A Comparative Study of Euphemisms in the Mongolian and Korean Languages

A "euphemism" is a linguistic phenomenon involving the substitution of a harsh or offensive expression with an indirect or mild one when conveying something that is embarrassing or hurtful. The use of euphemisms in the language of agrarian and/or nomadic cultures is defined at a lexical level in this paper. Using related linguistic theories in this study, we conclude that apart from being a linguistic occurrence, a euphemism is also a cultural phenomenon. We conduct a contrastive study of euphemisms between the Mongolian and Korean languages, analyzing the internal and external connotations of euphemisms in sociocultural settings, and establishing the function performed by taboo words and euphemisms in both languages. The use of euphemisms during communication acts has developed as a result of various sociopsychological elements. The study of Mongolian and Korean euphemisms will certainly shed light on the globalization of education from the viewpoint of cultural exchange and the fusion of cultures in countries where the number of multicultural families is on the increase. This is the first attempt to deal with the subject and the authors hope that the topic will be studied more deeply and in more detail in future.