Abstrakt: | The aim of the article is the analysis of euphemistic names of the sexual intercourse,
the ways of their creation as well as an attempt to answer the question
what makes a given lexical unit serve the purpose of substituting verbum proprium.
On the basis of dictionaries registering historical vocabulary the oldest methods
generating euphemistic names of the sexual intercourse were found. The following
groups of lexical units were distinguished: (1.) names being hyperonymic in
nature, e.g. te sprawy, te rzeczy, tentegować; (2.) names implying closeness, unity,
a physical contact, e.g. bliższy kontakt, być w zażyłości, zbliżenie; (3.) names implying
a willingness, a strong desire of something – chuć, chciwość, żądza; (4.) names of
the feeling of love, e.g. lubieżność, dowód miłości, mrzeć na miłość, Wenus; (5.) names
created as a result of metonymic transitions, e.g. cudzołóstwo, spolne miewać łoże,
wykroczyć z łoża.
It turned out that the majority of euphemisms analysed originates from a broad
meaning not connected with erotics. The studies also showed that some expressions
in some varieties of Polish are often considered too blunt and in some other
serve the purpose of taboo opening. |