Maledictology

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The maledictology (from Latin maledicere , grumble ' , English maledictology , occasional swear word research called) is a branch of psycholinguistics , sociolinguistics and psychology that deals with the cursing and swearing busy. Maledictology was founded and shaped in 1973 by the German-born philologist and swear word researcher Reinhold Aman (California).

research

The American psychologist Timothy Jay (Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts) is a successor to Aman, who continues his work and confines himself to psychological and American English , while Aman covers all academic fields and about 220 languages ​​and dialects of the last 5000 years explored.

Other well-known Maledictologists are the French Dominique Lagorgette (Université de Savoie in Chambéry) and the Ukrainian Oksana Havryliv (née Holod), the latter focusing particularly on swearwords in German and Austrian literature. The Austrian scientist Peter Probst is also focusing on the German-speaking area. As part of a social-psychological experiment in mid-2020, he tried to spread the word stupid he invented himself in his childhood on the Internet. In his Small Linguistics of Vulgar Language (2012), Hans-Martin Gauger ( University of Freiburg i. Br. ) Dedicates himself to the topic using examples from over a dozen languages ​​and shows that when Germans insult, they curse and become vulgar in general , usually use expressions relating to excrement , while the neighboring languages ​​almost always go into sexual for this purpose. More recent observations show that younger German speakers abuse, curse and insult in a more sexualised manner than older ones, who traditionally tend to do so in a fecal manner.

Maledictologists assume that swearing, cursing and swear words are part of human life and an important part of language. Swear words can therefore even represent a self-protection function in that they can prevent physical disputes (but also cause them in certain situations).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Max Fellmann: "Crucifix Sacrament Hallelujah!" Why do we curse? How do we curse? And who is the funniest to swear? A conversation with the swear word researcher Reinhold Aman . In: SZ-Magazin . No. 49 , December 9, 2011 ( sueddeutsche.de ).

Web links

Wiktionary: Maledictology  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations