ZUR SEMANTIK DER ETHNISCHEN SCHIMPFNAMEN.

This article aims to advance a theory of the semantic status of ethnic epithets able to account for the relationship between the denotation and connotation of these terms. The more common approaches to the topic are considered and some of their drawbacks are illustrated. Then, a solution based on the speech-act theory is offered. It is claimed that a speaker, when using an ethnic epithet, performs two different speechacts, one of which is always an expressive, according to Searle's terminology. The defended theory is in line with those which consider the connotative meaning of ethnic epithets as semantically expressed and can be extended to other connoted terms of a linguistic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]