Euphemia in professional communication (on the example of modern english medical discourse)
The phenomenon of euphemia is one of the most important linguistic universals, being an integral component of the functioning of the language system. The introduction of the linguistic practice of political correctness since the end of the last century and the intensive development of this trend at the present stage entail active processes of euphemization, which can be found in various types of discourses in modern English. The most significant euphemization concerns of gender, ethnicity, age and sexuality, and limited physical abilities. The subject of our research is professional communication. The purpose of the work is to identify the features of the euphemistic nomination in medical discourse. When collecting and analyzing the factual material, the methods of comparative sampling, quantitative calculation and the descriptive method were used. In the course of the study, the semantic groups of the euphemistic vocabulary of medical discourse (death, physical handicap and related disability, names of diseases, suicide, plastic surgery, pregnancy, age) were identified and the most frequently used methods of its formation were established - metaphorical transfer, metonymy, eponymy, generalization of meaning. The analysis showed that most often the mechanism of generalization of meaning lies at the basis of euphemistic renaming, which at the linguistic level is achieved by referring to a nomination with a broader semantics.