3. Euphemism and cooperation in discourse

Abrantes, Ana Margarida

doi:10.1075/dapsac.12.05abr

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Euphemism helps to strike a balance between being offensive and accurate (Abrantes, 2005) while dysphemism is the deliberate or incautious use of pejorative words instead of mitigated ones. However, there may be a concealing intention embedded in them because there are times that the interaction between the speaker and the listener is not unbiased.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In brief, to sustain a healthy communication between interlocutors, a common code should be created between the book reviewer and the reader because the discursive collaboration may be distorted easily if the content is not conveyed through accurate way of expression (Abrantes, 2005). The selection of a word or phrase is a result of elaborative cognitive processes rather than spontaneous acts, and the true selection of a word in situations where words have ultimate power on readers as in book reviews is a must to prevent unsymmetrical domination of the reviewer on readers (Abrantes, 2005). It should be kept in mind that sustainability of education can only be developed through neutrality because a biased evaluation will not survive long.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Need for a Sustainable and Balanced Critical Approach in Book Reviews

Demir

2019

Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education

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Book reviews are important in offering guidance to prospective readers. What is expected from them is to be not only informative and evaluative but also unbiased and balanced. Therefore, the use of correct discourse is necessary to prevent asymmetrical domination of the reviewer, and to create a healthy setting to sustain credibility of book reviews in terms of prospective readers. In that sense, this study investigated two discourse devices, namely euphemism and dysphemism. Euphemism can be defined as polite and agreeable words or expressions that are used in place of harsh or offensive ones; however this research investigated if these expressions might lead to undue praise for a book. On the other hand dysphemism is a kind of language that uses disparaging and derogatory terms instead of complimentary or neutral ones. Reviewers may consciously or unconsciously use these linguistic devices in their critiques of books, however; the balance between them is of great importance because any unbalanced negative or positive critical act may bring about unfair judgements in would-be readers regarding the quality of the mentioned book. The present study investigated a hundred book reviews and picked up euphemistic and dysphemistic expressions. The result is of importance in helping the book reviewers to choose the true word of expression without being unnecessarily soft or offensive. Any possible biases against a book because of book reviewers’ inattentive word selection may be prevented in view of the present study. Finally, this study is important for instructors of academic writing to increase their awareness for the importance of discourse devices in book reviews, which is necessary for sustainable development of education; in other words, instructors of academic writing at universities may rearrange their instruction curriculums through saving a slot for euphemism and dysphemism for prospective students.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Need for a Sustainable and Balanced Critical Approach in Book Reviews

Demir

2019

Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education

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An Investigation into the Genre Features of Funeral Announcements: People's View in Social Communications in Focus

Jalilifar

Varnaseri

Saidian

et al. 2014

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences

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Effects of gender and degree of formality on the use of euphemistic strategies in Iraqi Arabic

Mohammed Dawood,

Alghazo,

Jarrah

2023

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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Although euphemism has been studied in many Arabic dialects, it has not yet received due attention in Iraqi Arabic (IA). This study investigates the use of euphemistic strategies by IA speakers and the effect of gender and degree of formality on the use of these strategies. In order to achieve these objectives, a discourse completion test (DCT) was developed and distributed to 160 (80 males and 80 females) Iraqi university students. The data were analysed quantitively and qualitatively using strategies adopted from a number of previous frameworks. The findings show that the participants used a variety of euphemistic strategies, with the deletion strategy being the most frequently used when talking about the topic of death, the fuzzy words strategy for the topic of mental illness, and the implication strategy for the topic of obesity. The analysis also revealed that the degree of formality plays a key role in the use of euphemistic strategies in the topic of mental illness and that gender plays an effective role in the use of euphemistic strategies in all three topics.

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3. Euphemism and cooperation in discourse

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

The Need for a Sustainable and Balanced Critical Approach in Book Reviews

The Need for a Sustainable and Balanced Critical Approach in Book Reviews

An Investigation into the Genre Features of Funeral Announcements: People's View in Social Communications in Focus

Effects of gender and degree of formality on the use of euphemistic strategies in Iraqi Arabic

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