EUPHEM: Euphemism

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    التَّلَطُّف
    EUPHEM: Euphemism
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (ʿilm al-badīʿ)
    SubcategoryIndirectness & Ambiguity
    Built upon5 sources
      
    Annotation Unit
    ARDT CodeEUPHEM
    Level1 (Rhetorical device)
       ↳ Has 7 subtypes
      
    Included in Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.1
    v0.1.0
      
    External Identifiers
    BALAGHAScoreCE-7
    BalaghaBaseQ79
    OpenAlexW4415372113
      
    Cite this page
    🔗 Live DOI10.64393/balagha.Q79
     
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    Definition

    Euphemism (at-talaṭṭuf) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which an unpleasant, taboo, or otherwise dispreferred word or phrase is replaced with a less direct or more socially acceptable expression.[1][2][3][4][5] It involves referring to the intended meaning without stating the dispreferred expression directly, typically to avoid embarrassment, offence, or socially objectionable wording.[2][4][5]

    Linguistic Operations

    • Euphemism works by substituting a dispreferred or taboo expression with a less direct or more socially acceptable alternative that conveys the intended referential meaning.[1][4][5]
    • The original expression and its euphemistic counterpart may refer to the same underlying referent or situation while differing in their attitudinal or social acceptability.[1][5]

    Recognition

    Euphemism may be present when:

    • A word or phrase replaces a more direct expression while preserving reference to the same underlying referent or situation.
    • The substituted expression reduces embarrassment, softens a taboo reference, or conveys greater politeness.

    The following diagnostic tests aid identification:

    • Test 1: Substitution test — replace the candidate expression with a more direct equivalent. If the meaning is preserved but the social impact is harsher, the original is likely euphemistic.
    • Test 2: Attitudinal contrast test — ask whether the expression reflects deliberate softening of an unpleasant or taboo referent.

    Communicative Enhancements

    • Avoidance of embarrassment, offence, or socially objectionable wording, and expression of respect toward the addressee.[2][4][5]
    • Prevention of loss of face for the speaker or addressee.[1]
    • Expression of negative politeness, by avoiding a face-threatening reference to the addressee.[1]
    • Expression of positive politeness and solidarity with the person or group referred to.[1]
    • Provision of a psychological or ideological frame of reference, as in the case of politically motivated euphemisms.[1]

    Applying the Recognition Framework

    The information on this page can be used to evaluate whether this device is present in a candidate lexical item using the Specific Device Recognition part of the Universal Framework for Identifying Arabic Rhetorical Devices:

    • Use the Definition, Mechanism, and Recognition sections of this page in Step 1.
    • Apply the substitution test in Step 2.
    • Consider contextual indicators in Step 3.
    • Use the Diagnostic Communicative Enhancements section of this page in Step 4.

    Subtypes of Euphemism

    EUPHEM-FIG: Figurative Euphemism (al-talaṭṭuf bi-l-majāz)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTEUPHEM-FIG
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ324
    Official Arabic nameal-talaṭṭuf bi-l-majāz[6]

    A form of Euphemism in which there is replacement of a direct or offensive term with a figurative expression. Farghal (2011) identifies figurative expressions as the most common device for euphemising in Arabic, particularly in the domains of death, bodily effluvia, and sex.[1]

    إنتَقَلَ زيدٌ إلى الرَّفيق الأعلى.

    Zaid moved to the Supreme Companion.

    Explanation
    It means "Zaid passed away," where the expression al-rafīq al-aʿlā functions as a euphemistic figurative expression for death.[2]

    إنتَقَلَ زيدٌ إلى رحمة الله.

    Zaid moved to the mercy of God.

    Explanation
    It means "Zaid passed away," where moving to "the mercy of God" is a figurative euphemism for death.[2]

    غادَرَ الشَّيخُ هذه الدُّنيا وانتَقَلَ إلى جِوارِ رَبِّه.

    The sheikh departed this world and moved to the proximity of his Lord.

    Explanation
    A figurative euphemism for death, where moving to "the proximity of his Lord" replaces the direct māta ("he died").

    EUPHEM-ANT: Antonymic Euphemism (al-talaṭṭuf bi-l-ḍidd)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTEUPHEM-ANT
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ325
    Official Arabic nameal-talaṭṭuf bi-l-ḍidd[6]

    A form of Euphemism in which there is replacement of a negative term with its positive or desirable opposite, reflecting a desired rather than an existing state of affairs.[1]

    مُعافى

    Healthy

    Explanation
    Used to refer to someone who is sick. Similarly, baṣīr ("sighted") is used for someone who is blind, and ʿāʾidūn ("returnees") for refugees.[1]

    يَعمَلُ في هذه الشَّركةِ عَدَدٌ من ذَوي الاحتياجاتِ الخاصَّة.

    A number of people with special needs work in this company.

    Explanation
    The phrase dhawū al-iḥtiyājāt al-khāṣṣa ("those with special needs") is an antonymic euphemism that foregrounds what is present — particular needs — rather than naming the disability or impairment directly.

    EUPHEM-CRC: Circumlocutory Euphemism (al-talaṭṭuf bi-l-taʿbīr ghayr al-mubāshir)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTEUPHEM-CRC
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ326
    Official Arabic nameal-talaṭṭuf bi-l-taʿbīr ghayr al-mubāshir[6]

    A form of Euphemism in which a roundabout descriptive phrase is used to avoid stating something unpleasant or taboo directly.[1]

    لَم يُحالِفهُ الحَظّ.

    Luck did not ally with him.

    Explanation
    This means he failed. The circumlocution avoids the directness of fašila ("he failed").[1]

    لَم تُسعِفهُ النَّتائجُ في الامتحان.

    The results did not come to his aid in the exam.

    Explanation
    A circumlocution for rasaba ("he failed"), avoiding the directness of the verb by framing the outcome as a failure of the results to assist him.

    EUPHEM-PHR: Phonological Remodeling Euphemism (al-talaṭṭuf bi-l-taḥwīr al-ṣawtī)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTEUPHEM-PHR
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ327
    Official Arabic nameal-talaṭṭuf bi-l-taḥwīr al-ṣawtī[6]

    A form of Euphemism in which there is intentional distorting of the phonological structure of a taboo word or phrase. Farghal (2011) notes this type belongs essentially to vernacular Arabic.[1]

    يلعن ديكك.

    Damn your rooster!

    Explanation
    This is a remodeled euphemism for yilʿan dīnak ("Damn your religion!"), where dīk ("rooster") replaces dīn ("religion") through phonological distortion.[1]

    اِبنُ الأَرض

    Son of the earth

    Explanation
    A phonologically and semantically remodeled euphemism for the common insult ibn al-arḍ displacing a taboo maternal reference through substitution of arḍ ("earth") for the offensive term, softening the expression while retaining recognizable form.

    EUPHEM-UST: Euphemism by Understatement (al-talaṭṭuf bi-l-tahwīn)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTEUPHEM-UST
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ328
    Official Arabic nameal-talaṭṭuf bi-l-tahwīn[6]

    A form of Euphemism in which a milder word is used to downplay a serious or negative subject.[1]

    نَكسة

    Setback

    Explanation
    Used in official discourse after the 1967 Arab–Israeli war as a euphemism for hazīma ("defeat").[1]

    أَعلَنَت الحُكومةُ عن تَعديلٍ في أَسعارِ الوَقود.

    The government announced an adjustment in fuel prices.

    Explanation
    taʿdīl ("adjustment") understates what would more directly be described as ziyāda ("a rise" or "an increase"), softening the negative impact of the announcement.

    EUPHEM-OVR: Euphemism by Overstatement (al-talaṭṭuf bi-l-mubālagha)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTEUPHEM-OVR
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ329
    Official Arabic nameal-talaṭṭuf bi-l-mubālagha[6]

    A form of Euphemism in which there is hyperbole or overstatement.[1]

    أُمّ المَعارك

    Mother of all battles

    Explanation
    Used by the former Iraqi regime as a euphemism for ḥarb al-khalīj al-thāniya ("Second Gulf War of 1991").[1]

    تَدابيرُ التَّقشُّفِ الاستِثنائيَّة لِحِمايةِ الاقتِصادِ الوَطَني

    Exceptional austerity measures to protect the national economy

    Explanation
    The inflated framing — tadābīr al-taqashshuf al-istithāʾiyya ("exceptional austerity measures") — euphemises what would be described more directly as spending cuts or khafdh al-nafaqāt ("expenditure reductions"), using overstatement to lend the policy a sense of necessity and grandeur.

    EUPHEM-BFW: Euphemism by Borrowing of Foreign Words (al-talaṭṭuf bi-iqtirāḍ al-alfāẓ al-ajnabiyya)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTEUPHEM-BFW
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ330
    Official Arabic nameal-talaṭṭuf bi-iqtirāḍ al-alfāẓ al-ajnabiyya[6]

    A form of Euphemism in which there is substitution of a native term with a foreign loanword carrying greater social prestige or acceptability.[1]

    مادام

    Madame

    Explanation
    Used in place of native terms for wife because it carries a more positive social attitude.[1]

    يَعمَلُ بَعضُ المَسؤولينَ مَعَ سِكرِتيرَة خاصَّة.

    Some officials work with a personal secretary.

    Explanation
    The loanword sikritīra (from French/English secrétaire / secretary) is preferred over native alternatives such as kātiba in contexts where the foreign term carries more neutral or prestigious connotations, softening any potentially charged implications of the role.

    Notes

    • The Arabic term at-talaṭṭuf is used in both rhetorical and modern linguistic scholarship, and contemporary Arabic studies explicitly employ it as an equivalent of euphemism.[1][3][4][5] Al-ʿAskarī's rhetorical conception, as reported by ʿAkkāwī, is broader than contemporary euphemism: it includes both making an objectionable meaning appear more acceptable and making a pleasant meaning appear objectionable, whereas the present device includes only the former direction.[1][3]
    • Related phenomena occur in the Arabic rhetorical and linguistic tradition under terms including kināya (الكناية), taʿrīḍ (التعريض), taḥsīn al-lafẓ (تحسين اللفظ), and talṭīf al-maʿnā (تلطيف المعنى). These terms are not treated here as synonyms of Euphemism, since they may designate broader or distinct linguistic operations.[4][5]
    • Farghal (2011) notes that explicit treatment of euphemism is sparse in medieval Arabic rhetorical scholarship.[1]
    • Farghal (2011) also discusses euphemizers such as ḥāshāk, which soften the impact of socially objectionable expressions.[1]

    References

    1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Mohammed Farghal, ‘Euphemism’, in Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online, ed. Lutz Edzard and Rudolf Erik de Jong (Leiden: Brill, 2011).
    2. ↑ a b c d e Hussein Abdul-Raof, Arabic Rhetoric: A Pragmatic Analysis (Oxford: Routledge, 2006), 251, ISBN 9780415386098. DOI: 10.4324/9780203965399
    3. ↑ a b c Inʿam Fawwal ʿAkkawi, al-Muʿjam al-Mufassal fi ʿUlum al-Balagha: al-Badiʿ wa-l-Bayan wa-l-Maʿani (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1996), 420.
    4. ↑ a b c d e f Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed Nosir, “Linguistic Politeness in the Style of the Noble Qur’an: Analytical Study in the Light of Sociolinguistics”, Journal of the Faculty of Arts, Port Said University, no. 21, part 1 (July 2021), 92–127, p. 93. DOI: 10.21608/jfpsu.2021.74575.1088.
    5. ↑ a b c d e f g Mohammad Abu Eid and Mohammad Rahimi Khuygani, “Euphemism and Taboo in al-Kashshaf’s Interpretation of Sexual Expressions in the Language of the Holy Qur’an” (التلطف والمحظور في تفسير الكشاف للألفاظ الجنسية في لغة القرآن الكريم), Research in Arabic Language 7, no. 13 (Autumn–Winter 2015), 1–22. DOI: 10.22108/rall.2016.20678.
    6. ↑ a b c d e f g Mohammed Farghal, ‘Euphemism’, in Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online, ed. Lutz Edzard and Rudolf Erik de Jong (Leiden: Brill, 2011), § 3.



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