Содержание:

INTRODUCTION.. 5

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE STUDY OF
EUPHEMISMS  9

1.1 Euphemism and “Political Correctness” in Contemporary
English. 9

1.2 Categories and Classifications of Euphemism.. 22

Summary to the I chapter 30

CHAPTER II. THE PHENOMENON OF EUPHEMISM IN MASS MEDIA TEXT  32

2.1 Media text: its features and types. 32

2.2 The features of political discourse. 40

Results and discussion. 53

CHAPTER III. FEATURES OF EUPHEMISMS FUNCTIONING IN
POLITICAL DISCOURSE. 55

3.1 Practical Relevance of the Research Results in
Lexicology and Stylistics. 55

3.2 Practical Relevance of the Research Results in
Rhetoric. 60

3.3 Results and Recommendations. 64

Conclusion. 67

REFERENCES. 70

Введение:

In recent decades, the process of forming euphemisms
in English has been particularly intense. This is because in the modern world,
one of the most important factors that contributes to the formation and
consolidation of euphemisms in the language is their ability to be a powerful
means of forming new social standards.

The euphemism goes back to a language taboo in the
early period of human civilization. There are some forbidden things like birth,
death, burial, sex, nudity, defecation. If they are expressed directly, they
are called taboo words, and the feelings they evoke in us are vulgar, rude,
whereas if they are expressed indirectly, they are called euphemisms, and the
impressions they make on us are hidden and polite.

English speakers do not use the words "ugly"
or "terrible", which have a strong pejorative meaning. Instead, they
use the word "homely" or "inconspicuous". When people try
to avoid and reject forbidden words, they must find another word to replace
this lacuna at the same time.

Euphemisms permeate all spheres of human activity, and
due to its functional features are becoming more common in the language of
politics. In the modern world, political discourse is one of the most important
areas of communication. A politician as a language person functioning in this
sphere must master his language, since speech is a tool for a politician’s
professional activity. They should be able to correctly build their speech in
terms of the set goals, speech strategies and tactics, the communicative
situation, and the chosen language tools. Therefore, a politician must clearly
think through and understand what, when, how and for what purpose he is
speaking.

Today, effective political communication increasingly
involves camouflaging objective reality, softening and sometimes replacing
certain concepts and terms, and "masking" existing problems.
Therefore, in the speeches of modern politicians, there is a clear tendency to
use such means that allow you to disguise the negative aspects of reality phenomena,
the consequences of unsightly political and economic measures and, thus, to
exercise an implicit influence on the mass addressee. This means political
euphemisms, which in this study are understood as means of implementing a
language strategy to avoid direct nomination for anything that may cause a
negative assessment or offend the feelings of the addressee of political
communication.

Numerous studies have been devoted to the problem of
euphemisms in Europe, monographs and dictionaries of euphemisms have been published
in England and the United States. Linguists studied the sociolinguistic and
linguistic parameters of euphemisms (A. Katsev, N. Berdova; S. Luchtenberg; O.
Tyurina; L. Artyushkina), their functional features (L. Turganbayeva), the
connection between Euphemisms and political correctness (O. Toroptseva, V.
Mayba), pragmalinguistic aspect of Euphemisms (N. Linevich; M. McGlone, J.
Batchelor). However, despite the development of the problem of Euphemisms in
the lexical aspect, it should be noted that the phenomenon of political
Euphemisms is insufficiently studied in the discursive plan.

The research of Russian and foreign scientists who
study the features of euphemisms in political discourse is of significant
importance for this work. Such scientists as E. P. Senichkina, B. A. Larin, V.
P. Moskvin, L. P. Krysin, A. S. Kurkiev, A. Yu. Mironina, I. V. Belyaeva, R. W.
Holder, J. Ayto, H. Rawson, J. Lawrence and many others devoted their works to
the study of euphemisms.

The relevance of the topic is due to the need to study the
practical application of political euphemisms by representatives of
English-speaking countries in connection with the increasing role of political
communication, as well as the lack of a clearly systematized list of euphemisms
inherent in political discourse and lexical and semantic analysis of the most
commonly used political substitutes. The euphemistic vocabulary used in this
type of discourse has its own peculiarities: in contrast to the language of
usual and, politically dominated by occasional text and contextual euphemisms
of particular interest in terms of its function.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the features of the
Euphemisms using in political discourse, in particular, in English.

According to the aim of research the following tasks
have been determined:

1. to give the characteristic on euphemism and
“political correctness” in contemporary English;

2. to study the possible types of euphemisms;

3. to consider Media text: its features and types;

4. to identify the features of political discourse;

5. to reveal the stylistic potential of Euphemisms in
political Communication;

6. to summarize the results of the study.

Thus, the object
of this research is euphemisms that are actively functioning in the political
discourse.

The subject of the research is the study of the features of the functioning and
use of euphemistic units in the modern political discourse of American and British media.

The actual material for the research is news articles from such
English-language media as BBC News, CBS News, Daily Progress, London Evening
News, Firstnews, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, The Washington Post
for 2012-2018.

The research methods are the analysis of the literature on the problem
under study, the analysis of dictionary definitions, the method of continuous
sampling and the method of contextual analysis.

The scientific novelty of the work is that it undertakes a comparative study
of English euphemisms in political discourse in terms of how they are used. This
research contributes to the development of the theory of stylistics and
linguistics in General, and to the development of methods for analyzing
euphemisms in political discourse.

The theoretical significance of the research lies in a deeper
understanding of the euphemisms using in political discourse in the
English-language media. The materials of the course work can be used in
theoretical research on the problems of general and particular theory of
linguistics.

The practical value of the work lies in the fact that the data obtained
as a result of the research can be used to solve applied problems in
linguistics and stylistics.

The course work consists of an introduction, two main
chapters, a conclusion, and a list of references. The introduction presents the
characteristics of the main parameters of the study: on the topic of the study,
the relevance of the problem is formulated, the object, subject and methods of
research are defined, its purpose and tasks defined by it are indicated.

In the first chapter of the course work, a theoretical
basis of the research is created: the first paragraph provides an overview of
the literature reflecting current trends in the study of euphemisms; the next
paragraph describes their main types.

The second chapter provides a detailed description of
the features of political discourse.

The third chapter examines euphemistic constructions
used in English-language political discourses.

In conclusion are the main results of the study
summarized.

The work ends with a bibliographic section that
includes a list of special literature used.

Заключение:

Summing up the consideration of euphemisms in our work, we note that in
modern conditions, the English language has received rapid spread and
development, and, consequently, has undergone significant changes in the
lexical system. The euphemism goes back to a language taboo in the early period
of human civilization. When people try to avoid and reject forbidden words,
they must find another word to replace this lacuna at the same time.

Euphemisms are used to "soften" language or speech and to
avoid unpleasant and undesirable words, as well as to help native speakers be
more polite and tactful. Language euphemization comes from the opposite
phenomenon, taboo. The concept of "taboo" is interpreted broadly, it
is equivalent and synonymous with the concept of "prohibition". It is
clear that the presence of forbidden words leads to the appearance in the
language of a number of permitted substitutions, which are called euphemisms.

Lexical and semantic categories (LSR) of euphemisms in English and
Russian can be represented as follows:

— words,  which express such taboo
topics as prostitution and sex: affair in the meaning of sexual relationship;
girlie magazine, glamour mag-sexuality titillating magazine;

— words, which express the theme of death and medicine, which are used
for emotional reinforcement: by Gum, by George, beyond the veil, Elysium,  death (after life);

— words taboo of religion: "disaster" in religious circles is
called act of God, "hell" — Hades, hot place, Jesse etc.;

— euphemic units related to the taboo topics of drug addiction and
alcoholism: confused, elevated, far gone, feeling no pain (drunk), chemical
health services (a program to help people end their addiction to drugs);

— euphemisms, that relate to the topic of morality, poverty, and social
inequality: hooky in the meaning of mad, flexible (loose), fool, fudge (a very
mild replacement for "fuck"), gadzooks ("My God»);

— words related to politics, fraud, and murder: pacification in the
meaning of killing, atomic device-atomic bomb, deterrent capability – nuclear
weapons, delinquent (young criminal), to detain someone (to arrest), detainee
(prisoner).

Consequently, the use of euphemisms as a tool of political correctness
has a positive effect on the communication process, eliminates possible
conflicts in society, demonstrates politeness and the desire for mutual
understanding, and provides a positive emotional characteristic of words during
communication.

As for the
linguistic features of political discourse, from the point of view of
genre-stylistic categorization, political discourse is correlated by different
researchers with different styles of speech. "Each element of the language
is a very complex and sensitive tool that the user of the language uses.

The use of
euphemisms in media texts helps to neutralize social tension when discussing
certain hot topics. The mass media appeal to the general population,
influencing and shaping to a certain extent the attitude of society to the
facts of reality, so the authors of newspaper and magazine publications often
try to avoid words that are direct nominations of phenomena that cause negative
emotions in a person.

Speaking about
the lexical means of British political discourse, it is advisable to mention
the so-called discursive markers, i.e. special words that mark its structure,
the speaker’s mental processes, control over the addressee’s mental processes,
etc. In particular, such markers are repetitions, the use of synonyms,
antonyms, hyperonyms, neologisms, the juxtaposition of words with a similar
word-forming structure, comparison (best health care, best schools, the highest
position), generalization, metaphorical turns (the burden of leadership in our
country), etc.

Thus,
euphemisms are the most acceptable ways to overcome communication conflicts.
Society strives to avoid awkward, uncomfortable situations. Also, the use of
euphemisms in mass media texts is explained by the increased attention of
society to ways of influencing public consciousness. The
appearance of a large number of euphemisms indicates a change in social
guidelines in this area of human life. On the one hand, they reflect the
changes in public consciousness that have already taken place, and on the other
hand, they themselves contribute to the dissemination and consolidation of new
ideas in society.

Фрагмент текста работы:

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE STUDY
OF EUPHEMISMS

1.1 Euphemism and “Political Correctness” in Contemporary English

In the modern conditions of development of a
multi-ethnic and multicultural society, there is a huge number of military
conflicts, as well as conflicts based on interethnic and gender contradictions.
This is why people need regulators of social and interpersonal relationships,
among which political correctness (PC) plays an important role. The phenomenon
of political correctness, being an integral part of any linguistic culture, is
a tool that helps to avoid social aggravations and conflicts in society.

The idea of political correctness (PC) has developed
significantly over the past 30 years in the United States, gradually spreading
to other countries not only as a linguistic phenomenon, but also as a
phenomenon of cultural and social life.

Here are well known examples of the changes that the
trend towards political correctness has made to "racist" words and
phrases: Negro, colored, black, African American, Afro-American; Red Indians,
Native Americans (indigenous people).

For the first time, the concept of "linguistic
political correctness" was introduced in the works of Sepir-Whorf, which
involves the selection of certain words and verbal constructions for certain
behavior of people. This allowed us to introduce special norms of speech
etiquette in order to create a unified communication field and program tolerant
language behavior of all participants in communication.

The Sepir-Whorf hypothesis formed the basis of the
doctrine of political correctness, which suggests the use of neutral or simply
emotionally-positive substitutes-euphemisms, avoiding offensive and taboo
expressions that offend the feelings and dignity of the individual: "full"
instead of " fat"; "hard of hearing" instead of
"deaf"; "sightless" instead of "blind",
"untruth" instead of “lies".

In the 70s of twentieth century, a general term Latin
Americans was used for Latin Americans — Hispanics (from the adjective
Hispanic-Spanish, Latin). However, many people avoid using this word because
Hispanics evokes associations with low-income people who are poorly assimilated
in the new lifestyle. Latino/Latina, Chicano/Chicana, Spanish American are
offered instead of Hispanics.

The protests are caused by the politically incorrect
adjective «Oriental» for people from Asia because it is supposedly imposed on
Asian people by Europeans. «Oriental» is replaced with a more neutral «Asian».
Africans and Asians can be called such a politically correct term as
«Non-whites».

The word «Jew» has recently acquired a dismissive
meaning because it is often used in the phrases «dirty jew», «jew boy», «jew
store» and the verb forms «to jew, to jew down» therefore today it is replaced
in speech with the correct variant «Jewish person».

In this way, language changes occurring in the English
language and directed against racial and ethnic prejudices imply a revision of
some names of certain peoples and ethnic groups (ethnonyms) which are perceived
as offensive and derogatory for some reason.

The term "political correctness" was first
coined in 1975 by Karen de Сrow, President of the American National
organization for women’s rights, the President of the American national
organization for women’s rights, in the context of women’s struggle for their
rights in the United States. "Political correctness" was understood
as the construction of speech behavior in such a way as to avoid discrimination
against a certain group of the population [68, P.52].

According to the definition of S. G. Ter — Minasov,
political correctness of language implies new ways of language expression instead
of those that can hurt the feelings and dignity of the individual, infringe on
human rights by habitual language tactlessness and straightforwardness in
relation to race and gender, age, health status, social status, appearance,
etc. [43, C.490].

The English expression political correctness implies
not so much the observance of political ethics as the observance of language
tact. This term implies not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also "a
whole complex of phenomena of a political worldview: this is the point vision,
way of thinking; this is a position, a certain attitude, a lifestyle» [43, c.
215].