Euphemisms in Olaf Scholz’s Speech on the Palestinian Tragedy

Suzana Alvertina Arsieardani; Agus Ridwan

doi:10.29407/jbsp.v10i1.10

Authors

Suzana Alvertina Arsieardani Sastra Jerman, Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7411-2653
Agus Ridwan Sastra Jerman, Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6310-4745

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29407/jbsp.v10i1.10

Keywords:

euphemism, Palestinian tragedy, political speech

Abstract

The humanitarian tragedy that is currently unfolding in Palestine has elicited various diplomatic reactions from world leaders, including German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz. Therefore, conveying information related to this highly sensitive issue requires great caution, especially in terms of word choice. This study was conducted to classify the forms of euphemism and describe their functions in Olaf Scholz’s speech which implicitly discussed the Palestinian tragedy. This study uses qualitative descriptive methodology, using data in the form of words, and sentences from Olaf Scholz’s speech text found on the Bundesregierung website in October 2023. Data analysis in this study is based on euphemism theory according to Schröder (1999) and Luchtenberg in Schröder (1999). The results of this study show that Scholz’s speech contains several instances of euphemism, including metaphor, vage oder mehrdeutige Ausdrücke, Auslassungen/Nulleuphemismen, Verallgemeinerungen, litotes, and Stilistische inkongruenz. In this study, euphemisms with a concealing function (verschleiernd) dominate which is used to describe things as better than they actually are. The use of this function is realized as a form of caution for speakers in their choice of words.

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