While swearing is a type of linguistic behavior we exhibit ourselves and experience with others in daily life on regular basis, it has received fairly little attention in relation to Dutch so far....Show moreWhile swearing is a type of linguistic behavior we exhibit ourselves and experience with others in daily life on regular basis, it has received fairly little attention in relation to Dutch so far. Though it is noted by various researchers that the influx of English-borrowed swearwords is continuously growing and gaining popularity (Rassin & Muris, 2005; Zenner, Speelman & Geeraerts, 2014; van Sterkenburg, 2008a, 2008b; Hindriks & van Hofwegen, 2014), little to no research has been conducted on its current role and proportion within the current Dutch swearing lexicon. This thesis seeks to provide an insight on the current swearing lexicon in Dutch with special regards to the role of native Dutch swearwords and Englishborrowed swearwords within this lexicon. The data for this research have been obtained through a survey that was filled in by 153 native speakers of Dutch who were born and raised in the Netherlands and raised monolingually. The main findings of this thesis showed that native Dutch swearwords are still preferred to Englishborrowed ones but also that their use is context-bound and situation-bound; in more serious situations, speakers preferred the use of Dutch swearwords, while in less serious situations they were more inclined to use an English-borrowed swearword. Furthermore, sociolinguistic factors such as age and gender influence a speaker’s swearing while regional background, educational background, religiosity and level of English do not. Though this study provides a small-scale insight on the current swearing lexicon and swearing behavior in Dutch, a larger-scaled study on swearing in Dutch with a broad variety of participants would definitely prove useful and interesting.Show less
