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

[Eitan Grossman]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but Jespersen already discussed
this phenomenon to some extent in his 1917 monograph on negation, and it
was extended by many including Ross & Postal, Horn, and others (e.g.,
'squatitive negation' as in 'You don't know doodly-squat.')

For the sake of typology, some of the Hebrew terms for penis (mainly *zayin*
and *zibbi*, the latter a loanword) also show the behavior mentioned by Pun
Ho Lui, Misha, and others.



On Tue, Jun 13, 2023 at 4:23 PM Lewis C Howe <chowe at uga.edu> wrote:

> Hi Pun Ho Lui and all,
>
>
>
> These patterns are relatively common in Romance Languages. For instance,
> in Spanish you can find the following:
>
>
>
> (No) me           importa       un(a) coño|pedo|chingada|polla|etc.
>
> NEG 1sg.ACC  matter.3sg  a         vagina|fart|fuck|dick|etc.
>
> ‘I don’t care at all.’
>
>
>
> There are a number of lexical options, which, not surprisingly, are quite
> dialectally diverse. The preverbal negation is optional, and, for some
> speakers in some collocations, may in fact be dispreferred.
>
>
>
> Following up on the comment about *đavola *("devil") in
> BCMS/Serbo-Croation, there’s a similar construction in Romance (illustrated
> below in Spanish) that (typically) involves wh-words. This construction
> also includes similarly taboo lexical options—e.g., *carajo *‘shit’, *cojones
> *‘testicles’. These types of constructions, at least for English, are
> described by Pesetsky (1987) as “Aggressively Non-D-Linked” wh-phrases.
>
>
>
> ¿Qué   demonios quieres?
>
> What  devils        want.2sg
>
> ‘What the hell do you want?’
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Chad Howe
>
>
>
> Pesetsky, D. 1987. Wh-in-situ: Movement and unselective binding. In *The
> representation of (in)definiteness*, ed. by Eric Reuland and Alice G. B.
> ter Meulen, 98-130. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
>
>
>
>
>
> *From: *Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of
> Michael Daniel <misha.daniel at gmail.com>
> *Date: *Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 9:01 AM
> *To: *Stefan Savić <stefansavicz at gmail.com>
> *Cc: *lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> >
> *Subject: *Re: [Lingtyp] Swearwords as a negator and/or minimizer: a
> cross-linguistic perspective
>
> [EXTERNAL SENDER - PROCEED CAUTIOUSLY]
>
> 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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