摘 要
英语委婉语广泛地存在于社会中，在语言学和文化中十分常见。它蕴含了很多文化元素，在英语中也有着至关重要的地位。人们在交流时常常避免使用严厉和令人不安的语言，以此来进行更好的交流。因此英语委婉语是一种在人类社会中普遍存在的语言现象，有其自身的社会功能。礼貌原则是语用学的重要理论之一，也是语言学的重要组成部分，它与委婉语紧密相连。本文基于礼貌原则，从四个方面阐述了英语委婉语的社会功能，包括其在人类日常交流中的常用功能、在对话表达中的积极功能、在掩饰事实时的欺骗功能和在抨击社会时的讽刺功能。在日常交际中，我们要熟知委婉语的社会功能，以此来缩短人与人之间的距离，营造和谐的社会关系。
关键词：英语委婉语；礼貌原则；社会功能
Social Functions of English Euphemism from Politeness Principle
ABSTRACT
English euphemism exists in every aspect of society. It is very common inlinguistics and culture. Thus, it implies many cultural ingredients. English euphemismportrays a vital part in the English language. People are used to using less harsh anddisturbing language when they communicate with each other so that they can dobetter in communication. Euphemism is a wide-spread language phenomenon at homeand abroad. It has its own social functions. Politeness principle which is a significanttheory of pragmatics is also a key component of linguistics. It is linked nearly toeuphemism. This article classifies the social functions of euphemism from fourdifferent ways based on politeness principle, which include formal function inhuman’s daily chats, positive function in everyday expression, spurious function inrevealing the truth and ironic function in denouncing the society. In daily life, weshould be familiar with social functions of English euphemism to make the distancebetween people closer and establish a friendly social relationship.
Key words: English euphemism; politeness principle; social functions
TABLE OF CONTENTS
摘 要
ABSTRACT
Chapter One Introduction
Chapter Two Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
2.1 Literature review
2.2 Theoretical framework
2.2.1 Definition of euphemism
2.2.2 Definition of the Politeness Principle
2.2.3 The relationship between English euphemism and the Politeness Principle
Chapter Three English Euphemism and the Politeness Principle
3.1 A brief introduction to English euphemism
3.1.1 The Origins of English Euphemism
3.1.2The Classification of English Euphemism
3.1.3 The Significance of English euphemism
3.2 Leech’s Politeness Principle
3.2.1 Development of Politeness Principle
3.2.2 Maxims of Politeness Principle
Chapter Four Social Functions of English Euphemism Based on Politeness Principle
4.1 Formal function
4.1.1 Euphemism about physical behaviors
4.1.2 Euphemism about the vulgar things
4.2 Positive function
4.2.1 Euphemism for death
4.2.2 Euphemism about appearance
4.2.3 Euphemism about evaluating students
4.2.4 Euphemism about the commercial activities
4.3 Spurious function
4.3.1 The spurious euphemism in society
4.3.2 The spurious euphemism in the politics
4.3.3 The spurious euphemism in the wars
4.4 Ironic function
4.4.1 The special euphemism
4.4.2 Euphemism for reflecting social illnesses
Chapter Five Conclusion
REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Chapter One Introduction
Language and culture are linked nearly in human society. “Language is not only arepresentative of culture but also an important part of culture. (Deng Yanchang, LiuRunqing, 1989) People use languages to communicate with each other in their dailylife. Without the application of language, cultural exchange would not be possible. Itseems that all the cultures have such notions that people should avoid stating taboosdirectly. So people choose to use another term or phrase to substitute them. Thislanguage phenomenon is known as euphemism. Language contains euphemism andeuphemism, in turn is a component of language. It reflects a social spirit and it hasown social functions. Moreover, as a key part of linguistics, politeness principle islinked to euphemism closely. Meanwhile, the origin and progress of euphemism arealso vital.
Some former studies have shed light on English euphemism and social functionsof English euphemism. Enright (1986) stated that the word euphemism comes fromthe Greek word euphemos which means good fortunate. It is viewed as the origin ofEnglish euphemism widely. Based on the researches which have been finished byformer scholars, other researchers, such as Della Summers(2004) , putting forward thedefinition of euphemism in his book Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.
The relationship between language, culture and the social functions of Englisheuphemism are explained later in Euphemism in English written by Li Guonan(1989).
Regretfully, most former studies on the social functions of English euphemism frompoliteness principle are not thorough. Therefore, it is necessary to depend on the studyof the English euphemism and politeness principle to make a clear understanding ofthe social functions of English euphemism from politeness principle.
In this paper I probe all the questions into detail. The first chapter makes anintroduction. As the initiation and basis, the fundamental concepts of key words andthe relationship between Englisheuphemism and Politeness Principle are explained in chapter two. And in chapterthree, the general ideas about English euphemism as well as Politeness Principle areincluded. Chapter four introduces social functions of English euphemism fromPoliteness Principle. Finally, a conclusion is reached in chapter five. What’s more,practical significance of the study is pointed out at the end of the paper.
Chapter Two Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
2.1 Literature review
Some former studies have shed light on English euphemism and social functionsof English euphemism, just as I mentioned in introduction part. Such as Enright(1986), Li Guonan(1989),Summers(2004) and other investigators. As is known to all,the contact among people around the world is closer and closer in modern life. As aresult, it is more important for people to talk with each other. Euphemism, as amember of language, contains many important cultural constituents. Therefore, therelationship between language and culture must be coped with carefully in order tohave a clear idea about euphemism.
Meanwhile, Politeness Principle, put forward by Leech, has been researched onfor lots of years. Just as Michael (1980) mentioned in his book “Practical EnglishUsage”, Politeness Principle is a practical pragmatic theory. Leech (1983) put forwardthe principles of pragmatics in former researches.
2.2 Theoretical framework
Before starting actual analysis of social functions of English euphemism, it isindispensable to state several basic concepts and relations which are to be used assynthetic frames of the study.
2.2.1 Definition of euphemism
“The word euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemos which means goodfortunate speech.” (Enright, D. J., 1986:210) The prefix “eu” means sounding welland the etymon means speech or saying. “The literal meaning of euphemism is tospeak with good words or in a pleasant manner.”(Enright, D. J., 1986:210) Thedefinition of euphemism in LongmanDictionary is “a polite word or expression that you use instead of more direct one toavoid shocking or upsetting someone.”(Della Summers, 2004:96) In the Englishlanguage, euphemism has been applied since ancient times. People use euphemismwhen they want to show politeness and express kindness.
2.2.2 Definition of the Politeness Principle
“G. Leech proposed the concept of Politeness Principle (PP) in 1983 because hethought the Cooperative Principle (CP) and its maxims proposed by Paul Grice werenot sufficient enough to explain why people violate CP intently.”(Michael Swan,1980:156) The PP is a set of maxims. It classifies how politeness is realized incommunications. That is to say, politeness is the ability that people own in socialinteractions. It can make participants closer.
2.2.3 The relationship between English euphemism and the Politeness Principle
English euphemism and Politeness Principle are connected with each other. Onthe one hand, euphemism appears because people tend to follow the politenessprinciple in daily life. On the other hand, with the assistance of euphemism, peoplecan talk about embarrassing or uncomfortable facts freely and politely, so as to makelanguage communicative activities to be carried out favorably. At the same time, thehumor and irony that euphemism possesses can make language colorful.
Chapter Three English Euphemism and the Politeness Principle
3.1 A brief introduction to English euphemism
Before we start our actual analysis of social functions of English euphemism, itis indispensable to state the origins, classification and significance of Englisheuphemism.
3.1.1 The Origins of English Euphemism
“The record use of euphemism had not been found until the 11th century, B. C.By the early 1580s, it is George Blountto who first pointed out that the termeuphemism refers to a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word.”(Hu Aiping,2004:79-80) In that age, people divided words into two categories: “ObsceneVocabulary”, and “Genteel Vocabulary”, which refers to the pre-existence of Englisheuphemism.
3.1.2The Classification of English Euphemism
English euphemism can be divided into two categories, which are regarded aspositive euphemism and negative euphemism.
The positive euphemism, which is also viewed as stylistic euphemism, uplifts themeaning of words and makes the speech pleasant and acceptable. They are used toshow respect and politeness to other people in some occasions, as well as makingtheir ideas more acceptable to other people. For example, “dust man” is “sanitaryengineer” now. Because of the development of human society, the number of positiveeuphemisms will increase from day to day.
The negative euphemism, which is also viewed as traditional euphemism, islinked to taboos such as diseases, death and sex. The negative euphemism substitutestaboos and convey meanings in indirect manner so as to avoid and decreaseembarrassment and offence. For example, the word excretion is also expressed as “toanswer the nature’s call” and so on. As the social event taken by modern people isquite different from that in ancient times, lots of traditional euphemisms have beenout of fashion and some of them even have gradually disappeared.
3.1.3 The Significance of English euphemism
“Euphemism is not only a language phenomenon but also a cultural one.
Euphemism is a common phenomenon when people use language. It is widely used inhuman life.” (Michael Swan, 1980:156)From the folklore, we can see that Englisheuphemism is a special phenomenon in taboo’s behavior folk-custom.
“Generally speaking, English euphemism is a figure of speech, as well as acultural phenomenon.”(Ma Songmei, 2000:56)We all need to communicate with eachother in our daily life or in diplomacy. However, due to the difference of life habitsand the taboo of different cultures, we should know how to use euphemisms so as toavoid or decrease embarrassment. “English euphemism is a rhetorical technique fromthe perspective of rhetoric.”(Wang Fuxiang, 1994:315) And it can be classified intotwo parts from the form of the euphemistic diction: words' euphemism and sentences' euphemism. Moreover, these parts are fundamental to both human language andculture. In spite of euphemism is only a kind of rhetoric, its momentous socialfunctions are able to reflect kinds of social values, as well as advocatingpsychological in flank. “English euphemism is widely used in every social area, andits Significance is immeasurable.”(Zhang Limin, 2005:289)
3.2 Leech’s Politeness Principle
Before we start our actual analysis of the social functions of English euphemism,it is indispensable to state the definition and maxims of Politeness Principle putforward by Leech.
3.2.1 Development of Politeness Principle
G. Leech proposed the concept of Politeness Principle (PP) in 1983 because hethought that the Cooperative Principle (CP) and its maxims put forward by Paul Gricewere not sufficient enough to explain why people violate CP intently.
“The PP is a series of maxims, which explains how politeness operates inconversational exchanges.”(Leech, 1983:470-471) Leech defines politeness as formsof behavior that establish and maintain comity. That is, the ability of participants insocial interaction to make their interpersonal relationship harmonious.
3.2.2 Maxims of Politeness Principle
Leech stated that the maxims of PP are Tact maxim [maximize benefit to other],Generosity maxim [maximize cost to self], Approbation maxim[maximize praise ofother], Modesty maxim[maximize praise of self], Agreement maxim[maximizeagreement between self and other] and Sympathy maxim[maximize sympathybetween self and other].
Leech classified that the maxims are on minimization and maximization. Thedegrees of politeness depend on how people communicate in daily life. So the moreindirect a speech is, the politer it will be.
In order not to dissatisfy the others, people tend to understate their weak points. Onthe other hand, they exaggerate other people’s strong points to make themselvesaccepted and liked by the public.
Because English euphemism understates the bad events, replaces strident andunpleasant expressions, talks about things indirectly and makes the speeches kinderand more pleasant, people are able to use English euphemism to achieve theinfluences of minimization.
Leech’s six maxims ask the speakers to praise and talk good about the others.
These maxims are closely connected to English euphemism. The main effect ofEnglish euphemism is to give a kind and polite impression to others.
Chapter Four Social Functions of English Euphemism Based on Politeness Principle
4.1 Formal function
The extensive use of euphemism in our daily life makes us rely on and be used toit unconsciously. Therefore, we haven’t totally realized that conversation is a kind ofritual which most people haven’t really understood. The formal function ofeuphemism is to hide unpleasant facts, as well as avoiding the embarrassment and theoffensive phenomenon during the communications. It conforms to the “Tact maxim” of Politeness Principle as the “Tact maxim” minimizes cost to others. It is beneficialto People who are in embarrassing situations. We can see the social formal functionsof English euphemism about physical behaviors and vulgar things from this maxim.
4.1.1 Euphemism about physical behaviors
It is common to use euphemisms to express physical behaviors in the Englishlanguage. For example, people do not say “toilet” directly, so there are manyeuphemisms for toilet in English, such as “power room, convenience, restroom, menor men's, women/ladies or women's/ladies'.”(Zhuyue, 1999:326)Meanwhile, there area lot of euphemisms for excretion in English. “People go to the toilet to urinate anddefecate.” should be expressed more implicitly. As “defecate” and “urinate” are nottaboo words, they are used uniquely in a clinical sense. The well-known Anglo-Saxonwords “piss and shit” are considered uncouth, so people always say that in anotherway so as not to offend others. Englishmen and Americans often say “number one andnumber two, wee-wee, pee, to wash one's hands, go to stool, to power one's nose” etc.
4.1.2 Euphemism about the vulgar things
Western people always try their best to speak in a polite way in their dailycommunications. They try not to mention the vulgar things directly and immediatelyso that they will not be considered as rude men. For example, they use “Thank you fornot smoking here.” instead of “No smoking. If not, you will be fined 10 Yuan”. Suchexplanations and expostulations will be accepted more easily by the public.
4.2 Positive function
“Words, as part of language materials, have their own commendatory orderogatory semantic features.”(Gu Jiazu, Lu Sheng, 1990:345) A thing will bereplaced by euphemism if it has an unhappy meaning, just as we know. Soeuphemism has a intimate relationship with the replaced words in semantics. However,it does not have negative or pejorative semantic features. As a consequence, we canchange the negative factors to positive ones by using euphemisms. It is thematerialization of the “Sympathy maxim”, which is a component of PolitenessPrinciple proposed by Leech. The “Sympathy maxim” helps to minimize aversionbetween self and other. From this maxim, we can see the social positive functions ofEnglish euphemism about death, appearance, evaluating students and commercialactivities.
4.2.1 Euphemism for death
Western people always avoid saying the word “die” due to the insecurities ofdeath. They are used to using English euphemisms to show their respect and esteem tothe passed and show sympathy and condole to their friends and relatives. For example,they use “go to heaven” or “go to a better world” to replace “die”. There are hundredsof euphemisms which express death in English. In Shakespeare’s masterpiece“Hamlet”, for example, “surcease” and “truffle off the coil and thawing off” are usedto express death. In Shakespeare’ another works “Julius Caesar”, “put to silence” and“if anything should happen to him” are used to replace the word “die”. In MarkTwain's “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, he uses “release” to instead “die”. Peoplealso prefer to say that someone is fading quickly as the end is near rather than dying.
There are many other words and phrases for death, such as decease, be with God,kick the bucket, go west, reach a better world, croak, to be asleep in the arms of God,to be safe in the Arms of Jesus, to be at peace, to be at rest, to be brought to one' lasthome, to be fathered to one's fathers, to be taken to paradise etc.
4.2.2 Euphemism about appearance
As we know, western people are used to using different adjectives to describedifferent people. However, “they prefer using commendatory and neutral words ratherthan derogatory ones in order to show their respect and politeness.”(Hu Aiping,2004:79-80) While describing a thin woman, they often use “slim” instead of“skinny”. While describing a fat woman, they use “plump” instead of “fat”. Whiledescribing an ugly woman, they use “not pretty or plain” instead of “ugly”. Englisheuphemism here can eliminate people’s psychological shadow such as cowardice andinferiority caused by physical and appearance defects. Moreover, people will becomemore confident and positive affected by those euphemisms.
4.2.3 Euphemism about evaluating students
When it comes to education, it is necessary for teachers to consider the wordingwhen evaluating students. Teachers tend to use different styles of wording to describedifferent students. And they would rather use positive languages instead of negativeterms in order not to harm the students. For example, when teachers describe a lazystudent, they often say “He is sure to go fat if he can use his resources fully” ratherthan “The student is lazy” When teachers describe a student who lies, they often say“He has difficulty distinguishing between imaginary and factual information” ratherthan “He lies” While talking about a below average student, they usually say “He isworking at his own level” instead of “He is not good at studying”. Teachers can usethose euphemisms to encourage students to work hard and persuade students to trytheir best in study. Students’ grades can be improved in this way.
4.2.4 Euphemism about the commercial activities
The commercial movements can also show English euphemisms’ positivefunction. Some businessmen use euphemisms’ positive function to attract buyers. Forexample, they exchange “pawn-shop” into “loan office”. And the word “cheap” sometimes equals bad quality and old design. Therefore, the words “low-cost,economical and budget” can replace it. Besides, to satisfy customers' feeling of honor,they divide rooms in the hotels into three levels. They are “Deluxe, first Class andstandard”, which can avoid “first Class, second Class and third Class”. What’s more,some air corporations often change the appellation of engine rooms. “first Class” ischanged into “Premium or Deluxe”; “second Class” is changed into “First Class” and“third Class” is changed into “business Class” or “tourist Class”.
4.3 Spurious function
English euphemism has fraudulence in some degree. It is like an attractive andbeautiful coat but people can not see the inherent of this coat at one blow. It hidesunpleasant meanings in a pleasant language form and it conceals the truths as well. Soit has some spurious functions, which includes the spurious euphemism in society, inthe politics and in the wars. The spurious function of English euphemism is closelyconnected to the “Approbation maxim” and “Generosity maxim” of PolitenessPrinciple, which minimize benefit to self and despise for the other.
4.3.1 The spurious euphemism in society
There are a lot of spurious euphemisms in human society. For example, peopleuse “industrial action” to replace “strikes” when they suffer from strike. It is a kindof spurious behaviors. At the same time, “Increase” is changed into “revenueenhancement” in some national affairs. People also use “substandard housing” toreplace “slum” to protect both the livers and the government’s amour-propre. Theyuse “disadvantaged” instead of “poor”. It sounds like that the country is so rich andthere are no poor people in it. Englishmen like to use “backward nations” to substitutefor “poor country” when they talk about nations which are poor. Meanwhile,“welfare mother” are often used to replace “unemployed mother” while “on welfarebenefits and on relief” are often used to replace “living on dole” and so on.
4.3.2 The spurious euphemism in the politics
The spurious euphemisms are also used in western politics from time to time.Governmental and political circles always use “economic crisis” instead of“depression”. And they use “death penalty” to avoid using “capital punishment”.
Meanwhile, “to oil” equals “bribe”, “tofly a kite” equals “give an empty promise” (Liu Chunbao, 1994:56). “Irregularity” isused to describe “the officers embezzling public money” (Hu Aiping, 2004:78-80).
Besides, drugs also have specific names. For example, “black stuff” equals “opium”,“Doctor White” equals “cocaine”, “angel dust” equals “heroin”, and “drug addict” isdescribed as “user, smoker” and so on. The way of expressing seems polite andimplicit, but spurious euphemisms here do have spurious functions.
4.3.3 The spurious euphemism in the wars
The spurious euphemism has been used in the wars for a long period. Take theGulf Wars for example. England was the main ally of America at that time, and it wasextremely unlucky in the wars. Its armored cars and airplanes were often hit byAmerican Army. As a consequence, dozens of English soldiers were killed byAmerican Army. That kind of unexpected injures was called “friendly fire” or“accidental delivery of ordnance” at that time, and it is spurious without any doubt.
In the war between America and Iraq in 2003, in order to cover up the cruelbehaviors, Americans describe the “large-scale indiscriminate air battle” as “theaction of decapitation”, the “irregular and inhumane occupation” as “the liberation”.
They pretend that the liberators are fighting for maintaining Iraqi Freedom. The“civilian injuries and deaths of Iraq civilians in the war” are described as “collateraldamage”. The “invading to Grenada” is described as “a rescue mission” and “the airattack to Libya” is described as” surgical strikes”. In the wars, even “surprise attack” was described as pre-emptive strikes by American. During the Gulf War, there are alot of fungible terms of ground battle and air battle such as “air operation, groundoperation” (Liu Chunbao, 1994:155) and so on. We can't find horror or cruelness ofthe wars from the euphemisms literally.
In short, those euphemisms in politics were used to hide the actual facts. Theywere used in the special historical ages. Therefore, this kind of euphemisms hasspurious functions.
4.4 Ironic function
“Even though English euphemism seems mild and euphemistical, it isstouthearted and bluff on the other hand, which makes euphemism ironical.”(LiuYinqi, 2000:50) The ironic function has something to do with the “Modesty maxim” and “Agreement maxim” of Politeness principle. The Modesty maxim helps tominimize disagreement between self and others while the agreement maxim helps tominimize disagreement between self and others. The ironic function includes thespecial euphemism and euphemism for reflecting social illnesses based on the twomaxims.
4.4.1 The special euphemism
“There are some special euphemisms in language use, too.”(Li Guonan, 1989:80)For example, prisoners like to use “college” rather than “prison”. It can be seen thatthey would like to be good men. And this word can show their dignity. Thoseprisoners are actually forced to study in the prison, but they prefer to consider thatthey study in the college. Therefore, this word becomes an ironical euphemism. Hereis an example in the famous book “Bible”. “Balm of Gilead” comes from it. The kindof balm which is mentioned in “Bible” can console sinful spirits. So the English word“balm of Gilead” is full of ironical meaning. “Balm of Gilead” shows that wine isonly a kind of drug that can hocus people's nerve. At the same time, “live uponnothing” is wildly used to describe closefisted hunks as a euphemism. For example,W. Thackeray uses “How to Live on Nothing a Year” in his masterpiece “VanityFair”. This euphemism shows the protagonist's cock-and-bull life in the novel. Theprotagonist cheats, borrows and refuses repaying debts. Therefore, he can live uponnothing a year. This quips those men who are hypocritical and crazy for money.
4.4.2 Euphemism for reflecting social illnesses
“There are also a lot of euphemisms for reflecting social illnesses.”(Li Guishan,1997:34) There are many euphemisms in American and English newspapers in recentyears. For example, “love child” is used to describe “bastard or illegitimate child ”. And “Trial marriage” has the same meaning as “free love”. “Adiposis” is alsochanged into “weight-watcher” because western people are afraid of fat.
Chapter Five Conclusion
The purpose of the study is to make a research on the social functions of Englisheuphemism from the Politeness Principle. As the previous studies on the socialfunctions of English euphemism from the Politeness Principle were insufficient, it isnecessary to discuss Politeness Principle further. The first chapter points out therational of the thesis. As the key word, the definitions of other scholars’ are referredand the term is redefined in chapter two. And the functions of English euphemism, aswell as the relationship between culture and language are studied. In view of thediscussion about the functions of English euphemism, the aim of it is to establish afriendly social relationship and make the communications between people moresmoothly. As the main part of the thesis, the research on the social functions ofEnglish euphemism from the Politeness Principle is done. English euphemismembodies Politeness Principle, and it is proved that the relationship between Englisheuphemism and the Politeness Principle can not be separated. Moreover, this thesisshows the social functions of English euphemism from Politeness Principle, includingformal function, positive function, spurious function and ironic function.
Although this thesis classifies the social functions thoroughly in Englisheuphemism from Politeness Principle, there are still several limitations. Meanwhile,we should make efforts to further study the following aspects for the future research.
Firstly, more materials should be gathered. The information that has been gathered islimited to English euphemism and Politeness Principle, but social functions of Englisheuphemism are not mentioned. Secondly, surroundings of the author are limited. Inorder to know the social functions more clearly, more conclusions should be reachedthrough direct observation and personal experience. Besides, experiencing the realcontext is a better way to understand language compared with telling people theconclusion. Thirdly, the English euphemism should be classified into more categoriesthan that are mentioned in the thesis. There are still much more social functions ofeuphemism from Politeness Principle, but the range of the thesis is also limited.
What’s more, the application of English euphemism and Politeness Principle issubjective to some extent. All in all, English euphemism is a very broad area, so itstill needs further study.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Having finished writing my paper, I believe that it is a suitable time for me toexpress my greatest gratitude to those people who have done their best to make it asgood as possible.
Firstly, I owe deep debt of gratitude to Miss Zhu, my supervisor. Due to herconsistent and inspirational instruction through all the words and phrases of thewriting process, as well as constant guidance in the right track, this paper reaches itspresent form. I am really luck to receive her considerate professional advice.
Secondly, I’d like to express my sincere and earnest gratitude to other teachers inCollege of Foreign Languages. Without their help, my paper would be incomplete.
Finally, I appreciate my family for their loving considerations through all theseyears. They believe in me and give me constant confidence. It is their selfless supportthat gives me energy when I feel depressed. At the same time, I am deeply indebted tomy dear classmates especially to my roommates, who have provided me with a hostof useful suggestions when I am writing my paper.
