[Lingtyp] Swearwords as a negator and/or minimizer: a cross-linguistic perspective

[Stefan Savić]

Dear Pun Ho Lui, Dear All,

In BCMS/Serbocroatian one can also use the genitive singular form
*đavola *("devil")
in the same function, now hardly considered a swear word per se, but once
it definitely was (along with other religious terms). As a matter of fact,
in numerous such instances, the nominative singular *kurac* is often
replaceable with the genitive singular *đavola *(whereby the latter sounds
considerably milder than the former).

Best,
Stefan

On Tue, 13 Jun 2023 at 14:35, Pun Ho Lui <luiph001 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear linguists,
>
> Swearwords/taboo words can function as a negator (1) or
> minimizer/“squatitive” (2):
>
> (1) Cantonese
>      我    撚        知
>      1sg  dick  know
>    ‘I don’t know.’
>
> (2) I learn fuck all/ shit.
> ‘I learn nothing.’
>
> Other languages with these pattens include:
>
> - Russian
> - German *einen Teufel *‘a devil’
> - Swedish *så fan Heller*
> *- *French *mon cul* ‘my ass’ (?)
> - Polish *chuj *‘dick’; *gówno *’shit’
> - Serbian *kurac *‘penis'
> - Croatian *kurac ‘penis’*
> - Colloquail Finnish “aggressive mood”
>
> These examples are provided in:
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/lingtyp/permalink/6751622964867235/
>
> I am wondering if there are other languages performing similar
> constructions. If so, is the any requirement for using them.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Warmest,
> Pun Ho Lui
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20230613/6906788b/attachment.htm>