Annotated Database of Conventional Euphemistic Expressions in Chinese

Abstract

Euphemistic construals are common in Chinese and underrepresented in the linguistic research. In the accessible form of an annotated database for non-Chinese speakers an attempt was made to bring the results of the doctoral research project “Conceptualisations of Death, Illness, and the Body in Chinese Euphemisms: A Survey of Sensitive Vocabulary in Modern Chinese Lexicography” into the general discussion on euphemisms in Western (predominantly anglophone) linguistics and link the so-called “tactful expressions” weiwanyu 委婉语 to a broader context of cultural and linguistic typology. Apart from the databank encompassing 1562 euphemistic entries, the dataset also includes a detailed description of entry representation as well as the methods of data retrieval and organisation.