Pragmatics in language change and lexical creativity
This essay examines language change and linguistic creativity as revealed by remodelling, especially as a source for euphemisms and euphemistic dysphemisms and as a function of verbal play. Within the scope of this essay, there are predominantly two ways in which novel terms and expressions are crea...
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| Published in: | SpringerPlus 2016-03, Vol.5 (1), p.342 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | This essay examines language change and linguistic creativity as revealed by remodelling, especially as a source for euphemisms and euphemistic dysphemisms and as a function of verbal play. Within the scope of this essay, there are predominantly two ways in which novel terms and expressions are created leading to language change: formally through remodelling and semantically through figurative language. Consider some of the words for
nakedness
. There is the orthophemistic term
nude
, from Latin
nudus
, often used of photographic or painted representations of naked women and, much more rarely, of a naked man—hence the marked term
male nude
. Whether
a nude
is artistic or pornographic depends on the viewer belief. A colloquial Australian euphemism for being
in the nude
is
in the nuddie
. Other euphemisms include
as nature intended, in one’s birthday suit, in the altogether
, and
in the buff
(⇐
buff
[
alo
]
leather, buff skin
transferred to humans). Being naked is captured by the dysphemism
bare
-
arsed
and the more euphemistic
butt / buck naked
in which
buck
⇐
butt
. The orthophemistic term
stark naked
and the connected colloquial euphemism
starkers
also arose by replacing a final /t/ with a /k/:
stark
⇐
start
“tail, arse”.
Nudists
like to go about in the open air without clothes on and, being
as nature intended
when in natural surroundings, are euphemistically called
naturists
. Such expressions display folk-culture in a remarkable inventiveness of metaphor and figurative language sourced in the perceived characteristics of whatever is being talked about. For instance, terms for tabooed objects and events provide ready-made material for the dysphemistic language of curses, insults, epithets, and expletives. The essay shows that X-phemisms (orthophemisms and/or euphemisms and/or dysphemisms) are motivated by a speaker/writer’s want to be seen to take a certain stance by upgrading, downgrading, obfuscating, and deceiving; and they extensively manifest indulgence in verbal play. Although the discussion focuses on English, the categories illustrated occur across the world’s languages, and many of them are significant for the study of language change. |
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| ISSN: | 2193-1801 2193-1801 |