• Original research article
  • March 1, 2018
  • Open access

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL EUPHEMISMS IN THE OLD ENGLISH AND MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIODS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the features of the fund of the English euphemistic units used in situations related to the action of prescriptions and the taboo of the English-speaking society in matters of human physiology and intimate life from the Old English period to the XVII century. The study establishes the focuses of the conceptual structure that simulates the semantics of the euphemistic units under investigation. Their productivity is analyzed. The author makes attempts to reveal the degree of the euphemistic potential of the studied lexemes.

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Author information

Irina Aleksandrovna Biryukova

Moscow State Linguistic University

About this article

Publication history

  • Published: March 1, 2018.

Keywords

  • эвфемизм
  • дисфемизм
  • гендер
  • концептуальные структуры
  • фокус номинации
  • диахронный аспект
  • древнеанглийский период
  • среднеанглийский период
  • euphemism
  • dysphemism
  • gender
  • conceptual structures
  • focus of nomination
  • diachronic aspect
  • the Old English period
  • the Middle English period

Copyright

© 2018 The Author(s)
© 2018 Gramota Publishing, LLC

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)