A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF EUPHEMISM IN SHAKESPEARE'S Measure For Measure

Abstract

Euphemism is a common language phenomenon used to replacea direct, offensive, annoying, and prohibited word or expressionwith a roundabout, inoffensive, pleasant, and acceptable oneso as to save both the speaker’s and hearer’s face or third partyfrom any loss.Euphemism serves many functions; it may be used to soften thetaboos (sex, religion, death, disease, pregnancy, and excrement), todeceive people (this is common in political situations), to show politeness,humour, solidarity and respect. In Shakespeare's Measurefor Measure, these functions and many others are taken into account.This study attempts to achieve the following aims: (i) finding amodel 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 euphemisticexpressions in the play, (iv) knowing the reason(s) behind characters'infringement of Grice’s Cooperative Principle’s conversationalmaxims and (v) showing how the subjects of Measure for Measuresuch as sex, religion, death, disease, pregnancy, and excrement aremirrored through the employment of euphemism. The followinghypotheses have been suggested:(1) the interpretation of euphemism in Measure for Measuregreatly relies on context, (2) the characters of the play use euphemismdeliberately, (3) often euphemism serves more than one functionin one utterance and (4) the subjects of sex and pregnancy aregranted great interest in Measure for Measure than others (disease,religion, death, excrement).The conclusions of the research validate the above hypotheses