Semantic and stylistic aspect of euphemisms in modern english

       He pardoned us off-hand, and allowed us something to live on till he went the way of all flesh.

       Religious and moral factors are the driving forces of this group of phraseological euphemisms. Fear before death and, sometimes, the desire not to hurt a person, to show one’s tact and courtesy can be considered to be the emotional basis of such PE. This group of PE is rather numerous.

       2.Euphemisms naming social evils, crimes, human vices and their consequences, e.g. “three sheets in (to) the wind”, “in one’s cups”, “send somebody to glory”, “send somebody to kingdom-come”, “the Duke of Exeter’s daughter”, shoot (sling, throw) the bull”, “kiss the cup”, “have (take) a drop”, “have one too many”, “have had a few”, etc.:

       They threatened to make me hug the Duke of Exeter’s daughter.

       …he is a good unconscious spy on Brass, and tells, in his cups, all that he sees and hears [4. p. 138-146].

       ‘Did you have a chance to say a few words to the Governor tonight, Luke?’ he asked anxiously. “Sure, I was over there shooting the breeze with him just a few minutes ago’ [13. p. 96-132].

       Moral principles serve as a social determinant of phraseological euphemisms of this rather large group. Social evils and human vises have always been a rich source of creating such PEs.

       3.Euphemisms naming poverty, hard financial situation, e.g. “be in Queer Street”, “live from hand to mouth”, “not to have a shirt to one’s back”, “not <to have> a penny to bless oneself with”; “without a penny to one’s name”, “keep body and soul together”, make <both, two> ends meet”:

       Brown came to see me yesterday, and from what he told me, the poor chap doesn’t seem to have a shirt to his back. He has been out of employment for over a year now! (SPI).

       One of his guests, a writer of poetical drama, was a man who three months after he had earned a thousand pound, never had a penny with which to bless himself”.

       Poverty has always been a very undesirable and unpleasant condition, especially in the English society. No wonder that poor people tried to conceal their poor financial situation using or inventing indirect names for it.

       4.Euphemisms naming mental deformities (disability), e.g. “be out (take, leave) of one’s senses”, “be off one’s nut”, “go nuts”, “soft (touched, weak) in the head”, “a strange bird”, a weird (strange) customer”, a weird (strange) card (duck)”, etc.:

       Woman, you’ve gone too far! You’re out of your senses! [14, p. 45].

       “He said he didn’t want to see you…’ Babbit reared over him. The attendant hastily changed to a coaxing. ‘You can come back and try to-morrow. Probably the poor guy is off his nut’[13, p. 46].

       She did one good thing – the dumb girl in that Russian play. But she can’t speak for nuts; you’re following the sense of her words all the time.

       He looked out the pub window at the sky-high mountain peaks that seem to be nudging Vancouver into the sea. ‘Sometimes I think I’ll go nuts, staring at those things’ [15, p. 91].

       Mental and physical handicaps cause the sense of pity, sometimes disgust. No wonder that there appeared a lot of phraseological euphemisms to name them.

       5.Euphemisms naming some acts or conditions from the sphere of physiology, e.g. “pay a call”, “a call of nature”, “ in the straw”, “in a (the) family way”, “in nature’s garb”, “not a stitch on”, “in a state of nature”, “in one’s skin”, etc.:

       The tall dark girl came to see Doctor Reefy because she was in the family way and had become frightened.

       Angelina. Your friend, the bald man, the one who calls for you, where is he?

       Philip. He is at the moment responding to a call of nature [4, p. 48].

       The little bay was so sheltered that we could bathe without a stitch to our backs.  (DEI).

       It is interesting to note that the polysemantic phraseological unit “not (without) a stitch to one’s back” is a phraseological euphemism in both meanings: 1. absolutely naked; 2. very poor. Physiological function, the condition of pregnancy and human nakedness are considered to be indecent or not worth speaking about in normal society according to moral principles existing in such a society.

       6.Euphemisms referring to the sexual sphere, e.g. “a lady of easy virtue”, “a light (easy) woman”, “a real battleaxe”, “a house of ill fame”, “make love” (in the second meaning):

       In my bedroom we would pass the hours making love or talking and only too often quarrelling.

       It is entirely populated by crooks, stock-exchange jugglers, corrupt policemen, and … ladies of easy virtue.

       Phraseological euphemisms belonging to one and the same phraseo-semantic group may further be subdivided into synonymic groups as there are different grammatical classes in one and the same group – verbal, substantive, adjectival, etc. Phraseological synonyms belong to the same grammatical class and are phraseological units which are the same in the plane of content but different in the plane of expression.

       The majority of linguists distinguish three types of phraseological synonyms: ideographic, stylistic and stylistic-ideographic. Ideographic synonyms differ in shades of meaning or have different notional components of meaning. Their archesemes coincide but they have one or more minor differential semes in the denotational component of meaning. Stylistic synonyms have the same notional components of meaning but differ in their stylistic reference. Stylistic-ideographic synonyms have some different notional and connotational components of meaning.

       There are also synonyms that coincide both in denotational and connotational components of phraseological meaning. Such synonyms are called equivalent (or equipollent) ones.

       We have analyzed the synonymic group of phraseological euphemisms with the meaning “to die”. This synonymic group is rather numerous as the concept of death finds its reflection in all languages and the attitude towards this “event” is similar. “All people are mortal” is a well-known expression, so speakers of different languages as representatives of different nations and nationalities try to conceal the unpleasant emotions and painful news. Phraseological units are based on different images, the majority of such images may be considered elevated, as in such units as “ go to a better world”, “go to glory”, “go to heaven”, “go to kingdom-come”, “go to one’s last (long) home”, etc. Others are based on some “common” images, e.g. “ take the ferry”, “be (go) up the flume” (in the second meaning), “to be no more”. Only a very limited number of phraseological euphemisms of this synonymic group “use” the images which can cause ironical or jocular attitude, e.g. “kick the bucket”, “to hop the twig” [6, p. 48].

       All phraseological units belonging to this group of phraseological synonyms denote one and the same action, that’s why their denotational components coincide. Differences may be observed either in emotional evaluation or stylistic reference of phraseological units.

       First of all we distinguish equivalent (equipollent) phraseological synonymic euphemisms which coincide in both components of their phraseological meaning (denotational and connotational). Coincidence in their connotational components means coincidence in their evaluation, emotiveness, expressivity and stylistic reference. Death is presented in them as something positive, going to the better world, to God. Such expressions are etymologically connected with belief in God, with the Bible or were borrowed from Latin, e.g. “go to one’s last (long) home” was used in the Bible, Ecclesiastes XII, 5. The origin of the phraseological euphemism “join the <great> majority” dates to the Latin expression “abiit ad plures”.

       Let’s present equivalent phraseological synonymic euphemisms: “join one’s ancestors”, “be gathered to one’s fathers”, “go beyond the veil”, “go the way of nature”, “go to a better world”, “go to glory”, “go to kingdom-come”, “go to one’s last (long) home”, “join the <great> majority”.

       It is interesting to note that there are no ideographic phraseological synonyms in this group of PEs. Such cases are very rare, in our group of synonyms it is caused by the fact that all phraseological synonyms have the same meaning “to die” without some additional shades of denotational meaning as it is observed in other groups of phraseological synonyms.

       The group of stylistic synonyms constitute the above mentioned PEs (belonging to the group of equivalent synonyms and being stylistically neutral), on the one hand, and such synonyms as “go west” (colloquial), or “go the way of all flesh” (bookish), on the other hand. They denote the same notion, coincide in their denotational component, are based on different images and belong to different stylistic layers [34, p. 154].

       The last group of phraseological synonyms – stylistic-ideographic, in our case is presented by phraseological euphemisms belonging to different stylistic layers and differentiating in emotional colouring as a subcomponent of connotation. It means that some phraseological units such as “kick the bucket”, “be (go) up the flume” (in the second meaning), “throw up the sponge” are characterized by a jocular or ironical emotiveness in comparison with other units of this synonymic group. Thus they differ in the emotive connotational subcomponent. Besides such units as “kick the bucket” (jargon), “be (go) up the flume” (American colloquial), “go west” (colloquial), “go hence”, “go beyond the veil”, etc. differs in their stylistic reference. So such phraseological euphemisms belong to the group of stylistic-ideographic synonyms.

       A very good way to see the difference between the three groups of phraseological synonyms is to see the behaviour of PEs belonging to different groups in context:

       ‘You think I’m going to join the majority.’ ‘…Well, put it that way if you like.’

       About one year after his wife’s death Mr.Pontifex also was gathered to his fathers.

       There is a very interesting illustration of several PEs belonging to this group used in one and the same context:

       ‘You see, one of the boys has gone up the flume –‘ ‘Gone where?’ ‘Up the flume – throwed up the sponge, you understand.’ ‘Thrown up the sponge?’ ‘Yes, kicked the bucket’ – ‘Ah! Has departed to that mysterious country from whose bourne no traveler returns.’ ‘Return! I reckon not. Why, pard, he’s dead.’ [16, p. 91].

       The analysis of phraseological synonymic euphemisms with the meaning “to die” has shown that the synonymic group consists of different groups of synonyms: equivalent, stylistic and stylistic-ideographic. They describe the same event with the help of different images on which the PEs are based. A rather large number of PEs of this group shows us the importance of phraseological euphemisms used to satisfy the need to soften such painful news as somebody’s death. 

 

3. STYLISTIC ASPECT OF EUPHEMISTIC MAPPING IN MODERN ENGLISH

 

       ^{3.1 Emotions caused by the process of euphemistic mapping}  

       Words like "emotional problems" are euphemisms. Nobody has emotional problems; there is no such thing as an emotional problem. Those words are strictly euphemistic. If you have followed the evolution of the language on the chuck bag (a euphemism) in airplanes, you know what a euphemism is. The study of such terminology is a study in euphemism. The language identifying the chuck bag originally said, "For Vomiting," and probably more people did because it said so than for any other reason. The language later was changed to read: "For Air Sickness/ but that wording still had powerful side effects. A later euphemism, still found on some planes, says: "For Motion Discomfort." The latest bags have either no wording at all or tic tac toe designs!

       The study of words like "emotional problem," "mental illness," etc., provides another more serious study in euphemism. Usually when one complains of emotional difficulties, there is nothing wrong with his emotions (i.e., there has been no neurological, glandular, or vascular impairment). When a depressed counselee says that he has an emotional problem, the counselor should tell him: "No you don't; your emotions are working very well. Look how depressed (anxious, etc.) you are. The problem is not that you have an emotional problem, as if your emotions have been disturbed or were immature (another euphemism), but that some other cause has triggered these unpleasant emotions. To get on top of your emotions, you must get to the bottom of the problem, and in many cases at the bottom of unpleasant emotions is sin."

       Christian counselors may not cuphemize when it comes to dealing with sin. His problem, for instance, is not "emotional immaturity" when a counselee is following a pattern of life other than God's. The counselee's behavior is wrong; there is nothing wrong with his emotions. His conscience, i.e., his ability to make judgments about his own behavior (accuse or excuse), may trigger all sorts of pleasant or unpleasant emotions it is true. Sinful behavior leads to unpleasant emotional experiences. But the way to get relief from these is not by attacking the emotions, but by changing (repenting of) the behavior. One may not repent merely for relief. He must repent because he has sinned against God. The problem is a behavioral problem, not an emotional problem.

       It is unfortunate that this misleading euphemism, "emotional problem," is so frequently used by Christians. It has gained wide acceptance and is used in several forms: emotional difficulties, emotional problems, emotional immaturity, and emotional sickness Obviously emotions do not mature. One of the worst combinations that I have seen occurred in a recent publication by a Christian who is a psychiatrist. He speaks of "damaged emotions."

       The source of one's problems, in the instances of nonorganic difficulties about which we have been speaking, then, is not an emotional impairment or malfunction but lies behind the unpleasant visceral (etc.) responses that the counselee wishes to expel. These emotions are organic bodily responses that are largely involuntary and are triggered by behavior, thoughts, and attitudes. The problem is not emotional but pre-emotional. The emotion is triggered by immediate conscious thought and/or action, or  unconscious habit patterns that automatically release emotional responses. The solution lies not in direct attacks upon the emotions (drugs, alcohol, frontal lobotomies, etc.), but in rooting out the cause of the emotional response. If there is specific behavior or thought that is directly associated with the undesirable emotion, then it may be dealt with concretely. If the emotional response resulted from a well-developed sinful response pattern no longer requiring conscious thought to set it in motion, then the solution lies in discovering the pattern and dehabituating the counselec through the sanctifying work of the Spirit by means of His Word. The pattern must be broken and replaced by a biblical one [34, p. 76].

       Since emotion plays such a significant role in counseling and since there is a considerable amount of confusion regarding it, it will be well to consider the language of emotion and action.

       3.2 Interaction of emotions and ethnic culture in euphemisms 

       As we found out earlier English language was formed more than two thousand years ago and has its own peculiarities. In fact, all kinds of English language writings are to a greater or lesser degree both informative and evaluative. English language seeks to influence public opinion on political and other "matters". Though almost all newspaper features (brief news items, advertisements and announcements, the headlines and the editorials) are stylistically neutral. But apart from this newspaper style has its specific vocabulary features aimed to prompt the necessary associations and prevent ambiguity and misunderstanding. The authors use emotionally colored vocabulary in the headlines to lure the reader into going trough the whole of the item or at least a greater part of it Editorials comment on the political and other events of the day. Their purpose is to give the editor's opinion and interpretation of the news published and suggests to the reader that it is the correct one. Like any evaluative writing, editorials appeal not only to the reader's mind but to his feelings as well. Here the use of emotionally colored language elements, both lexical and structural.

       While reading a newspaper a reader perceives some information and evaluates it from his own point of view. A newspaper article is aimed at the reader's mind and, being an important source of information, a newspaper article plays a big role in the formation of conceptual world view.

       Newspaper articles are the product of the written language and as it was above mentioned language participates in the formation of the world view behind the language and reflects and expresses other world views. So, we can speak about the connection and we observe a great influence of materials given in the newspaper article on the reader's world view formation, judgments and evaluations. Here we can speak about anthropocentric nature of newspaper style articles.

       These articles appeal to the feelings of the reader and call different emotions, negative and positive. Emotions come and appear after our intellectual evaluation of the thing as something possible, impossible, desirable, unexpected or expected. When we evaluate the events as positive, desirable, expected positive emotions appear (gladness, joy, hope), but when we evaluate the events as undesirable, unexpected we get negative emotions - sorrow, grief, indignation.

       Nobody will deny that newspapers provide us with both negative and positive information. After reading good news we feel good and bad news call only negative feelings. Reading an article we often can not withhold comments and it reveals the level of the material influence on the reader's mind. Our comments are the outer realization of our emotions. Emotions are universal and ascribed to all people regardless of their culture, language and educational level. But universal emotions are characterized by national peculiarities.

       The people of particular ethnic group have a peculiar perception, understanding of the objective world. They share the same values (wealth, job, family, success, etc.); but the most important values were formed in the process of own historical and cultural development. So, two ethnic groups will perceive the same thing differently.

       In our work we consider Russian and English folks and try to describe their perception of newspaper material, political matters in particular. We say that emotional coloring in newspaper articles is achieved with the help of various stylistic devices, especially euphemisms. And it is true that all of us, not just poets, speak in euphemisms, whether we realize it or not? Is it perhaps even true that we live by euphemisms? Euphemisms not only make our thoughts more vivid and interesting but that they actually structure our perceptions and understanding.

        Thinking of marriage as a "contract agreement," for example may lead to one set of expectations, while thinking of it as "team play," "a negotiated settlement," "Russian roulette," "an indissoluble merger," or "a religious sacrament" will carry different sets of expectations.

       When a government thinks of its enemies as "turkeys or "clowns" it does not take them as serious threats, but if they are "victims" in the hands of the communists, they are taken seriously [28, p. 49].

        

       3.3 Cognitive structure of source domain and target domain in the process of new euphemistic nomination 

       Euphemisms being a stylistic devise is often realized not through one euphemistic model but at least 2 or 3. Euphemisms may be dead (conventional) and alive bound together in this bunch. Euphemisms may be combined on the basis of linguistic and cognitive semantics. Lexical combinability allows the combinability of euphemisms on lexical and semantic levels. By cognitive level we mean combinability of cognitive structures, so to say the structures of knowledge. The types of combining different euphemistic models into one bunch can be explained through cognitive and semantic principles. Statistic data and conclusions have been made by Kacev and Zabotkina in 1981. The volume of data about 800 contexts which contained different types of political euphemisms has undergone the analysis. They think their conclusions have become obsolete. A new theoretical approach of describing the types of combinability of euphemistic models has been introduced by. Kacev and Zabotkina in 90s of the 20^th century. It's so called the cognitive model of an euphemistic formation [24, p. 79-82].