Dec 25, 2014 - Курсовая работа (Теория) по английскому языку на тему: Эвфемизмы в современном англоязычном дискурсе. Эвфемизмы в русском языке. Тамперский университет. Дипломная работа на кафедре. Славянской филологии. Автор: Пяйви Кярккяйнен.

• Курсовая Работа На Тему
• Курсовая Работа Эвфемизмы В Английском Языке

Содержание Содержание Введение Глава I Эвфемизмы как часть языковой системы Определение понятия эвфемизм Расхождения в понимании эвфемии Сфера функционирования эвфемизмов Отличительные признаки эвфемизмов Различные подходы к классификации эвфемизмов Глава II. Использование эвфемизмов в различных типах современной немецкой речи Эвфемизация в языке современной немецкой художественной литературы Эвфемизация в языке современных немецких СМИ Заключение Список литературы Содержание Выдержка из текста Смягчение категоричности высказывания также может быть средством эвфемизации в художественном тексте.

Уклонение от точных оценок является одним из способов такого смягчения: Den faktischen Widerstand gegen einen Krieg kann ich aber kaum höher als null bewerten (Zweig, 2009: 5). (Вероятность сопротивления войне я оцениваю немногим выше нуля.) В данном примере говорящий имеет в виду, что вероятность сопротивления войне равна нулю, но если в процессе спора он выскажет свою мысль прямо, то это только усугубит ситуацию, и спор, возможно, перерастет в ссору.

Эвфемизмы также могут смягчать названия действий или процессов, по тем или иным причинам неприятных говорящему. Так, например, Антону Гоффмаеру неприятно, когда кто-то начинает ворошить его героическое прошлое и собирать сплетни о нем, поэту он выражает свои мысли так: Hoch jetzt ärgert's mich, wenn jemand meine alte Glorie ausgräbt, und warum soll ich’s Ihnen nicht gestehen, daß ich gestern knapp auf dem Sprung war, an Ihren Tisch hinüber zugehen und den Schwätzer anzufahren, er solle mit jemand anderem protzen als gerade mit mir (Zweig, 2009: 7). Меня и по сей день злит, когда кто-нибудь занимается раскопками моей былой славы; признаться, вчера я чуть не подошел к вашему столику, чтобы отругать этого болтуна, похвалявшегося мною. В данном отрывке мы встречаем два эвфемизма, выполняющие различные функции. Во-первых, это выражение meine alte Glorie ausgräbt, используемое вместо прямой номинации — сплетничать (Klatsch verbreiten), во-вторых, это лексема Schwätzer (‘болтун, пустомеля'), употребляющаяся для замены более сильного ругательства. Эвфемизм может заменять неудобное с точки зрения собеседника выражение, если говорящий не хочет прямо выражать свои мысли, то он прибегает к использованию эвфемизма. Так, рассказчик не желает распространяться про ночные похождения офицеров, поэтому он строит фразу следующим образом: Leider lagen derlei auffrischende Eskapaden jenseits meines Monatsetats (Zweig, 2009: 10).

К сожалению, подобные освежающие прогулки были мне при моем бюджете недоступны. Совершенно «безобидное» словосочетание auffrischende Eskapaden выступает в роли эвфемизма. Для обозначения любовных похождений офицеров и их отношений с противоположным полом автор также прибегает к использованию эвфемизмов: Da und dort dieselben ärarischen Ubikationen: eine Kaserne, ein Reitplatz, ein Exerzierplatz, ein Offizierskasino, dazu drei Hotels, zwei Kaffeehäuser, eine Konditorei, eine Weinstube, ein schäbiges Varieté mit abgetakelten Soubretten, die sich im Nebenamt liebevollst zwischen Offizieren und Einjährigen aufteilen (Zweig, 2009: 10). Повсюду одна и та нее казенная декорация: казарма, манеж, учебный плац, офицерское казино и как дополнение — три гостиницы, два кафе, кондитерская, винный погребок и паршивенькое варьете с потасканными певичками, которые между делом охотно удостаивают своей благосклонности офицеров и вольноопределяющихся. В художественном тексте возможно использовании эвфемизмов и по причинам совершенного иного рода, проанализируем такой пример:.

In seinem Bericht habe ich nur weniges verändert, vielleicht Ulanen gesagt statt Husaren, die Garnisonen, um sie unkenntlich zu machen, ein wenig auf der Landkarte herumgeschoben und vorsorglich alle richtigen Namen wegschraffiert. Aber nirgends habe ich Wesentliches hinzuerfunden, und nicht ich, sondern der Erzähler beginnt jetzt zu erzählen (Zweig, 2009: 8). Передавая его рассказ, я изменил лишь немногое: «гусаров» назвал «уланами», предусмотрительно изменил расположение гарнизонов и, уж конечно, не стал упоминать настоящие имена. Но нигде я не присочинил чего-либо существенного и вот теперь предоставляю слово самому рассказчику.

В данном примере лексема Ulanen, а также все замененные имена, названия и номера гарнизонов будут являться эвфемизмами, использующими по причине того, что автор хочет скрыть имена людей, названия мест, которые послужили прототипами героев описываемых в романе событий. Читатель понимает, что это — условность, которую необходимо принять, чтобы попасть в мир литературы, открывающийся перед ним, и не важно, что уланы на самом деле когда-то были гусарами или наоборот. Иногда в любом современном художественном тексте мя можем встретить иноязычные вкрапления, не исключение:. Die ganze Sache begann mit einer Ungeschicklichkeit, einer völlig unverschuldeten Tölpelei, einer «gaffe», wie die Franzosen sagen (Zweig, 2009: 8). Все началось с досадной неловкости, с нечаянной оплошности, с gaffe бестактного поступка (фр.), как говорят французы. В данном примере стилистически маркированное немецкое слово Tölpelei заменяется стилистически нейтральным французским заимствованием gaffe, которое не имеет негативных коннотаций в сознании немецкоговорящих.

Другой вариант — замена стилистически сниженного стилистически возвышенным в качестве эвфемизма:. Nur mit meinen Nachbarinnen und zwei, drei andern Damen, grade denen, die mir am besten gefielen, habe ich getanzt und die Haustochter total vergessen! Welche Flegelei, ja, welcher Affront! Nun aber fix, das muß sofort repariert werden! (Zweig, 2009: 19).

Я танцевал лишь с соседками по столу да еще с двумя-тремя дамами, которые мне приглянулись, и совсем позабыл о дочери хозяина! Какая невоспитанность, какой афронт! А теперь живо, ошибка должна быть исправлена! (Стилистически сниженное Flegelei заменено на возвышенное Affront). Эвфемизация используется и тогда, когда говорящих хочет приукрасить реальное положение дел, чтобы, например, произвести большее впечатление на собеседника: Nun, wenn er mir damit gefällig sein könne, werde er mich gerne dort einführen, denn — große Geste der Genugtuung — er sei mit Herrn von Kekesfalva befreundet, habe in früheren Jahren oft geschäftlich mit ihm zu tun gehabt und wisse, daß er Offiziere immer gern bei sich sehe; nur ein Wort koste es ihn, sei eingeladen (Zweig, 2009: 12). Если угодно, продолжает аптекарь, он с удовольствием представит меня господину фон Кекешфальве, ведь они — самодовольный жест — в приятельских отношениях; в прошлом он часто бывал в усадьбе по делам и знает, что хозяин всегда рад видеть у себя в доме офицеров. Одно его слово — и я приглашен.

Аптекарь самодовольно утверждает, что он находится в приятельских отношениях с господином Кекешфальве, однако на самом деле это не так, потому что их отношения, как выясняется позднее, носят деловой характер (обратим при этом особое внимание на фразу habe in früheren Jahren oft geschäftlich mit ihm zu tun gehabt). Таким образом, в художественном тексте присутствуют различные типы эвфемизмов, эвфемизмы-лексемы и эвфемизмы-словосочетания. Также они выполняют различные функции, от номинации неудобных для обозначения физиологических процессов до литературной условности. Эвфемизация в языке современных немецких СМИ Процессы эвфемизации в современных немецких СМИ протекают намного активнее, чем в произведениях художественной литературы. Эвфемизмы в журнальных текстах встречаются в несколько раз чаще, чем в произведениях художественной литературы.

В среднем, на странице журнального текста встречается около 5−8 эвфемизмов. Число использованных в статье эвфемизмов зависит от ее тематики и объема и может варьироваться в пределах широкого диапазона. Приведем некоторые примеры эвфемизмов, используемых в журнальных текстах «Der Spiegel»:. 70 Jahre nach dem deutschen Überfall auf Polen am 1.

September 1939 führe die Ursachenforschung, so Titelautor Klaus Wiegrefe, 44, «zu differenzierten Ergebnissen» (привели к различающимся результатам) (Der Spiegel, № 35: 5). Автор не стемится к полному выяснению различий между результатами проведенного исследования и реальным положением дел, он оставляет читателей в частичном неведении, поскольку полное раскрытие информации было бы неполиткорректным по отношению к участникам описываемых событий (речь идет о Второй мировой войне). Часто встречается прием, когда одно слово заменяется другим, даже не синонимичным ему, это необходимо для того, чтобы избежать нежелательных для автора статьи коннотаций: Im Fokus stehe heute mehr das Versagen der deutschen Eliten Сегодня в центре внимания преимущественно отказ немецкой элиты (Der Spiegel, № 35: 5) (в качестве эвфемизма используется лексема das Versagen — ‘отказ' вместо слова der Verrat — ‘предательство').

Как показал проведенный нами анализ, эвфемизация в текстах немецкого журнала «Der Spiegel» часто бывает подчинена целям манипуляции сознанием читателей. Эвфемазация может создаваться при помощи языковой игры и служить средством повышения аттракции текста, как в следующем примере: Kurzsichtigkeit des Homo politicus — Близорукость человека политического (Der Spiegel, № 35: 8). В данном случае мы в праве утверждать, что языковая игра с использованием псевдолатинского словосочетания, обозначающего вид человека (homo politicus — ‘человек политический' как homo sapiens ‘человек разумный'). Однако авторы журнальных статей не только манипулируют сознанием своих читателей, но и «заботятся» о корректности наименования тех или иных явлений, которые могут вызвать неадекватную реакцию среди читателей. Так, болезни, вызванные «благами цивилизации» (диабет, ожирение, заболевания дыхательных путей, рак), именуются Zivilisationskrankheiten (Der Spiegel, № 40: 122), данная лексема очень «аккуратно» используется в тексте, чтобы не задеть чувства читателей, поскольку автор поднимает очень щекотливую тему.

Большое количество эвфемизмов использовано в статье, посвященной правовому регулированию распространению информации в сети Интернет (Der Spiegel, № 33: 68−81) (Informationaustaush, Netz и т. Основные тематические сферы использования эвфемизмов в журнальном тексте: мировая и внутренняя политика, экономика, личная сфера человека и все, что к ней относится (главным образов, физиология и психология). Заключение Эвфемизация в современном немецкоязычном дискурсе является мощным языковым средством, используемым говорящим для регулирования собственного речевого поведения. В рамках нашей работы мы рассмотрели средства эвфемизации, используемые в различных типах современного немецкого дискурса: художественном и дискурсе средств массовой информации. В целом, стратегии использования эвфемизмов в этих дискурсах совпадают: смягчение неудобной для осуществления комфортной коммуникации информации (например, информации об интимных отношениях человека и т.

Д.), замена некорректных в той или иной коммуникативной ситуации номинаций (например ругательств, обсцентной лексики) и т. Совпадают и используемые средства эвфемизации: стилистически нейтральные лексемы и устойчивые словосочетания заменяют те или иные стилистически маркированные средства. Чаще всего используются эвфемизмы имена и глаголы, реже — эвфемизмы-частицы, междометия и т. Однако на этом, во многом формальном уровне сходства заканчиваются. По сравнению с текстами художественными, тексты СМИ обладают гораздо более мощным потенциалом использования эвфемизмов в различных целях. С одной стороны, они более активно используют эвфемизмы, т. «плотность» эвфемизмов в журнальном тексте намного выше, чем их «плотность» в тексте художественном.

С другой, как показал проведенный нами анализ, эвфемизмы в текстах СМИ часто используются умышленно, т. Там, где можно обойтись и без них, здесь у вдумчивого читателя, способного более или мене объективно оценивать подаваемую ему информацию, могут возникнуть два ощущения: 1. Гиперполиткорректности (особенно при чтении европейских журналом носителями русской культуры) 2. Ощущение манипуляции (т.е. Избыточное использование средств эвфемизации может вскрыть данную стратегию речевого поведения). Получается, что в качестве манипулятивного средства нужно очень корректно, дабы не вызвать подозрений у объекта манипуляции.

В художественном тексте, естественно, ни о какой манипуляции не может быть и речи, там эвфемизмы используются исключительно в морально-эстетических целях. Библиографический список Валгина Н. Активные процессы в современном русском языке. Языковое табу и эвфемия. Слово в современных текстах и словарях: Очерки о русской лексике и лексикографии. Современный русский язык.

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Ungeduld des Herzens // Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка 3.Кацев А.М. Языковое табу и эвфемия. 4.Крысин Л.П. Слово в современных текстах и словарях: Очерки о русской лексике и лексикографии. 5.Крысин Л.П. Современный русский язык. Лексическая семантика.

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4 КУРСОВАЯ РАБОТА на тему «Эвфемизмы: сущность, классификация и использование в русском и английском языках» COURSE PAPER «Euphemisms: nature, types and usage in English and Russian» 5 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 I. EUPHEMISMS AS A SOCIAL CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC PHENOMENON. Euphemisms in English: Definition.

Types of Euphemists in English. 10 2.1 Euphemism and Dysphemism: Х-phemism. 12 2.2 X-phemisms and Doublespeak. 12 3 Functions of English Euphemisms 15 4. Euphemisms in the Russian Language.

18 4.1 Classification and Functions of Euphemisms in Russian. 19 4.2 Types of Euphemisms in Russian. 20 4.3 Formation Euphemisms in Russian 21 II. MOST COMMONLY EUPHEMIZED TOPICS IN THE RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES.

23 4.1 Death and Illness 23 4.2 Religious Terms. 25 CONCLUSION. 27 LIST OF REFERENCES. 29 6 INTRODUCTION In order for human beings to survive, they have to co-operate with each other by different ways of cooperation. In order to cooperate, we need to communicate with each other by using some way of indicating attitudes, ideas, intentions, etc. That is why the understanding of using the system of a language appropriately is very important.

The study of words and vocabulary is a great part of the system of any language. Knowledge of the using words in appropriate way helps us to understand each other and prevents us from making mistakes in our speech. Our common attitudes, ideas and intentions are reflected in the way we use our language, for example, what we choose to say and how we say it.

Some words may be used in certain circumstances and not in others, some should not be said. This usage of euphemisms is dictated by social conventions because there are many words and things in every language which people usually try to avoid in their speech in order not to hurt or offend someone. The research of the euphemisms takes a great place in a special literature. Many English and Russian linguists examined euphemism through different discourses: social, religious, linguistic, political, and so on.

Thus, it needs an especially close examination because of its weight in all of these spheres. Euphemism serves as a kind of linguistic bridge to indirectness that tends to dominate human communication in the modern era. The object of this research is euphemisms as a great part of the English and the Russian vocabulary. The subject of the research is the ways of euphemizing and the usage of euphemisms in both languages.

The objective of this research is to introduce the features, functions and the applications of English and Russian euphemism, to investigate the nature of euphemisms and to outline the bright and the dark side of using euphemisms in English and Russian. There are some tasks to solve in order to achieve the objective of the research: 1) to define the meaning of the term euphemism 2) to reveal the nature of English and Russian euphemism 3) to develop the features, functions and the applications of English and Russian euphemism 4) to compare the usage of euphemisms in English and Russian Euphemistic units of both languages were served as the practical material of the research. Euphemisms of the English language were taken from such dictionaries as 'A Dictionary of 7 Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk' by Hugh Rawson, 'How Not to Say What You Mean' by R. Holder, 'Slang and Euphemisms' by Richard. Euphemisms of Russian were taken from 'Словарь эвфемизмов русского языка' by E. Senichkina and 'Лингвистический энциклопедический словарь' by N.

The following methods have been applied: 1. Descriptive 2. Comparative analysis of euphemistic units of both languages The paper has clear structure. It starts with some introductory remarks; it has two sections and a conclusion. The first section discusses euphemism in English and Russian: its definition, classification, nature and relationship with certain figures of speech. The second section deals with euphemism in Russian: its definition, types and usage in Russian.

The study ends with some concluding remarks pointing out the similarity and difference between the two languages. EPHEMISM AS A SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC PHENOMENON In social interaction, people have to use different words to convey their thoughts and ideas. However, some of the words may be rude, unhappy, impolite and embarrassed if directly spoken, which often make the communication unpleasant. Moreover, nowadays people are increasingly sensitive to keeping themselves from naming things directly. That is why the knowledge of euphemizing is very important.

It is not easy to avoid speaking about unpleasant issues completely. That is why people have always felt the urge to find a way to speak about phenomena they feared, disliked, worshipped or considered taboo, while not naming such words directly.

Taking this into consideration, it could be concluded that attempts to use euphemisms are as old as our ability to use our language. What is more, the reasons why people euphemize keep changing together with the topics avoided and the words used to allude to such topics indirectly. In order to avoid the embarrassment of harsh words, people have created euphemism. Euphemism is a lingual phenomenon existing in human society. It plays an important role in social interaction. In etymology, the word euphemism is derived from a Greek word which means 'to speak favorably'. So the essence of euphemism lies in the use of inoffensive words or phrases instead of offensive or rude ones.

Euphemism has the function of politeness and beautification, which is helpful to develop communication. Accordingly, it is widely used in our daily communication to express something unpleasant in a different way.

The exact nature of the relationship between language and culture has fascinated, and continues to fascinate, people form a wide variety of backgrounds. That there should be some kind of relationship between the sounds, words, and syntax of a language and the ways in which speakers of that language experience the world and behave in it seems as obvious as to be truism. It would appear that the only problem is deciding the nature of the relationship and finding suitable ways to demonstrate it. Almost all cultures seem to have certain notions of unpleasant things that people try to avoid mentioning directly, even when there is a such term in a language. When such a notion or thing has to be referred to, the practice will be a substitute that sounds better. That is the coming of euphemisms. So we can see that euphemism have a strong relationship with our culture backgrounds, especially taboo words.

Certain words in all societies are considered taboo words that are not to be used in 'polite society'. The word 'taboo' was borrowed from Tongan, a Polynesian language, and 10 in that society it refers to acts which are 'forbidden' or which are to be avoided 12, p. When an act is taboo, reference to this act may also become taboo. Thus, it is sometimes forbidden to do such an act or to talk about it. Taboo are certain topics such as body parts, bodily functions, relationship between a man and a woman, religious and ideological concepts. Societies differ in what topics are taboo because such topics which are forbidden reflect the particular customs and views of the society. Therefore, certain topics may be considered taboo in certain societies but in other societies they can be acceptable.

The appearance of euphemism gives that better sound. That is the result of human development.

If we want euphemism to help our communication in our daily life, we should know some of its basic knowledge. According to the cognitive point of view, euphemisms are used when one wants to name things without calling up a mental picture of them. The main goal of using euphemisms is to strike the person's imagination. Euphemisms do not form complete pictures in the mind or completely define an event or object. Thus, without a complete definition, the ability to understand the true meaning of a statement is obscured 17, p.

Politically, euphemism is a vague expression that is used to conceal a harsh reality and reduces precision of thought in the mind of the audience. Thus, political language has to consist largely of euphemism and therefore politicians are considered as masters of euphemism 16, p. As a linguistic phenomenon euphemism is needed to be investigated in many aspects: in comparison with other languages, definition of the time and reason of their appearance, determination of usage in literary and scientific books. For a translator it is very important to know about the usage of euphemism in a language correctly. Euphemism just likes a mirror, which reflects some social and psychological phenomena.

Many euphemisms are so delightfully ridiculous that everyone laughs at them. Yet euphemisms have very serious reasons for being.

They conceal the things people fear the most death, the dead, the supernatural. They cover up the facts of life. They are beloved by individuals and institutions (governments, especially) who are anxious to present only the handsomest possible images of themselves to the world.

And they are embedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even those who pride themselves on being plainspoken, ever get through a day without using them 18, p.1. Euphemisms in English: Definition The term 'euphemism' refers to the substitution of a milder expression for a harsh or unacceptable one 10, p.8. Thus, euphemism could be defined as the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive referent for a word that is considered indelicate, rude, too direct or impolite. A significant portion of the English vocabulary has been created to replace existing words with the same meaning. Many euphemisms came into use so that people could avoid writing or saying prohibited terms for unpleasant subjects.

So, the keys to understanding euphemism are avoidance and etiquette 20, p.8. Euphemism is defined in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English as the use of a pleasanter, less direct name for something thought to be unpleasant. The New Edition of the Oxford Concise Dictionary gives the following definition 'euphemism as substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or direct one '. Although all the definitions are not similar, they all reflect that there are some things in our life that should not be said bluntly or truthfully. So far, euphemism has different definitions in different books and there is not a universally accepted one.

Here are some influential definitions: In 1995, Concise Oxford Dictionary in 9th edition defines euphemism as a mild or vague expression substituted for one thought to be too harsh or direct. In 1996, Pocket Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary gives the definition of euphemism as a mild or vague expression substituted for a harsher or more direct one.

In 1997, Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary lists a new definition: use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place of more accurate or direct ones. According to Richard A. Spears, euphemisms and the process of euphemizing have the following characteristics. A euphemism is an expression substituted for another expression which has acquired a negative connotation. A euphemism is an expression which is a synonym for a word or phrase of lower status. A euphemism is an expression deliberately created to raise the status of a concept.

Euphemism is used to protect oneself or one's audience from embarrassment or other emotional discomfort. Euphemism is used in polite, sexually mixed company to avoid the coarse terms of all-male groups.

Euphemism is used in polite company to avoid the typical speech of lower levels of society. Beckman and Callow define euphemism as 'a metaphorical or metonymic use of an expression in place of another expression that is disagreeable or offensive' 10, p.120.

Leech gives a semantic meaning to euphemism saying that 'euphemism is the practice of referring to something offensive or delicate in terms that make it sound more pleasant or becoming than it really is' 15, p.53. From these different definitions and characteristics, there is something in common: euphemism is used to refer a mode of expression which is mild, vague and polite used to mean something unpleasant. Types of Euphemists in English According to Rawson all euphemisms can be divided into two general types – positive and negative. The positive ones inflate and magnify, making the euphemized items seem altogether grander and more important than they really are.

Positive euphemisms include the many fancy occupational titles, which salve the egos of workers by elevating their job status: custodian for janitor (itself a euphemism for caretaker), counsel for lawyer, the many kinds of engineer (exterminating engineer, mattress engineer, publicity engineer), help for servant (itself an old euphemism for slave), hooker and working girl for a whore, and so forth. A common approach is to try to turn one's trade into a profession. Beautician and the aforementioned mortician the classic examples, but the same imitative instinct is responsible for social workers calling welfare recipients clients, for football coaches conducting clinics, and for undertakers referring to corpses as cases or even patients. Other kinds of positive euphemisms include personal honorifics such as colonel, the honorable, and major, and the many institutional euphemisms, which convert madhouses into mental hospitals, colleges into universities, and small business establishments into emporiums, parlors, salons, and shoppes.

The desire to improve one's surroundings also is evident in geographical place names, most prominently in the case of the distinctly nongreen Greenland (attributed to an early real estate developer named Eric the Red), but also in the designation of many small burgs as cities. The negative euphemisms deflate and diminish. They are defensive in nature, offsetting the power of tabooed terms and otherwise eradicating from the language everything that people prefer not to deal with directly.

Negative, defensive euphemisms are extremely ancient. It was the Greeks, for example, who transformed the Furies into the Eumenides (the Kindly Ones). Thus negative euphemisms replace a language that people prefer to avoid using. Examples include 'harvesting' in place of 'killing', 'collateral damage' instead of 'civilian causalities' or 'deaths', 'relationship' for 'sexual relationship', and 'intestinal fortitude' in place of 'guts'. Many euphemisms, whether positive or negative, can be used consciously and unconsciously. In many social circumstances, euphemisms can be used to avoid embarrassment or to protect another's ego, for example, at a formal dinner party, a guest might ask for directions to the 'little girls room' to avoid the embarrassment of using the word 'toilet', which is itself a euphemism that was coined so long ago that it is recognized as the plain-language version of the location being referred to. Such a use of this kind of language is called the 'unconscious use of euphemism'.

Unconscious euphemisms consist mainly of words that were developed as euphemisms, but so long 15 ago that hardly anyone remembers the original motivation. Examples in this category include such nowstandard terms as cemetery (from the Greek word for 'sleeping place,' it replaced the more deathly 'graveyard'). Into this category, too, fall such watered-down swear words as cripes, Jiminy Cricket, gee, and gosh, all designed to avoid taking holy names in vain and now commonly used without much awareness of their original meaning, particularly by youngsters.

Conscious euphemisms constitute a much more complex category, which is hardly surprising, given the ingenuity, not to say the deviousness, of the human mind. This is not to imply that euphemisms cannot be employed more or less honestly as well as knowingly. For example, garbage men are upgraded routinely into sanitation men, but to say 'Here come the sanitation men' is a comparatively venial sin.

The meaning does come across intelligibly, and the listener understands that it is time to get out the garbage cans. By avoiding the troublesome term, the euphemism actually facilitates social discourse. Сonscious euphemisms also lead to social doublethinking, however.

They form а kind of code. The euphemism stands for 'something else,' and everyone pretends that the 'something else' doesn't exist.

It is the essentially duplicitous nature of euphemisms that makes them so attractive to those people and institutions who have something to hide, who don't want to say what they are thinking, and who find it convenient to lie about what they are doing. Thus, languages have euphemisms and people consciously and unconsciously use them to protect themselves from being offensive or to make a positive relationship between the communicators. Moreover, when people use euphemism, they do not at all want to change their language, but they want to communicate in a convenient or efficient manner about the topics they are referring to. As mentioned above, the forms or styles that are used by the communicators can be divided into two categories: expository and explanatory accounts, and they can be further employed for two quite different purposes: euphemism and dysphemism. Allan and Burridge call the combination of both euphemism and dysphemism as Х-phemism 9, p.14-27.

The term 'Xphemism' is used to replace one expression with another that carries positive or negative associations. Euphemism is used for making something sound better while dysphemism is used for making something sound worse.

Dysphemism then is, roughly speaking, the opposite of euphemism. Grant uses the term 'malphemism' instead of dysphemism and explains that such an expression is used to be offensive and indicates negative discernment 13, p.24. Other scholars believe that euphemism can be divided into three major categories: euphemism, dysphemism, and doublespeak. Doublespeak is a similar entity to both euphemism and dysphemism, but it contains stronger intentions to interchange or confuse the truth of the issue and deceive the audiences 16, p. 16 There is another category of euphemism called 'orthophemism' which means straight talking. Finally, there are three antonyms of euphemism: dysphemism, cacophemism, and power word. The first as mentioned above can be either offensive or merely humorously deprecating with.

The second one is generally used more often in the sense of something deliberately offensive. The last is mainly used in arguments to make a point seem more correct. 2.1 Euphemism and Dysphemism: Х-phemism Euphemism and Dysphemism pave the way of talking about the evaluative content of the language: that part which does not describe a thing in the world, but rather expresses the speaker's attitude towards it. The combination set of euphemism and dysphemism is called 'x-phemism'.

The term dysphemism, from Greek 'dys' =bad + 'pheme' = speech, is roughly an opposite of euphemism that means the usage of an intentionally harsh word or expression instead of polite one. Thus, it is possible to use deliberately rude language to talk about socially acceptable topics. In this casecertain words or expressions are used to produce a negative effect on a reader's or listener's attitude about something or to tone down the positive associations the thing may have. Dysphemism is as common as euphemism in everyday usage, for example, 'to stuff your face' instead of 'to eat'.

Thus, a well-thought-of dead person may be said to have 'passed away' (euphemism), a disrespected one to have 'kicked the bucket' or 'to be worm food' (dysphemism). X-phemism can be avoided by delivering the truth and transferring meaningless words which indicate a positive connotation.

There are two kinds of 'X-phemisms' (euphemism and dysphemism) 16, p.38: The first type is conventional X-phemism. This is the word that makes reference to a taboo topic in a polite or impolite way. This category has more to do with politeness and social norms than the speaker's actual feelings. Conventional dysphemisms may have a positive social value in expressing casualness, informality, solidarity etc.

The second type is general X-phemism. This is the word that describes a situation, event or thing and shows one's attitude towards it: 'terrorist' vs.

'freedom fighter', 'henchman' vs. 2.2 X-phemisms and Doublespeak It has been mentioned above that there is a close relationship between x-phemism (euphemism and dysphemism) and doublespeak in which the later being considered as one category of euphemism.

As a point of similarity between euphemism and doublespeak, it is found that both 17 of them use good words to hide bad ones. Meanwhile, the main point of difference between euphemism and doublespeak is that euphemism is used in a well-mannered way with good intentions associated with it and without deception but when a euphemism is used in a deceitful way in hopes of misleading people, it becomes doublespeak. As a result, using euphemism without deceiving people will bring about harmless and pleasant feelings while in doublespeak the distrust will start to begin increasingly. However, when euphemisms are used to purposely conceal our inward anxieties, conflicts, fears, and shames, they become social doubletalk designed to mislead and are convenient words for people who lie about what they are doing 18, p.3. Nowadays, euphemism becomes an accepted and established practice according to the ethical considerations which embedded in using it since it is used to soften a harsh, unpleasant or distasteful reality to be more acceptable and more pleasant. Lutz makes an immediate distinction between proper euphemisms and doublespeak.

He mentions that when a euphemism is used to deceive and in a negative way, it becomes doublespeak 16, p.157. Thus, the main purpose of doublespeak is to make the unreasonable seem reasonable, the blamed seem blameless, the powerless seem powerful. Lutz breaks doublespeak down into four major categories: the euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook, and inflated language. He describes a euphemism as expressions that are designed to avoid a harsh or distasteful reality but becomes doublespeak when it is introduced or intended to mislead or deceive. As a result, Rawson states that when the conscious elements of circumlocution and doubletalk loom large, dishonest euphemisms will appear when euphemism is used not to be tactful or polite 18, p.3.

Thus, when a language deliberately constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, it becomes doublespeak. Doublespeak is mainly words constructed for political, governmental or military purposes to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them.

For instance, the invasion of Iraq was called 'a liberation' in order to avoid the word 'occupation' 17, p.131. Much like the euphemism is the 'jargon', the second type of doublespeak according to Lutz's point of view. Jargon is a specialized language used in some particular field such as trade, profession or similar group and also has its acceptable and unacceptable forms.

Similar to euphemism, Jargon can be used appropriately and inappropriately. If, for example, doctors use jargon among themselves while discussing a medical concern, that is completely appropriate and it's not doublespeak. However, if the doctors used the same language to explain a medical condition to a patient, the jargon would be pretentious and inappropriate. Thus, when jargon is used to show off to others or to hide meaning or to deceive, that usage is clearly doublespeak 16, p.382. Lutz also mentions that gobbledygook, also known as bureaucratese, is unacceptable in any shape or form.

It is probably the easiest type of doublespeak to perpetrate on an unsuspecting 18 audience, because all that's needed is to endlessly pile on words and overwhelm whomever is listening. The fourth type of doublespeak, inflated language, is perhaps the most common and is the opposite of the euphemism. It is designed to make the ordinary seem extraordinary, to make everyday things seem impressive. Such a kind can be seen in the example where 'garbage men' might refer to themselves as 'sanitation engineers'. Thus, X-phemism (euphemism and dysphemism) and doublespeak may have very analogous feature, especially dysphemism and doublespeak. However, clear distinctions can be made between these types.

If you consider the receiver's feelings and avoid negative aspects toward the interlocutors' affection, it is euphemism. If it intentionally and/or unintentionally works negatively, the term is dysphemism. If locution, however, contains intention and motivation to mislead or deceive the audience, then the expression becomes doublespeak. Doublespeak is when the speaker pretends not to render the truth of the issue but to switch the locution intentionally and obfuscate the truth. 19 3 Functions of English Euphemisms Euphemisms have several functions. The first is the function of being polite with the development of social economy, people spontaneously pursue the language civilization to show that they are civilized and cultivated. So when people have to refer to something unpleasant, they prefer to employ some mild, implicit and euphemistic expressions.

In such cases, the practice of euphemism shows its politeness function. Here, the key point of politeness function is to respect others, to express something politely, so as to keep people from being hurt and make them accept those things pleasantly. In communication with others, euphemisms can help people form a positive communication atmosphere and establish harmonious social relationship and eventually obtain the communication goals. “Old” is a very sensitive word to many people in the English speaking countries, because “old” gives people an impression that someone is useless to society.

So usually, we use “senior citizens” or “superior citizens” to refer to the old people. And “feel one’s age” is used to mean “get old”. Besides, the word “poor” also has many euphemisms. During the last twenty years or so, several other words have been trying to take its place, at least among educated and in “officialese”. As some unfortunate person put it: “At first I was poor, then I became needy, later I was underprivileged.

Now I’m disadvantaged. I still don’t have a cent to my name, but I sure have a great vocabulary”. Among them, the words “poor, needy, underprivileged, disadvantaged” all have the same meaning in essence, but more euphemistic than the former one.

In education, euphemisms are likewise prolific. Some people prefer educator to teacher. Students are still students, but comments about them need to be carefully considered.

Negative expressions have given way to more positive ones. The comment for a below average student might be that he/she is working at his/her own level, which doesn’t hurt anyone s pride. Can do better work with help doesn’t sound bad either; it s just a less offensive way of saying a student is slow or stupid. And if a student cheats in class, the teacher would rather say He depends on others to do his work. The second function is the function of gloss-over.The emergence of euphemisms also has something to do with the language sensitivity. From about the time when people began to know beauty and ugliness, to distinguish between kindness and evil, they had already got some shame about sex, certain parts of their body, etc.

And with the development of society, the range of the lexical sensitivity is spreading. This provides an open air for the gloss -over function of Euphemisms. Even in the modern world today, people may still feel somewhat shameful when speaking of the sexual acts. They would like to use “have physical contract with”, “sleep with”, “go to bed with” or “make love” to express the same meaning. And “free love” is called trial marriage; 20 “illegitimate child” becomes love child. Besides, people rarely use the word “homosexual” instead, they like to replace it by “gay”, “comrade”, or “queer”.

As for human body, people usually use the following words to refer to some sensitive parts, for instance, they like to substitute abdomen for belly, posterior for buttocks, chest/bosom for breasts, limb for leg. And as for the physical shortcomings, “physically handicapped” is usually substituted for “crippled”. If someone is deaf, people would rather say “He is hard of hearing”; if blind, people would say “He is visually retarded”. Additionally, in recent years, more and more euphemisms are being used in talking about social life and social affairs. For example, euphemisms are used in referring to occupation either to conceal unpleasantness, or to improve social status.

There are fewer occupations called jobs; many have become professions. A garbage collector is described as a sanitary engineer; a gardener is called a landscape architect; a barber is called a hair stylist or a hair ologist; and salesmen are beautified as customers' representatives. Besides, some professions that people despise also have many euphemisms. Prostitute is addressed as lady of the evening, business girl, harlot or streetwalker. And it is ironical that the prostitutes themselves call their occupation as business, or even as social service. The third function is the function of avoiding taboo.

Some English euphemisms are associated with taboo. Taboo exists in every language. Euphemisms can be used as substitutes in order to avoid embarrassment, anxiety and public shame caused by taboo words. For example, 'God' Is replaced by 'Gad', 'Satan' by 'the good man', and 'die' by 'pass away'. Taboo is one way in which a society expresses its disapproval of certain kinds of behavior believed to be harmful to its members, either for supernatural reasons or because such behavior is held to violate a moral code. Consequently, so far as language is concerned, certain things are not be said or certain objects can be referred to only in certain circumstances, for example, only by certain people, or through deliberate circumlocutions, i.e.

Of course, there are always those who are prepared to break the taboos in an attempt to show their own freedom from such restrictions or to express the taboos as irrational and unjustified, as in certain movements for “free speech”. In recent times, more and more euphemisms are being used in taking about social life and social affairs.

The name of some professions can be very misleading; for example, landscape architect for gardener, beautician for hair dresser, building engineer for janitor, prison officer for gardener and funeral director for undertaker. In international relations, “dressed -up” expressions have become commonplace.

Курсовая Работа На Тему

Third world countries named backward countries, undeveloped -countries, developing countries, emerging nations and less developed countries. “Taboo and 21 euphemism affect all of us. Each social group is different from every other in how it constrains linguistic behavior in this way, but constrains in the some such way it certainly does.” The fourth function is the function of disguising.Euphemism can be used to beautify things to avoid negative impact and it is not always used out of good motives. By using euphemism, ambiguity can be produced and truth can be hidden. As a consequence, some profiteers and politicians are likely to use euphemism to make it a language of deceit. For example, in 1983, American arms invaded Grenada. The American President Reagan fit to be tied because news reporters used the words 'invade' very much in reporting the news.

On the other hand, Reagan called it 'rescue mission'. Since euphemisms often express something in an implicit and roundabout way, sometimes this may cause ambiguity and people may feel confused about them. So, politicians, statesmen and businessmen always make full use of this feature to mask the reality, exonerate their guilt and raise high the quality of their goods, thus making euphemisms have the disguise function. The primary feature of euphemism here is to numb the public without telling a downright lie yet to get an almost equally desirable response. Therefore, “industrial climate” means “dispute between employer and employee”.

And an economic crisis is another subject for euphemism. The prewar word “slump” was soon replaced by “depression”, then by the word “recession”. Now “recession” is replaced by “downturn”. Besides, war is a fertile time for language. Governments need euphemisms to persuade people to put up with the sufferings of war. Therefore, attack is active defense; the aggressive action is preemptive action; surprise attacks against enemies are now termed preemptive strikes.

To retreat is to retire to prepared positions or to break off contact with enemy. To take out a city is to blast it to destruction. Euphemisms in the Russian Language A long time ago people couldn’t help but noticing that the same word could be said in a different manner.

By saying a word you may appear polite, friendly or rude. Ancient people took a word for an action, words and actions were almost equated. Nowadays words are also concerned of a great importance. The Russian language has a clear structured system of the linguistic preferences so called euphemism. A source of synonymy worthy of note is the so called euphemism in which by a shift of meaning a word of more or less pleasant or at least inoffensive connotation substitutes one that is harsh, obscene, indelicate or otherwise unpleasant. The meaning of пьяный and навеселе is the same. But euphemistic expression навеселе on the whole is milder, less offensive.

According to Senichkina, эвфемизм (a euphemism) is a generally harmless word or expression used in place of one that might be offensive or unpleasant. For example: более жёсткие методы допроса (tougher methods of investigation) instead of пытки (tortures). The opposite of an эвфемизм is a дисфеми́зм (dysphemism), which, instead of using harmless words, uses phrases that are offensive either about the denotatum (the object referred to by the linguistic expression) or to the audience, or both. For example: сдохнуть (to croak) instead of умереть (to die). According to the “Explanatory Dictionary of Russian language” by S.I. Ojegov and N.Y.

Shvedova, euphemism is defined as a polite word or phrase that we use in order to replace a rude one, for example, we use неумный instead of дурак 6, p.831. Euphemism is defined in а “Linguistic Dictionary” as the word or phrase of a neutral style that is used for something thought to be unpleasant 5, p.590.

The use of euphemism is accounted for by the speaker's tendency to be considerate, and not to hurt other people's feelings. The Russian language has a definite set of notions attracting euphemistic circumlocutions. These are notions of death, madness, stupidity, drunkenness, certain physiological processes, crimes, and so on.

Курсовая Работа Эвфемизмы В Английском Языке

Present day Russian euphemism is mostly based on the desire not to hurt other people's feelings, to soften painful news, and on superstition.