The Diplomacy of Words: A Study of Macau's Political Discourse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34630/e-rei.vi13.6331Keywords:
Euphemism, Translation Techniques, Norms, Chinese-Portuguese Translation, CorpusAbstract
Euphemisms, as linguistic tools to soften sensitive topics (Allan & Burridge, 1991), are often “filtered out” in simultaneous translation, compromising fidelity to the original discourse. This study analyses the translation of euphemisms in political debates of the Macau Legislative Assembly (2012-2022), combining Kröll's (1984) thematic taxonomy with Toury's (2021) translation norms. Using a Chinese-Portuguese parallel corpus of public transcripts, 125 euphemisms were identified in areas such as crime, death and superstition. The results show that 99 per cent of euphemisms are adapted to the target culture, with the technique of explicitation predominating (44 cases). Omission or reformulation occurs mainly due to gaps in cultural equivalence, showing that political translation prioritises acceptability over appropriateness. The study contributes to debates on translation ethics in bilingual contexts, highlighting the critical role of interpreters in mediating rhetorical and cultural conflicts.
References
Allan, K., & Burridge, K. (1991). Euphemism and Dysphemism: Language Used As Shield and Weapon.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage (Vol. 4). Cambridge university press.
Chan, Y. Y. (2002). 赌場與犯罪——涉借赌本高利貸活動初探 [Tradução nossa: Jogo e Crime
– Introdução às actividades de usura que envolvem capitais de jogo]
Chilton, P. A., & Schäffner, C. (2002). Introduction: Themes and principles in the analysis of political discourse. In Politics as text and talk: Analytic approaches to political discourse (pp. 1-41). John Benjamins.
Gonçalves, L. T. e. S., Roberval. (2020). A língua portuguesa em Macau em tempos de globalização e mobilidades: políticas linguísticas e ensino. In S. O. Souza, Francisco Calvo (Ed.), Línguas em português. A Lusofonia numa visão crítica (pp. 221-241). University of Porto Press.
Kröll, H. (1984). O eufemismo e o disfemismo no português moderno. Instituto de Cultura e Língua Portuguesa.
Molina, L., & Hurtado Albir, A. (2002). Translation techniques revisited: A dynamic and functionalist approach. Meta: Journal des Traducteurs/Meta: Translators' Journal, 47(4), 498-512.
Toury, G. (2021). The nature and role of norms in translation. In The translation studies reader (pp. 197-210). Routledge.
Venuti, L. (2017). The translator's invisibility: A history of translation. Routledge.
Wang, Y. (2011). 委婉语应用辞典 (Tradução nossa: Dicionário aplicado do eufemismo) Shanghai Cishu Publishing House.
Xiao, W. (2015). O Eufemismo e o Disfemismo em Português e Chinês, na Obra do P. Joaquim Gonçalves. Universidade do Minho.
Zhao, J. (2019). Estudo da tradução do eufemismo entre o chinês e o português com base na teoria de equivalência funcional. Orientes do Português, 1.
Zheng, W. (2022). Reflexões Sobre o Eufemismo na Língua Portuguesa e em Mandarim. Universidade do Minho.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 E-Journal of Intercultural Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
