Euphemisms as the Deceiving Politeness from the Perspectives
of Translation and Culture
A.
Introduction
Euphemism is one of the language style
that being attention for many authors in the world. The aim is to replace the
unpleasant expressions. Euphemism is often interpreted as an expression which
is not straightforward. In other words, euphemism used to replace the harsh
words to be more polite.
Euphemisms or Pseudo euphemisms is also
means a boost motive that behind the development of peroration. If there is no
euphemism, it is more likely a depression meaning and a humiliation meaning. However,
it can obscure the original meaning which is no longer represented by the form
or concept in replacing the words and of course it will give an effect to the
society as the language users.[1]
There are many problems in which
euphemisms can conduct big mistake. One of those problems is the politeness
that is deceiving, where the amateur ones still misunderstood. For example, the
word, busung lapar, can be interpreted to, kekurangan gizi. Of course, there is a
part of euphemism that is not captured appropriately by the reader or listener.
To be polite, people have a tendency to veil concepts that are delicate or
offensive. Communicators use euphemisms in their utterances, spoken or written,
to cover up or soften the unpleasant connotations and denotations of some words
or expressions.
In principle, encoding and interpreting
of these indirect expressions are specific in every culture and language.
Consequently, it should be noted that culture would affect the way people
accept the restrictions and place them on the translation process in order to
use euphemisms instead of directly expressing something unpleasant.
B.
Euphemism
1.
Definition
of Euphemism
The word euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemos, meaning “auspicious/good/fortunate speech/kind” which in
turn is derived from the Greek root-words eu
“good/well” and pheme
“speech/speaking”. The eupheme was
originally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that
should not be spoken aloud; etymologically, the eupheme is the opposite of the blaspheme
(evil-speaking). From the word’s root of euphemism we can conclude that
euphemism is speak in a good way.
Concise
Oxford Dictionary as quoted by Enright
explains that euphemism is a substitution of mild, vague or indirect expression
for rude or direct one[2],
Keith Allan & Kate Buridge mention that:
A euphemism is
used as an alternative to dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible
loss face: either one’s face or through giving offense, that of the audience or
of some third party.[3]
The statement above give a comprehension
to us that people use the euphemism term is an alternative expression to avoid
mentions the taboo word that will make the listener loss his face. It is done
absolutely to keep the relationship between speaker and listener.
The purposes of euphemism are to present
words of good omen, to avoid unlucky words with metaphysical harm may befall
either speaker or hearer, and to prevent hearer from losing face offending his
sensibilities. Besides that it may also substitute a description of something
or someone to avoid revealing secret, holy, or sacred names to the uninitiated,
or to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation from potential
eavesdroppers. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse.
For example, euphemism words to citied freedom fighter for “terrorist”, firm for “pig-headed”, life insurance replacing “insurance when
you are dead”, toddler for “idiot”.
In short, euphemism is an alternative to unpleasant expression, and is used in
order to avoid possible loss of face.
2.
Types
of Euphemism
According
to Allan and Buridge, they are mentioned that many euphemisms are figurative
can be formed through several ways, such as:
a. Metaphor
used as means of comparing things that are essentially unlike, in metaphor the
comparison is implied-that is, the figurative term is substituted for or
identified with the literal term, for example: miraculous pitcher for “vagina”.
b. Rhyming
slang is a way of talking in which to use
words or phrases that rhyme with the word you mean, instead of using that word,
for example: jimmy-riddle for “piss”.
c. Remodeling
is the way of replacing part of the word like sugar, shoot, and shucks for “shit”.
d. Circumlocution
is a roundabout way of thinking (often includes in metaphor or metonymy). It is
common in the form of listen (compound or idiom) like little girl’s room for
“toilet”.
e. Clippings
is the euphemisms starting off with a modifying then the modifier is dropped as
the phrase ceases to be euphemistic. For instance: Jeeze for “Jesus”.
f. Acronyms
are written and pronounced as the words in their own right like or acronym are
proper word created from the initial letter or two of the words in phrase, and
they are pronounced like others word, for instance snafu for “situation formal, all fucked up”.
g. Abbreviations
are written and pronounced as strings of letters like TS for “though shit”.
h. Omission
fall into:
1. Quasi-omission
substitutes some non-lexical expression for the dispreferred term into daches
and asterisk like mmmm, er-mm.
2. Full-omission
seems less common than quasi-omissions found/need to go by omitting “to the lavatory”.
i.
One-for-one
substitution is almost synonym and consist of
two:
1.
Metonymy
(general-for-specific): one name of change for another like the legal term person for “pennies”.
2.
Synecdoche
(part-for-whole euphemism) means to take with something else demonstrated in spend a penny for “go to the lavatory”.
j.
Hyperbole
is simply exaggeration, but exaggeration in the service of truth, for example, flight to glory for “death”.
k. Understatement
is saying less than one means. It is used to emphasis and to negate the
opposite of what we wish to convey. For example, sleep for “die”.
l.
Euphemism through
borrowing
The use of foreign
language (Latin, France, etc) is considered to counteract taboo term such as
bodily effluvia, sex, and the associated acts and bodily organs. The used of perspire instead of “sweat”.
C.
Politeness
Brown
and Levinson hold that politeness has a socially basic role: It can control
potential conflicts among the communicators.[4]
They claim that their theory is a universal feature of all languages. However,
the politeness of an utterance is evaluated by norms and values which are
culture-bound and vary from culture to culture which actions threats “face” or
which politeness strategy is taken in what context will differ across different
cultures.
In
general, it is strongly recommended that people be polite in their
communication with those whom they do not know very well, so that the people
feel accepted and valued as a member of a social group.
Brown
and Levinson distinguish two kinds of politeness: positive and negative.
1.
Positive
Politeness
Positive
politeness serves to keep positive face or others. Peccei states that “When we
use positive politeness, we use speech strategies that emphasize our solidarity
with the hearer, such as informal pronunciation, shared dialect or slang
expressions, nicknames more frequent reference to speaker and hearer as we, and requests which are less
indirect.”[5] In
short, positive politeness wishes to preserve people’s self-image as confirmed
and liked member of the society. Some examples of positive face are offering,
avoiding disagreement, paying attention to the hearer’s need.
2.
Negative
Politeness
Negative
politeness is to keep people’s negative face. In this case, those speech
strategies will be used that stress the speaker’s deference to the hearer.
D.
Relation
of Euphemisms to face-work and Politeness
In
the course of interaction, communicators must preserve each other’s face. In
other words, they must pay attention to two kinds of related rules: rule of
self respect and rule of considerateness. The former is a body of rules through
which the participant maintains his or her own face while the latter is a body
of rules through which the interact ant preserves the other’s face.
E.
Translation
and Culture
When
cross-cultural communication occurs, cultural translation will be needed. In
such communication, if participants are not aware of each others’ cultures,
misinterpretation would take place. To avoid misunderstandings, translators are
responsible for the effective and correct intercultural interactions.
F.
Translation
of Offensive Concepts
For
translating the blunt statements of the facts, translators have four options:
1. Direct
transfer of such concepts from the source language to the target language.
2. Indirect
expression of those concepts by using euphemisms.
3. Understatement
of their concern about.
4. Omitting
them in the translation process.
Translators
have to decide when and where one of the above-mentioned strategies should be
employed as the best one.
Conclusion
One aspect of this competence is to
preserve the face of each other.
In this regard, politeness, a salient
element in every culture, is a determining factor. Politeness is a
culture-bound phenomenon, which means that a particular behavior or utterance
which is polite in one culture might be impolite in another culture.
To be polite and to protect the face of
both or all sides of communication, people favor a variety of language which is
pleasant and less offensive. Through the statement above, it can be concluded
that, to show politeness, people tend to use euphemisms, as a figure of speech,
in their daily conversation. However, the degree of avoidance of mentioning
certain issues explicitly is not identical in all cultures.
Translators, as mediators between the
source and the target languages, must be aware of the cultural differences.
Through such knowledge, the translator determines the level of implicitness and
explicitness of the harsh and objectionable utterances. When those concepts are
left implicit, addresses can interpret the implied intentions through their
contextual background knowledge.
References
Allan, Keith & Kate Buridge, Euphemism and Dysphemism Language as Shield and Weapon, New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Brown, P & Levinson, L.C., Politeness: Some Universals in Language use, Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 1978.
Enright, D.J., Fair of Speech: The Use of Euphemism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Peccie, S.J., Pragmatics. London, the USA, and Canada: Routledge, 1999.
Sudarjah, Sumali, Aspek Pengajaran Kosa Kata Bahasa Indonesia, Batang : Bahagia, 1991.
[1] Sumali Sudarjah, Aspek Pengajaran Kosa Kata Bahasa Indonesia, Batang : Bahagia, 1991.p.48
[2] D.J Enright, Fair of Speech: The Use of Euphemism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.p.13.
[3] Keith Allan & Kate Buridge, Euphemism and Dysphemism language Used as Shield and Weapon. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.p.11
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