F**K STUDYING (swearing and taboo language)

Particularization/Metonym

A general term is used to replace a more specific dysphemism Ex. it/thing

Semantic degeneration

A word takes on more negative meaning over time Ex. Wretch—> vile, despicible person Especially common for terms for women, even gender neutral terms now only refer to women

Word adaptation

An existing word (often one that sounds similar) is used in place of the dysphemism Ex. Sugar, forget you

Faunality

Animal words Ex. bitch, pussy, cock

Ryming Slang

Bottle--> Bottle and Glass--> Ass

Mortology

Death and disease words Ex. cancer, die

Slurs

Derogatory epithets or insulting names usually of minorities (racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, ability) Ex. fag, n-word, cripple

18th and 19th century

Holy- declining the role of religion in society Shit- civility through language is used to maintain blurring class distinctions

Emphatic (strategic)

I f*cking hate work; used like really or very

Semantic weakening

Informative/denotative meaning becomes vague or even non-existent Ex. A lousy juggler can deceive thee (lice)

Throchaic foot

a pair of syllables where the first is stressed and the second is unstressed infix becomes before a foot, not between

Homophones

a word that is spelled or sounds the same but is not related in meaning Ex. dam vs. damn

Taboo tainting

bad drives out good taboo words can 'taint' neutral words if they are too close in pronunciation change words over time when they get a new meaning Ex. coney (sounds like c*nt) --> bunny

Dysphemism

bad talk; usually impolite, offensive, dispreferred words Ex. F**k

Informative function

closely related to denotative meaning has basic semantic content (dictionary), used in propositional speech (almost) all taboo words have nontaboo/neutral counterpart with the same informative meaning

Connotative meaning

figurative meaning subjective murkey comes most readily to mind for taboo words

Taboo

forbidden or prohibited in certain social situations

Formal innovations

form of the words is similar

Moprphology

formation of words

Maledictives

general insults against others Ex. get bent

Euphemism

good talk; more colloquial, figurative/indirect Ex. Aunt Flow

Sound symbolism

idea that there can be non-arbitrary relationship between sound and meaning -high/front vowels (higher frequency) associated with small things -back/low vowels (lower frequencies) associated with large things

Social

indicates the nature fo the social relationship (politeness) especially plays a role in strategic swearing, we often choose to swear or not for social reasons (to fit in or stand out) tabooness is a social aspect of meaning

Propositional

informative, strategic; contributes to the meaning, truth value of sentence (3 types)

Pragmatically Euphemistic

inoffensive, positive Ex. I love that little shit

Expletive infixation

inserted for emphasis (or a euphemism) can only work in some parts of a word -can't split a syllable, must go between syllables -must come before a stressed syllable, may be primary or secondary

Defective speech act

lack one or more of these three functions

Taboo language

linguistic expressions that are forbidden

Denotative meaning

literal meaning objective clear comes most readily to mind for non-taboo words

False oath-making

lying under oath, very taboo

Semantic innovations

meaning of the word is similar

Semantics

meaning of words

Mention qua quotation

mentions words spoken at another time Ex. Next time he does that you should tell him, "F*ck off"

Mention qua meaning

meta mention of word's meaning; helps determine if a word is taboo Ex. Bazdmeg eztakurvakutyátis Hungarian for 'f*ck this f*cking dog'

Descriptive rules

natural, known intuitively, make no value judgements what linguists work with (dictionary)

Sincere Oath-making

not taboo, swearing to the legal system with God as the judge

Vain oath-making

oaths made casually, habitually, or without conviction, very taboo, used emotively not propositionally later involved God's body parts Ex. wounds, blood, hooks --> believed to tear his body apart

Pragmatically Disphemistic

offensive, impolite, negative Ex. violent metaphors for sex (bang nail)

Oath-making

original 'swearing' usually to god or court

Why we speak euphemistically?

politeness, saving face, personal reasons, censorship, avoid swearing around children

Mutation

replace one or more sounds of dysphemism making a nonsense word Ex. Dang, friggin

Mental grammar

rules of grammar component of linguistic competence

Syntax

sentence structure

Name-calling

slurs used in 2nd person to someone's face Ex. slut, retard

Pejorative

slurs used in 3rd person Ex. labeling groups, behind their backs

Phonetics/Phonology

sounds

Orthophemism

straight talk; more formal, direct/literal Ex. Vagina

Mention qua word

talking about words; use italics or quotation marks with taboo words mentioned Ex. f*ck is not something you should say to an instructor

Arbitrariness

the relationship between the form of a sign (signifier) and its meaning (signified) is arbitrary

Cursing

to wish or call harm to happen to another often invoking a higher power

Prescriptive rules

unnatural and arbitrary, often reflect value judgements things that you can't do Ex. ain't, double negatives

Invective

used to insult or diminish somebody or something; words as weapons (3 types)

Emotive

used to release/express emotion, communicate the strength of our emotions (2 types)

Use

uttering a word with typical linguistic purpose

Euphemism Treadmill

when a euphemism becomes too associated with its taboo denotatum (becoming taboo itself) and gets replaced Ex. toilet --> ladies room

Polysemy

when a word has different meanings that are (usually historically) related to each other Ex. prick-->poke-->penis

Mental lexicon

word component of linguistic competence

Denotative swearing

words are used with their literal meaning

Exclamation (automatic)

What the f*uck?!; positive or negative

Metaphor

When an expression is used to refer to a dysphemism due to perceived similarity between them Ex. sausage, snake

Fauxphemism

When innocent constructions are assembled (accidentally or intentially) in such a way to bring dysphemisms to mind Ex. shakespeare, advertising

Scatology

Words for body effluvia or things we excrete Ex. shit, piss, cum

Obscenity

Words for sex and sex organs Ex. tits, dick, ass

Renaissance

(Holy) Protestantism and capitalism are on the rise (Shit) Changing architecture allows greater privacy

Emotive intensifying

Words take on more emotional meaning

Clipping/Omission

Omit one or more sounds/words of dysphemism Ex. Geez!

Types of Swearing

Propositional, Emotive, Invective

Loanword

Replace a dysphemism with a word from another language Ex. Merde

Linguistic competence

Rules that you unconsciously utilize to make words/meaning

Ryming

Rymes can serve as the main force behind choices for word adaptation Ex. witch and bitch

Abbreviations

Saying the initial letters of the words in a taboo expression Ex. WTF

Profanity

Secular use of religious words Ex. God, hell, damn, Jesus Christ

Types of X-phemisms

Semantic: Identify a word according to its meaning Pragmatic: Identify a word depending on its context

Modern age

Soldiers brought words they used home The rise of slurs- colonialism and war led to a mixing of people on grand scale which led to an increased nationalism and the rise of racial and ethnic slurs

Implications

Suggest an if/then statement (the dysphemism may either be the if or then) Ex. they slept together

Appellity

Taboo names Ex. Dick, Johnson, Nancy

Middle ages (the 'Holy' vs. the 'Shit')

The Holy was not taboo unless it called into question Gods ominance The Shit was not taboo because there was less privacy, public urination, sex and nudity was common Place and personal names also werent taboo

Circumlocutions

The concept is expressed in a roundabout way Ex. they engaged in sexual intercourse

Acronyms

The initial letters of the words in a taboo phrase are used to create a new pronouncable word Ex. DAB

Linguistic performance

The physical act of making speech, observable realization of one's linguistic competence as revealed in one's speech

Emotional

words bleached of their informative meaning (through semantic weakening and emotive intensifying) used connotatively to express emotion can be positive or negative emotions exclamations are a subtype of response cry (utterance made in response to an emotional trigger)