross-cultural communication. Moreover, we are able to avoid the unnecessary cultural misunderstandings and conflicts, and to have a pleasant and successful communication.
Keywords: taboo; intercultural communication; culture differences; strategy
摘要禁忌语是人类社会普遍存在的一种文化现象,它能够反映一个民族的文化、价值观与信仰。随着经济的全球化，国际间的交流,尤其是文化交流变得日趋频繁。由于不同文化的差异，跨文化交流变得极具挑战性。为了避免产生误解与冲突，了解不同文化背景下的禁忌语就显得极其重要，对不同文化中的禁忌语保持正确的态度也很有必要。
本文对英语和汉语中的禁忌语进行对比研究,并且介绍了提升跨文化交际能力的方法。本文通过对英汉禁忌语的相同点与不同点进行对比分析，从而探究产生差异的原因。我们发现英汉禁忌语的共同点主要在于两个方面：死亡、疾病，宗教和神灵；其不同点在这四个方面：隐私，数字，颜色和动物。作为一种特殊的文化现象，禁忌语在一定程度上反映了一个民族的文化与历史。只有了解禁忌语背后隐藏的文化内涵后，我们才能在跨文化交际中避免使用禁忌语并且合适地表达自己的本意，才能避免不必要的文化误解与冲突，能够愉快地进行跨文化交际。
关键词：禁忌语；跨文化交际；文化差异；策略
Table of Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 General Description of This Study 1
1.2 Significance of Studying Taboos in Intercultural Communication 2
2 Literature Review 2
2.1 Previous Studies of Taboo Abroad 2
2.2 Previous Studies of Taboo at Home 3
2.3 The Definition, Origin, and Features of Taboo 3
2.4 The Definition and Features of Intercultural Communication 4
3 Similarities and Differences between English and Chinese Taboos 5
3.1 Similarities between English and Chinese Taboos 5