Swearing: Dissolution into Nothingness<br>Preklinjanje: izničenje v praznino</br>

Abstract

In this study we will comparatively analyse swearing material form Slovenian and Estonian language in order to show the lexical and structural similarities/differences between swearing and incantations present in the material as to argue that swearing is not only a manner to give voice to taboos, but is similar with incantations. The basic premise underlying the analysis is the existence of the “go to X” formula found both in the material and in the two genres analysed. Place X is the place of origin, non-existence or chaos, where the unwanted is sent to. There are more than 50 different variants of “go to X” we can detect in both Estonian and Slovenian language; besides we consider the phrases which carry the idea to negate someone to somewhere but they are in different formulation.

Keywords

• swearing
• incantation
• folklore
• linguistic anthropology