Maledictology (from Latin ''maledicere'', "to say
omething(''dicere'') bad (''male'')" and Greek ''logia'', "study of") is a branch of
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
that does research into cursing and swearing. It is influenced by American psychologist
Timothy Jay (
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) formerly known as North Adams State College (NASC) is a public liberal arts college in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is part of the state university system of Massachusetts. It is a member of the ...
) and the philologist and researcher in swearwords
Reinhold Aman
Reinhold Aman (April 8, 1936 – March 2, 2019) was a chemical engineer and professor of German before achieving national and even international recognition as the publisher of ''Maledicta'', a scholarly journal dedicated to the study of offensive ...
(California). They assume that swearing is part of human life and can even act as a passive self-defense, since it prevents palpable argument.
Literature
* Jay, Timothy: ''Why We Curse. A Neuro-Psycho-Social Theory of Speech''. John Benjamins Publishing, 2000,
* Aman, Reinhold: ''Opus Maledictorum. A Book of Bad Words''. Marlowe & Co, 1996,
* Aman, Reinhold: ''Bayrisch-Österreichisches Schimpfwörterbuch''. Allitera Verlag, 2005,
* Aman, Reinhold: ''
Maledicta
''Maledicta'', ''The International Journal of Verbal Aggression'', was an academic journal dedicated to the study of offensive and negatively valued words and expressions, also known as maledictology. Its main areas of interest were the origin, e ...
: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression'' (1977--)
* Grassi, Natascia: ''La Traduzione degli Insulti nel Doppiaggio di Film Americani'' / ''The Translation of Insults into Italian Dubbing Language of American Movies''. Tesi di Laurea, Università di Bologna, Anno Accademico 2002–2003.
External links
Article of "Berliner Morgenpost"InsultWiki(public domain insult directory)
Psycholinguistics
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