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

[Stefan Savić]

P.S. Apologies about the wrong spelling of Serbo-Croatian.

On Tue, 13 Jun 2023 at 14:45, Stefan Savić <stefansavicz at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>>
>>
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>
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