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Cognitive-pragmatic aspects of manipulative euphemisms
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2025-3-235-242
Abstract
Today, the mass media is a powerful tool for influencing public opinion. The article considers euphemisms as one of the most common ways of such influence. The ambivalent nature of euphemization is emphasized, which makes it the most important means of implementing various communication strategies both in the context of politically correct interaction and in the context of manipulation in the media. The article shows the specifics in the functioning of euphemisms as an instrument of influence in modern British and American media discourse, namely in the context of covering the negative political and social phenomena. The basic principles underlying the formation of euphemisms, as well as the specific mechanisms of their formation, are analyzed. The processes of semantic derivation, underlying conceptual derivation, conceptual integration, and the conceptual projection operation are fundamental in the creation of euphemistic vocabulary. The neutralization of negative characteristics at the level of specific models is carried out using the mechanisms of conceptual metaphor, conceptual metonymy and concretization. The formation of euphemisms is characterized by a stable correlation between the word-formation mechanisms and the cognitive processes underlying them.
About the Author
D. S. CherkasovaRussian Federation
Daria S. Cherkasova.
6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047
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Supplementary files
For citation: Cherkasova D.S. Cognitive-pragmatic aspects of manipulative euphemisms. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2025;(3):235-242. https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2025-3-235-242
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