Iskazivanje vrednosti u pozitivnim i negativnim eufemizmima

The paper analyses how values are expressed in positive and negative euphemisms. The research is based on a corpus of 40 euphemisms, 20 euphemisms which increase positive values of their equivalent non-euphemized items, and 20 euphemisms which decrease negative values of their non-euphemized equivalents, excerpted from R.W. Holder's (2002) wordbook How Not to Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms. Firstly, the paper focuses on the paradigmatic sense relations (between non-euphemized and euphemized items) that can help explain the transfer of meaning from a word or phrase that is direct or insulting to a euphemistic word or phrase which is less direct or less insulting. The results of this analysis are then used to explain the pragmatic mechanisms that can help relate the meaning of inoffensive terms to their more direct counterparts.