Euphemism used by Former Indonesian Presidents; Soekarno and Abdulrahman Wahid

ABSTRACT

Euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression to avoid offensive meaning and possible lose of face. It is used by language user to avoid taboo words, to create social politeness, and not to offend other people This study focuses on euphemism used by the Indonesian presidents in their speeches as the y should often deliver speeches to interact with his society, explain the policy, clarify what is being a matter and others, which might bring big influence to the hearers.

The objectives of this study were to find out the types, the styles, and the reasons of euphemism used by each of the two former Indonesian presidents (Abdurrahman Wahid and Soekarno) in their disagreed speech when they were still a president.

The research design of this study was descriptive qualitative design because it explains the social phenomenon of human interaction through their language; the presidents’ speech containing euphemism. In collecting the data, the researcher watched and listened the recorded speech to get understanding of the speeches delivered, wrote the speech to notice the euphemisms used by the two former Indonesian presidents, and read the speeches to understand the contexts while selecting the expressions categorized into euphemism.

The results showed that there were various types of euphemism used by two former Indonesian presidents (Abdurrahman Wahid, and Soekarno), that included Metaphor, Hyperbole, Litotes, and Circumlocution types of euphemism. The style of euphemism contained in the speeches delivered by two former Indonesian presidents (Abdurrahman Wahid, and Soekarno) included frozen style, formal style, and consultative. The reasons of the two former Indonesian presidents in using euphemism were to create social politeness and to avoid offending other people.

In conclusion, euphemism is needed to in speech. It is used to avoid offending the hearer or to make polite impression. In any condition and situation, euphemism should be applied. For instance, in this study, it was found that although the President Soekarno governed in the strained era where warfare was occurring, he used euphemism to create social politeness and avoiding offensive meaning. It is suggested for the readers of this thesis to use euphemism more in daily speeches either formal or informal speech because it is important to increase politeness in verbal communication. It is also suggested for further researchers to conduct research on euphemism used by children because euphemism should not only be used by adult people but also children.