English and Russian phraseological euphemisms denoting human vices and crimes
https://doi.org/10.26907/2074-0239-2021-66-4-17-22
Abstract
The article studies the phraseo-semantic group of English and Russian phraseological euphemisms denoting human vices and crimes. A review of the literature on the issue indicates the complexity of the euphemistic nomination in the field of phraseology. Phraseological euphemisms combine typical features of both phraseological and euphemistic units and are characterized by the rethinking of meaning, separability, stability (lexical and grammatical), imagery and high significance of connotation in the structure of their phraseological meaning. The main purpose of the euphemistic nomination is to soften and veil taboo or socially and morally condemned real denotations. A detailed study of this phraseo-semantic group indicates that phraseological euphemisms, designating human vices and crimes, successfully fulfill the role of mitigating and veiling the actions and behavior of a person condemned by human society both in English and in Russian. The vices and crimes, most condemned by human society, are murder, suicide and drunkenness. In many cases, the prototypes of the phraseological euphemisms under study are built on ameliorative or neutrally evaluated images. It is concluded that the euphemistic function of such units is largely due to the internal form of phraseological euphemisms, namely, their ameliorative or neutral (ambivalent) imagery, which in turn gives the prototypes of phraseological euphemisms a neutral or ameliorative assessment.
About the Author
Yu. Arsentyeva
Kazan Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Yulia Svyatoslavovna Arsentyeva, Ph.D. in Philology, Associate Professor
420008
18 Kremlyovskaya Str.
Kazan
References
1. Allan, K., Burridge, K. (1991). Euphemisms and Dysphemisms. Language Used as Shield and Weapon. 263 p. New York, Oxford University Press. (In English)
2. Arsent'eva, E. F. (1999). Russko-angliiskii frazeologicheskii slovar' [Russian-English Phraseological Dictionary]. 318 p. Kazan', Hjeter. (In Russian, in English)
3. Arsent'eva, Iu. S. (2012). Frazeologizmy-evfemizmy v angliiskom i russkom iazykah : dis. … kand. filol. nauk [Phraseological Euphemisms in the English and Russian Languages : Ph.D. Thesis]. Kazan', 177 p. (In Russian)
4. Cambridge International Dictionary of English (2001). 1774 p. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. (In English)
5. COCA (1990). The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). URL: http://www.americancorpus.org (accessed: 06. 09. 2021). (In English)
6. Frazeologicheskii slovar' russkogo literaturnogo iazyka kontsa XVIII – XX vv. (1995) [Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language of the End of the Eighteenth – Twentieth Centuries]. Pod red. A. I. Fedorova. 608 p. Moscow, Topikal. (In Russian)
7. Frazeologicheskii slovar' russkogo iazyka (1986) [Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language]. Pod red. A. I. Molotkova. 543 p. Moscow, Rus. Iazyk. (In Russian)
8. Holder, R. W. (1995). A Dictionary of Euphemisms. 470 p. New York, Oxford University Press. (In English)
9. Holder, R. W. (2007). A Dictionary of Euphemisms. How Not to Say What You Mean. 506 p. New York, Oxford University Press. (In English)
10. Kunin, A. V. (1984). Anglo-russkii frazeologicheskii slovar' [English-Russian Phraseological Dictionary]. 944 p. Moscow, Rus. Iazyk. (In English, in Russian)
11. Lingvisticheskii entsiklopedicheskii slovar' (1990) [Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary]. 685 p. Moscow, Sov. Entsiklopediia. (In Russian)
12. Mokienko, V. M. (2016). Zagadki russkoi frazeologii [Mysteries of Russian Phraseology]. 160 p. Moscow, Vysshaia shkola. (In Russian)
13. Neaman, J. S. and Silver, C. G. (1990). Kind Words: a Thesaurus of Euphemisms. Expanded and Revised Edition. 373 p. New York, Facts on File. (In English)
14. New Oxford Thesaurus of English. (2000). 1087 p. New York, Oxford University Press Inc. (In English)
15. NKRIa (2001) Natsional'nyi korpus russkogo iazyka [National Corpus of the Russian Language]. Moscow. URL: http://www.ruscorpora.ru (accessed: 07. 09. 2021). (In Russian)
16. Ozhegov, S. I. (1978). Slovar' russkogo iazyka [Dictionary of the Russian Language]. 847 p. Moscow, Sov. Entsiklopediia. (In Russian)
17. Rees, N. A (2006). Man about a Dog. Euphemisms and Other Examples of Verbal Squeamishness. 418 p. London, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. (In English)
18. Senichkina, E. P. (2008). Slovar' evfemizmov russkogo iazyka [Dictionary of Euphemisms of the Russian Language]. 464 p. Moscow, Flinta, Nauka. (In Russian)
19. Stepanov, Iu. S. (2017). Konstanty: Slovar' russkoi kul'tury. Opyt issledovaniia [Constants. Dictionary of Russian Culture. Research Experience]. 824 p. Moscow, Shkola. Iazyki russkoi kul'tury. (In Russian)
20. Teliia, V. N. (2017). Russkaiia frazeologiia. Semanticheskii, pragmaticheskii i lingvokul'turologicheskii aspekty [Russian Phraseology. Semantic, Pragmatic and Linguocultural Aspects]. 288 p. Moscow, Iazyki russkoi kul'tury. (In Russian)
Review
For citations:
Arsentyeva Yu. English and Russian phraseological euphemisms denoting human vices and crimes. Philology and Culture. 2021;(4):17-22. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2074-0239-2021-66-4-17-22
Views:
161
Email this article 