Cognitive-Discursive Representation of Euphemisms for Death in Russian and Uzbek

Abstract

This study presents a macro-frame modeling of the euphemistic nomination of death within Russian and Uzbek media discourses, drawing on a corpus of journalistic publications spanning a ten-year period. Through continuous sampling, 138 instances of euphemistic framing were identified. The research methodology integrates context-semantic analysis, frame-based modeling, and discourse-pragmatic interpretation. This integrated approach is operationalized through the coordinated examination of genre-institutional reporting regimes, foreground-background distribution mechanisms, and recurrent narrative-scenario trajectories. The analysis delineates seven stable macro-frames for the indirect representation of death, differentiated by their functional load and genre-specific entrenchment: (1) transition and departure; (2) absence and loss; (3) institutional notification and factualization; (4) physiological cessation and naturalization; (5) sacred-eschatological interpretation; (6) violent death and self-infliction; and (7) ritualization of memory and collective mourning. Findings indicate that Russian media discourse predominantly objectifies the event through neutral-institutional strategies — specifically chronicling, terminologization, and passivation of agency / responsibility. In contrast, Uzbek media discourse systematically amplifies the sacred-ethical framework while exhibiting addressivityand status-conditioned variation in euphemistic nominations contingent upon communicative context.