Euphemism Study: Inheritance Between Connotation(s) And Denotation(s)

Euphemism is a ubiquitous language phenomenon with distinctive charm. Unlike well-meaning euphemisms, the straightforward expressions tend to hurt others like a silver dagger. Early western rhetoricians take painstaking efforts in giving descriptive or prescriptive delineation of various facets of euphemism such as its definition, classification and aesthetic effects, etc. Afterwards, the research is extended to its social functions and the pragmatic principles observed by speakers in euphemistic communication. The hurricane of cognitive linguistic theories associates current scholars to explore the cognitive motivations of euphemism, thus converts euphemism studies onto an explanatory way, which will also be taken by us to further exploring why euphemism can be operated under the mechanisms proposed by current scholars. Such is our research: the logical foundation of euphemism.The core of euphemism using is to be condensed as one word—substitution, which is an important means to make indirect expressions. The substitution of the offensive item X with euphemism Y can be abstracted as one formula—X be Y, which makes euphemism illogical in that it infringes the Law of Identity, Law of Uncontradiction and Law of Middle-excluded that any entity A can not be–A at the same time. But the fact is that any rational individual tends to express X to be Y and the hearers frequently succeed in recognizing speakers'euphemistic intention. Therefore, we suppose euphemism to be logical. Our primary findings lies in that substitution means not merely the switchover of words/expressions on language level, but embodies the mental interaction of concepts/categories represented by concerned language forms. Therefore, this study is to be conducted on the ideational level.The present study mainly emerges from the theoretical framework of Inheritance between Connotation(s) and Denotation(s), which is the new approach of Logic of Taxonomy studies conducted by徐盛桓from the cognitive perspective. Anyhow, the stereotypical taxonomy can not be entirely responsible for all euphemisms, which urges us to resort to"three possible worlds"proposed by徐盛桓for further explanation.1. Logic of Taxonomy Analysis of Euphemism: According to Inheritance between Connotation(s) and Denotation(s), knowledge in our mental models is organized in type hierarchy structure, on which events and entities are supposed to take a particular place of their own and all supercategories and their subcategories are in an inheritance relation in terms of connotation and/or denotation. That's why the two concerned concepts/categories can be conceived to be identical temporarily in our cognition so that substitution on language level turns out to be logically possible. By the direct application of the inheritance relation between two concerned categories, metonymic euphemisms basing on proximity are constructed in the form of Part-Whole, Whole-Part and Part-Part substitution. But for metaphorical euphemisms basing on similarity, a new type hierarchy structure needs to be established with the two concerned categories as the subcategories and one of their similar connotations as the supercategory. This being the case, the two concerned categories are classified into the identical supercategory and no doubtedly inherit the connotations from it. In a word, although the two kinds of euphemisms differ in the inheriting processes, they both come down to the temporary identity of the two concerned categories, which we call shift of categories.2. Possible Worlds Logic Analysis of Euphemism: For the stereotypically unreal inheritance relation between the euphemized and euphemizing items, we resort to"three possible worlds". According to徐盛桓, categorization and the inheritance between connotation(s) and denotation(s) occur not only in the world of reality, but also in the world of imagination and the ad hoc world: If A'and B'are relational entities in the world of imagination, then, A, the counterpart of A'in the world of reality, would also be regarded to be in the inheritance relation with B', and thus substitutable. Additionally, entities are to be integrated into a temporary identical category in ad hoc world and therefore, the provisional inheritance relation can be set up, which makes substitution logically possible.All in all, euphemism relies not only on the inheritance between connotation(s) and denotation(s) of the two concerned concepts/categories represented by the euphemized and euphemizing expressions, sometimes it touches upon Possible Worlds Logic.