A Categorization-Based Analysis Of The Motivation Of Political Euphemisms

Euphemism is a powerful linguistic tool that "is embedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even those who pride themselves on being plainspoken, ever get through a day without using it" (Rawson,1981). In the past, many euphemisms are so delightfully ridiculous that everyone laughs at them. Yet euphemisms have very serious reasons for being. They conceal the things people fear the most—death, the dead, the supernatural. They cover up the facts of life—of sex and reproduction and excretion—which inevitably remind even the most refined people that they are made of clay, or worse. They are beloved by individuals and institutions (governments, especially) who are anxious to present only the handsomest possible images of themselves to the world.Euphemisms are used simplistically in daily conversations. However, where they are used and misused more frequently is in the political arena, in such cases as "soft targets" or "peace keepers" or "collateral damage." These expressions are heard frequently, while past ones are forgotten and new ones primed in their place as transgressions continue. Actually, political euphemism has always been a point of penetration for foreign political linguists to evaluate and criticize political discourse. In the recent years, with the establishment of the selected English newspaper reading course in many Chinese colleges. English political euphemism began to attract people’s attention. However, it is mainly confined to its disguising function (Pan,2004), leaving its motivation untouched.This paper will discuss the motivation of great number of political euphemisms associated with militaries, war and economy within the framework of categorization theory in the hope of giving a deep understanding of this universal linguistic phenomenon and thus contribute to its systematic study as well as its application.This thesis will be organized into 5 chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction which states the rationale and significance of the study along with methodology and data collection the study employs. Chapter 2 is the literature review dealing with the history of English euphemism about its definition and classification, discussing political euphemism in terms of its definition and functions and exploring linguistic motivation from different perspectives. Chapter 3 deals with the theoretical framework of this paper:categorization theory. What is presented in this chapter is an elaboration of prototype theory and levels of categorization. Chapter 4 is the detailed exploration of the motivation of political euphemisms within the framework of categorization theory, especially based on prototype theory and levels of categorization. Cases of political euphemisms associated with war and economy are interpreted, and each case has an in-depth analysis and serves as a good illustration for exploring the motivation of this common linguistic phenomenon. The last part. Chapter 5. is the conclusion, mainly discussing the findings, limitations of the study and providing some suggestions for further researches.