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ФИЛОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ
SEMANTIC AND STRUCTURAL VARIATION OF EUPHEMISMS
Gaybullayeva N.I.
Gaybullayeva Nafisa Izatullayevna - Doctoral Candidate, UZBEK LINGUISTICS DEPARTMENT, BUKHARA STATE UNIVERSITY, BUKHARA, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Abstract: the article analyses mainly semantic and structural variation of euphemisms in English language as a means of linguoculturology. Keywords: euphemisms, evaluative aspect, taboo, unconscious.
We use euphemisms in different spheres of life without considering which euphemism to use and when, however, it is not so easy to classify them as there is no uniform standard. Euphemisms can be classified according to different criteria, rules, or principles. Euphemisms are divided into two general types, namely, positive and negative which are distinguished according to the evaluative aspect [1, 23]. Positive euphemisms can also be called stylistic euphemisms or exaggerating euphemisms. The positive ones inflate and magnify, making the euphemized items seem altogether grander and more important than they really are. It might be said that quite a few positive euphemisms are doublespeak and cosmetic words. They usually appear in the political, military and commercial vocabulary. An euphemism and its corresponding taboo are in fact two faces of the same coin. They refer to the same thing though they have different looks, the euphemism having a much more pleasant face than the taboo.
Euphemisms, whether positive or negative, can be also divided into unconscious euphemisms and conscious euphemisms. The criterion for classification is the euphemistic meaning whether correlative with the original meaning or not. Unconscious euphemisms were developed long ago, and are used unconsciously, without any intent to deceive or evade. For example, now standard term as 'cemetery' has been a replacement for the more deathly 'graveyard' since the fourteenth century. 'Indisposition' has been a substitute for 'disease' for a long period; people seldom realize that its original meaning is incapacity for dealing with something. From the above we can conclude that unconscious euphemisms were developed so long ago that few can remember their original motivations. Conscious euphemisms are widely employed, which involves more complex categories. When people communicate with each other, speakers are conscious to say tactfully, and the listeners understand their implied meanings. For example, when a lady stands up and says that she wants to 'powder her nose' or 'make a phone call' at a dinner party, the people present realize the euphemism means 'something else', that is, 'going to the ladies' room'. Besides the divisions mentioned above, euphemisms can be divided into six semantic categories:
1. Profession euphemisms:
In western countries, mental work is considered to be the high job whereas physical labor is recognized as humble work, besides there is a great difference in the remuneration. Some lowly paid or indecent jobs are often used in English culture just for saving face and expressing politeness. Therefore there are fewer occupations called jobs, many have become professions. English euphemisms are used to express some fancy occupational titles, which can elevate the people's status. Many previously unwelcome professions have now taken more appealing names. For example, in profession euphemisms, people always use cleaning operative for road sweeper or dustman, sanitation engineer for garbage man, meat technologist for butcher, and hairdresser has turned into beautician, etc.
2. Disease euphemisms : In the disease euphemisms, people always use long illness replaces for cancer, social disease replaces for syphilis and AIDS, also they use lung trouble substitutes for tuberculosis and so on. And if someone with a mental illness, we cannot say
psychosis directly, we should say he or she is a little confused, meanwhile, we should use hard of hearing in stand of deaf.
3. Death euphemisms:
In many societies, because death is feared, so people tend to avoid mentioning death directly and talk about it in a euphemistic way. They try to employ pleasant terms to express the ideas. So death has hundreds of soft, decent, and better-sounding names, such as breathe one's last, fall asleep, go west, join the majority, lay down one's life, pass away, pay the debt of nature, reach a better world, to be at peace, to return to the dust, or he worked until he breathed his last, etc.
4. Sex euphemisms:
Euphemisms concerning sex: the great divide, willing woman, gay boy, lost girl can be used to replace divorce, loose woman, male homosexual and prostitute.
5. Crime euphemisms:
In the field of crime euphemism: five-fingers, gentleman of the road, hero of the underground, the candy man are often used to substitute for pickpocket, robber, heroin, and drug pusher.
6. Political euphemisms: Since the function of euphemism can reduce the unpleasantness of a term or notion, it is natural that announcements of governments will often resort them to understate the facts, e.g. student unrest can be used to replace student strike; police action, search and clear, war games are used to substitute for aggression, massacre and war exercise (www. 51lw.name.html).
References
1. Rawson H., 1981. A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk. Crown
Publishers. New York.
2. Warren B., 1992. What euphemisms tell us about the interpretation of words. Studia
Linguistica. [Electronic resource]. URL: http://51lw.name/article/90/1115$3.html/ (date
of access: 01.06.2018).
SIGNIFICANCE OF EUPHEMISTIC STRATEGIES FROM PRAGMATIC POINT OF VIEW Gaybullayeva N.I.
Gaybullayeva Nafisa Izatullayevna - Doctoral Candidate, UZBEK LINGUISTICS DEPARTMENT, BUKHARA STATE UNIVERSITY, BUKHARA, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Abstract: the article analyses mainly pragmatic functions of euphemisms and their essence during communication.
Keywords: euphemisms, pragmatics, contextual meaning, vagueness, persuasive, tactical.
The past twenty years have witnessed an ever-growing interest in pragmatics and it has been defined in a number of ways. Pragmatics also aims at investigating the invisible meaning: how what the unsaid is recognized to be a relevant part of a conversation. The proportion of what is said and unsaid is determined by a physical, social or conceptual distance. In this respect, pragmatics is the study of the expression of relative distance. Thus, pragmatics is the study of speaker meaning, contextual meaning, the expression of relative distance, and the study of how more gets communicated than is said [1, 25].
The main function of euphemism is polite function. Polite function of euphemism is to avoid inelegant things and make people feel pleasant. As Channell put it, "vagueness is used
