PRAGMATIC TRANSFORMATION OF EUPHEMISMS IN LITERARY TRANSLATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47390/ydif-y2026v2i18/n24Keywords:
euphemism, literary translation, pragmatic transformation, pragmatic potential, functional equivalence, translation adaptation, linguocultural component.Abstract
The article examines the specific features of pragmatic transformation of euphemisms in literary translation from English into Russian and Uzbek. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that euphemistic units possess not only lexical and semantic meaning but also pragmatic potential, which is realized in a particular context and is associated with the speaker’s communicative intention, social norms, emotional and evaluative characteristics, and cultural representations. The research material consists of euphemistic units identified in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, as well as their Russian and Uzbek translations. The study employs descriptive, contextual-pragmatic, comparative, and linguocultural methods. Particular attention is paid to changes in the degree of indirectness, stylistic characteristics, and emotional-evaluative colouring of euphemisms in translated texts. The study demonstrates that pragmatic transformation constitutes a contextually motivated translation decision aimed at preserving the communicative function of the source unit. It is concluded that achieving functional equivalence in euphemism translation requires consideration not only of semantic content but also of the pragmatic and linguocultural characteristics of the source and target languages.
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