Politically correct euphemisms in mass media (based on American and Turkish online periodicals of the beginning of the 21 ^st century)

Abstract

© the author(s). There is abundant research on euphemisms, but there are hardly any of them devoted to euphemisms in relation with the theory of political correctness based on the material of recognized American and Turkish online periodicals of the beginning of the 21^st century. The aim of the paper is to study the approaches to the definitions of "euphemism" and "political correctness" offered by Russian and Western linguists, to analyze the classifications and functional peculiarities of euphemisms within the framework of the theory of political correctness. The key research method is the method of comparative analysis which, based on the theoretical data about euphemisms in the English and Turkish languages, helped us to single out the cases of the use of euphemisms in modern American and Turkish online periodicals and compare the types of politically correct euphemisms in the two languages. The paper indicates the active research of euphemisms in the language of mass media by Russian and foreign (American and Turkish) linguists. The results of the study found that, compared to Turkish online newspapers and magazines, modern American online periodicals are characterized by a wider use of politically correct lexemes. The paper findings may be useful for researches who deal with political discourse, comparative analysis, the use of political lexemes and political euphemisms within the framework of the theory of political correctness.