12. Calling things by their name: Exploring the social meanings in the preference for sexual (in)direct construals
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Andrea Pizarro Pedraza
Abstract
This chapter is a cognitive sociolinguistic approach to the preferences for direct versus indirect construals and their social meanings. The study is based on the analysis of 906 expressions of sexual concepts (body parts and physiological processes) from the corpus MadSex (Pizarro Pedraza, 2013). These are divided in direct (based on sexual concepts, vulva) and indirect expressions (based on domains other than sexuality, little cupcake) and included in a logistic regression model with internal (sex of the concept, topic of the interview question) and external factors (gender, age, education level, prudishness of the speaker) as independent variables. The results show that direct construals are used more by speakers with higher studies and in questions about more formal topics, where they can be interpreted as orthophemistic or straight talking (Allan and Burridge 2006). Indirect construals are more heterogeneous and therefore their use can be explained by different motivations: as a marker of a semi-conversational style in questions about informal topics, as an affective resource for male speakers talking about aspects of their own sexuality, and as euphemistic strategy for older speakers and prudish speakers, with a true intention of concealing the taboo meanings.
Abstract
This chapter is a cognitive sociolinguistic approach to the preferences for direct versus indirect construals and their social meanings. The study is based on the analysis of 906 expressions of sexual concepts (body parts and physiological processes) from the corpus MadSex (Pizarro Pedraza, 2013). These are divided in direct (based on sexual concepts, vulva) and indirect expressions (based on domains other than sexuality, little cupcake) and included in a logistic regression model with internal (sex of the concept, topic of the interview question) and external factors (gender, age, education level, prudishness of the speaker) as independent variables. The results show that direct construals are used more by speakers with higher studies and in questions about more formal topics, where they can be interpreted as orthophemistic or straight talking (Allan and Burridge 2006). Indirect construals are more heterogeneous and therefore their use can be explained by different motivations: as a marker of a semi-conversational style in questions about informal topics, as an affective resource for male speakers talking about aspects of their own sexuality, and as euphemistic strategy for older speakers and prudish speakers, with a true intention of concealing the taboo meanings.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Foreword V
- Table of contents IX
- List of contributing Authors XI
- Introduction 1
- 1. Lexicon, discourse and cognition: terminological delimitations in the conceptualizations of linguistic taboo 13
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Part I: Construal
- 2. The axiological and communicative potential of homosexual-related metaphors 35
- 3. Metonymy-based euphemisms in war-related speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama 55
- 4. Ambiguity and vagueness as cognitive tools for euphemistic and politically correct speech 79
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Part II: Cultural Conceptualization
- 5. Old age revolution in Australian English: Rethinking a taboo concept 99
- 6. Taboo subjects as insult intensifiers in Egyptian Arabic 117
- 7. Emotion concepts in context: Figurative conceptualizations of hayâ ‘self-restraint’ in Persian 141
- 8. A Cognitive Linguistics approach to menstruation as a taboo in Gĩkũyũ 161
- 9. The socio-cognitive aspects of taboo in two cultures: A case study on Polish and British English 179
- 10. The influence of conceptual differences on processing taboo metaphors in the foreign language 201
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Part III: Cognitive Sociolinguistics
- 11. Why do the Dutch swear with diseases? 225
- 12. Calling things by their name: Exploring the social meanings in the preference for sexual (in)direct construals 245
- 13. The perception of the expression of taboos: a sociolinguistic study 269
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Part IV: Interdisciplinary Approaches
- 14. Scrupulosity, sexual ruminations and cleaning in Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder 293
- 15. Swearing as emotion acts 311
- Index 329
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Foreword V
- Table of contents IX
- List of contributing Authors XI
- Introduction 1
- 1. Lexicon, discourse and cognition: terminological delimitations in the conceptualizations of linguistic taboo 13
-
Part I: Construal
- 2. The axiological and communicative potential of homosexual-related metaphors 35
- 3. Metonymy-based euphemisms in war-related speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama 55
- 4. Ambiguity and vagueness as cognitive tools for euphemistic and politically correct speech 79
-
Part II: Cultural Conceptualization
- 5. Old age revolution in Australian English: Rethinking a taboo concept 99
- 6. Taboo subjects as insult intensifiers in Egyptian Arabic 117
- 7. Emotion concepts in context: Figurative conceptualizations of hayâ ‘self-restraint’ in Persian 141
- 8. A Cognitive Linguistics approach to menstruation as a taboo in Gĩkũyũ 161
- 9. The socio-cognitive aspects of taboo in two cultures: A case study on Polish and British English 179
- 10. The influence of conceptual differences on processing taboo metaphors in the foreign language 201
-
Part III: Cognitive Sociolinguistics
- 11. Why do the Dutch swear with diseases? 225
- 12. Calling things by their name: Exploring the social meanings in the preference for sexual (in)direct construals 245
- 13. The perception of the expression of taboos: a sociolinguistic study 269
-
Part IV: Interdisciplinary Approaches
- 14. Scrupulosity, sexual ruminations and cleaning in Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder 293
- 15. Swearing as emotion acts 311
- Index 329
