Linguistic and sociological perspective on the perception of profanity in Moscow in 2024
- DOI
- 10.5922/2225-5346-2024-4-7
- Pages
- 99-117
Abstract
The article presents the findings of a study on the attitudes toward profanity among Muscovites born between 1962 and 2011, all from families with higher education backgrounds. The research explores how respondents understand the term ‘mat,’ their views on societal restrictions regarding profanity, self-assessed frequency of using profanities and purposes for it, as well as the evolution of the attitudes toward profanity over different life stages. The study is based on the analysis of 20 interviews and 182 questionnaire responses. It also offers a concise overview of scholarly and lexicographical interpretations of the term ‘mat’. The author proposes her own definition of profanity, distinguishing it from other forms of obscene language. Preliminary statistical insights are presented. For example, 26 % of the respondents report rarely or never using ‘mat’ (excluding quotations), with 23 respondents claiming they have never used it. 14 % of the respondents identify themselves as frequent users, while 60 % admit to using it occasionally or only in specific social settings. Many respondents believe that profanity is used to some extent by everyone. However, a significant portion express discomfort when it is used simply to fill pauses in conversation. 35 % of the respondents admit to using obscene language in the presence of children, while 10 % more people are likely to limit its use with strangers compared to close friends or acquaintances. Opinions on profanity regulation vary, with 14 % supporting a strict ban, 44 % supporting a ban in specific situations, and 17 % advocating complete freedom to use profanities. In conclusion, the author offers a model for the perception of profanity: its infrequent, primarily oral speech use, restricted to private settings or among close acquaintances of either gender, but generally avoided in the presence of children. Profanity is used indirectly, not in an invective manner, and serves two main functions: psychological release and as a form of expressive or entertaining speech.
Reference
Antonov, S. V., 2024. Nedurnye slova [Not bad words]. Moscow (in Russ.).
Belikov, V. I., 2006. The boundaries of the obscene in the perception of modern urban youth: typologization of idiolects In: Izmeneniya v yazyke i kommunikatsii: XXI vek. Sbornik statei [Changes in language and communication: the XXI century: a collection of articles]. Moscow, pp. 33—72 (in Russ.).
Borzenko, E. O. and Dobrushina, E. R., 2025. Vzaimodeistvie pokolenii pri funktsionirovanii zhargonizmov, ili Biografiya leksemy ChSV [The interaction of generations in the functioning of jargonisms, or the Biography of the lexeme of ChSV]. In print (in Russ.).
Budennaya, E., Litvintseva, K. and Yakovleva, A., 2023. God knows how it turns out: on three constructions including Bog ‘God’, čert ‘devil’ and some taboo words in the Russian language over the last three centuries. Jazykovedny Casopis, 74 (1), pp. 19—31, https://doi.org/10.2478/jazcas-2023-0020.
Bui, V. [Baranov, A. N. and Dobrovol'skii, D. O.], 2005. Russkaya zavetnaya idiomatika. (Veselyi slovar' krylatykh vyrazhenii.) [The Russian cherished idiom. (A hilarious dictionary of catch phrases.)]. Moscow (in Russ.).
Levin, Yu. I., 1998. About the full expressions of the Russian language. In: Izbrannye trudy. Poetika. Semiotika [Selected works. Poetics. Semiotics]. Moscow, pp. 809—819 (in Russ.).
Lisenkova, N. N., 2010. Expletive elements in the language system (based on the material of modern English). Vestnik Yuzhno-ural'skogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Lingvistika [Bulletin of the South Ural State University. Series “Linguistics”], 1 (177), pp. 40—42 (in Russ.).
Mokienko, V. M., 1994. Russian swear words: censored and obscene. Rusistika [Russian studies], 1/2, pp. 50—73 (in Russ.).
Ozhegov, S. I. and Shvedova, N. Yu., 1992. Tolkovyi slovar' russkogo yazyka [Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language]. Available at: http://lib.ru/DIC/OZHEGOW/ ozhegow_e_l.txt [Accessed 25 February 2024] (in Russ.).
Panova, N. Yu., 2008. The culture of speech behavior as a peculiar manifestation of people's social life. Vestnik Taganrogskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta [Bulletin of Taganrog State Pedagogical University], 1, pp. 146—150 (in Russ.).
Plutser-Sarno, A., 2005. Bol'shoi slovar' mata [The Big mat dictionary]. Vol. 1. St. Petersburg (in Russ.).
Radaev, V. V., 2023. Millenialy: kak menyaetsya rossiiskoe obshchestvo [Millennials: how Russian society is changing]. Moscow (in Russ.).
Rudnev, V. P., 2005. And that's all about him. In: Bol'shoi slovar' mata [The Big mat dictionary]. Vol. 1. St. Petersburg, pp. 16—34 (in Russ.).
Uspenskii, B. A., 2018. The Mythological aspect of Russian expressive phraseology. In: Issledovaniya po russkoi literature, fol'kloru i mifologii [Research on Russian literature, folklore and mythology]. Moscow, pp. 195—268 (in Russ.).
Uspensky, B. A., 1981. The Religious and mythological aspect of Russian expressive phraseology. In: Struktura teksta-81: tezisy simpoziuma [Text structure-81: abstracts of the symposium]. Moscow, pp. 49—53 (in Russ.).
Zhel'vis, V. I., 2022. Materyatsya vse?! Rol' brani v istorii mirovoi tsivilizatsii [Is everyone swearing?! The role of armor in the history of world civilization]. Moscow (in Russ.).