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Article published In:
International Journal of Language and Culture
Vol. 9:1 (2022) ► pp.48–71

Swearing in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties

The principles and cultural beliefs in Shuǐhǔ zhuàn (水浒传)

| University of Hong Kong

Swearing is a verbal act in which the main language structure is composed of multiple swear words. The reasons for studying swearing include the need to know what lexical items might be used for swearing. For this reason, it is critical to determine the pragmatic principles and cultural beliefs which underlie curse words. This paper constructs a thesaurus of the swearing vocabulary used in the late-Yuan and early-Ming dynasty novel, Shuǐhǔ zhuàn (水浒传). It analyzes the pragmatic principles and cultural beliefs surrounding swearing during those dynasties by means of exhaustive measurement, offering a better understanding of those pragmatics and beliefs and showing how Chinese people swore or used abusive language at that time. This paper indicates that those Yuan and Ming pragmatic principles and cultural beliefs also underlie the ways in which modern Chinese people swear.

Keywords: pragmatic principles, swear words, cultural beliefs, Shuǐhǔ zhuàn (水浒传)
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The present study
    • 2.1Literature review
    • 2.2Research methodology
      • 2.2.1Literary pragmatics
      • 2.2.2Lexical pragmatics
    • 2.3Objectives
  • 3.Judging a swear word in Yuan and Ming Chinese
    • 3.1Items beyond the scope of this article
      • 3.1.1Tone swearing
      • 3.1.2Derogatory speech
      • 3.1.3Swearing phrases
      • 3.1.4Taboo words
    • 3.2Other considerations
  • 4.Data and analysis
    • 4.1Data
    • 4.2Analysis
  • 5.Discussion: The pragmatic principles and cultural beliefs behind swearing in the Yuan and Ming dynasties
    • 5.1The pragmatic principles behind swearing in Shuǐhǔ zhuàn
      • 5.1.1Violation of Confucian morality
        • 5.1.1.1Disloyalty
        • 5.1.1.2Unrighteousness
      • 5.1.2Mediocrity, disability, and physical defects
      • 5.1.3Debasement of status
      • 5.1.4Death and the family
      • 5.1.5Dirt
      • 5.1.6Male sexual organs
    • 5.2The cultural beliefs behind the pragmatic principles of swearing in the Yuan and Ming
      • 5.2.1Attention to class identity
      • 5.2.2Attention to loyalty and benevolence
        • 5.2.2.1Loyalty
        • 5.2.2.2Benevolence
      • 5.2.3Curses involving animals and plants
      • 5.2.4Misogynistic terms
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 22 July 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.21029.zha
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