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Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2023, 6(12); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2023.061208.

The Analysis of Political Euphemisms---Speech by Obama to Announce the End of the War in Iraq

Author(s)

Jiaqi Yao, Nan Hu

Corresponding Author:
Nan Hu
Affiliation(s)

Foreign Language School, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, 530021, China

Abstract

Euphemisms, as a linguistic phenomenon, can be observed in all aspects of social communication. Political euphemism, as one of the members of this group, has also been commonly used in the field of politics. Politicians often take political euphemisms as a tool to achieve the goal of defusing conflicts and concealing the truth of matters. Based on Leech’s Politeness Principle and Grice’s Cooperative Principle, this paper analyses the use of political euphemisms in Obama's 2010 speech announcing the end of the war in Iraq. By studying Obama's speech, the current study may reveal the way in which Western politicians apply euphemism that violates the Cooperative Principle and follows the Politeness Principle in their political speeches as well as the real intentions conveyed.

Keywords

political euphemism; Cooperative Principle; Politeness Principle

Cite This Paper

Jiaqi Yao, Nan Hu. The Analysis of Political Euphemisms---Speech by Obama to Announce the End of the War in Iraq. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2023) Vol. 6, Issue 12: 48-55. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2023.061208.

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