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Volume 3,Issue 9

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26 September 2025

A Study of Euphemisms in the English Dialogues of the Movie The Farewell from the Perspective of Communicative Context of Adaptation Theory

Siyi Bao1 Yuan Chu1
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1 Guangzhou City University of Technology, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong, China
EIR 2025 , 3(8), 76–80; https://doi.org/10.18063/EIR.v3i8.920
© 2025 by the Author. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

With Jef Verschueren’s adaptation theory serving as the guiding framework, this paper undertakes an analysis of the euphemisms in the movie The Farewell, which are found adapted to the communicative context of physical world, mental world, and social world. The purpose of this paper is to unveil the notion that communication represents an ongoing process of making choices, and the essence of euphemisms is the language choices made by the communicative parties according to the needs of different linguistic functions as well as the result of adaptation to the communicative context. This paper promotes the study of euphemisms in cross-cultural communication, aiming at increasing mutual understanding and respect.

Keywords
Adaptation theory
Communicative context
Euphemism
The Farewell
References

[1] Verschueren J, 1999, Understanding Pragmatics, Edward Amold, London.

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[4] Tang J, 2020, A Study on the Generation Mechanism of Euphemisms from the Perspective of Mental Models. Jiangsu Foreign Language Teaching and Research, (02): 79–82.

[5] Liang B, 2021, Research on Chinese-American Family Cultural Differences from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication: A Case Study of the Film The Farewell. Culture Journal, (09): 69–71.

[6] Ren R, 2021, Cultural Adaptation of Transnational Immigrants from the Perspective of Cultural Conflicts: A Textual Analysis of the Film The Farewell. Voice & Screen World, (15): 42–43.

[7] Nuandini SO, Kustantinah I, 2022, A Study on Cross-Cultural Shocks Experienced by Billy Wang Between American Culture and Chinese Culture in The Farewell 2019 Movie. Dharmas Education Journal, 3(1): 55–60.

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[10]  Obiajulu UK, 2021, Strategic Choice of Language Use in Bush’s COVID-19 Message: A Linguistic Adaptation Perspective. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Studies, 3: 17–23.

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