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Research Article | Volume 2 Issue 3 (May-Jun, 2020)
A Gender Based Study on the Use of Euphemistic Strategies Among Algerians
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Open Access
Abstract

Semantic changes as well as semantic innovation are the focus interest of many scholars nowadays. The choice of words in particular situations to soften the utterance, and avoid or limit embarrassment is generally referred to as euphemism. Thus, due to the complex linguistic, cultural and social situations in Algeria, this study investigates the use of euphemism amongst Algerian males and females. The population of the study consisted of 30 Algerian PhD students at the level of the University of Jordan (15 males/15females). The sample was presented with a discourse completion task to depict different types of euphemistic strategies in both formal and informal situations, and to test whether there are any similarities and differences between males and females. The finding of the study revealed the use of different strategies amongst both genders, where females clearly outnumbered their male counterparts as far as euphemistic strategies are concerned. Females used 8 different strategies namely: understatement, metaphor, implication, loan words and onomatopoeia. Male on the other side used limited euphemistic strategies, where implication, understatement and metaphor were the dominant strategies, mainly in formal situations. Furthermore, results of the study suggest that the choice of euphemistic strategies is deeply associated with the degree of formality, where both males and females manage to increase euphemistic strategies in formal situations compared to informal ones. To conclude, this gender-based study explains the semantic change as far as euphemism is concerned and offers clear insights on the preferences of each gender in using euphemistic strategies depending on the degree of formality.

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