Modern English is known to be a language made up of mainly two different roots: the Germanic
language that was spoken by many inhabitants of the British Isles before the Norman
Conquest in 1066, and the Romanic language that the Norman invaders brought with them.
These two origins, however, are not distributed equally on the English vocabulary: very generally
speaking, Germanic words more often denote basic concepts, while Romanic words
more often denote abstract concepts. This is illustrated by the fact that the General Service
List (GSL), listing the 2000 most frequent (and therefore most basic) English words, is
made up by 50.98 percent of words of Germanic origin, whereas in the Computer Dictionary
(CD)1, which consists of 80 096 words, only 26.28 percent of the entries have Germanic
roots, but a majority of 58.52 percent have Latin or Romanic ones (Scheler 1978: 72).
Therefore it seems quite obvious that swear-words in particular should, to a higher
percentage, have Germanic roots, because the concepts they denote are mostly ‘basic’,
the domain in which Germanic words are represented to a greater extent than Latin or
Romanic words.
Moreover, bearing in mind that words of Latin or Romanic origin are more likely to
denote abstract concepts and that they often seem to have a certain taste of ‘culture’ and
‘good education’, one could suppose that there is a higher percentage of Latin or Romanic
words among euphemisms.
These considerations led to the following hypothesis:
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Hypothesis
- 3. Methods
- 4. Results
- 5. Discussion / Conclusion
- 6. Literature
- 7. Appendix
Objectives and Key Themes
The objective of this work is to investigate the etymological origins of swear words and euphemisms in the English language, comparing them to the overall distribution of Germanic and Romanic words in the English lexicon. The study aims to determine whether the hypothesized correlation between word origin and semantic field holds true for these specific categories.
- Etymological origins of swear words and euphemisms in English.
- Comparison of word origins in swear words, euphemisms, and general vocabulary.
- Distribution of Germanic and Romanic words in different semantic fields.
- The limitations of available resources for studying swear words.
- Methodological considerations in analyzing word origins in multi-word expressions.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the central research question: whether swear words in English have a higher percentage of Germanic roots than euphemisms, which are hypothesized to have a higher percentage of Latin/Romance roots. This is based on the observation that Germanic words often denote basic concepts, while Latin/Romance words often denote more abstract concepts. The chapter sets the stage for the investigation by highlighting the existing disparity in the distribution of Germanic and Romanic words across different corpora, such as the General Service List (GSL) and the Computer Dictionary (CD).
2. Hypothesis: This chapter explicitly states the central hypothesis of the study: The proportion of words of Germanic origin is higher among swear words than among euphemisms, while the proportion of words of Latin/Romanic origin is higher among euphemisms than among swear words. It further predicts that compared to innocuous words from the general vocabulary, swear words will contain a greater proportion of Germanic words, and euphemisms a greater proportion of Latin/Romanic words.
3. Methods: This chapter details the methodology employed in the study. Two corpora, one for euphemisms and one for swear words, were created. The euphemism corpus was drawn from the Dictionary of Euphemisms (Holder 1995), sampling one entry every four pages. The swear word corpus, due to a lack of a comprehensive dictionary, was compiled from three books on swearing, resulting in a smaller corpus of 55 tokens. The chapter addresses the limitations of the swear word corpus, noting the relatively small number of unique swear words compared to the abundance of euphemisms. The methodology for determining word origins, using the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and established etymological categories, is meticulously explained. The chapter also elucidates the method for handling multi-word expressions, including detailed rules for dealing with pronouns, prepositions, determiners, and expressions with components of different origins.
4. Results: This chapter presents the findings of the etymological analysis of the corpora. It uses diagrams to visually represent the distribution of Germanic, Latin/Roman, other, and unknown origins within the euphemism and swear word corpora, and compares them to the distributions found in the CD and GSL. The quantitative results are presented, showing the percentage breakdown of word origins for each corpus.
Keywords
Swear words, euphemisms, etymology, Germanic, Latin/Romanic, English vocabulary, corpus linguistics, semantic fields, taboo words, multi-word expressions.
Frequently Asked Questions: A Comprehensive Language Preview
What is the main research question addressed in this study?
The central research question investigates whether swear words in English have a higher percentage of Germanic roots than euphemisms, which are hypothesized to have a higher percentage of Latin/Romance roots. This is based on the observation that Germanic words often denote basic concepts, while Latin/Romance words often denote more abstract concepts.
What is the central hypothesis of the study?
The study hypothesizes that swear words will contain a greater proportion of Germanic words than euphemisms, while euphemisms will contain a greater proportion of Latin/Romanic words compared to swear words. Furthermore, it predicts that compared to general vocabulary, swear words will show a higher proportion of Germanic words, and euphemisms a higher proportion of Latin/Romanic words.
What methodology was used in this study?
Two corpora were created: one for euphemisms, drawn from the Dictionary of Euphemisms (Holder 1995), and one for swear words, compiled from three books on swearing (resulting in a smaller corpus). The methodology for determining word origins involved using the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and established etymological categories. The chapter addresses the limitations of the swear word corpus size and details the methods for handling multi-word expressions, including rules for dealing with pronouns, prepositions, determiners, and expressions with components of different origins.
What are the key findings of the study (results)?
The results chapter presents the findings of the etymological analysis of both corpora, visually represented through diagrams showing the distribution of Germanic, Latin/Roman, other, and unknown origins. Quantitative results, showing the percentage breakdown of word origins for each corpus, are also included and compared to distributions found in the Computer Dictionary (CD) and General Service List (GSL).
What are the key themes explored in this study?
Key themes include the etymological origins of swear words and euphemisms in English; a comparison of word origins across swear words, euphemisms, and general vocabulary; the distribution of Germanic and Romanic words in different semantic fields; limitations of available resources for studying swear words; and methodological considerations in analyzing word origins in multi-word expressions.
What are the objectives of this study?
The objective is to investigate the etymological origins of swear words and euphemisms in English, comparing them to the overall distribution of Germanic and Romanic words in the English lexicon. The study aims to determine whether the hypothesized correlation between word origin and semantic field holds true for these specific categories.
What keywords are associated with this study?
Keywords include: Swear words, euphemisms, etymology, Germanic, Latin/Romanic, English vocabulary, corpus linguistics, semantic fields, taboo words, and multi-word expressions.
What is included in the Table of Contents?
The Table of Contents includes: Introduction, Hypothesis, Methods, Results, Discussion/Conclusion, Literature, and Appendix.
- Quote paper
- Judith Huber (Author), 2004, The Origins of Euphemisms and Swear Words in the English Language, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/24862
