Terms of Abuse in Richardson's Pamela: With a Comparative Discussion of Fielding's Shamela and Joseph Andrews

Throughout its long history, the English Language has produced a wide variety of terms applied to men and/or woman, most of which are found in address forms in spoken language. Literary authors make an effective use of different terms as variation, whether abusive or endearing, to have their works reflect the colloquial language of their days. Eighteenth-century British literary works can be valuable materials for us to analyse linguistic features. The present artice aims at examining the terms of abuse in Richardson Pamela (1740) from a historical perspective. A comparative discussionis made, where necessary, on two contemporary literary works from the same perspective, in the hope of sketching out the semantic history of each term and exploring one phase of colloquialism in those days.