The Study of Euphemism in Shahnameh: A Semantic Approach

The present study investigates the mechanisms of euphemism in Shahnameh. It is assumed that euphemism is the conscious or unconscious substitution of harsh, unpleasant, or embarrassing taboo words for a mild or indirect word or expression, used to reduce the negative sense and therefore keep the image of the audience and social self-concept. Accordingly, euphemism is closely related to the concept of politeness. Having extracted instances of euphemism and their literal meaning, we analyzed the contextual meaning of euphemism according to Warren’s (1992) classification. The results indicate that metaphor, vague term, circumlocution, semantic implication, metonymy, particularization, and reversal are respectively the most frequent mechanisms for creating novel contextual meaning. The significance of the study can be found first of all in the frequent and skillful use of taboo words in Persian classic poetic and prose texts; then, lack of attention or understanding of the contextual meaning of euphemisms by some commentators of Shahnameh; and finally, the lack of systematic linguistic research in understanding euphemism in Shahnameh.