Eufemistyczne nazwy stosunku seksualnego w historii języka polskiego

Abstract

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.