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

[Michael Daniel]

Dear Pun Ho Lui,

In Russian strong speech, 'penis' is used as a non-referential NP in
different type of emphatic negation; including constructions very similar
to what you quote. See for examples, some way below. Note that "ни" is a
negative particle distinct from regular negative "не" and commonly (though
not exclusively) used under the scope of clausal negation; I am not sure
how to gloss it.


Sincerely,

Michael Daniel









он         ни    хуя                  не    знает
he.nom not   penis-Sg.Gen not    knows
'he does not know anything at all'

хуй                    тебе,             а     не   деньги
penis.Sg.Nom    you.sg-Dat,  and  not  money
'You are not getting anything, you are not (instead of) getting any money'

ни      хуя                 (подобн-ого)
not     penis-Sg.Gen (similar-N.Sg.Gen)
'Nothing like that at all!'




вт, 13 июн. 2023 г. в 14:45, Stefan Savić <stefansavicz at gmail.com>:

> 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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