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Article published In: Exploring (im)politeness in ancient languages
Edited by Kim Ridealgh
[Journal of Historical Pragmatics 20:2] 2019
► pp. 186–203

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How filthy was Cleopatra?

Looking for dysphemistic words in ancient Greek

 | Bristol University
Published online: 10 December 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.00028.cok
Abstract
Starting from a sexual pun in Greek reputedly made by Cleopatra in 31 bce on the word τορύνη (torunē) (‘ladle’), this paper argues that the linguist can successfully take up the “evaluator’s role” (Kádár, Dániel Z. and Jonathan Culpeper. 2010. “Historical (Im)politeness: An Introduction”. In Jonathan Culpeper and Daniel Z. Kádár (eds), Historical (Im)politeness. Linguistic Insights 651, 9–36. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 18) in ascertaining the dysphemistic value of words in historical corpora. Typically offensive words constitute a special category of impolite verbal behaviours, and it is argued that a reflection of the historical schemata which guided the use of dysphemistic words by speakers can be detected in patterns of use in extant texts, and used as a guide for their identification. The paper highlights the need for greater openness as to which “denotata” produce offensive words, and more cross-linguistic work on dysphemism. It discusses the problems of interpretation of historical metaphors, and it ends with a detailed discussion of the evidence for the dysphemistic value of the word on which Cleopatra’s pun hinges.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: “What’s so terrible about Caesar sitting on a ladle?”
  • 2.Patterns of cross varietal synonymy
  • 3.Which denotata?
  • 4.Typically dysphemistic words and dysphemistic metaphors
  • 5.Assessing Cleopatra’s “ladle”
  • 6.Closing remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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