Annotated Database of Conventional Euphemistic Expressions in Chinese

Euphemistic construals are common in Chinese and underrepresented in the linguistic research. In the accessible form of an annotated database for non-Chinese speakers an attempt was made to bring the results of the doctoral research project “Conceptualisations of Death, Illness, and the Body in Chinese Euphemisms: A Survey of Sensitive Vocabulary in Modern Chinese Lexicography” into the general discussion on euphemisms in Western (predominantly anglophone) linguistics and link the so-called “tactful expressions” weiwanyu 委婉语 to a broader context of cultural and linguistic typology. Apart from the databank encompassing 1562 euphemistic entries, the dataset also includes a detailed description of entry representation as well as the methods of data retrieval and organisation.