EUPHEMISMS IN THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE (BASED ON THE SPEECH BY JOSEPH BIDEN)

Abstract

The article depicts the essence of the notions “political discourse” as well as “euphemism” and its functions according to general classification stated by V. Velykoroda. To achieve the set goals numerous examples based on speech by J. Biden have been provided and analysed according to the above mentioned classification. High attention was paid to the linguistic usage of euphemisms in the English spoken political discourse. The main approaches as to the definition of the notion “euphemism” in modern scientific literature in Ukraine and abroad have been outlined. Having conducted theoretical research regarding the notion “political discourse”, the latter has been theoretically grounded and furthermore, euphemisms are regarded as one of the main elements of political speech. The aim of the research is to illustrate and exemplify the main functions of euphemisms in the political discourse. The methodology of the investigation has been done via the description of the logic method of the analysis of scientific sources; descriptive method, definition analysis and content analysis. Political discourse has been viewed as the need of society in information about current events. It has been proved to be a multifactorial phenomenon in the field of communication and linguistics. Having done the thorough analysis of the speech presented by J. Biden, the conclusion can be drawn that euphemisms are mainly used in the political discourse with the viewpoint of making the expression sound tolerant and rather mild than harsh in case a speaker should render the audience the information that has negative impact. To do this the direct meaning is shadowed not to create the negative vision of reality in the audience’s perception. Thus the way of thinking improves for the better regardless of the age of the audience, gender and nationality. The word is the main key instrument for the politician; the political discourse is the key area for the creation and functioning of euphemisms. The result of the provided investigation clearly states that the process of creating and functioning of euphemisms is an essential part of the political discourse as it helps the audience to perceive the negative information in a positive way.