1887
Volume 28, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0929-0907
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9943
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This article elaborates on Wolfgang Schulze’s keynote speech of the same title at the 26th LIPP Symposium in Munich in 2019. It is based on the slides from his talk and various teaching materials, of which some figures have been translated from German to English before their inclusion in this article. While this article’s foundation rests on Schulze’s theories and research, we have done our best to build upon his work; direct quotes and key concepts of his will be cited throughout the text. Schulze intended to write this article himself, but after his unexpected passing in early 2020, we decided to offer this contribution on his behalf.

Research on taboo is widely spread across diverse academic disciplines that each attribute slightly, yet noticeably, different meanings to the concept. This article proposes an all-encompassing definition applicable to all socio-cultural contexts. To arrive at this comprehensive understanding, we first briefly survey the history of and its linguistic study. Then, we present a formal and functional typology of circumnavigating taboos, taking into account the concepts of and as proposed by Schulze (2019: 13, 15, 16). While the specific social restrictions resulting from tabooed relations vary from community to community, the purpose of taboo remains the same: social stability, protection and sustainability. Linguistic taboos contribute to these social functions by restricting the use of certain linguistic signs in certain situations. Such constraints necessitate strategies for avoiding taboo, including articulation shift, lexical substitution and the emergence of special languages, detailed here.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/pc.00019.bur
2022-03-16
2025-02-18
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Allan, Keith & Kate Burridge
    2006Forbidden words: Taboo and censoring of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511617881
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511617881 [Google Scholar]
  2. Allan, Keith
    (ed.) 2019The Oxford handbook of taboo words and language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198808190.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198808190.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  3. Burridge, Kate & Réka Benczes
    2019 Taboo as a driver of language change. InKeith Allan (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Taboo Words and Language, 180–199. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Cook, James
    1821aThe three voyages of Captain James Cook round the world: Complete in seven volumes. Vol. V, being the first of the third voyage. London: Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. 10.5962/bhl.title.6760
    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.6760 [Google Scholar]
  5. 1821bThe three voyages of Captain James Cook round the world: Complete in seven volumes. Vol. VII, being the third of the third voyage. London: Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. 10.5962/bhl.title.6760
    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.6760 [Google Scholar]
  6. Doran, Meredith
    2004 Negotiating between Bourge and Racaille: Verlan as youth identity practice in suburban Paris. InAneta Pavlenko & Adrian Blackledge (eds.), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts, 93–124. Bristol: Channel View Publications. 10.21832/9781853596483‑006
    https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596483-006 [Google Scholar]
  7. Douglas, Mary
    1966Purity and danger: An analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo. New York: Praeger Publishers.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Durkheim, Émile
    [1897] 1963Incest: The nature and origin of the taboo. New York: Lyle Stuart.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Frazer, Sir James George
    [1890] 1911The Golden Bough Part II: Taboo and the perils of the soul. London: Macmillan.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Freud, Sigmund
    [1927] 1961 Humor. InJames Strachey (ed.), The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XXI (1927-1931): The Future of an Illusion, Civilization and Its Discontents and Other Works, 159–166.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. [1913] 1991Totem und Tabu: Einige Übereinstimmungen im Seelenleben der Wilden und der Neurotiker. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Goldberg, Adele
    1995Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Hock, Hans Henrich
    1991Principles of Historical Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110219135
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110219135 [Google Scholar]
  14. Holzknecht, Susanne
    1988 Word taboo and its implications for language change in the Markham family of languages, PNG. Kivung18. 43–69.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Knipe, Edward & David G. Bromley
    1984 Speak no evil: Word taboos among Scottish fishermen. InRay Browne (ed.), Forbidden Fruit: Taboos in American Culture, 183–192. Bowling Green: Popular Culture Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Korn, Daniel, Charlie Hawes & Mark Radice
    2001Cannibal: The history of the people-eaters. London: Channel 4 Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Kraft, Hartmut
    2004Tabu, Magie und soziale Wirklichkeit. Düsseldorf: Walter.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Lakoff, Robin Tolmach
    2000The Language War. Berkeley: University of California Press. 10.1525/9780520928077
    https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520928077 [Google Scholar]
  19. Langacker, Ronald W.
    2008Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331967.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331967.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  20. Latour, Bruno
    1996On actor-network theory: A few clarifications plus more than a few complications. www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/P-67%20ACTOR-NETWORK.pdf. (12November 2020.)
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Lefkowitz, Natalie
    1991Talking backwards, looking forwards: The French language game Verlan. Tübingen: Narr.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. McWhorter, John [Google Scholar]
  23. Mead, Margaret
    1934 Tabu. The Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences14. 505–512.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. OED (The Oxford English Dictionary)
    OED (The Oxford English Dictionary) 2000 John A. Simpson (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, www.oed.com (4November 2020.)
  25. Osgood, Charles E., George J. Suci & Percy H. Tannenbaum
    1957The measurement of meaning. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Pinker, Steven
    2002The blank slate: The modern denial of human nature. New York: Viking.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Pizarro Pedraza, Andrea
    (ed.) 2018Linguistic taboo revisited: Novel insights from cognitive perspectives. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110582758
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110582758 [Google Scholar]
  28. Reutner, Ursula
    2009Sprache und Tabu: Interpretationen zu französischen und italienischen Euphemismen. Tübingen: Niemeyer. 10.1515/9783484971219
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783484971219 [Google Scholar]
  29. Saussure, Ferdinand de
    [1916] 1995Cours de linguistique générale. Paris: Éditions Payot & Rivages.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Scholz Williams, Gerhild
    2009 Sensationslust, Tabu und Scham. Öffentlichkeit und Berichterstattung im 17. Jahrhundert: Thurneysser, Pierre de Lancre, Theatrum Europaeum. InAnja Hesse & Hans-Joachim Behr (eds.), Tabu: Über den gesellschaftlichen Umgang mit Ekel und Scham, 75–100. Berlin: Kadmos. www.theatra.de/forschung/ed000006.pdf (14September 2021.)
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Schröder, Hartmut
    1999 Semiotisch-rhetorische Aspekte von Sprachtabus. Erikoiskielet ja käännösteoria. VAKKI:n julkaisutN:o25. 29–50.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. 2008 Zur Kulturspezifik von Tabus: Tabus und Euphemismen in interkulturellen Kontaktsituationen. InClaudia Benthien & Ortrun Gutjahr (eds.), Tabu: Interkulturalität und Gender, 51–70. München: Wilhelm Fink.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Schulze, Wolfgang
    2009Sprachtabu. Zur Linguistik des Unsagbaren. schulzewolfgang.de/material/sprachtabu.pdf (7December 2020).
    [Google Scholar]
  34. 2019Circumnavigating taboos: A functional and formal typology. www.schulzewolfgang.de/temp/LIPP26_Tabu_Schulze.pdf. (12November 2020).
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Steiner, Franz
    1956Taboo. London: Cohen & West Ltd.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Völkel, Svenja
    2021 Togan honorifics and their underlying concepts of mana and tapu: A verbal taboo in its emic sense. Pragmatics & Cognition, this volume. 10.1075/pc.00020.vol
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.00020.vol [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/pc.00019.bur
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/pc.00019.bur
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): anthropology; cognitive linguistics; language; sociology; taboo; typology
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error