Euphemism is a common language phenomenon used to replace
a direct, offensive, annoying, and prohibited word or expression
with a roundabout, inoffensive, pleasant, and acceptable one
so as to save both the speaker’s and hearer’s face or third party
from any loss.
Euphemism serves many functions; it may be used to soften the
taboos (sex, religion, death, disease, pregnancy, and excrement), to
deceive people (this is common in political situations), to show politeness,
humour, solidarity and respect. In Shakespeare's Measure
for Measure, these functions and many others are taken into account.
This study attempts to achieve the following aims: (i) finding a
model of pragmatic analysis of euphemism for Measure for Measure,
(ii) identifying what euphemistic expressions used in this play,
(iii) illustrating how context helps understand the euphemistic
expressions in the play, (iv) knowing the reason(s) behind characters'
infringement of Grice’s Cooperative Principle’s conversational
maxims and (v) showing how the subjects of Measure for Measure
such as sex, religion, death, disease, pregnancy, and excrement are
mirrored through the employment of euphemism. The following
hypotheses have been suggested:
(1) the interpretation of euphemism in Measure for Measure
greatly relies on context, (2) the characters of the play use euphemism
deliberately, (3) often euphemism serves more than one function
in one utterance and (4) the subjects of sex and pregnancy are
granted great interest in Measure for Measure than others (disease,
religion, death, excrement).
The conclusions of the research validate the above hypotheses |