Słowackie deminutywa w funkcji eufemizującej

Abstract

The subject of the study is a group of selected expressive lexical units with positive connotation, euphemisms and euphemistic diminutives belonging to the category of amelioratives. These units function within a broadly understood expressive lexicon, used to express different emotions, including negative valorization. The author assumes that expressiveness is a very important element of interpersonal communication in terms of nomination and she finds the expressive function of the language as the key one. Among the euphemizing derivatives (quasi-diminutives) and diminutives, the author distinguishes categories of nouns, adjectives and verbs. The boundaries of the units forming the ameliorative category are fuzzy and very variable. The sample material of euphemisms and diminutives in the euphemistic function comes primarily from the available monolingual dictionaries of the Slovak language and is respectively verified by examples from the National Corpus of the Slovak language. Ameliorative-diminutive forms, which also occur in the euphemizing function, became the objects of detailed analysis. From among ameliorative forms, the euphemisms (including also diminutives as well as children’s lexicon) deserve a special attention.