Here&#039s an example of the work I&#039m doing in grad school. Aren&#039t you all glad to know that I&#039m not wasting my time here?

          As far as I know, all languages have slurs, slang, and insults. In English, derogatory and pejorative words are whole words unto themselves or are compounds of multiple words (“geek,” “dyke,” “redneck,” “son-of-a-bitch,” etc.). English creates new slurs and insults through the change in meaning of existing words (“cracker,” “dumb,” etc.) or by creating new words (“honkie,” “yokel,” etc.). I had never really studied English morphology/lexicology before though, so I just stuck to the insults and slang I knew and left it at that.

          It was during a musical presentation of the death of Joan of Arc that I was flipping through the program to see a footnote concerning a word in the lyrics. The footnote explained that the word “homasse”was an injurious term for women who were seen as more masculine than feminine, deriving from the word “homme.” This was fascinating. Though it was nearly five years ago that I saw this piece, it stuck with me, and I kept my eyes and ears open for other words with the same ending. I came across “conasse” then “pétasse.” After reading plays, novels, and poetry, I came across more pejorative words which had varying suffixes, leading me to believe that French had quite a number of these pejorative word endings. When I began studying French’s morphology in more detail as well as linguistics more broadly, I decided that it would be interesting to do a paper concerning these derogatory suffixes since no book I read ever had covered any of them in detail if at all. Even now that I have begun a search for these suffixes, I cannot find a list that completes them nor can I find many sources that explain their meanings and origins. By compiling my own French corpora through the use of many dictionaries and articles, I hope to be able to explain the meanings of these unusual derogatory and pejorative suffixes, and I would also like to be able to more accurately discuss their origins.

Posted: October 26, 2004 um halb acht.